Each evening draws to a close without me sitting down to write, it seems.  Truth is it is difficult to string together a thoughtful piece this late in the day.  It occurred to me it might also work to share bits and pieces of life lately. So there is the first random bit: I ran across this image the other day from a house we visited in England.  Took my breath away. The sun shines against the shiny tile and I can imagine the smell of bleach as the linens dry there. I love everything about this. While I feel we are where we ought to be (most days) I miss the pace we lived there. 

We watched The English Patient this winter for the first time in many years. It bothered me in ways that I had forgotten and sparked some thoughtful questions from my daughter in law.  One part that caught my particular attention, oddly, was a story from Herodotus that the main female character told around a desert campfire about King Candaules who exposed his wife's beauty to his aide and how she repaid his betrayal.  When I was browsing through a box of books our oldest son was storing here I found a copy of The Histories.  I had completely forgotten about this passage and the movie until I began reading the first chapter.  Who knows how far I will get but I have been picking up this volume here and there and enjoying these stories from so very long ago that describe people so very like people today. 

I have been following Peter Walsh's daily posts of decluttering tasks on Facebook. If the day cooperates I will tackle one of the short challenges. A Bowl Full of Lemons is hosting a more ambitious themed house organization challenge that several friends have joined.  The social media shares are inspiring.   Similar but different – my friend Briana shared an article about Minimalism and where it sometimes goes off the rails. Good perspective to balance the current trend of elimination when it is for elimination's sake. Coincidentally I ran across this one later in the day.  You've seen my pictures and probably guess where I fall on this spectrum though that really doesn't matter in the end. 

The Federalist ran an excellent article about contemporary motherhood.  Or about how to look at any job we find ourselves tasked with that at first is outside our skill set.  Also about cynicism creeping into our vocation, our conversations.  Cynicism is a joy sucker if ever there was one. 

Fake news is the topic of conversation all over right now. This article from last month discussed the sort of news that captures attention versus the sort of news that actually impacts our day to day lives – personal narrative.  Lady Lydia mentioned something similar today.  The most important stories are not often told on tv. Or social media.  Or any media.  They are the kitchen table stories.  After I read that one I decided maybe it is good after all to share the virtual equivalent of my library receipts or my daybook entries. Maybe it helps to hear what someone just like you thought about or read about or tried to do today.  

so that's what I did