It is another of those amplified times with a roller coaster of emotions. Several dynamics in my life account for the ride, but the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.

Yes, my friend’s beloved former husband passed in his sleep this week.

Yes, my brother-in-law has a renal carcinoma and needs a procedure. (He lost a kidney to cancer a few years ago.)

Yes, we are approaching the one-year mark of the pandemic pause.

Yes, we are again preparing to travel back to Michigan without clear plans for an unencumbered visit with the kids in Tennessee.

Yes, we are at that friction-point where I know how much will need to be done to pack, load, clean, depart, travel, arrive, unload, unpack. And did I say clean?

And, yes, we are experiencing a stress so deeply personal I dare not speak of in this article. Grief has taken up residence in my mind.

But grief has a twin sister: relief.

What helps you come into balance and allows you to feel the relief, especially during stressful times?

Yes, nature is one thing that helps a lot of people, including me!

Yes, on our walk yesterday Deva, the dog, came running over to me for some petting. She dropped at my feet, rolled over, and would have been content to stay there if her human had not summoned her out of the middle of the road.

Yes, we were able to watch two dolphins frolicking in the canal last evening. One shot right under the dock we were standing on!

Yes, the adult eagles are now regular visitors as they leave the chicks alone for longer and longer periods, encouraging them to fly. The adults cannot teach the young to feed themselves until they are willing to fly.

Yes, I think that is true about humans, too.

Yes, angels and birds and bees (perhaps, everything with wings?) are always reaching out from what my friend Anna Marie called the perfume of the effulgent formlessness.

Yes, life, with all its uncertainty, including this tree, is showing us a pretty face!

LIFE IS FULL OF BEAUTY, NOTICE IT. ~ Ashley Smith