Just Keep Flipping and Reversing
I thought I had my garden bed situation taken care of. I have a super ugly scar on my leg from some skin cancery stuff. A great employee turned in their resignation on Tuesday. I discovered the paint is peeling completely off the back of the library. My insurance no longer thinks that CT scans are necessary for me.
If you would have told me in my 20’s that the real rollercoaster ride would start in my late 40’s, early 50’s, I would have told you that you were crazy, “No way, my kids will be grown and I will be close to retirement, and I am positive I will no longer be participating in carnival rides.”
Life happens, and for some reason it takes place at an amusement park, an amusement park that has some crazy rides and tons of lemons on hand. The funnel cakes are few and seem far between, but the lemons are free and you have to take them. Those lemons you get handed, well, you will learn to make lemonade with them, lots and lots of lemonade, maybe even some lemon curd, lemon scones, lemon cake, lemon pie…
You will find days, maybe years, that you will want to throw the lemons back, you find yourself just tired of being positive. The last 3 years have been full of hair-raising rides and seem a tad too lemony to me, but that Missy Elliott song I mentioned a while back plays in my head again, “flip it and reverse it.” This week at my therapist, yep, the mass quantities of lemons sometimes demands you call in some help, I decided that I needed to just let all the ugly out. I told him we were going to treat it like an ugly pimple, we were going to pop it and that was it, I needed no life hacks, Atta-boys, things will get better, how are you going to handle this, just ugly and forward. Worth every penny.
We cannot let the ugly take over. We just keep flipping and reversing. JKL (We just keep on livin’). All the things I mention to keep us kind and in a zone of appreciation and wonder of the lemony amusement park known as life, because it is always way more beautiful than ugly and I do love a good lemon scone.
My wonderful dad and I have a solve for the garden bed situation. I have a lot of scars, but I am planning on adding some artwork to them. I will find someone to fill the ginormous shoes that were left behind. Peeling the paint is oddly satisfying and I know a painter to call when I am done. My doctor will take care of me.
The same day that the ugly seemed to reach a maximum amount, I was immediately reminded of the exceptional good. Betty Copeland and Susan Ryan (volunteers) showed up with plans for the continuation of our pollinator beds. The week before Betty Copeland and Beverly Ricker (volunteers) cleaned the existing garden beds. I cannot even explain to you how hard these ladies worked, they were worn slick and covered in mud, with smiles on their faces. I will add this word one more time, volunteers; the epitome of kind and beautiful.
I am just so thankful, for so many things, things that outnumber the bad, funnel cakes that are so sweet that I don’t need them every day.
One last note, and it is a big ol’ funnel cake, we have found someone to help us complete our outdoor space before summer reading program. Funds from the Friends of the Library, money the library did not spend during 2020, and a company that wants to give to the community, yep, this is why I will never stop making lemonade, you have to have something to wash down that sweet ol’ cake.
Upcoming Events: 4/21 Story Time (masks required for adults) at 10am, 4/22 Friends of the Library early access book sale from 5-7pm, 4/23 & 4/24 Book Sale, 4/26 MOCO Warriors Cancer Support Group at 6:30pm