Wednesday Vignette – a happy anniversary?

As I logged on to write my weekly little ditty, WordPress pinged me with a celebratory message that I started blogging 10 years ago. Oh my! That sure went fast! Though not what I intended to write about today, I suppose it’s worth mentioning – as a personal bright spot in one of the most crazy-ass weeks I think the US has seen in its young life as a nation. I was sad and astounded at how prescient I turned out to be a week ago, when I wrote that the orcs were attacking from all angles. This week they actually did.

I spend as much time as I can outside in the garden these days. You all know why – you are all in on the well known secret of the palpable grounding qualities and benevolent, healing powers of immersing yourselves with plants in the garden. No matter if it’s cold and wet, spending time out there STILL makes me feel better. As dusk fades to dark, the solar spots placed around the yard light up, and that was going to be my point tonight; there is light in the midst of darkness. Trust me, there really is.

Shefflera taiwanense basking in the light.

Since it’s an anniversary, I should probably acknowledge that blogging itself has been a major bright spot for me this past decade. On it, I have questioned, I have learned, and it has caused me to meet wonderful people – both in the blogosphere and in person. It has enriched my life greatly in ways I never imagined. Today, I saw in the WordPress notifications that someone had liked a post that was written almost to the day, a year ago. I was curious as to what the allure was, so I took a peek and re-read what I wrote back then. For all the shock, disgust, humbleness, and national embarrassment we have all been experiencing in the last few days, the truth is that – not counting a ravaging pandemic – we are in a far better place right now than we were back then. Look at us now – we did it! We voted a lot of these ogres out in the last election, and our friends in Georgia did what almost no one saw as even a possibility – they flipped the Senate! (Not to mention the several effective vaccines produced in record time.) Things are indeed looking up!

I wonder where I’ll be another 10 years from now… I hope I will still be writing – because even if it’s rarely very substantial, it’s still one of my favorite things to do. Like my garden, it keeps me sane. Stay hopeful, dear friends – the light is on its way. We’re going to have to dig in and work hard for it, but it will come. I can feel it!