Love Notes

Aug 25, 2024 • #paris

Sun Shine On 7/28/24

I had been collecting images of Paris for today's note, with hopes of staying a leap - or more accurately, just a wee step ahead, in what has become a Sunday ritual with my proverbial pen. And yet, here I sit, still mired amid the first paragraph. Despite all the joy and inspiration from watching thousands of dedicated summer athletes gracefully dancing their way across the city of light and beyond, (the Olympic sailing venue is in Marseille - follow along here) ... AND despite a take-your-breath-away performance by Celine Dion, I am not finding much gold to be mined from my third party vantage point sitting here at my desk. Aaahhhh oh sigh. Maybe it's just that I'm ready for my August vacation. Let's keep it simple for today.

Shine on Olympian superstars. May we bask in the aftermath of your glow. READ MORE

Aug 25, 2024 • #italy #purpose

Where May Your Paths Lead You? 7/22/24

In searching for a header image for this week's love note, I looked, like I usually do when I'm seeking inspiration, to nature. Today I found it in a work of art inspired by nature's beauty.

Let’s pause and take a closer look at the exquisite painting above. The eye is drawn in by those wispy stratocumulus clouds, along with their reflections on the water. All these vectors seem to lead into a single vanishing point on the far shore. (You can see this better in a larger image here.) Say, isn't that what we all want in life ... to have a clear spot on the horizon towards which we should point our bow? No doubt we'll encounter some obstacles, like those islands in the foreground. It's likely that at some point, we'll have to tack back and forth to make any headway to windward. But how do we know where our mark is? How do we know what it is it that we are working our way towards? READ MORE

Jul 15, 2024 • #summer

Enthusiasm 7/15/24

So much of life is just diving in. Well, maybe not if you're hanging wallpaper. But you know what I mean. When I found myself newly divorced 14 years ago, I vowed that whenever a friend invited me for a visit - or to do just about anything, really - my reply would be, "Thank you so much, I would love to come!" (And to all of you who invited me, bless you, and we did have some fun!) READ MORE

Jul 15, 2024 • #fourth #july #shells

Shell yeah

How was your weekend? Full of fresh watermelon and blueberries, I hope. With the Fourth now fully in our rear view mirror, we are officially in the throes of summer. Shell yeah (in this use, "yeah" is pronounced with a minimum of two syllables). Remember last January, when we were DREAMING about sultry summer days like this?

Last Thursday, July 4th, I had the unique privilege of bearing witness to 74 individuals as they turned THEIR DREAMS into reality. On the West Lawn of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, these 74 men and women from 36 countries took the oath of citizenship to become our newest fellow Americans. READ MORE

Jul 07, 2024 • #blue #Green #hydrangea #nantucket

Summer Loving Blues and Greens 7/1/24

My friend Merrill and I rode bikes out to Cisco last week, and this is the view that greeted us. I wish I had the photography skills to better capture the myriad shades of blues and greens emerging from the departing fog. Doesn't the little house on the left look like it belongs in a Nancy Meyers movie? What would the plot be ... hmm, how about this: Middle aged woman <still wears the same size jeans she did in college, and has the most perfect easy breezy hair style, despite the island's relentless humidity>, borrows a friend's Nantucket cottage for a weekend and ends up staying through to Christmas "to find herself". What do you suppose it is that our protagonist finds? Just how you answer that may tell you something about where you are in life. READ MORE