November 21, 2007

and here I go

Well, I guess I should begin by explaining the title of this blog. There have been several events in my lie when we were on the verge of losing everything, a category 5 hurricane when we lived in the southern United States, a fire that was only stopped at the foundation edge of our home here in California.

Prior to these events, one can get quite caught up in all the material things around them and how important they are. In 1988, I had to evacuate our home on the gulf coast, not a good time to have water front property. My husband was working in California so I was by myself. When I pulled out of the driveway I stopped to take one last look at the house, never expecting to see it again. In the front seat of the pickup truck I had our important papers, pictures, my grandmother's drinking glass, my husband's bronze booty, a few clothes and, of course, the cat. That was it. I could have taken anything and that was what I choose to leave with.

It was at that moment that I realized, after a life of accumulating things, virtually none of it mattered. After all, it was just stuff!

So that is the perspective I want to keep as I go forward with this.

I hope to start a new quilting journey as I begin this also. I was took a teaching class where we were required to read a book of our choice for 15 minutes a day, every day. After about two weeks, it was impossible to stop at 15 minutes. Well, I am off to quilt for 15 minutes.