Steppin’ outside my comfort zone…. and experiencing something wonderful

Hello there my friends…  I hope your day is going really well and that you are enjoying the last of our pre fall weather…

We (I use that word loosely) Jerry has the whole garden in the house now!!! Oh MY!!! he took the SWATHER to the garden when he was done ! lol… He is happy, that is one more ‘thing to do’ off of our before Hawaii list! Well good for him hey…. Our garden is about 150′ X 40′ in area…. a tonne of work to bring in.

Now it is my job to pack and process all the treasures from the harvest! I’m still up to my armpits in canning…. I can barely walk in the kitchen and dining room… corn, swiss chard, tomatoes. (green, sadly) spuds… canning… blah, blah, blah… a good thing too that it is all in… it froze last night! BOO!  Jerry was scraping the windshield this morning.. oh well, seasons come and seasons go…

Been thinking…      I have much, much more time on my hands these days…. Too much.  So I look for things to fill them… Still trying to figure myself out, I guess.  I am flitting from one brainiac idea to the next and often finding it difficult to focus on and complete any one task for long… Gah!

Have you ever felt like that?  So much to do and so many directions to go that you feel like a top all wound up?  Twirling and spinning around and around all over the floor…

Lately the list of stuff in my ‘make busy-ness” is canning, lamp making, sewing, cooking, dieting, planning our holiday, creating things for etsy to sell, learning the whole blogging concept and looking into some courses.  I find myself always going back to the beginning and starting the process all over. I’ll share some of these things in future posts, as I figure them out a bit more..:)

Jerry thinks I am still trying to figure out who I really am… It seems to be a reoccurring theme here… humm…

Yikes just had a thought!  I hope I like what I discover! 

I have been spending more time on the computer these days and meeting some really nice women through various blogs, and a diet encouragement chat site.  I feel that I had put my nurturing of friendships on hold as I raised a family and was so busily involved…  Now with an empty nest I have more time to ponder, perhaps more time to be a bit lonely even.  That certainly is not a bad thing though..  How does one get past that?  Persistence and ingenuity perhaps?

Well… A few days ago I was on Face Book (I love FB!)  and connected with a new friend!  This was at the insistence of a woman friend I used to work with…  She had wanted me to ‘friend’ her aunt for a long time and was insistent we would have so much in common and really hit it off.  Well I stepped out of my comfort zone and I did just that!  It made me feel a bit like the kid in the playground!  We all need someone to push on the merry-go-round… (remember those?)  hahaa…

I am so glad I did.. she is such a lovely lady! (thanks Stacey!)

We do have a lot in common and I like that.  Same age/background.  Similar interests…  I just wish we lived closer, she is the kind of woman you would feel comfy having pop in for a coffee!

I find it especially cool that she lives in the small town where I lived for a couple years as a child.  AND she knows some people I knew back in the day.  In fact, she is living on the very farm of my childhood friends parents!  I really see the meaning of the term “it’s a small world” now!

She (Debbie)  is crazy busy with her life as a farmers wife, especially during harvest right now.  She still has her17 year old son at home so she really hasn’t experienced the void that I am feeling right now.  She cooks and takes meals to the men in the field, runs vehicles around from one place to another, looks after her house and family, and is an  amazing gardner and an absolutely fabulous photographer!!  Here is one of her shots…

And she does a million other things as well!

In all of the hub bub that is in her life  she doesn’t forget to stop and experience the wonder in our world.  We live miles apart and were able to experience the wonder of the Aurora Borealis together!  It was really funny.. both of us running outside in our own yards to look for them and then we dash back to the computer to tell each other what we saw!!!  It was almost like having coffee together . 

Have you ever seen the Aurora Borealis? 

How does one describe how majestic the Northern lights are?  Well I will put forth my best feeble attempt.

Most of the time it is like a ribbon of light flickering in the sky!

…like a hypnotic dancing flame in the sky… We see them fairly often here in Alberta…

Three years ago was the best I had ever seen in my life! They were super extraordinary, and we likely will never see them like that again!

Jerry and I were out in the back yard here and there was an incredible  bright flickering circle above the farmyard… It was as if it was directly above us… only for him and I.  An absolute myriad of colors.. everything in the rainbow and some I hadn’t seen. It reminded me of a kaleidoscope…always changing and more beautiful with each movement!

It would dance and move… like sound waves.  Some people say that if you whistle to them they dance even more… so whistle we did!  And dance they did!    A once in a lifetime experience!!!  I feel blessed to have been witness to them that night.. I wish I’d  had a camera, but alas others have photographed them.  So I will share them here.

I have often seen them while driving and then I pull over to the side of the road and lay on the hood of the car to just enjoy them!

This is a link to some more lovely photos!  (you will have to copy and paste… still have to figure out how to link it… :~)

http://odutrephotography.photoshelter.com/gallery/Aurora-Borealis-5-August-2011/G0000kFMdX.QxC4E/P0000ZyZu8WspqSs

Certainly God’s miracle to us!

It is good to step outside of the comfort zone… One never knows the blessings or gifts you will receive.  Just as it is was a blessing,  gift or miracle to witness the Northern Lights… so it is also to make a new friend.  I am thankful for both.

I invite you to comment or share as you see fit!  I look forward to getting to hear from you.

Keep your eye to the sky and your heart open wide.