tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22839360371927992502024-03-05T07:33:43.843-05:00Your long term friend ~~Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-91057110972290489512014-04-13T15:22:00.002-04:002014-05-10T12:36:59.942-04:00~~~ MY BLOG HAS MOVED!! ~~~THANKS TO YOUR INTEREST, I'VE CREATED A NEW AND IMPROVED SITE. PLEASE VISIT ME AND SET YOUR BOOKMARK TO: <a href="http://www.kimkalicky.com/">www.kimkalicky.com</a><br />
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<br />Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-36778125072645117262014-03-29T10:27:00.002-04:002014-03-29T10:29:26.439-04:0018 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This post is an excerpt
from an article on The Huffington Post which </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I saw on one of my
favorite blogs: The Lettered Cottage on
3/8/14</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">As scientists now understand it, creativity is
far more complex than the right-left brain distinction would have us think (the
theory being that left brain = rational and analytical, right brain = creative
and emotional). In fact, creativity is
thought to involve a number of cognitive processes, neural pathways, and
emotions, and we still don’t have the full picture of how the imaginative mind
works.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And
psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down,
largely because they’re complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. And it’s not just a stereotype of the <i>tortured artist </i>– artists really may be
more complicated people.</span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They daydream.</span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Creative types know,
despite what their third-grade teachers may have said, that daydreaming is
anything but a waste of time. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They observe everything.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> They see
possibilities everywhere….that becomes fodder for creative expression. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They work the hours that
work for them.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> …individuals with
high creative output will often figure out what time it is that their minds
start firing up, and structure their days accordingly. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They take time for
solitude.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> …this links back to
daydreaming – we need to give ourselves the time alone to simply allow our
minds to wander. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They turn life’s obstacles
around.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Many of the most
iconic stories and songs… have been inspired by gut-wrenching pain and
heartbreak – and the silver lining of these challenges is that they may have
been the catalyst to create great art. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They seek out new
experiences.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> …intellectual
curiosity, thrill seeking, openness to your emotions, openness to fantasy. The thing that brings them all together is a
drive for cognitive and behavioral exploration of the world, your inner world
and your outer world. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They fail up. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Resilience is
practically a prerequisite for creative success. Doing creative work is often
described as a process of failing repeatedly until you find something that
sticks. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They ask the big
questions.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Creative people are
insatiably curious – they generally opt to live the examined life and even as
they get older, maintain a sense of curiosity about life. Whether through intense conversation or
solitary mind-wandering, creatives look at the world around them and want to
know why, and how, it is the way it is. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They people-watch.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> They’re keen
observers of human behavior. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They take risks.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Creativity is the act
of making something from nothing. It
requires making public those bets first placed by imagination. This is not a job for the timid. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They view all of life as
an opportunity for self-expression.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Creativity is nothing
more than an individual expression of your needs, desires and uniqueness. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They follow their true
passions.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> They’re motivated to
act from some internal desire, rather than a desire for external reward or
recognition. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They get out of their
own heads.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> …inducing
psychological distance -- that is, taking another person’s perspective or
thinking about a question as if it was unreal or unfamiliar -- can boost
creative thinking. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They lose track of time.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Flow is a mental
state when an individual transcends conscious thought to reach a heightened
state of effortless concentration and calmness. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They surround themselves
with beauty.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> A study recently
published…showed that musicians – including orchestra musicians, music
teachers, and soloists – exhibit a high sensitivity and responsiveness to
artistic beauty. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They connect the dots.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> If there is one thing
that distinguishes highly creative people from others, it’s the ability to see
possibilities where others don’t – or, in other words, vision. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They constantly shake
things up.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Diversity of
experience, more than anything else, is critical to creativity. </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They make time for
mindfulness.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Creative types
understand the value of a clear and focused mind – because their work depends
on it. Many artists, entrepreneurs,
writers and other creative workers have turned to meditation as a tool for
tapping into their most creative mind. </span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/creativity-habits_n_4859769.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/creativity-habits_n_4859769.html</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Written by Carolyn Gregoire</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: cover shoot Kid's Gotta Do CD titled Parade (Matt Kalicky & Dave Lyden)</span></i></span></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-10922113787362735252014-03-15T17:42:00.003-04:002014-03-15T18:25:34.623-04:00Four Hangers and a Radio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">My dear friend’s parents were moved into assisted living. In the course of a short month, or to them
the longest month of their lives, my friend’s Mom died and her Dad didn't want to go on without her. Her Dad is a stable, loyal, hardworking,
sturdy and steadfast Mainer in his eighties. For this man to be reduced to such sadness was difficult to accept and witness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Their home up north sits on a hill overlooking potato farms,
fields, and an occasional long road. It
sits empty. A lifetime, their life, haunting
those walls and mounds of snow in the front yard. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">There was basketball and skiing. There were seemingly endless mornings, days
of work and school and college. Days of winter, days of summer, heat, cold,
sun, rain. There was love and laughter,
tears and frustrations, meals and Christmases and birthdays, and wonderful whoppie
pies – a recipe that can’t be shared because it’s a family secret. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">My friend’s Dad was an avid reader. He loved history and to learn. Now, his eyesight is nearly gone. Of course, it’s to be expected that what you
use the most would get used up in eighty-odd years, but it is the cruelest of
hoaxes, isn’t it? To lose what you covet
the most, what brings you the most pleasure, to have your pleasure taken from
you, your eyesight, your physique, the love of your life. You once thought her the most beautiful girl
in the world and over years and years, you watch her age and wither and
fail. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">As my friend, her sister and brother emotionally left their
home for the assisted living facility that day, they watched their father carry
four hangers and a radio. Some furniture
would be brought to their apartment once they got through the waiting list and
their apartment became available; the kids carried his suitcase of
clothes. Her brother watched his Dad
settle into the passenger seat of their car, deflated, defeated, sad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s the point?” her brother asked of her… or maybe just
to himself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">“You work and try and push hard your whole life and this is
what it comes down to? Four hangers and
a radio?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The entire family shifted that day…the day they walked their
parents away from home and into assisted living. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Mount Washington, NH </span></i></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-52579731302404862282014-02-28T08:32:00.002-05:002014-02-28T08:46:14.896-05:00The Last Day<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">So, the night before we flew to Savannah, Georgia, to bring
my second son to college, I made one of his favorite meals – shrimp scampi,
garlic toast, blueberry pie. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I spent the
entire day with him – shipping the bike with some unexpected set-backs that
were OK since we had the whole day. We
packed the 52-pound suitcase – otto, gotta shave 2 pounds out of there. We packed it business-like, no emotion for either of us as I suggested the electronics, the nice pants and tie
“just in case,” the chargers, photos of friends…and what about the photo of the four of us? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">And then he wanted the graduation scrapbook, just like his older brother had when he left for college. But there was
no way that was going to fit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Some
things needed to be left behind….. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I suggested he call his grandparents for five or ten minutes
to let them know we were off. And when that didn’t pan out due to our own
errands and then spending a couple hours with his friend before leaving, I
suggested he email the incredible mask drawing he just completed on his
tablet. I said his grandparents (and I)
would love to have it. It was a gorgeous drawing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Although I think sometimes Facebook makes me sad and feel
inadequate and addicted, the comments from “friends” about Ben’s leaving really
bolstered my spirits and my courage. All
can be good. My “friends” reminded me of
that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">All their enthusiasm for where Ben
is going and what Ben is doing…and how right it is for him….got me in the right
(needed) frame of mind to close the suitcase, get on the plane with him, breathe deeply,
and take this next leg of the journey, one baby step at a time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: waiting....Portland International Airport</span></i></span></div>
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-3741149158343268502014-02-14T06:49:00.004-05:002014-02-16T13:10:30.210-05:00Drunk on Love....Is How I Want to Live <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvotRfXK0pyJrDgF51VBiCgYiiUv3g8ONZntZ3HaKr1QQy9TgIW7cXWtIGMn_fYn_-orbwdswooEcI9C2uetJ2GUIDGYwJnOaA7o_b6z_Zm4HudjbdFRdNXQ-YPLCGNbqyexdh6PSxc7M/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvotRfXK0pyJrDgF51VBiCgYiiUv3g8ONZntZ3HaKr1QQy9TgIW7cXWtIGMn_fYn_-orbwdswooEcI9C2uetJ2GUIDGYwJnOaA7o_b6z_Zm4HudjbdFRdNXQ-YPLCGNbqyexdh6PSxc7M/s1600/016.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><i></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><i>(This article was also posted on MariaShriver.com Valentines Day)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><u>A little
background</u> -- in 2014, I’ll be married 28 years to a man I dated for 11 years
prior. We met at the age of 13; we are
turning 52 this year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">He is
still my confidante and best friend. No
one will love me more deeply than he has – not even my own mother. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I don’t
know why the universe presented this man for me, first time out of the
gate. I don’t know where we found the
fortitude to understand what “relationship” meant so young, but we both
intuitively knew. We knew the work it
took, every single day – the patience, the kindness, the loyalty. And we’ve both worked at it for thirty-nine
years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Now the
story</u><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> -- I love the country band Little Big Town. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">On an
early morning run in January, 18 degrees (balmy in Maine after a winter of
negative temperatures), I listened to their new song, <i>Sober</i>, oh, maybe twelve times in a row. The entire two miles. I tend to do that when something gets in my
head. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">While listening
and running on that gray winter morning, I laughed, smiled, sang out loud
(badly) and thrashed my arms. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">This is
what came to mind as I listened:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">When we
got married, Frank wanted our wedding dance to be <i>This is The End</i> by the Doors.
