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Category Archives: Observations

Sep 25 2010

Going Up

by Holly

As I was weaving my way through Sears to get out of the mall, I overheard a little boy exclaim to his parents, “Look, an escalator!”

His enthusiasm was befitting of a basket of kittens or, say, a Matt Damon sighting in Harvard Square. But no, it was an escalator—going up—and to him, it was a sight to behold.

I don’t know the last time I got that excited over something so ordinary—but he made it seem like such fun. I need to give that a try.

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© 2010 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because everything is relative. (Photo by (M.E) Morgan via Creative Commons.)

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Sep 11 2010

My favorite souvenirs are my memories. I scoop them up, everywhere I go—filing away the words, gestures, facial expressions, scents, sights, and sounds. Later, and again and again over the years, I’ll page through these memories. Their details so crystalline, they instantly transport me back.

A cloudless cornflower-blue sky is my anchor to September 11.

I remember walking down the sidewalk to work. The sun was warm on my shoulders, but there was a tinge of autumn in the air. It would likely be the last time I’d wear my magenta sleeveless blouse for the season. The same blouse I wore on my first date with Andrew. Soaking in that Crayola-like blue before stepping into my office building, I remarked to myself what a positively gorgeous day this was.

I clicked on my e-mail inbox. The Scotsman had sent a message to everyone in my small group. “THEY DID IT AGAIN. THIS TIME ITS REALLY BAD.” I clicked on the hotlink to the New York Times, not at all sure who “they” were. I hurriedly tapped the refresh button until I could get through to the webcam atop the twin towers. A swirling smoke cloud filled the screen.

My colleagues and I crowded around the small TV in the café downstairs, clenching coffee cups until they were lukewarm. Another building down. Another swirling cloud. A storm of debris raining over the streets. The Scotsman tells us about 1993. He was there. It was horrible. But it didn’t even compare.

New York. Pennsylvania. DC. Boston held its breath as its people retreated home to watch the uncertainty unfold on TV.

When I got home, there was a UPS package on my front step—one of the last to be delivered for a week as the fifty nifty (and beyond) was deemed a no-fly zone. With my new laptop, I looked up all of these unfamiliar words on the news: Al Jazeera, Al Qaeda, Bin Laden.

The next morning, the sky was that same shade of cornflower blue. And the day after that. The news footage was on repeat, too. People’s loved ones were missing. Colleen, one of my old college classmates was missing. We had traded bottles of shampoo our sophomore year. And she had that green and purple Laura Ashley comforter I had always admired . . . and eyelashes as thick and curled as a blinky baby doll.

* * *

To remember, quite literally means “to put memories back together.” Recalling what once was.

And so I do. Today it’s the candy-sweet scent of Finesse that I got in exchange for my Pantene. Which, incidentally, is also cornflower blue.

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© 2010 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because I have infinite storage space for memories, old and new. (Photo by cdsessums via Creative Commons.)

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Sep 8 2010

For the Birds

by Holly

This morning, just as everyone seemed to be getting out the door and on with their day, the skies opened up. The street went from speckled to soaked in an instant. And those rumbles in the distance? Not the garbage truck. You could practically hear the collective “aw, sh*t” across the eastern half of the state.

Except for the birds. They were lovin’ it. While stopped at a red light, I watched a posse of sparrows hopping and flapping and splashing in a giant curbside puddle. To them, the morning rainstorm was pure delight.

I need the rain. It reminds me to appreciate the sunshine and the flowers. That brighter days always lie ahead. It nourishes the trees that provide shade on my lunchtime walks and brings a twinkle to their leaves, which will soon turn fiery shades of orange, yellow, and red. I need the snowfall. It reminds me that warmer days will come. I need the hazy, hot, and humid days to remind me that a break is always just around the corner. I need it all.

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome, then New England’s widely varying weather should be a source of comfort and peace of mind to its inhabitants.

Long story short: I simply refuse to complain about the weather. Sure, it gets me down sometimes, but a rainy day is just that. A day. It passes and I move forward. That’s the nature of nature.

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© 2010 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because my happily ever after has four seasons. (Photo by doortoriver via Creative Commons.)

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Sep 6 2010

Gratitude Roundup: Summer Lovin’

by Holly

Alas, (not to be confused with “at last”) it’s fall. Sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes are just around the bend. Scarves, too. (I love scarves!) And even though the calendar still says we have two more weeks of summer, I’ll always associate September 1 with fall’s unofficial start. Maybe it’s the latent meteorologist in me . . .

But before I usher in autumn, I must pay homage it its spunky little sister. This year’s summer was filled with things to love, both big and small. Such as:

Park trips aplenty with the pups and my beloved
My best pal moving back east
An indulgent, two-hour yin + vinyasa workshop with YogaThree’s Chanel Luck and Bonnie Argo
Upleveling my life with creativity coach extraordinaire, Christine Kane
An outdoor yoga class in the DeCordova sculpture park
Learning how to hold ’em and fold ’em
A new car (after a year-plus of being a one-car family)
Hosting a fancy-pants dinner party at the Liberty Hotel (even though the hotel lost our flowers)
My hair got crazy long
Perfecting the art of cold-brewed iced coffee (thanks to smallnotebook)
Front-row seats to see Willie Nelson at the House of Blues (and access, to the fancy-pants Foundation Lounge)
Laughing in yoga classes with Boston’s omgal, Rebecca
Cupcakes and iced coffee on the porch of a yellow Victorian with my best pal
Discovering lovely, serene sittin’ spots around town
Getting my geek on with this uber-addictive card game
Digging my toes in the sand while sitting beneath my beach umbrella
Taking lunchtime walks and snapping photos (like the one above) on my cell phone
Falling in love with croonsmith Ray LaMontagne
Playing bocce (win!) and mini golf (let’s not talk about that score)
A leisurely, cloudy morning spent at a harborside coffee shop (with a new notebook in tow)
A foodie gift bag from a friend, which included the most lovely jar of dandelion honey from Italy
Trying new flavors at the ice cream stand up the street from my house (graham central—yum!)
Eating raspberries in the parking lot at Russell Orchards, fresh from the field, still warm from the sun

I’m a simple pleasures kinda gal. Sure, a week on an island would have been lovely. But my memory of those raspberries is priceless . . .

“That much gathers more is true on every plane of existence.”
–Charles Haanel

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© 2010 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because, so often, the little things can add up to something spectacular.

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Sep 1 2010

V Is for Velocity

by Holly

I saw the cutest thing on my drive into work this morning . . .

A little boy with a big, new LL Bean backpack was walking to his first day of school, holding his mom’s hand. His sandy blond head turned side to side as he waved at each and every person in his path. It was adorable to see just how proud—and excited—this little boy was to begin his big adventure

So, there he was, this radiant bundle of potential. And there I was, stopped in a line of traffic and waiting for the crossing guard to escort all the kiddos across the street. I had a choice: I could grumble about the delay (Ugh, school’s back in session. Nine more months of all this traffic.) or I could wave back and smile at the little rock star.

I waved and smiled.

Cheering him on, if only from the confines of my car, is so much more productive—for him and for me. It’s an energetic exchange. Like a flock of geese flying in formation: the honking offers encouragement and the flapping creates the velocity to soar.

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© 2010 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because mindsets and outlooks can use a little cleaning up, too. Right? (Photo by Daquella manera via Creative Commons.)

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Going Up

I Remember

For the Birds

Gratitude Roundup: Summer Lovin’

V Is for Velocity

Find Good Karma

Going Up

I Remember

For the Birds

Gratitude Roundup: Summer Lovin’

V Is for Velocity

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Find Good Karma