old things and memories

 Today is the 4th day of the 43rd week, the 22nd day of the 10th month, the 295th day of 2025, and:

• Birth of the Báb - Observed the first day after the eighth new moon following Naw-Rúz
• Clean Up the Earth Day
• Eat a Pretzel Day
• INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY
• International Stuttering Awareness Day
• Jidai Matsuri -  The Festival of the Ages celebrated in Kyoto with parades and folks dressed in authentic attire representing different periods in Japanese history.  On this day in 794, Emperor Kanmu relocated his capital to what is now known as Kyoto. 
• Kof Awareness Day
• Lung Health Day
• Medical Assistants Recognition Day
• National Color Day
• National Knee Day
• National Make a Dog's Day 
• National Nut Day
• National Sparkling Water Day
• National Tavern-Style Pizza Day
• National Tex Mex Day
• Smart is Cool Day
• Unity Day - celebrated since 2011 and to be celebrated by wearing orange to indicate commUNITY against bullying in all its forms 
• Wombat Day
• and Voyager 1 is ~23h 26m 30s of light travel time from Earth

Quote of the day:
"The practice of mindful breathing is an act of self-love, a declaration of gratitude for this life, and a political act of empowerment in which we choose the present moment, even when that moment is filled with mourning."

~  Valerie Brown, “The Lightness of Breathing”

Every time I moved, I lost bits and pieces of my literary past.  When I left my first husband, all of my books were left behind, including my high school yearbooks, and my collections about Napoleon and Native Americans - some of them were pretty old as I bought them from a second hand book seller down on Reed Street the summer I worked downtown at the Maryland State Library.  When I left my apartment at Noyes Circle back in 2007, I had to give away over half of my collection - and that was after all of Frank's collections had been taken by his nephew.  

When I moved from a three bedroom to a two bedroom apartment in 2009, my library was halved again as I was losing an entire room of bookcases.  Most of those books were taken to The Book Thing or kept by the lady who took them there because she wanted some of the series I had such as the entire collection of Babylon 5 scripts

And when it came time to move last year,  once again I had to downsize because there just wasn't enough room in my new place for all those bookshelves.  And so, I chose to get rid of most of the non-fiction collection as I seldom reread those books.  And yes, I touched each one the day before they came to take them away.  There were all the knowledge management books, and the team building books, and the organizational development books filled with my underlining, highlighting and scribbled comments.  Three bookcases full of books that no longer could stay with me and thanks to Frank, I knew they would go somewhere where they could be used  

But yes, now and then I find myself looking for a book or item and wondering what happened to it.

I had an entire box of Keep collective jewelry - different charms bought at different times.  Watches with interchangeable straps.  Finger watches.  Necklaces.  Bracelets with multiple strands and charms that could be changed.  Special Disney and Hogwarts charms.  My daughter had a party.  I hosted a party.  Everything kept in one very large, substantial wood cigar box.   

And then I moved.  

For over a year I have told myself that I will find that box packed away with some other things, but no matter where I have looked, I haven't found it.  Did I decide to give it away?  Did a box go astray?  Is it actually somewhere in that storage unit and I've just overlooked it?  Who knows at this point

There are many things that I have ended up removing from my life as time progressed - it isn't the items themselves I miss as much as I silently mourn what their disappearance meant.  I used to wear high heels all the time - when my feet started swelling I had to go to flats.  I used to have an extensive collection of boots, especially western boots - gave them all away.  As my ankles swelled, all but the long skirts slowly disappeared.  My daughter has most of the old Christmas ornaments collected over the years, including those made by both her and my son when they were younger, as I didn't put up a full sized tree anymore.  The star that always topped Grandmom Hughes' Christmas tree that I loved so much disappeared somehow in the move from the house on Poplar Drive to the apartment on Noyes Circle.  When my mother's things were boxed up and sent, the red maple hope chest left my life, and between my apartment and her senior living space, her father's doughboy helmet just vanished - she thought I had kept it but I had packed it away for her.    

Just....   gone.  Little pieces of the past lost in the mists, leaving no trace behind other than an occasional wistful contemplation....

Ah well, what has been cannot be changed and life goes on one day at a time, each day bringing its own load of joys, sorrows, and memories....

It's been 13 days I've been cancer free and have a hole in my head.  

It's been 127 days since I said goodbye for the last time to Tommy

It's been 275 days since the current regime took power.

And Triscuit and I both greeted the sunrise this morning.