You can imagine my smirking face at that one. I didn’t think so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Second
choice – <i>Wild Horses</i> by The Rolling
Stones. The romantic in me loved that he
suggested that. Mick sings “<i>wild horses couldn't drag me away</i>….” Wow.
Is that what he was thinking?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">But nada. I couldn’t, at the tender age of 24, have The
Rolling Stones sing our wedding song. It
just didn’t fit, I thought. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And yet, for
28 years, I’ve remembered that, and you know what….it does fit. It should have been our song….because it was
what HE was thinking. And that he was
thinking <i>that</i> was just beautiful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Silly me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Now,
Little Big Town in 2014 sings this song, <i>Sober</i>,
that I run to and, for me, this is our wedding song at our 28 year anniversary. All pretenses have fallen away and now it’s
just real. Our love is not a dream or a
hope; it’s our reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“Sober”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I want to walk that line
a little crooked<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And live my life a
little on the rocks<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Laugh at every time I
fell<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Not afraid to make a
fool of myself<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And keep on dancing when
the music stops<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Cause I love being in
love<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">It’s the best kind of
drug<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Drunk on the high
leaning on your shoulder<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Sweet like wine as it
gets older<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">When I die, I don’t want
to go sober<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Oh, when I die, I don’t
want to go sober<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">You’re like drinking
from a never ending bottle<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">When I think it’s gone,
there’s always a little more left<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Lay back with you, and
close my eyes<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fr0GlyAr0CA-PodyCbMbzTFvCaXGV1DugVTE-U9dJjJSh2P8O1sXkm3wK8bYvzFag7ru_KvjeyBHAZ_MdKt0MRUlVO33rknjQt3yFxE_YP3g3q0VuuY4VktQkMKpozA1ALCh0dSKk0E/s1600/220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fr0GlyAr0CA-PodyCbMbzTFvCaXGV1DugVTE-U9dJjJSh2P8O1sXkm3wK8bYvzFag7ru_KvjeyBHAZ_MdKt0MRUlVO33rknjQt3yFxE_YP3g3q0VuuY4VktQkMKpozA1ALCh0dSKk0E/s1600/220.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let the big old world
just spin on by<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And saying your name
with my last breath<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I love being in love<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">It’s the best kind of
drug<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Drunk on the high
leaning on your shoulder<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Sweet like wine as it
gets older<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">When I die, I don’t want
to go sober<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Oh, when I die, I don’t
want to go sober*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">What I
know for sure at this age is what John Lennon told us so many years ago – all
you need is love. Love has opened the
space that allowed me to become the person I’m meant to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Loving
someone isn’t necessarily easy; it isn’t always romantic….but I’d rather be
drunk on love than anything else because it fills me up. I can let down my defenses, be silly, sloppy,
sad. I can laugh, stumble, and know
someone is there to pick me up if I need it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">If I can
die inebriated with the passion we’ve shared, the commitment, the effort, the
ups & downs weathered as a team – what more could I want? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Love may
not be rational or on the straight and narrow….but that’s the beauty of
it. Drunk on love, as messy as it may
get, is how I want to live. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">At 52, when
I hear Little Big Town sing it, I get it.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">*Little
Big Town. "Sober." By Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Tornado</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">. Capital Records Nashville, 2012. CD.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7gWngdrevM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7gWngdrevM</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 107%;"><i>Photos: Paris and Chartres, France</i></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-16154062922610284072014-01-30T19:11:00.001-05:002014-01-30T19:13:51.589-05:00Wintertime<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjwvF4NHp5nnDtUarmmizIxVTGptgkSQ0whst0pd_3Hl7T-urzmZQX52ZBF8axN1vrjMf4fjYqNk97o3EVKIMG9bNqDJPC18XBfbCrA6KRdPKr_2lTG_aScfb0zPikqkRalW9Rfq-9tU/s1600/DSC_4208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjwvF4NHp5nnDtUarmmizIxVTGptgkSQ0whst0pd_3Hl7T-urzmZQX52ZBF8axN1vrjMf4fjYqNk97o3EVKIMG9bNqDJPC18XBfbCrA6KRdPKr_2lTG_aScfb0zPikqkRalW9Rfq-9tU/s1600/DSC_4208.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">I've always loved the snow.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">The changing of the seasons is so suited to
my personality.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">I used to think the
seasons of renewal, heat and lethargy, dying and decay, and then solitude/darkness,
were suited to all humans' personalities just like the change from night into
day back into night.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 200%;">However, as I've
aged, I've become more open minded, and in the process learned that not every
one thinks like I do or feels like I do...which is a good thing.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">That's what makes our world and our
relationships with one another workable and pleasurable.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">How boring it would be if we were all the
same.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">For me, winter is one of my better
seasons.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">As someone who craves solitude
and works creatively, pulling inward is invigorating, not lonely or depressing.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">What I've seen, experienced and felt all
summer, I stew on, chew on, reflect and remember, and visualize during the
winter months.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Summer is when I live it;
winter is when I ponder it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRL5wD1nEOzZfRPbBtRjMkFDUNrsOjBIsKlu9Oz0vdIL__hpieBFkvFzurr4u9wBOhlAuBmZXZk3ztFRnTMMQXjsVsBrgm1lj8l1hCdDFczmxtibu7O5I1hCBZJtGNtuRZ3d-kadDUiQ/s1600/DSC_4209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRL5wD1nEOzZfRPbBtRjMkFDUNrsOjBIsKlu9Oz0vdIL__hpieBFkvFzurr4u9wBOhlAuBmZXZk3ztFRnTMMQXjsVsBrgm1lj8l1hCdDFczmxtibu7O5I1hCBZJtGNtuRZ3d-kadDUiQ/s1600/DSC_4209.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">In
summer, I feel compelled to be outside whenever the sun is out.</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Our bad weather in Maine is the majority of
the year, so I cannot miss a moment of the warmth and the sun of summer
days.</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">I wouldn't take, what I consider,
the luxury of working quietly and creatively inside, on a summer day.</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
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So...</div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">...when winter arrives, I'm ready
for it and know it has its place in my psyche and my day-to-day
activities. </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">For me, winter holds a
valuable and treasured space. </span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photos: </i> Marginal Way, Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine</span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-20064278893994354402014-01-14T17:29:00.000-05:002014-01-14T17:29:00.958-05:00"Personal Buoyancy"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOykuFDiM2fc4N4wTk9nD_3mYmT3QwGpddPSNLTvvhgU7tY_-qphiY5NFM4e2fuPaKsse8a4uUDsJc9lje3XSX6u47tyQoiCYBN-ZqSwGV8clEoKV_MlLNo2TLBbUYSEcP3JrVJauHnHM/s1600/DSC_4193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOykuFDiM2fc4N4wTk9nD_3mYmT3QwGpddPSNLTvvhgU7tY_-qphiY5NFM4e2fuPaKsse8a4uUDsJc9lje3XSX6u47tyQoiCYBN-ZqSwGV8clEoKV_MlLNo2TLBbUYSEcP3JrVJauHnHM/s400/DSC_4193.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Having just read the most captivating article in the January
2014 issue of <i>Maine</i> magazine about
Dr. Edison Liu, President and CEO of Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, I have
latched onto and borrowed his term for his unique theory on “doing good” --
personal buoyancy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Now picture a lobster pot bobbing on the frigid winter waves
or a large red metal buoy in Casco Bay that the island ferries navigate
around. Their buoyancy allows them to be
fluid, going up and down with the tides, not rigidly cemented. They go up, they go down, again and
again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Dr. Liu says in the article:
“What’s best for you in your life?
Being three feet under water or thirty feet? We each swim best when we’re buoyant. To find your personal buoyancy you have to
know what your composition is and what equipment you have that allows you to
swim.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">At middle age, I’ve become too rigid. Past experiences have begun to weigh me down,
and I’m carrying them as though they were the truth. When I was young, I was more the sponge –
taking it all in, trying to determine the truth. I was learning and growing. After so many years, I’ve come to some
conclusions…..when I think perhaps I shouldn’t have. I know now they’re not necessarily true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I should remain the sponge.
