100 happy days :: day 73

experiencing simple, exciting food in a restaurant.

100 happy days :: day 72

latte and a flat white. and a long, good conversation.

100 happy days :: day 71

i love when i spot one of my painted snails in the yard. 

this one, i did a bit of a wonder woman-esque paint job on last summer. 

i'm glad she made it through the winter.

100 happy days :: day 70

light. art. and new life in the long-unused rooms of our local train station station building. 

today, the rooms will be filled with art and music and laughter and voices.

as we were setting up, i had the feeling that the building itself liked being used again.

100 happy days :: day 69

the new flatiron building by LEGO architecture. seriously the best, most clever build ever. 

even bats agrees.

i actually almost want to buy another one just to build it again.

it's that cool.

100 happy days :: day 68

cold, dreary. rainy. but raindrop-clad flowers offer a bright spot. 

taking the time

we've had an unseasonably cool spring. but at last the beech leaves have sprung forth. there is no color of green quite like it. i pulled over today on my way home and took a little walk in the woods, to soak it all in. some days, when you're feeling down and everything seems like too much and you have a dull headache, you need to do that. to indulge in the moment. to take the time. to breathe. to soak it all in. to let go of it all and just be.

while i was making dinner, i watched the first two parts of a documentary on loneliness that DR has made. the last episode will be broadcast this evening and i saw an ad for it yesterday and realized that a person who i know is one of the lonely people. well, i actually, i don't know her, i've just seen her around. when i got involved in my community culture house, she was there at that first meeting as well and wanted to be involved. but somehow, she didn't make it onto the board. i've seen her since a few times, also in connection with the culture house - she bought some cool chairs when we had the big sale before we emptied the building, so i know that we'd have that in common. but still, tho' i chatted with her about the chairs, we didn't really take it any further or become friends. and now there she is, on a program where she is standing forward and admitting that she's lonely. that some days the only people she talks to are at the grocery store. and it fills me with sadness. everyone wants to make a human connection, but somehow, we are so full of ourselves and our own lives that we don't do it. especially here in denmark, where there are few of the casual conversations you can fall into if you're waiting for a bus or in the checkout line if you're in the US. and that lack of interaction has consequences. like a woman being so lonely that she's willing to go on television and say so. right here in the happiest place on earth. (that last sentence is in the sarcasm font.)

and it feels a bit like all of the walks in a beautiful, bright green spring forest won't make it better. we need to do more. we need to really see one another. acknowledge one another. interact. be more open. talk to each other. say hello to our neighbors. drink a cup of coffee. chat. take the time.