Time Capsule Thursdays, in which I pause and notice. And write down what might otherwise go forgotten. And am inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem “Gratitude” (in What Do We Know). And honor age-old wisdom (bloggingly exemplified over at The Fluent Self): “Because traditions are important.”

Italicized* questions are from Mary Oliver’s poem

What did you notice?*
No matter how much the colors and the shapes look like a match,
if the pieces don’t fit they don’t fit.

What did you hear?*
Church bells as chronometer for tears.

What was most tender?*
The human heart.
The inside of a man’s hand (the hand he can’t open on his own after a stroke).

What astonished you?*
The softness of eyes.

What would you like to see again?*
The bright red cardinal and his gray, pale-red mate along the river.

What took you back?
The Riverbend Office building in Watertown Square.

Where did it take you?
9 holiday parties in my 20’s.

What made you cry?
Noticing I’d stopped trying to make the pieces fit.
Noticing that the piece of me, and the piece of he,
are in the same puzzle, just not side-by-side.

What did you think was happening?*
I stopped arguing.

That’s this week’s slice of life, my friends. Feel free to join in with noticings—big or small, happy or sad, old or new—of your own. (One request: kindly withhold from offering advice. Thank you.)