Stumbling Toward Enlightenment

After a long, torturous summer of glaring light and searing heat, this morning I awoke to soft gray skies and a cool ocean breeze. My first waking thought was 'Ahhhhhh.....' Not many people suffer from Summer S.A.D., and it seems that most of the world is made up of Summer People. You know the ones--they thrive in the heat like lizards, fantasize about the summer all year long, and every vacation involves a beach. I wish I could join the club, but my idea of hell is being stuck in the unrelenting sun all year long. I still can't believe that I was born and raised in California. For me, the sun is like a radio right next to my ear, loudest during the summer months, and annoying as hell. I just.want.someone.to.turn.it.OFF. So it is finally, blessedly, September, and although it is not yet technically Autumn, I sense a change in the atmosphere. The air has finally cooled, and the angle of the sun is a tad less aggressive. I can finally breathe, and concentrate, and lift my he...

Participated yesterday in the Susan B. Komen Walk for the Cure to cheer on Sarah, who is walking the entire 3 days for my mom. It happened to fall on the two year anniversary of my mom's passing, and needless to say, it was a very emotional day for me. I think I went through all seven steps of grief and back again in one day, and came home and slept for twelve hours, only waking up to hold my son. My mom was not the type of person to put herself out there and talk about her experience, so I'm doing it for her. She would never say so, but she was the most selfless, warm, unconditionally loving person that I've ever known. Her heart went out to everyone, she trusted that the world was a good place, and she prayed constantly for others, even when she should have been praying for herself. She suffered through chemo, lost her sense of smell and taste, was poked and prodded every week for five years and never complained. She never reprimanded anyone, even when they deserved it....