Julanne's Village Jewels

A LAKE SILENCE Since I have been living at the Village, one of the benefits I have NOTICED and treasure is the SILENCE. I experience SILENCE both indoors and outdoors, particularly outdoors. My favorite thing to do is walk around the lake and then sit on a bench and watch the birds, the fountain and the wildlife. It is an intricate part of my routine. I feel so blessed because the path around the lake is so close to my door. It is like stepping into another world. It fairly takes my breath away every time.   My son from California visited me last week. It was a delight to be with him in my new home. We enjoyed doing what I do so often, walking and sitting and watching. One of the highlights for both of us was a visit to Sweetwater Wetlands Preserve. Oh my, talk about SILENCE! We did hear birds calling every so often but the majority of the time it was STILLNESS. It was amazing to watch each bird just hunt and peck, like they do here in the lake. The beauty and the ‘sc...

END OF THE DAY INVENTORY I became keenly AWARE of the importance of taking an INVENTORY of my life (once again) yesterday. It was a day of somberness and gleeful joy for me. That doesn’t happen too often to me in one day. The somberness part was visiting a friend in Hospice. A wonderful woman I have known many years  and from whom I have received so much. Three mutual friends, two from East coast, one woman’s delightful daughter whom I had never met, and one from Gainesville were reunited on behalf of our friend. It was joyous to see each other and to support our friend. The juxtaposition of the emotions felt was profound for me. All kinds of feelings and memories came wafting by. Some were regrets that I hadn’t   . . .but they were very short lived. What I experienced was this flood of love and affection among all of us. My friend from Gainesville and I went on to have pizza and enjoy the day. We shared our appreciation of each other and of our friends....