It starts with a blue balloon\u2026<\/p>\n
today it starts with a blue balloon
\nthat seems to have wandered off
\nand a little drummer bear (one of those solar things)
\nin the window
\nwho curiously begins tapping out a heartbeat kind of sound,
\ninstead of his usual rhythm<\/p>\n
first the balloon, \u00a0that has been around since early October
\nleft over from my daughter\u2019s birthday
\nthat my husband, at some point had stashed in the laundry room
\nto get them out of his way
\nand I, in a moment of frustration,\u00a0 tired of having them under my feet
\nhad ushered out the door
\nto freedom
\nthe red ones have since burst or shriveled up in freeze
\nbut this blue one with the white stars had lodged itself in the garden
\nalong the fence line
\nand has endeared itself to me by somehow so far
\nsurviving the cold and wind
\nthis morning though,\u00a0 as I am sat reading
\nI notice the blue balloon with the white stars
\nis on the move
\nit\u2019s a cold and blustery morning, and I have had a fitful sleep
\nmy husband has had to leave in the middle of the night
\na six hour drive to attend a celebration of life for his Aunt
\nand although I am not fully awake,\u00a0 I know precisely when the bed starts to feel empty
\nand just when I begin my silent prayers for safe travels
\nI am also aware that I am holding worries and concerns for people that I love
\nwho are now dealing with things, one wishes they didn\u2019t have to
\nand the helpless feeling of too many miles as well as the failure of my magic powers
\nto make things not
\nso
\nfor someone dear<\/p>\n
when I look up from my book, I suddenly notice that
\nthe blue balloon with the white stars is missing!
\nand it sets in a slight bit of panic
\nafter all of this time of survival\u2026\u00a0 \u00a0where could it have gone?
\nwhen too many thoughts inside my head continue to interrupt my reading
\nI decide instead to go outside
\nthe chill in the air turns my wet hair almost instantly to a frozen crown
\nI smile to myself thinking of just who might be scolding me for risking my \u2018death of cold \u2019
\nas I go about filling the feeders
\nand wander with my camera, always open to signs of beauty
\nthe wind blows and I hug my husband\u2019s jacket closer to my body
\n(even though the arms in it are mine)
\nfurther along, \u00a0I spot it
\nthe blue balloon with the white stars in among the dried hydrangea
\nand I am comforted to find it
\nstill
\nhere<\/p>\n
of course the obvious lesson is again the reminder
\nthat nothing
\nis within our control
\nand just how important it is to actively cherish
\nthe people and things
\nthat we
\nlove<\/p>\n
today
\nit starts with a blue balloon
\nand worry<\/p>\n
later, a return to my chair
\nand to things that I know…
\na chat with my brother-in-law
\nthoughts of familial comfort
\nand love<\/p>\n
the little drummer bear who sits in the window
\nbeside me
\nstarts to tap out a sound like a heartbeat
\nand a sky that was completely white
\nturns blue
\nthe sun streams in through the window
\nso bright in your eyes
\none can\u2019t help but letting them gently close
\nas you smile and whisper
\nyour daily words
\nof
\ngratitude<\/p>\n
as just then\u2026\u00a0 it starts
\nto
\nsnow\u00a0 \u2665<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It starts with a blue balloon\u2026 today it starts with a blue balloon that seems to have wandered off and a little drummer bear (one of those solar things) in the window who curiously begins tapping out a heartbeat kind…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[164,104,139,165],"class_list":["post-2541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blueballoon","tag-followyourheart","tag-gratefuliving","tag-whenallyouknowislove"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2541"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2545,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2541\/revisions\/2545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}