Monday, July 20, 2009

Rest in Peace Matthew Thompson

If you're a lucky person, at some point you develop a relationship with someone who burns brightly in your life. You share a passion for life that may not be understood by others. For me, one of those people was my dear friend, Matthew.

Together we sought the labyrinth at Chartes and we walked the red light district of Amsterdam.We baked in the Honduran sun and we hunched against the cold wind at the Eiffel Tower. We hiked the Guatemalan jungle and marveled at the ancient footprints in Managua, Nicaragua. We laughed at the airport in El Salvador and at the train station in Brussels. We took trains, planes, automobiles, subways, taxis, trams and busses.

Inbetween we lay awake deep into the night and talked about things never spoken aloud except by travelers in hotel rooms in foreign lands. It was Matthew who looked into my being and stated the obvious that had been overlooked by everyone else. We bought matching jewelry to commemorate coming through difficult times and picked up rocks to remember happy times. We shared each other's joys and kept each other's secrets. I was never sure if either of us was traveling to find something or to forget something, or if it mattered.

Then a few years ago, life's journey brought Matthew to a place where he found something he wanted to stay still for - seminary and the boat he loved, and we didn't travel together anymore although we stayed in contact. Then about a year ago he married long time friend, Lora, and they have been on a journey together that seemed a happy one.

Matthew embarked on a new journey today as he passed from this world. I am so thankful for the time I shared in his bright light.
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It's Pumpkins



Today I went to the backyard and noticed the mass of pumpkin vines was not as big as it was when I was out there a few days ago. It was about 2/3 the size, and some leaves had turned brown. As I approached, I saw what these leaves had now revealed - pumpkins!

I'm not sure what I expected underneath the pumpkin vines, but there are pumpkins. I expected those eventually, but not yet. I have some that are orange, some green and some inbetween. I do not, however, have any watermelons or cantalopes, which I had planted in the same area. I guess this is survival of the fittest in action.

I'm not sure they will last until Halloween, which is why I planted pumpkins. I guess I'll just leave them be and see what happens. That's sort of my approach to gardening in a nutshell - put it in, give it some water and hope for the best.

Today was pretty nice here so I got the lawn mowed and took care of some other outside things. Unfortunately, those things never seem to get done either - just like housework. It's hard to get motivated to do them over and over again.

I could use one more weekend day to get things done. But, tomorrow will be a fun day at work. It's the 40th anniversary of the moon landing and we have a full day's worth of activities planned to commemorate the occasion. So, it will be interesting.
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Subscribe for free to Patsy's Ponderings in email or your choice of a reader.

Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, cooking and more. Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk and other social media sites of your choosing.

All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.