The man

Lee Wellington D'Arcy,
born June 30, 1919

Farmer

Single dad

Loyal friend

Preacher boy

Faithful husband

Patient father
Good steward
School board chairman
Stockyard worker
Builder of Marlette Homes
Loving grandpa
Real estate agent

Wordsmith and prolific writer of letters

Sunday School Superintendent for decades - who did everything in his power to make people feel loved and welcome

Gentle

Humble

Cautious

Deliberate

Intentional

Resourceful

He had big feet - size 13.

He could sleep almost anywhere.

Sang bass in more than one quartet

Played the guitar

Loved the music of George Beverly Shea, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Johnny Cash, Laurence Welk, Buck Owens and Roy Clark…

The centennial

Celebrating the centennial of my dad’s birth

He’s been gone 23 years but I really wanted to do something special this year to celebrate.

A hundred years is a big deal

Significant

Worth celebrating

Lots of fanfare

How do you celebrate a centennial?

A parade comes to mind

A huge event - with hundreds of people in attendance
Lots of hoopla

I didn’t know how to make any of that happen 
... so I would write a book about him.

A biography

A best-seller

Well, maybe not…

But loads of people loved my dad and some of them MIGHT want to read it.
... and maybe even buy their own copy.  
Or not.

I worked on it for a long time.

But it didn't turn out quite the way I hoped.

Yep, I tend to get big ideas.

My imagination can go a little crazy with wild ideas.
I’m not always so good at bringing them to life.

So I kept reminding myself to be practical.

And I WAS diligent about working on the various steps.

I kept plodding

Doing what I could

Gathering notes and ideas

Sorting through hundreds of photos

And I DID produce a book.

Just not the book that I hoped for.

I was planning a book with hundreds of pages and a few photos here and there.

I ended up with a photo book with a few lines of text here and there.

I did proclaim a centennial month.

And I did produce my own little parade - of photos - on my Facebook page.

But it didn’t feel like enough.

It was underwhelming.

No fanfare, no hoopla.

No parade

No huge event

A chintzy celebration for a great life.

I was tempted to be a teeny bit sad.

So then I asked myself what a centennial is for anyway.

Who is it for?

I’m not sure.

I just know that I wanted to honor this man.

So I tried…

I tried to do more than I could.

And then I did what I knew to do.

What I had the energy and resources to accomplish.

He would not ask more of me.

He might have commented on my tendency to attempt too much.

Again.

He might have asked me what I am learning from this.

Again.

…

He also attempted great things.

But he knew enough to take small steps.

That’s how he accomplished the great things he did.

Little by little.

One thing at a time.

And that’s what I ended up doing.

I was willing to tweak my goals to make them more practical.

I need not be disappointed in myself.

I succeeded in doing what I could to honor my dad.

He would be proud of me and I can be proud of myself.

Besides he wouldn't have wanted a lot of hoopla.

The Ta-Da! Month

I already wrote about the fact that I let myself get too busy in May.

I made commitments I shouldn't have.

Or at least probably wouldn’t have...

... if I had known the unexpected things that would pop up.  

But we never know, do we?

That's why we need to plan margins in our schedule.

That's what I failed to do for May.

Forget the margins.

Margin-less May

So...

What about June?

Will I do better?

What will I do differently?

I decided to try something quite different in June.  I remembered my experiences with a Ta-Da! list and thought it could be fun to make a month-long one.  

It felt like the perfect kind of “opposite” from what May had been like.

My to-do lists had been impossibly long.

It was definitely time for something different.

Sure I still had to make some lists of obligations and things that I dare not forget, but I decided to shift my focus whenever possible. I would watch for chances to do things that I could be excited about.  Things about which I could say Ta-Da! at least to myself. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a whole month’s worth of Ta-Da! items?

Each evening I would add to the list.  It could be only one thing each day - but lots of days had more than one item.

What kinds of things?

All kinds of fun things - and even a few not so fun

Like that phone call I’ve been needing to make - check!  Ta-Da!

The appointment I’ve been putting off - Got that scheduled! Ta-Da!

The left-over project from May that was ALMOST done but not quite…  Got ‘er done! Ta-Da!

I sorted through photo files that have been languishing.  Ta-Da!!!

I rode my bike - NINE miles one day - and lots of shorter rides.  Ta-Da!

I sat out in the sun for my 15-minute dose of Vitamin D.  Yay!

I thought about an old friend. I should get in touch with her sometime.  But wait!  Let’s do it now.  So I did.  Ta-da!

Did my usual morning routines in record time.  Ta-Da!

Had a lovely visit with a new neighbor.  Ta-Da!

Walked downtown with hubby on his business errand.  Yay!

Did some porch-sitting.  Cha-ching!

Worked ahead (in advance!) to prepare my report for the upcoming board meeting.  Smart move!

Finished the HUGE project I’ve been working on for months.  Ta-Da!

So far I’m liking this experiment.

I’m thinking ahead to other Ta-Da! lists.

Sometimes they nudge me to stretch myself at bit toward becoming all that I can be.

Sometimes I even surprise myself.

Ta-Da!

48 years: What a ride!

We've come a long way, Baby!

We have ridden in planes

trains...

... and automobiles

... and four-wheelers

...and trucks

... sometimes towing trailers.

We have walked

We have climbed

We have biked

But through these 48 years we've also done a lot of sitting around...

Just hanging out in amazing places...

Yep, we've come a long way.

I'm so glad that I get to travel with you.

More thoughts on May

May is gone 

Sadness about things I didn't get to do 

Regret for letting myself be ”too busy”

Almost as if I was gone 

But I wasn't gone

I was here

Yes, I was busy, doing some amazing stuff.

I was learning about poetry - even dabbled with writing it.

I was engaging neighbors and planning future events - and historical projects.

I was spending time with my mom.

I was caring for grand-kids.

I was not gone.

I was not on the other side of the country.

I was here.  

Available even.

...
As I look back on 2014, I don’t regret being “gone” that May.

Even though I was

Gone 

Inaccessible to my mom and my kids

But it was a good month  

An amazing experience

A great adventure

...

And now
May 2019

I’ve been in the middle of another adventure

Suspended in projects but somehow still available

Pretty amazing actually

Hey, I could be proud of myself

For coping  

Handling things

Juggling

So much

Balancing

Tweaking

Shifting as needed

I made it.

I fulfilled my tasks.

I did my job.

I celebrated art and artists.

I even rode a few miles on my bike.

Yes, I felt too busy.

Swamped and scattered

Slammed

But I held it together.

No major melt-downs

No real panic or crises

No harsh words

Wow; I’m starting to be impressed.

I’m pretty amazing.

May was pretty amazing now that I think about it.