I should let some of the weight of these beliefs go and try to return to
the innocence of the novice. The novice
bobbed along the waves – fluid, with an ability to bounce back quickly,
forgive, change course. The novice had a
demeanor of buoyancy….and hope, optimism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">My 2014 resolution has morphed. I now seek buoyancy – knowing what I’m
composed of and what my equipment is so that I can float…and ultimately, fly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine</span></i></span></div>
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-46447201440127956732013-12-31T07:31:00.005-05:002013-12-31T07:31:56.221-05:00Who You Love<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTg-1Cp-s4__ofFxibJ65X2HiV9bC4v8gdvcBzc8W-43Av6nS_aCEH52DYrC-NmeMC_Sqt5DgczNOFfkZ8oxFYZGOkdIro1jghrM6YF8-xxYloJAGc03RcbwR8W4hTcXdafsqi9nhJFGA/s1600/DSC_4173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTg-1Cp-s4__ofFxibJ65X2HiV9bC4v8gdvcBzc8W-43Av6nS_aCEH52DYrC-NmeMC_Sqt5DgczNOFfkZ8oxFYZGOkdIro1jghrM6YF8-xxYloJAGc03RcbwR8W4hTcXdafsqi9nhJFGA/s400/DSC_4173.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Each year end, I have dutifully cleaned out and stored away my paper files to prepare for a new year. But now, at this age, I throw away more than
I save – de-cluttering, freeing myself, letting go of baggage. Over Christmas break, I found a note I wrote to
my husband from January 1998 and our answers – papers I’m so glad I saved. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What might you learn about your partner if
you were to ask this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hi –<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">With no
explanation, I’d like to play a sort of game with you. At first, I thought we could do it face to
face so you could give your quick answers – you know, a word association type
of thing. As I came up with the
questions, I decided it would be better for each of us to answer on paper,
giving this some thought, separately.
Then we can talk about our answers together afterward…maybe over a nice
dinner and definitely alone! It’s a way
of getting to know one another….again.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Our sons were 7 and 3 at that time, a time I likely felt
getting re-acquainted was needed. Perhaps
now that they’re 22 and 18, it’s time for us again for 2014…</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s your favorite sound?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What sound do you hate?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If you could be anything, what would you
be?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If you could spend an evening with anyone
(famous, historical, deceased), who would it be and why?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your favorite smell?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What smell do you loathe?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If you could give your children one thing,
what would it be?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What do you like to do most?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What do you hate to do?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your pet peeve?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If you could solve one of the world’s
problems, what would you tackle?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is “God” to you?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What relaxes you?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s your all time favorite movie?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Book?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your guiding force or principle?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If you could go anywhere, where would you
go?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is a good marriage to you?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your largest worry?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your greatest fear?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What past experience brought you the most
joy?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What was your dream when you were sixteen?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your dream now?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your favorite color?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Your least favorite?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What traits would your ideal partner
possess?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If you could change one thing about
yourself, what would it be?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What do you like most about yourself?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What do you think is the most admirable
quality a person could possess?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is the characteristic you despise most
in others?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What is missing in your life?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What are you thankful for?</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s to loving the ones we love, to resolutions, to
starting anew each January 1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Spring Point Light and Little Diamond Island by Frank Kalicky</span></i></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-41088501405423779102013-12-15T08:27:00.002-05:002013-12-15T08:27:24.740-05:00It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjsv-w3UokD4-pwea7nenoCuZVA6DVj_W-z1ScVtmKfVFaA3ELR0925TMAAjmx3VO57Hf1EPZL9LvR6pR7cD06S6kScWlSD8NV89IkIs5fz_TdpOa5nt9aH3I8uaaZFM1uBUZoWFPTQE/s1600/DSC_4131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjsv-w3UokD4-pwea7nenoCuZVA6DVj_W-z1ScVtmKfVFaA3ELR0925TMAAjmx3VO57Hf1EPZL9LvR6pR7cD06S6kScWlSD8NV89IkIs5fz_TdpOa5nt9aH3I8uaaZFM1uBUZoWFPTQE/s320/DSC_4131.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I have the privilege of being a volunteer at <a href="http://www.tellingroom.org/">The Telling Room</a>, a writing center for
children ages 6-18. The people involved
with this organization are special – every single one. I am inspired to be in their presence whether
I’m teaching a 4<sup>th</sup> grade visiting class, walking the streets of
Portland with a summer camp group, or giving my corporate HR insights to the
Board for the organization itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIN1ei0RY89kffsNLd4ZOixi1D9T0JW_HXyk5SPWgfj5O5KVnm4VqJuKnyEx3x6O1kkz0p66Xn3Vb1BBluXqIOJJUWGHGHjRqgp-0rk31GrXkXp9glG1xjXu_fB5BVi1PIaypMR6gdQg/s1600/DSC_4132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIN1ei0RY89kffsNLd4ZOixi1D9T0JW_HXyk5SPWgfj5O5KVnm4VqJuKnyEx3x6O1kkz0p66Xn3Vb1BBluXqIOJJUWGHGHjRqgp-0rk31GrXkXp9glG1xjXu_fB5BVi1PIaypMR6gdQg/s320/DSC_4132.JPG" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">On Friday, 9:00 a.m., 10 degrees in Portland, I walked down
Commercial Street to my committee meeting for </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.glitterati2014.com/">Glitterati</a></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">, The Telling Room’s
annual auction/fund raising event coming up in March. I had to leave the sidewalk for the street
due to the staging three men had built on it.
Their mission – to put up more of the gorgeous half circle blue, green
and white light artwork that sparkle on all the buildings along our brick
façade waterfront. Two men were on the
sidewalk, looking upward and monitoring the ropes dangling down from the
staging. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I blew on my gloved hands as I passed; they were freezing
cold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">All of a sudden, the third man, high up on the staging at
the top of the building belted out in song:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s
the most wonderful time of the year……<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Laughing playfully down at his compadres on the sidewalk, he
sang loud and proud. I laughed out
loud. Early morning, freezing cold, men
making our city look beautiful, being funny & playful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">What a nice Friday morning…..</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photos: Commercial Street, Portland, Maine</i></span></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-70455048841134830522013-11-30T08:44:00.003-05:002013-11-30T08:50:13.917-05:00Standard Baking Company<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYg9GWfv4wtwFjhoCin3JJ5Ept-BUZy_6ysPV4D72NQYltcB0NpUwAehIjJp_GG9ZJH_zixKa_Amk4ATb5gfAJt6JDDoCZTuQphUZuhoPrl6V1DPpAJmC2snWpm1DGRL2pfNrUwxm2FE/s1600/Standard+Bakery+Facebook+Page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYg9GWfv4wtwFjhoCin3JJ5Ept-BUZy_6ysPV4D72NQYltcB0NpUwAehIjJp_GG9ZJH_zixKa_Amk4ATb5gfAJt6JDDoCZTuQphUZuhoPrl6V1DPpAJmC2snWpm1DGRL2pfNrUwxm2FE/s320/Standard+Bakery+Facebook+Page.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">All five senses came alive the moment I entered the tiny,
warm bakery on a rainy day-before-Thanksgiving. I was truly like a kid in a candy store. For me, fresh rustic bread is more alluring than candy any day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I come to Standard bakery at least once a week. Loving all things French, I bought into the <i>bread is the stuff of life</i> mantra and
began buying bakery bread many years ago.
When first married, I actually told Frank I thought I’d bake all our
bread….he was laughing at me before I even finished the sentence! I’ve been on many diets, but will never buy
into the no-carb one. Have you not read <i>French Women Don’t Get Fat</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Standard Baking Company makes divine bread. Both of my sons have become bread
connoisseurs and would no more eat Wonder Bread than tripe. From when Ben was 8 or 9, if I asked if he
wanted toast with his breakfast, he would say, “Is it <i>good</i> toast?” meaning the real thing baked yesterday or this morning,
not months ago with preservatives, packaged in plastic, and cut in sickly thin
slices. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Baguettes, large and small, Pain au Levain, croissants,
brioche, focaccia, rustica – Standard has so much to choose from, their wooden shelves
and thick brown baskets chock full. The
bread is not packaged, it stands free in the open air so purveyors can see so
clearly what they’ll buy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The atmosphere inside the bakery is as enticing as the
bread. It’s the tiniest store in the
cellar of Fore Street restaurant, its door off Commercial Street at the back of
a busy parking lot. The door opens onto
their patio with tiny tables, a trellis overhead, and pots of flowers in summer. The wooden floors inside are ancient and
creak; the ceiling is low and beamed. You
can watch the bakers in the back rolling out dough. It’s cozy and quaint. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tjXzztaqgwmcPJqX4ie6Yzji-PbmyuKxdx0gmeIqJ6bY51NsSrPeneQY2fuhX-wFF_R9N5RAiqjJ3PbiOcBj-lnhHloEKWBOUPNQxxTvYanR4cTS5Dw05qCNk-AbGsmPysumzEZ9Wo0/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tjXzztaqgwmcPJqX4ie6Yzji-PbmyuKxdx0gmeIqJ6bY51NsSrPeneQY2fuhX-wFF_R9N5RAiqjJ3PbiOcBj-lnhHloEKWBOUPNQxxTvYanR4cTS5Dw05qCNk-AbGsmPysumzEZ9Wo0/s320/photo+2.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m all about aesthetics and my surroundings have the
ability to transport me to my happy place.
