Oooops! Dropped the peach in the grocery store parking lot!
I don’t know about the rest of you bloggers.
But for me, one of the best moments of the day comes when the Universe downloads a blog headline. (Or would that be “uploads a blog headline”?) I’ll be doing something random–like carrying my groceries between the store and the car–when suddenly, unexpectedly, a grocery bagger will call, “Hey, Lady, you lost your peach!”
And do I worry about the peach which is now sitting conspicuously on the parking lot, having fallen irresponsibly out of the plastic bag? Do I curse myself for attempting to carry too many bags?
NO!! Instead I crow in delight (OK, inside myself): Ohmygoodness, doesn’t that sound like a wonderful blog headline? Isn’t it perfect? Aren’t I the luckiest person in the planet to have the peach drop out of the bag (OK, so it might be now be a slightly challenged peach) so that a bagger could call out “Hey, lady, you lost your peach!” and I could use it in a blog headline? Ohymygoodness, life is so good.
And now we have to have a PHOTO SHOOT in the grocery store parking lot??
Someone–I suspect it was Scott Thomas from Scott Thomas Photography–actually, it WAS–said in a recent comment, “Kathy, you do have a way with a blog title.”
I am here to tell you that I live for the moment in the day when the blog title reveals itself.
You have to be alert.
You have to be aware.
You have to be waiting for it to come.
I swear the last title “I dreamed it rained acorns” was a gift from the heavens. These headlines present themselves. I don’t try to make them up. They come, full-fledged, from the ethers and all the writer can do is fall on her knees in gratitude.
You can be doing something like harvesting onions and a voice in your head will say…like it’s nothing…like it’s an aside, ” Sitting beneath the wrong end of a bald eagle” or “The Attack of the Killer Flies” and you go “Ohmygoodness, thank you, thank you, you are so right on! Thank you!”
Of course, then, as you can imagine…my challenge exists on the days when the Interior Headline Writer says nothing. Nothing. Nothing clever. Nothing at all. Silence.
That’s when I tend to stray from simplicity and peace and scream (to myself of course): “WHERE ARE YOU??? HOW AM I EXPECTED TO WRITE A BLOG HEADLINE WITHOUT YOU? WHY WON’T YOU SPEAK?”
My lesson–as I explore this topic of peace & simplicity during the month of August–is to simply write a headline entitled “Sad” or “The smell of fresh-baked bread” when the voice is silent.
Not to stress. Not to insist the voice always be present. To let the peach fall or not fall.
To let it all be OK.
Even the bruised peach. 🙂
Lake Superior Spirit 
This is great! Gratitude for the tiny little, but ultimately HUGE moments in life! And they happen when least expected…wonderful. 🙂
The grocery bag beside the car, are they supplied by your local shops, or do you take your own? Here in Australia we have a choice of plastic bags, or buy your own and reuse. I choose the latter.
Hi Joanne! Loving these little tiny moments that–when we’re aware–sometimes tingle with HUGE energy. As for the grocery bag discussion, the paper/plastic bags are supplied by the store. In the backseat of my car I have three canvas reusable bags that I often use for shopping.
However, we do use some of the paper bags from the store for storing kindling, transporting used goods to our recycle store, etc. etc. I had run out of paper bags and decided to get a couple more. Unfortunately, the clerk also grabbed two plastic bags before I could tell her, “I don’t want plastic” and I thought…well, OK, let’s try to protect the peaches and I can recycle the plastic bags later. So much for trying to protect the peaches!
My goodness, this was a long explanation. I am glad you choose to reuse.
The Peaches will fall where they may….
Thanks for the photo shoot!!
Kim
Ha ha, Kim! The peaches will, indeed, fall where they may. But how will we respond?
Kathy – You completely, and totally, crack me up! August was supposed to be bathed in solomn quietude. But nooooooooo, you’ve busted right through that a few times now and it’s only the 6th!
Now, now, Laurie, did I say solomn gratitude? Peace and simplicity… (Which apparently is laced with humor, as well! That funny voice simply insists upon appearing in peace & simplicity…like it says, “Hey! Lady! I want peace and simplicity too!” LOL!
Yay! for daily life!!! It’s AWESOME!!!! 🙂
Daily life rocks! Daily life is Peaches! You are awesome, Martha.
Everything happens for a reason! The peach, I’m quite sure, jumped from the bag on purpose just so you’d have a headline. I struggle with headlines sometimes, and can only hope that sometimes I’m successful.
Carol, I heard that phrase “Everything happens for a reason” at least three times yesterday. And here it is again this morning. I KNOW that peach leapt from the bag to supply a headline. And how easily it could have been missed. I DO think you are successful with your headlines. For myself, I just want to give myself permission to write simple headlines too when the Creative Headline Writer is absent. On my baby blog, Rising Now, I only write simple headlines. One word or two.
I wish I had an interior headline writer .. my headlines usually come last. Maybe I just have to watch and listen more closely?
Does your interior headline writer ever come up with a great headline, but you have nothing else to say about it?
