Tuesday Slice of Life: Time for a Stretch Check!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday 

                                                      and nurturing our writing lives.

It's a 5th Tuesday.  Time to check in and reflect about this year's OLW (one little word), stretch. Sometimes I feel that I may not be measuring up, but then I remind myself that there are many ways to stretch oneself.

First, there's my new daily stretch in the shower.  I love that moment of reaching for the sky that I've added to my morning routine.  It feels good, and it reminds me that growing often requires a bit of stretching.  I do wish that I could grow a couple of inches by stretching!

Our friends in Idaho, Jolene and Walt persuaded me to kayak on Lake Emerald with them during our  visit this past week.  It's been years since I've been in a kayak, so it was definitely a stretch for me.  But so easy to do with their gentle assistance.  Sara stretched by launching her inaugural voyage on the standing paddle board.

Then I read Terje's post on Saturday, and I loved the way she celebrated her choices.  I decided to borrow three phrases from her post for my summer goals:  cuddle with a book, scribble words, and snap scenes.  I didn't want to forget them, so I recorded them in the front of my new blank book, a gift from a friend.  And then I added two words below those phrases - Stretch Goal. Yesterday while surfing the web, I discovered the perfect stretch goal for summer.  It's related to my "cuddle with a book" goal.  It's the Summer Book Bingo created by the Seattle Public Library. Because it's summer (and summer is the perfect time to be non-linear), my goal is to complete ten squares on the bingo card.  I'm not concerned with completion of rows or columns, but in order to "stretch" myself a bit, I'll challenge myself by completing the "out of my comfort zone" square and the "translated from another language" square.  You may want to print the Summer Book Bingo card to stretch your literary muscles.

Finally, I'll share the serendipitous discovery that I made yesterday near Yakima at a fruit stand/antique warehouse.  We checked out the fruit and decided to buy cherries.  But first, we wandered the aisles to "stretch" our legs a bit before completing the final leg of a Burley, ID to Seattle, WA ten hour road trip.  Even though I rarely purchase anything, I enjoy wandering the booths of antique stores.  It's a stroll down memory lane as I see items that once filled the homes of family and friends.

I turned a corner, glanced at some depression era glass, and then looked again.  Behind a plain iridescent saucer was a bowl that looked like the pattern of my mother's birthday cake plate.  This plate is one of the treasures that I inherited after my mom's death.   Homemade birthday cakes were always served on this special plate.  This plate was a Christmas gift in 1951 to my mom from my dad's sister, Aunt Estelle.  I picked up the bowl, clasped it to my chest, and wandered in search of Sara.  I asked her if she thought it was the same pattern.  She agreed with me that it was.  So that's how stretching my legs led me to discover this beautiful berry bowl that does indeed match the birthday cake plate.

I'm excited by the ways that stretch inserts itself into my life.  In my January post, I mentioned that I was interested in gentle stretching.  In my March post, I stretched my poetic muscles.  I hope you will find ways to embrace your OLW during this summer season.  I'll be back in September (the next 5th Tuesday) for another reflection on my ongoing journey with stretch, my OLW for 2015.