I go to Standard bakery for the bread, but also for the pleasure of
being in their space. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">On the day before Thanksgiving, their stock was twice as
much as usual and wet customers wormed their way in a line around the tiny
space, laughing with each other as they prepared for family and the next day’s
feast. The atmosphere was as warm as
their pastry -- jovial, communal. The
lighting was dim. I felt transported to
another time….maybe to the French countryside.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">We came for soft yeast and anadama dinner rolls, but left
with a pear frangipane tart and six croissants as well. When turkey becomes unappealing, I’ll melt
black forest ham and swiss with a maple champagne mustard on them for our
lunches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">“You know,” I said to Frank as we exited, hoods on in the
pouring rain, “even if we don’t need bread, we should always come here the day
before Thanksgiving just for the pleasure that just was!!!” Big smiles on both of us…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/standardbakingco?rf=108131349229016">https://www.facebook.com/standardbakingco?rf=108131349229016</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Top photo taken from Facebook page of Standard Baking Company</span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-23513094070936712552013-11-16T10:16:00.002-05:002013-11-16T10:19:03.994-05:00Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqVZed3RYBEHgjJ4KgPlzw9g63WqP_BI2d-iTA98jB3O7KF7Tmetpk-ilgfok7v7tuO8SX9Clmov0AqaSH_if1zZjGTuO1Wa8e_qFshL_Os1kNFnjrQKs1N0HiXlU67LZJSSOjYoTSGg/s1600/001+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqVZed3RYBEHgjJ4KgPlzw9g63WqP_BI2d-iTA98jB3O7KF7Tmetpk-ilgfok7v7tuO8SX9Clmov0AqaSH_if1zZjGTuO1Wa8e_qFshL_Os1kNFnjrQKs1N0HiXlU67LZJSSOjYoTSGg/s400/001+(2).JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">October 20. 9:22
a.m. 52 degrees in Maine….and I have
already brought out the cushions for the deck set from their storage spot in
the garage and am sipping coffee overlooking our glorious back yard, so
grateful I’ve come outside.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The morning
sun forces me to squeeze my eyes shut when the sun umbrella floats upward in
the wind and the morning sun hits my face – it is so bright. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Blinding.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">It must have rained earlier this morning; everything is wet
and glistening in the sun. The breeze
rustles the colored leaves that remain on trees, hanging on for maybe only a
matter of a few days more….but I’ve captured right here, right now. I didn’t let this fantastic scene slip away
unnoticed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">“<i>Leaves don’t drop,
they just let go….”</i> the line from
Carrie Newcomber’s song plays in my mind….no forcing, no pushing, no doing
anything. Just letting go. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Maine in fall is breath taking. Yesterday, we walked Evergreen Cemetery on
Stevens Avenue, one of my favorite places…in the world. Truly.
The ancient, giant trees in there are awe-inspiring. The dirt roads curve and meander through the
quiet; the chapel is locked tightly; the colors and smell of fall
inspiring.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">My backyard this morning smells fresh. The early morning light sparkles. I feel the heat of the sun’s rays on my bare
legs and cheeks. The autumn colors are
vivid green grass, deep earthy brown in the garden where my husband pulls weeds
for season’s end, leaves of gold, auburn, geranium red, yellow. Birds flit and
chase one another to and from my husband’s feeders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Art, Julia Cameron
says, is born out of paying attention.
Being present and a part of nature causes me to sigh, feel genuinely
grateful, and calm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">A million things to do – iron, begin making my sauce for
dinner, run, make the bed… blah blah is all I hear. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Nothing to do is ok….and oftentimes, even
better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo: a home en route to Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth</i></span></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-13956490796186780622013-10-31T07:53:00.002-04:002013-10-31T07:53:54.416-04:00Gone to Carolina in my Mind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9jpsMCB_LHmIPL1m-F3ZY3RAweqQXVWRIIg6Zdjlda734EJhUmQuUXhABsdcmub_xR-kLz5ZzB3siddL6YxNn5y8UzspEFrFx5Q8xE5Bc9rzcVxAC0E24DQjQaHcCHcK3kvtotNQDLQ/s1600/fall2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9jpsMCB_LHmIPL1m-F3ZY3RAweqQXVWRIIg6Zdjlda734EJhUmQuUXhABsdcmub_xR-kLz5ZzB3siddL6YxNn5y8UzspEFrFx5Q8xE5Bc9rzcVxAC0E24DQjQaHcCHcK3kvtotNQDLQ/s400/fall2.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">When I set out to write </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Away
at a Camp in Maine</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">, my goal was to write a book that made me (and thereby
my reader) feel like a James Taylor song.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I wanted to capture the <i>feeling</i>
– the quiet, the calm, the beauty, the nature, the essence, the real-ness, the
sweet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">When I hear the first string of
his guitar in any James Taylor song, I feel the rhythm of my heart slow down
just a beat. I smile. I am instantly transported to another time, a
time in the 1970’s when I was a teenager full of so much hope and promise –
when all the world was good, when anything was possible. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s my “Carolina.” It transports me to my happy place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">As a writer, words are my elixir. They pirouette around my mind, dropping like
falling leaves, gently floating around in my head, twisting, bending. When they’re best, they’re quiet, calm,
beautiful, natural…… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>"Can't you see the sunshine</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Can't you just feel the moonshine"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Words are what create the pictures for me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Words calm me and allow me to make sense, or
at least accept, what I see around me -- people, others’ conversations, the
world. They uplift me as I walk alone
and choose just the right word for what I’m seeing, smelling, hearing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Some people likely see pictures, in Technicolor. Or they revel in music. But me, I can close my eyes and it’s the
words in my mind that create the pictures that can bring me to my “Carolina,”
that can transport me to anywhere in the universe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I have a rich world between my ears and
whenever I wish, I just pull inward and transport. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Carolina In My Mind<i>,” James Taylor: Greatest Hits. </i> Warner Bros Records, Inc. </span><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">©</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> 1976 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-58276284140839870052013-10-15T07:32:00.002-04:002013-10-15T07:37:03.311-04:00Parenting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzupz6WMR75HB4bS0X1tECRk5LzQQmUiqzRWPMmNQgJZQTp87jvCEtftIIPdlSmSESGrsJd4jlb4vZv0JqTClEJwEKZTe2JnNtjldAGmQHcb3RNS63KYrWsaJH1KMeWB4dwCpxERsdMQ/s1600/fall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzupz6WMR75HB4bS0X1tECRk5LzQQmUiqzRWPMmNQgJZQTp87jvCEtftIIPdlSmSESGrsJd4jlb4vZv0JqTClEJwEKZTe2JnNtjldAGmQHcb3RNS63KYrWsaJH1KMeWB4dwCpxERsdMQ/s320/fall.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Parenting younger
children was easier to me than parenting young adults and then partnering with
adult children. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My husband’s and my
principals and values in raising toddlers were in sync with each other. We both saw the importance of structure and
routine, being that type naturally ourselves.
We walked the walk of a healthy lifestyle with daily outdoor
play/exercise, healthy meals and snacks (albeit with sweets daily!), a bedtime
routine, and the same time to bed each night. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He and I, and thereby our children, rose early and retired early after a
full day. We live in moderation – we
don’t spend too much, eat too much, talk too much, play too much, or work too
much. We were cautious and (overly?)
attentive parents. We set the tone for
our household based on who we were and expected a mutual respect, civility,
kindness, and calm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are free thinkers
and allowed our children always to talk and debate their ideas. Our children have labeled us “authoritative”
parents, something they learned in high school psychology class which means we:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">listen to our children</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">encourage independence</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">place limits, consequences and
expectations </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">on our children’s behavior</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">express warmth and nurturance</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">allow children to express opinions</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">As introverts, we all
understood the need for time alone so there was always that space as they grew
up. That space fostered their discovery
of their creative selves. Creativity is
as human as breathing in my opinion. It’s
just that some open the space to see and feel it, and others keep themselves
too caught up in busyness to let it shine through them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Neither child was a
follower….just like their parents. I
guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But then they became
teenagers and the expectations, vocally shared by high schools and adult
friends, increased. We felt the strain
of pushing our kids into the right sports and activities, to get into good
colleges, into the right courses and the right levels. There are lots of opinions from other parents
circulating – he needs this sort of school or this sort of major to be
successful and find a job; he needs a city; he needs a small college; he needs
a large college; the state university for financial reasons; a private college
for the potential of getting more money in aid; an ivy league school. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I got the
impression that we parents were wrong if we let the students pick the majors and
colleges that jazzed <i>them</i>, if we let them chase dreams (the one time in their
lives when maybe they can), and for letting them fall in love and follow
girlfriends. We’re wrong if we let them
choose based on their art. We’re wrong
if we let them transfer home if they hate college. We’re wrong to let them think and decide for
themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And somehow, that
wrongness just doesn’t work for me. The
majority tells me this…so can the majority be wrong? My gut tells me to stay the course. Each of us comes to the parenting table with
so many different experiences that create our mindset – how we were raised,
what we felt worked, what we felt didn’t, what we want to replicate, and what
we want to avoid at all costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We’ve raised our
children according to our principals and beliefs. Should we succumb to peer pressure now the
way we’ve told them not to? Are we no
longer walking our own walk?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There’s no one right
answer. This is why I say it gets more
difficult when the stakes are higher and the kids are older. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Keeping children from playing in the street
is pretty clear cut. Forcing the
lifeblood out of a young soul just beginning his foray into adulthood isn’t as
clear. Am I hurting him for not pushing him
into a business degree which will allow him (possibly) to find a job, albeit
one he’ll hate? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I guess all we can do
is continue to follow our own instincts, what we believe in, and how deeply we
understand our</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> children </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">now
that they’re adults. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I wish I could
offer advice…but the truth is, no one knows.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-21470159235167552432013-09-29T09:17:00.001-04:002013-11-30T09:02:10.300-05:00Falling Waters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDk2NZKNrT4Ypod2OoxLwitK5NvxJCrvLV-sYTmjp-4UKTMKIne9t12x3HHe0EEsNnAsoqLO4-5AJAH5RKEFDj8eWVpT3kgEBdP6nFzuEuM6_ej4NlK5a3QWnSie7Dg9Ln_XRir3Nj90/s1600/DSC_3698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDk2NZKNrT4Ypod2OoxLwitK5NvxJCrvLV-sYTmjp-4UKTMKIne9t12x3HHe0EEsNnAsoqLO4-5AJAH5RKEFDj8eWVpT3kgEBdP6nFzuEuM6_ej4NlK5a3QWnSie7Dg9Ln_XRir3Nj90/s320/DSC_3698.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">In February, with his birthday money still saved from
December, my husband began searching the internet for a weekend getaway spot
for our anniversary in May. (I am SO
fortunate that that is what he chooses to do with his own gifts or football
winnings.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Bar Harbor, one of our favorite places, seemed a good
choice. We talk about possibly retiring
to Bar Harbor – him a park ranger at Acadia, me, the owner of an adorable
café/bookshop where “the author is on the premises.” Sherman’s could use a little facelift like adding window boxes bursting with colorful flowers
and deep green ivy, best sellers and Maine-authored books in their extensive
sidewalk window space, earth tone colors, upscale furniture, and a whimsical
sign maybe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The winters Downeast are long…..Bar Harbor or Seal Harbor
are rather far away…..not sure if those dreams will ever be realized, but going
for weekends and “dreaming” is half the fun.
