Saying Goodbye

Dear Readers:

It is time to say farewell to Lost in Maine.  After moving to Maryland last fall, both the title and idea don't seem right.  The 131 posts helped me sort out many things over the past few years, the biggest being that I truly found my adult self in the beautiful state of Maine.

After 22 years there it's on to another adventure on the Eastern Shore.  Yes, I miss Maine, but have no regrets-this is where we are meant to be at this time in our lives. And of course I am still ruminating over life and my part in it, so I invite you to check out my new blog Mockingbird Journal.  I hope to have it up and running in the next few days.

Thank you for the many thoughtful comments I've received. I feel sad, saying goodbye, but it's time to move on.

With love,

Julia

Quiet Mystery

It has been a wild few months...endless unpacking, lengthy lists of minutiae, too many new experiences to count.  Truthfully, there have been times when I wasn't sure I'd make it to the next day.  But here we are, happily, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Although I have tried to continue my contemplative practice each morning, I confess to taking shortcuts at times.  That hasn't done me any good.  My spinning mind just whirls ever faster and the day gets off to a frantic start.

The photo above is from a nearby walking trail near our house.  It's a perk we didn't know about when we bought this place.  Since I've yet to get a piano studio together I try to take this walk several afternoons a week.  It has become a touchstone for me and I call it my River Monastery.

Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; caps and bells.

                   And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng's clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed One, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.

"Primary Wonder" by Denise Levertov

Welcome to the World

Zev Gabriel 

May 4, 2014

Counting the Days

Thank you, dear grandson, for waiting until after Easter to make your appearance in this world. Anytime is fine now; I can't wait to meet you.