(I added you to my blogroll .. I have been enjoying your posts a lot. Thanks)
Hello bearyweather! Nice to be added to your blogroll, new friend. OK, here’s the scoop. Yesterday that headline appeard from no where. Well, it appeared on a parking lot pavement. And there was NOTHING ELSE to say about it. My mind fussed. It said, “How can you supply a headline without any pertinent content?” However, upon sitting down to write, out came a bunch of stuff. Give me a headline or some photos and I can probably come up with something. Whether it is entertaining or has lasting value…maybe not always. LOL!
Sometimes the headline is obvious for me. Sometimes I dig it out after I’ve written the piece. Sometimes it’s creative. Often it’s not. But I’ve never had anyone yell a headline out at me… that would be exciting! Hope the peach survived.
Dawn, thanks for the laugh this morning. (about someone yelling out a headline.) I think, truly, that everything you described happens to me as well. Barry keeps saying: cut up the peach now before it’s bruised. But the peach is still too hard and truly, I can’t see the bruise yet. Don’t you love peaches?
Unfortunately, this never happens o me – I just have to make mine up. Sometimes, I look at the headlines on National Enquirer at the grocery store and that gets my creative juices flowing. PS My friend, Mary, is visiting – she’ll be traveling to Eagle Harbor to her family home in a week. I gave her your Blog address.
Barb! National Enquirer? OK, you guys are cracking me up. I will have to start looking at the National Enquirer! Tell your friend Mary that I would meet her in Houghton for coffee if she likes. That would be sort of like getting to know you, right?
Kathy I’m in the same league as Barb here making up headlines as I go… but I sure love yours! They are sometimes the best part of the post… only sometimes:))))) warm hugs and I’m looking forward to reading a few back issues tomorrow as I am still catching up after being off line last weekend for five days.
I’m still laughing reading your comment, Terrill. Sometimes they are the best part of the post. Oh no! That would mean I need to have a stern talk with the Creative Blog Writer and tell her she needs to shape up & keep up with the Creative Headline writer. ha ha… Glad to know your safely back home after your island-hopping ship suffered an accident. So glad no one was killed!
This happens to me with Facebook status lines, or tweets. I really need to get sexier with my headlines. the content certainly is.
I want a peach now.
Carla, oh yes, your blog content is decidedly sexy! Maybe my content needs to get sexier like yours!
Do you have any peach trees growing in Georgia? We don’t have any in the Upper Peninsula. Maybe we do, but nobody is selling any. There are Michigan peaches from downstate though and there are signs near farmer’s markets advertising “Michigan peaches”. I think the peaches in the grocery store are from California. I would love to eat a peach every day in August because they taste so exquisite.
LOL! I’m trying to imagine a bag boy yelling out this line! It tickles me to think of him doing it in a NY or NJ accent, but I suppose that’s highly unlikely in Michigan. What is even more interesting to me is that you had your camera available in the grocery store parking lot! I do like to have my camera with me as much as possible, but hauling it to the grocery store isn’t something I would think to do! 🙂
Oh it was so amusing, Karma! And I carry that lil ole camera everywhere. I got trained doing that during the 365 day outdoor blog. It felt like a little baby that you didn’t dare put down. It’s so small it sits in the little coffee holder between seats and waits expectantly for opportunities. Sometimes those even happen!
Nobody said that simplicity has to be solemn……heck no! Bring on the silly simplicity, the simplicity of good humor, the joys of smiles and laughter shared! The world needs more simple fun 🙂 “Hey lady….”
You are so right, Cindy. Silly me, thinking that simplicity would simply be solemn. Simplicity is perhaps taking away any need to be funny…and then the funniness can come out or it doesn’t have to. I think that’s what some of the paring away may have been about. Permission to even further let whatever wants to or needs to express itself. Love you.
Oh, Kathy….I do so love your reality. Or I guess I should say, my perception of your reality. There is so much possibility, so much vitality. So alive and dancing with energy. And Cindy Lou’s thoughts on silly simplicity…yes! The idea seems so…….well, perfectly peachy 🙂
Colleen, smiling at your words “my perception of your reality”. Oh that’s right on. I love how we all dance together, all of us, here, everywhere. I love how you seem to get that. My perecption, anyway, dear friend!
The peach was a great peach BTW….I just was able to pull it on my desktop, rather than the net book or my blackberry…..Better picture to view when it is bigger. You are making me dream of peaches!
I especially loved the peaches in Georgia when we lived in Atlanta.
Kim
Kim, you know I just ate half this peach this morning on a bowl of Kashi cereal. It just now got ripe. Thinking that’s why it was able to bounce on the supermarket pavement without bruising. It was hard as a rock! Ahhh, Georgia peaches. My in-laws live near Atlanta and when they talk about the ripe peaches it’s all I can do to stop myself from buying a ticket. You were lucky to live there and eat them.
Kashi …. Cinnamon Harvest is great!
Mmm…Cinnamon Harvest is yummy! I now have Island Vanilla in the cupboard! Equally good…