Ahead of our weekend, I bought Frank “<i>Mr. Rockefeller’s Roads</i>” from Downeast Books to teach us and make
us appreciate the Acadia carriage roads even more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The upcoming ten-odd days heading into Memorial Day weekend
rained. My planters on the deck risked
being washed out and I hated to think I threw $150 to purchase those flowers down the drain, so to
speak. Frank is a routine kind of guy and
checking each day the 14-day forecast heading into our weekend really weighed
him down. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">“No worries,” I smiled. “We’ll be fine. We cannot control the weather. Let’s let it go.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">And you know what, Plan B is sometimes a welcome and
enlightening avenue. If it was sunny,
we’d have sat beside the pool at Harborside Resort all Saturday afternoon. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Instead, with map in hand, we drove around
the entire island (in the pouring rain).
We’ve never done that on our travels there and we saw so much! “The Bubbles” makes me laugh every time I say
it. How can anyone not want to go to
Bubble Pond? Seal Harbor and Northeast
Harbor are definitely our favorites. The
views – breathtaking, quintessential Maine.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Instead of biking the carriage trails on Saturday, we got a
couples massage in the spa, something Frank has never done….and he was actually
nervous! What fun. We laughed, sipped ice water with cucumber
(which made Frank make a face), and ran through puddles in our flip flops
across the courtyard back to our hotel, with wood fireplace blazing…..at the kick off weekend of summer, not dead of winter, end of
May. That's Maine!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">We snuggled close walking under a shared umbrella along the
shore path in front of the Bar Harbor Hotel.
At 51, we wore sensible shoes and 3 layers of jackets – which happens to
make all the difference. The weather
isn’t bad when you dress for it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">We sat in our hot tub on the deck, looking at Bar Island…and
sometimes the fog. We had an afternoon
cocktail from the picnic basket I packed ahead, ate delicious food at local
restaurants, and relaxed. It was a
welcome break in our routine. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Frank and
I, for being together so very long, are completely in sync with our travel – we
like the same type of restaurants and food; the same sorts of hotels; and trips
that comprise nature and exercise first and foremost. There’s quiet and conversation, rest and
exercise, and lots of photos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">An anniversary in the rain and forty-eight degrees….nearly
in June….in beautiful Maine on the coast – you know what…..it doesn’t get
better. </span>Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-50017665254428033192013-09-11T07:12:00.002-04:002013-09-11T07:21:03.520-04:00A New Day Has Come<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">We fly
my younger son from Maine to Georgia this morning to begin his freshman year of
college. With mixed emotions, one of my
longtime favorite songs, one that deeply resonates with my life with sons, plays in my mind……<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQKdPkirU3Awjl6fFe75DY-P0nE4HgZipTj9k0BqH__ifpScTukMP2GWTn9F4l0MpO5beY7t3RKfyvRZtp3gY-IJFasX0L2XiVeG08KVY7WNPykyPNPw1-uZvA6gbar0U2zOQErrswSs/s1600/IMG_0016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQKdPkirU3Awjl6fFe75DY-P0nE4HgZipTj9k0BqH__ifpScTukMP2GWTn9F4l0MpO5beY7t3RKfyvRZtp3gY-IJFasX0L2XiVeG08KVY7WNPykyPNPw1-uZvA6gbar0U2zOQErrswSs/s320/IMG_0016.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I was waiting for so long<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">For a miracle to come<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Everyone told me to be strong<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Home, home and don’t shed a tear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Through the darkness and good times<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I knew I’d make it through<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And the world thought I had it all<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">But I… was… waiting… for you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Hush now, I see a light in the sky</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Oh, it’s almost blinding me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I can’t believe I’ve been touched by an angel with love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let the rain come down and wash away my tears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let it fill my soul and drown my fears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let it shatter the walls for a new sun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">A new day has …..come<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Where it was dark, now there’s light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Where there was pain, now there’s joy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Where there was weakness, I’ve found my strength<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">All… in… the eyes of a boy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Hush now, I see a light in the sky</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Oh, it’s almost blinding me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I can’t believe I’ve been touched by an angel with love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let the rain come down </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">and wash away my tears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let it fill my soul and drown my fears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let it shatter the walls for a new sun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">A new day has …..come<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Photos: 2007 "life is good" age 13</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">2012, the most common view I've had for a few years - sideview, focused, at his Mac drawing</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Céline Dion singing
New Day Has Come. (C) 2002 Sony Music Entertainment (Canada) Inc.</span></i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">The song was written
by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldo_Nova" title="Aldo Nova"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Aldo Nova</span></i></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">and </span></i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_Moccio" title="Stephan Moccio"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Stephan Moccio</span></i></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">and produced by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Afanasieff" title="Walter Afanasieff"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Walter Afanasieff</span></i></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">and Nova.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-84013027303663854132013-08-30T07:18:00.000-04:002013-08-30T07:19:53.971-04:00Blue Moon<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Facebook exploded with words and photos of our gorgeous blue moon earlier in
August. Full moons elicit magic and awe
in all of us. They inspire us and cause
us to pause for a moment in busy lives to notice and consider nature<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">But what
if you’re two? Wow. Even more magical. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">My
girlfriend’s daughter, Miss Emma, is two.
