Patience

Please have patience if you are waiting for me to post old photos of the stonewalls described in my October column about Stonewalls and mentioned in my Oct 10th blog entry. I did find some interesting photos from my childhood days, pulled them out of albums, and intended to scan them. That was over a month ago. They still sit there, awaiting a period of free time.

Other priorities intervened. In a journal entry Nov 8, 2013, I wrote,
"I have been rushing from one task to another all day, all week really, in a never-ending To-Do List treadmill, racing against deadlines."  Looking back, I think that statement applies to the past two months. I've been heavily involved with the Holyoke Public Library project, a $14.3 M building campaign to renovate our 1902 library building and expand it for services in the 21st Century.

Today, November 22, 2013, is the Grand Re-Opening and Official Ribbon-Cutting at the Holyoke Public Library.  Much patience  --and hard work-- has been involved over the past 8-10 years as this project has moved from initial dream to reality. I'm delighted with the result.  If you are ever in Holyoke, MA, come see this spectacular building, designed by Finegold Alexander + Associates of Boston. It combines old and new in dramatic ways.

A year ago I set a goal of decreasing the amount of time I devote to certain non-profit organizations and committees. I'm trying to reduce my outside commitments so that I'll have more time for reflecting, relaxing, and writing, especially the writing of family stories, as well as more time for visiting far-flung family. I knew that it might take a few years for all my terms-of-office to expire and my roles and responsibilities to diminish.  I'm trying to be patient during this transition. The Library project, for instance, has stretched on past a hoped-for opening in late summer.

Some time ago I bought an airline ticket to visit my sister Jean in NM and celebrate my niece's birthday (November 22).  Today I am enjoying hours of leisure in rural New Mexico, far away from my To Do lists at home.  It is easy to be patient here. I gaze out at fresh snow. Inside, I smile to see so many items from our shared childhood, reminders of Danvers. I'm looking forward to playing Scrabble with Jean later when she comes home from her studio. Life is good.