They were laying on my girlfriend’s bed watching one of Miss Emma’s
shows when all of a sudden, she said:
“What_is_THAT?” as she looked out the window. Blue moon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpn0jFfYRo67O2omK_yQX1gfe9LS-rqk5a1RDvQInasnlaEUx3Xrqd_rdnsQvik8tGfws1oZ1CyRENMmQWl7RilFWijfnrb9v2sovDj9MVQ4SAGoUpLZ7UQTvffDsEVnEp1JFa7MJvJ28/s1600/009+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpn0jFfYRo67O2omK_yQX1gfe9LS-rqk5a1RDvQInasnlaEUx3Xrqd_rdnsQvik8tGfws1oZ1CyRENMmQWl7RilFWijfnrb9v2sovDj9MVQ4SAGoUpLZ7UQTvffDsEVnEp1JFa7MJvJ28/s320/009+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">My friend
hadn’t realized she’d never seen the moon – always in bed, not out and about
that late at night. Miss Emma was
mesmerized and my friend tried to explain what the moon was – not that easy to
do to a two-year-old and then again, everything is magical (and big) to a
two-year old so maybe it’s just like everything else new in her young life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Miss Emma
took the pillow and put it on my friend’s lap, put her arms behind her head
like she’d seen her Dad do on the couch, and lay looking straight out the window,
just watching the moon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">She asked my
friend to turn off the TV….so she could see the moon better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-35976204808904888132013-08-14T07:03:00.001-04:002013-08-14T07:06:56.320-04:00Little Kids at the Beach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_QCxUzri6v8AVKt1rRqQaRRfJ93J4BzlZEsXQAUanbGLp3IhG20Ki29wCp1u75mDtsaEMa_t6QG2zLIB_8arXtwmAvDY5rubddptIUYH9yDHiiH0xvJW7zKC6L3InCNXkjTKp4iFb7E/s1600/DSC_4058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_QCxUzri6v8AVKt1rRqQaRRfJ93J4BzlZEsXQAUanbGLp3IhG20Ki29wCp1u75mDtsaEMa_t6QG2zLIB_8arXtwmAvDY5rubddptIUYH9yDHiiH0xvJW7zKC6L3InCNXkjTKp4iFb7E/s320/DSC_4058.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzu56zIjUlwIeK89u97fY9xF1n-ESae2WH7nh6NH480tS1NCYUAzmaEBkue9kXC7VXPuaWOiG41WgGKQjvSxto-c4RfAODGffkQpxpbk9XIdZpnXrD9EgoXKkG5RDIyesWPqe2pVGOicg/s1600/DSC_4076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzu56zIjUlwIeK89u97fY9xF1n-ESae2WH7nh6NH480tS1NCYUAzmaEBkue9kXC7VXPuaWOiG41WgGKQjvSxto-c4RfAODGffkQpxpbk9XIdZpnXrD9EgoXKkG5RDIyesWPqe2pVGOicg/s320/DSC_4076.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Running.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Jumping.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Skipping.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Twirling
on tippy toes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Ponytails. Gilligan hats. Ruffles on bathing suits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Plastic
watering cans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Pails in
primary colors – bright red, yellow, royal blue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Rocks,
seaweed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Pail
shaped sand castles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Mud
dripped sand castles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Sandcastles
with moats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4z5s1L891eKDbF-ffr3nU2A5ZZbrIFCDmy-sAUd3rXwI4mU8OHs01xzUuzNdcUDnfvuaKmyKFevoiwo3sBDNc-f-854Lo__ohHXBhPyzqNS7viqHE6NKcSECeDf8ctWXyi_Ri5WVDpbE/s1600/DSC_4081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4z5s1L891eKDbF-ffr3nU2A5ZZbrIFCDmy-sAUd3rXwI4mU8OHs01xzUuzNdcUDnfvuaKmyKFevoiwo3sBDNc-f-854Lo__ohHXBhPyzqNS7viqHE6NKcSECeDf8ctWXyi_Ri5WVDpbE/s320/DSC_4081.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And
watching enthusiastically to see if the tide will rise all the way along the
canal that will fill the moat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Shimmering
blond hair blowing in the sea breeze.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Frisbies,
bocci, 4-square, football toss, tennis balls and mitts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Jumping
waves, shivering shoulders, sandy wet towels balled up on the sand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Bologna
sandwiches on white bread with orange Kraft singles and the red Coleman jug
filled with Kool-Aid to share have been replaced with individual juice boxes,
yogurts, cheese stix individually wrapped in plastic sleeves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">They’ll
feel the pull of the waves when they lie down to sleep tonight – back and forth in the tide as though they are still at the shore. And then sleep will come deeply after a day
of fresh air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GNSlFwX4WQX5gtUgn1-1l6hVwC3JoJYz23u1fW4G-KjCTPuy7STi_G4U65VoJezgr1mOfWg6iLKxlp5Re7qChlHZMuSJvVzxIKOVvaJJkyi2Tzw5yanbyMd1Y7B9SMXbcq5psdiuGtY/s1600/DSC_4057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GNSlFwX4WQX5gtUgn1-1l6hVwC3JoJYz23u1fW4G-KjCTPuy7STi_G4U65VoJezgr1mOfWg6iLKxlp5Re7qChlHZMuSJvVzxIKOVvaJJkyi2Tzw5yanbyMd1Y7B9SMXbcq5psdiuGtY/s320/DSC_4057.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I’d be
freckled with a peeling nose and bleached bangs. Our little kids are more
carefully sunscreened, although still free and alive at the beach…and loving
it just like we…still do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photos: Scarborough Beach, Maine</span></i></span></div>
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-90413219843247353712013-07-30T07:18:00.001-04:002013-07-30T07:21:39.380-04:00Blueberries and Rain Ponchos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PgxXuP5mzFV7CTUkhW-0l8f-ZW6_YcNarqrSFkcKBCDu5g0VPyNLbWDR3coEzOdgHtCCxnxkrRVV4328o91m81z9ZPvyvJSfjYgZ-JQ9J8JI4U3J02u4ks2eBGMCMWAwkapPt67y-RI/s1600/116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PgxXuP5mzFV7CTUkhW-0l8f-ZW6_YcNarqrSFkcKBCDu5g0VPyNLbWDR3coEzOdgHtCCxnxkrRVV4328o91m81z9ZPvyvJSfjYgZ-JQ9J8JI4U3J02u4ks2eBGMCMWAwkapPt67y-RI/s320/116.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wlIiLZ0NSWwN5cSRRl6ZwAU0eSErrZhcTTV7yOCCC8ouihCzG62knTUammLUhBYo0T6cb927bcisJesnsmL8KwQlcpsDCMD7_DLHJUae9dsxEOnfpmbheVauy_zKMBKo8PBtqlyDktc/s1600/117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wlIiLZ0NSWwN5cSRRl6ZwAU0eSErrZhcTTV7yOCCC8ouihCzG62knTUammLUhBYo0T6cb927bcisJesnsmL8KwQlcpsDCMD7_DLHJUae9dsxEOnfpmbheVauy_zKMBKo8PBtqlyDktc/s320/117.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">My niece is the nanny for Harlan and Elias – two adorable,
sweet boys. She’s been their nanny since
they were babies…and she’s a good one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">To keep them busy…in the rain… she brought them to my
husband’s garden to pick berries – blueberries and raspberries. Sometimes nannies and moms have to create
from what’s available, improvising and using imagination. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Farmer Frank’s farm is a small patch in the
city, and despite the summer rain, she found oversized “Disney” rain ponchos for
the boys that she and her husband had used on their vacation, put up their
hoods, and brought them over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A couple memorable
quotes while picking:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Wow, look at
that white cucumber!" Elias, checking out the summer squash. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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And, "Farmer
Frank makes the best raspberries I have ever had! He needs to tell Daddy how to
grow a farm." <br />
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<br />Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-60598053206853683652013-07-12T07:15:00.001-04:002013-07-12T07:15:11.344-04:0020 Seconds of Insane Courage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCKCOzShM1PLlT627dAiP5WuWb3LsEjVZfAsHXWNAJYqmSL72BYYk-vUyrryOOJ1aZKFqDVH3gHgyxZD4mPdlaQ8two0b3XkWEu2rZ_YlT1hyphenhyphen6zNM1y4I5RWyk4GVozfhYJFvQutWtR4/s1600/IMG_0211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCKCOzShM1PLlT627dAiP5WuWb3LsEjVZfAsHXWNAJYqmSL72BYYk-vUyrryOOJ1aZKFqDVH3gHgyxZD4mPdlaQ8two0b3XkWEu2rZ_YlT1hyphenhyphen6zNM1y4I5RWyk4GVozfhYJFvQutWtR4/s320/IMG_0211.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">“Sometimes all you need
is twenty seconds of insane courage<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">and I promise you
something great will come of it.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I didn’t
see Matt Damon’s movie, <i>I Bought a Zoo</i>,
but I saw the tagline above and latched onto it. I think there is truth to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">As I’ve
aged, I have more fear than I did when I was young. I have less self-confidence. On the one hand, you’d think you’d have less
fear and more self-confidence as more went right over time than wrong, but it
doesn’t seem to work that way. Perhaps
we dwell on what went wrong over time or didn’t work out as we hoped or planned,
so it begins to take us down a few notches, making us more fearful and less
confident.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I love
listening to people looking backward at the turning points in their lives and decisions
made that changed the entire direction of where they were heading…. into the
direction they seem so suited for. Sometimes,
it seems like one inspired thought or chance encounter, or <i>20 seconds of insane courage</i>, is the pivotal point of change that
guides someone in the “right” direction.
<i>Twenty seconds of insane courage</i>
probably present to each of us many times over our lifetimes. Do we typically step forward into the fear or
stand rooted?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">My
husband, quite profoundly, believes music wasn’t Bono’s “path.” He thinks the music just brought him to his
real purpose – his activism. U2’s music
created the platform and the notoriety that allowed him to make deep and
meaningful changes in our world. What if
he never lived in the <i>twenty seconds of
insane courage</i> and never made the attempt to perform and play his
music? What if he went to work for the
post office because it was a good, stable job at that time and a more realistic
thing to do? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In Steve
Jobs’ biography, it describes the third partner who started Apple with him and
Steve Wozniak. Panicked, the third
partner backed out early on and was given $2,300 for his participation. If he had stayed, his ownership percentage
would have been worth $2.6 billion in 2010!
He let his fear drive him and backed out on the risky venture. The cost of decisions made isn’t always as
clear as this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">When I
stand at the precipice, I am hopeful I will dig deep inside myself and live in
that <i>twenty seconds of insane courage</i>. Being conscious of it might give me the
strength I need to live it, stand in that space, and jump off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo: helicopter view of the Grand Canyon</i></span></span></div>
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-87270559708797021742013-07-01T06:14:00.001-04:002013-07-01T06:16:44.636-04:00Buddy the Elf<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhviqLssNAusuOa3NevBmjaihFEPsgKgQKDr1ILj9RXCZazKHBbIvlIWTuE8tCbqHUdYeu4iXPTWwFajoy7WoQXON9__ChPh77XtFHf0uu45gdY9a2_it7fStd1A1-H4GINhOnEpJ5OIT0/s400/Buddy+the+Elf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhviqLssNAusuOa3NevBmjaihFEPsgKgQKDr1ILj9RXCZazKHBbIvlIWTuE8tCbqHUdYeu4iXPTWwFajoy7WoQXON9__ChPh77XtFHf0uu45gdY9a2_it7fStd1A1-H4GINhOnEpJ5OIT0/s320/Buddy+the+Elf.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I have a colleague who, when she sees it’s me calling her,
answers with a different phrase every time:
“Pat’s Pizza!” “Welcome to WalMart!” “Uncle Leo?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Every time, I laugh.
It’s like our secret joke.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Unrelated, after 6 hours sitting in car dealerships one
Saturday and getting a little punchy, as phones were ringing in the showroom
around us, my son said, “Buddy the Elf!
What’s your favorite color???” --
a line by Will Farrell in <i>Elf</i> when he
was answering his Dad’s phone in his posh New York City office. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I burst out laughing.
Remember, I was punchy after 6 hours there. And then I knew what I had to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">That Monday my colleague didn’t come into the office; her
baby was sick.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Eagerly, I waited until Tuesday. I had laughed ahead of my new joke all
weekend by myself! I emailed her, “Would
you please ring me,” the way my boss emails me….but never for a joke.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">She did and I laid it on her, “Buddy the Elf! What’s your
favorite color??”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">She too burst out laughing.
She’s the funny one, not me. I
caught her completely off guard and that’s when a joke is best, plus….her baby
had been sick the prior day, the man she works with had slammed her the moment
she had arrived that morning at 7:30 a.m. and she was not feeling very
happy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">And I changed her day! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">We laughed a full 10 minutes, moving on to
other scenarios….like her buying me a velvet elf hat on Amazon and my
suggesting the entire elf-girl-Herbie’s-girlfriend-in-Rudolph look with the
triangle shaped velvet skirt to go with the hat and the soft shoes that curled
up at the toes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Funny. Silly. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes it’s the trivial that can turn an entire day around.</span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-9454246445065454412013-06-15T07:10:00.005-04:002013-06-15T07:45:03.567-04:00Clotheslines<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6sGKMgVAQgbOHkG-0CU_4GljFx3TGbszygpEsihzYH-yzTs8N-5ROigEaA15jgN4Dk_PALawCWOMks898gKBSQAzqKwceF8x7dbauDAKxcBQsY70KJzgeY12MH99JI4BTbKW2MiUXAvQ/s1600/clothesline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6sGKMgVAQgbOHkG-0CU_4GljFx3TGbszygpEsihzYH-yzTs8N-5ROigEaA15jgN4Dk_PALawCWOMks898gKBSQAzqKwceF8x7dbauDAKxcBQsY70KJzgeY12MH99JI4BTbKW2MiUXAvQ/s1600/clothesline.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m certain I’m reincarnated from 1910 England…or at least
an earlier era. There are certain odd
things I feel a sense of profound connection to, an attraction that seems to
go deeper than simply liking something.
And as I say, these things I’m attached to are odd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Clothelines are an example.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The clotheslines I’m attracted to must be old-fashioned –
the wooden “T” shape frame on both ends with rope strung across in a rectangle
shape. (The modern 1950’s circle affair
made of aluminum has absolutely no draw for me.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">One of my favorite sights is white sheets blowing in the
wind on the clothesline….and one of my favorite smells is those same sheets
when taken inside from the line. The
sound of the sheets whipping in the wind on the line makes me happy and
comforted. It’s the sight, the sound,
the smell – that’s when you know you’ve deeply connected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">And they can’t be patterned sheets on the
line but white sheets – crisp, clean, fresh.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9fTlto9wXHtZ_hBmza5DAZz6aZR7T9q6pNWsXgjLEJCkG_g1G_99Zjo8NQeCiKtfFw7o-HSqiTCFbz3LID_iZlU9nPe7qVjZZ7Iwo0MldWNxlGUa-VuCz1koV1SMoexUQ4X4aKe4Pqs/s1600/clothesline2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9fTlto9wXHtZ_hBmza5DAZz6aZR7T9q6pNWsXgjLEJCkG_g1G_99Zjo8NQeCiKtfFw7o-HSqiTCFbz3LID_iZlU9nPe7qVjZZ7Iwo0MldWNxlGUa-VuCz1koV1SMoexUQ4X4aKe4Pqs/s1600/clothesline2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I imagine the cotton bag holding the clothespins – wooden, of
course, and preferably not the clip kind but the old fashioned slim line ones
that look like a little man called <i>clothespegs </i>– round head with no features, 2 legs, simple
Shaker-like design. Designed and created
according to what works best. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The
laundry basket must be old and wicker, never a Rubbermaid bucket which may be
practical but can’t cut it for my vision.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX84NjmJg-hX3FtdgWFLlzVNRWhlHLyrOqHdbPc1hF_4Hs8UoFsQVtfQsW6_U3HmRWycj8LY1lY8gm6hJMzSVAZgWYh9ICdkFVKOZHDktmHdHZJGQadnmP7Q9NzG0d4VwLvfwJ0t1V7f8/s1600/clothespegs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX84NjmJg-hX3FtdgWFLlzVNRWhlHLyrOqHdbPc1hF_4Hs8UoFsQVtfQsW6_U3HmRWycj8LY1lY8gm6hJMzSVAZgWYh9ICdkFVKOZHDktmHdHZJGQadnmP7Q9NzG0d4VwLvfwJ0t1V7f8/s1600/clothespegs.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a certain feeling of productivity and industry in
seeing laundry drying outdoors. Someone has
washed it for the family and taken the time to hang it on the line. She will then take it down, fold it, iron it
for her family to wear again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In college, there was a short story I read as an English
major that has haunted me my entire life.
I don’t know why it lingers with me. It was about a
woman ironing. She recounted her life and throughout the story said.... “as
I stood ironing.” It was the act of
standing there, quietly ironing, that made her think, remember and reflect
on her life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Household chores can put us in a meditative state – sweeping a floor,
chopping vegetables, washing dishes by hand…and hanging clothes outside on a
line in the sunshine, fresh air, and gentle summer breeze. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">There
is something to be said for simple physical tasks, done in silence, as a sort
of meditation to calm us…getting us away from cell phones, computers, and the
noise of our lives.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photos selected from pinterest.com/lschrenk/clotheslines-old-fashioned</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I was introduced to 3 beautiful new websites....</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">#1 "miss the simple life" <a href="http://mybluecanoe.tumblr.com/">mybluecanoe.tumblr.com</a></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">#2 "linen on the line - perfect" from <a href="http://www.laylagrayce.com/">laylagrayce.com</a> </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">#3 "clothespegs" <a href="http://lestroischouettes.tumblr.com/">lestroischouettes.tumblr.com</a></span></i></span></div>
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-44481406691581923602013-05-31T06:40:00.004-04:002013-05-31T06:45:22.234-04:00Magical Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">“Sooner
or later, we are handed the brute, necessary curriculum of surrender. We have no choice, then, but to bow our heads
and learn. We struggle to accept that
our children’s destinies are not ours to write, their battles not ours to
fight, their bruises not ours to bear, nor their victories ours to own or take
credit for. We learn humility and how to
ask for help. We learn to let go even
when every fiber of our being yearns to hold on tighter. We learn that love is necessary, but that
love doesn’t always save people. We
learn that we can’t change someone else; we can only change ourselves. We can go down fighting, or we can begin to
practice acceptance. Grace comes as we
loosen, at last, our white-knuckled grip on what ought to be – but even grace is
not always gentle or chosen. Sometimes
it arrives disguised as a burden – as loss or hurt or unwanted upheaval.”</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">~~
Katrina Kenison<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Katrina Kenison is one of my favorite authors…and could be
my friend. Several years ago, I read <i>The
Gift of an Ordinary Day</i> at the perfect time.
I was beginning to slow down a little and becoming more grateful for
what was, versus ever-pushing toward what might be. My copy is dog-eared, highlighted, and referred back to often. You can tell my best books by what’s written
in the margins. A friend has told me she cannot borrow my books because she’s
too distracted by my highlights and notes, wondering what I was thinking to write THAT? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Now has come <i>Magical Journey</i>….again at just the right
time….middle age. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Katrina speaks with
honesty and compassion; her words like a warm embrace. She yearns for simplicity and the natural world. You can visit her website at </span><a href="http://www.katrinakenison.com/">http://www.katrinakenison.com/</a>.<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt
from: </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kenison, Katrina<i>. Magical Journey. </i>New York:
Grand Central Publishing, 2013 p. 147.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-67166590908916829742013-05-14T07:31:00.000-04:002013-05-14T07:35:40.837-04:00YOLO<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-G9LwM-ab9M-YKPjDvTNIV70pCiz0Z-V2qHGQGax4x1K4-O1dDMm5HQybpRjWGhL0raxOamVrj9DKKMIIvuJ_BcVUele5q5dYfiPGK9hBnBQwcLzaxmnpPZIe3p0gwMRQITe-P13Z3TQ/s1600/081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-G9LwM-ab9M-YKPjDvTNIV70pCiz0Z-V2qHGQGax4x1K4-O1dDMm5HQybpRjWGhL0raxOamVrj9DKKMIIvuJ_BcVUele5q5dYfiPGK9hBnBQwcLzaxmnpPZIe3p0gwMRQITe-P13Z3TQ/s320/081.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">YOLO is my older son’s mantra. He says it when a story warrants it; he’s
taken a photo of a license plate that said it and carries it in his
iPhone. Talking to me by phone from NYC
on a hot July night, he said it to me:
“You YOLO’d today, Mom. You
YOLO’d.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He was right. I had.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You
only live once.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A few years ago, my husband and I were looking for camps to
rent and found one on the internet located at Bell’s Point in Harrison, Maine
on Long Lake. Our friend had a camp on
Long Lake so we Googled “Bell’s Point” to see where on the lake this rental
might be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What came up in the Google search was a professional
photograph of the most beautiful shingled cottage on a point, surrounded by the
lake and trees. I loved it. It was “my” type of cottage – large wrap
around porch, varying roof lines, small paned windows. I printed the photo and began using it as a
book mark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If that cottage was a neighbor to the rental, we thought it
might be a good spot to check out so we drove to Harrison to look at it. We did like the rental, and when we walked
out onto the dock to look at the swimming area, to our left was….that cottage
on the point. That cottage was the
rental’s next door neighbor and in person, it was even more beautiful than in
the photo. To think I could sit sunning,
looking at that lovely camp, was a dream, and we called the owner of the rental
to book it. Unfortunately, the weeks we
wanted in July were all taken. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was within a week that we were visiting the book shop at
L L Bean to see if my book, <u>Away at a Camp in Maine</u>, was on the shelves
yet. There, right in front of me, was
the most stunning coffee table book of photography showing Maine dwellings
built suitably into their surroundings, as if they belonged in their settings
rather than garish or outlandish outcroppings that interrupted and upset the
natural flow of the space. On the cover
of the book was the Bell’s Point cottage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That cottage had presented to me three times in the course of 10
days….so I had to write the owner. The
occasion was too serendipitous not to.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I sent her a copy of my camp book and all my good wishes and
appreciation of her cottage. She wrote
back the most lovely letter. I got
her. She got me. And... she invited me to visit her at the
point that summer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">YOLO. I visited on a
Friday afternoon, the kick off of my own summer vacation. I had the most wonderful afternoon spending
time with her and her partner, sitting in the rocking chairs on that glorious
porch, sipping herbal iced tea with mint, munching crisp vegetables and humus
they offered, chatting about their lives, their pre-retirement jobs, their
painting and photography and piano playing.
We swam in the lake late in the afternoon, laughing, and talking like
we’d known each other forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">YOLO. I took a
chance. I wrote someone I didn’t know
when moved to do so. She reached out and
offered to let me visit, a stranger. And
we connected. I made a new friend under
the most unusual of circumstances. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
will forever remember her generosity of spirit, the beauty of her cottage, and
the feel of the gentle afternoon wind blowing across the lake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-49018505504116604972013-04-30T06:53:00.003-04:002013-04-30T06:53:56.136-04:00Mothers<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSRsOG-wC1yCjsXoJohyphenhyphend0Pb0K7lkfAKDm-GIP6SxloigW1mB3FwZHCKYIaAZV_QC7phOLonmDRB1rYZK3CNcArKYbKjRiD7GP1l_5JoH-N6Qp_zlR3PNLutTufnHjn-kZVk0OeE7PhY/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSRsOG-wC1yCjsXoJohyphenhyphend0Pb0K7lkfAKDm-GIP6SxloigW1mB3FwZHCKYIaAZV_QC7phOLonmDRB1rYZK3CNcArKYbKjRiD7GP1l_5JoH-N6Qp_zlR3PNLutTufnHjn-kZVk0OeE7PhY/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I like to
buy my own gifts (to my husband’s dismay); I like gift cards (when my sister
says if all I can select for her is a gift card, don’t even bother!); and I prefer
dishwashers or a new fridge if I need one over something frivolous or romantic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">But from
my very first year as a mother, a WONDERFUL Mother’s Day gift was a must! I saw how on this day (and on Father’s Day),
it is so important to show our mums & dads how much they mean to us and thank
them for all they do, day in and day out.
On this one day, I absolutely feel I deserve the best….and want effort made!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Often, in
mothering my own sons, I’ve thought about how I want to do it – what to give,
what not to give, how much to hold, how much to push, how much to say or not
say. I’ve looked to my own upbringing to
lead my way. I was one of the fortunate
ones to have been given the perfect mother for me – so much of the good in my
life and my relationships has come from what she taught me through her own actions and way of being with me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Every
child is different so the same mother’s qualities may touch siblings in diverse
ways. Their experience may or may not be
similar. I’ve also seen that mothering
over different phases of life can be different – a young mother to a first
child can be a very different mother ten years later to the last child. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In honor
of Mother’s Day, I want to give a big hug (from afar) to my mom for all she did
for me and share the best things she gave to me:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><i>her laughter, her smile</i></span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">M</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">y mom is funny.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">She’s a bit of a comedienne, without trying.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">She laughs most of the time and from deep in
her belly; it’s honest, heartfelt….and infectious.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><i>her attention</i></span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I can vividly remember coming home from school
in the second grade and my mom, sitting on the couch, would ask, “How was your
day?” I would proceed to give her the
blow by blow description of every minute of my school day….. “Well, when I got
on the bus……” And she’d listen. My day seemed the most important thing to
her. She didn’t shut me down, not have
time for me, or quell a child’s enthusiasm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><i>her play</i></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">My mom would rather take us to the beach than
clean the house, so that’s what we did!
She taught us to skate, ski, dance, play, eat ice cream, sled,
swim. She was a do-er. We got out there and tried everything. Oftentimes, she’d have to go to work at
night, but we’d spend that entire day at the beach and drop sandy towels at the
door as she slipped on an outfit and rushed to work. We slept deeply after hard days of play; she
worked and never let it hold her back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><i>her stepping back</i></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">This may sound a bit counter-intuitive, but it
was perfect parenting for a child like me (and happens to be the perfect way to
parent my own older son). She let me
loose. I made my own decisions from when
I was a small child. I was never too
fat, too crazily dressed, too dramatic, or not giving my all. She never criticized me. She let me date a boy from the time I was 13,
although her friends were telling her she must shut that down; she let me get
on a plane to England when I was 21 when it was not as common as it is today;
she let me build a deep relationship with my father, her ex-husband; and made
room for me to choose 100% for myself the life I wanted to live. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">And….I’ve been married
to that boy for 27 years, England and my European travel were one of the most
joyous times of my life, and my father’s influence is the reason I’ve been in
the investment field for 30 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">My mom was right.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">She was good.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Her love for me shows in everything she does and says. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">What she gave, mattered so much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Happy Mother’s Day to my
mom….and all moms.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">And a great BIG thank
you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Mom at Shelburne Farm, Vermont</span></i></span></div>
Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283936037192799250.post-16526240389775036122013-04-14T07:57:00.000-04:002013-04-14T08:14:53.669-04:00Mama Mia<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">So what is it about the movie <i>Mama Mia</i> that absolutely, completely, thoroughly sweeps me far, far
away? What compelled me to see it at
least a half dozen times in the cinema with anyone willing to go with me….and
then buy it when I only own about 3 DVD movies….and watch it, now probably
upward of 25 times? What is it about
that movie?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s EVERYTHING.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s everything that speaks directly to me and cuts me to my
core.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">the friendships - among the young girls, the older women, the men, the friends participating in the wedding, the Greeks working at the inn</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">the scenery - the sea glistens, the stone terra cotta villa shimmers in the sun, the bright colors on their summer clothing, and the vibrant bed sheets hanging across the courtyard</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">the chapel....high up on a mountain in the middle of the sea...that the bride gets to by donkey with tiny white lights twinkling to mark the rugged staircase to the top</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">the fact that Donna (Meryl Streep) has old friends coming from far away...and hasn't made her bed. I would never do that, but would secretly love to.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><i>Dancing Queen </i>- oh my goodness, it's <i>Dancing Queen </i>-- one of my all time favorite movie scenes. The scene captures "the old days" of the girl band for Donna and her middle aged friends simultaneously with the hardworking Greek women who throw off their bundles of sticks carried on their backs and their aprons to join the dancing tribe of women skipping through the woods down to the sea where they dance in unison on a giant dock and then jump in. The scene is pure, unadulterated joyful women escaping and being free-spirited for a collective moment!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">the story - I laugh out loud and discover my sense of humor</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">the final scene of the wedding in the chapel and the 3 dads and how Sophie doesn't care if her mom "slept with hundreds of men"</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">the ending - long lost love found at midlife, two young people leaving to find a life of their own and start their exciting journey with a feeling of "possiblity" that only young people can feel as purely</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">it's ordinary people coming together and touching each other through conversation, laughter, dancing, comeraderie, shared experience</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Ah-h-h. It has all
the elements that touch and move me deeply.
It makes me smile, laugh, cry, and feel better every time I watch
it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If art can do that to just one
person….success. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Kim Kalickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889895489318988836noreply@blogger.com