Constance Ore is a retired Teacher, Choir Director, and Organist. And a formidable cook.

August 11, 2009

Filed under: — Constance at 10:16 am on Wednesday, August 12, 2009


Mid-August is a time when most of the birds are completing their summer task of getting their fledges out and about, and there is not a lot of bird song to be heard because territories are no longer an issue. Our swallow family with its nest above the door to the second floor living area has outdone itself this year, with the rearing of three sets of offspring instead of the usual two. The last fledges are still sitting “at home” and making a huge mess on the floor below. As I write this, there are about eight swallows madly chittering and swirling around in and out the porch area, past my window, and past the nest. It looks as if the entire extended family is encouraging these last little ones to take flight so they all can go on their way.


There are thousands of reflections on “happiness”, but the one that has stayed in my mind is Allan Chalmers’ “The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for” changing the middle phrase to “someone to love”. It fits my present reality very nicely. In these days, I have a growing loss of energy and unease within the lungs and stomach. I am anemic, but I have not reached the point of needing blood transfusions. “Bone tired” seems to apply – it is an inner feeling of weariness that sleep cannot assuage. This means another reinvention of how life needs to be lived, and the “something to do” part of the happiness equation will need to take place sandwiched between chunks of resting time. The brain goes merrily onward, planning dinners, weeding flower beds, playing the piano, and taking Alphie about just for the fun of it while the physical self sits very quietly, resting. The gifts of having a good number of “someone(s) to love” and the faith that always defines “something to hope for” is why I am still here, living long past the medical community’s prognosis for this illness. I hope all who read this have “something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for” too, as summer grows tired and we begin to prepare for autumn and the changes that a new season will bring.

4 Comments

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Comment by Katherine Haar

August 12, 2009 @ 10:36 pm

Again dear dear Connie you write with such eloquence on the passage of life through its many phases. And again you teach us all how to respond to the journey we are all traveling.You are so much closer to the goal than most of us and yet you remain uncomplaining of journey that was chosen for you to follow.

The swallows must have known you’d need something special right now and the gift of a third family in one season was that gift. Enjoy them in their last few days in the nest.

We will continue to hold you, Charles and the extended family in our prayers.

Katherine and David

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Comment by dick gale

August 13, 2009 @ 9:53 am

Hi Connie and all —

The comment from Katherine and David succinctly sums my response to your very special post.

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Our SoCal summer has been very pleasant, with warm days and cool nights. However, it has been “raining” heirloom tomatoes and other goodies from Susan’s garden for several weeks. As previously, some of the tomatoes have made it into canned sauces and jams. The latest recipe – throw trimmed and roughly cut tomatoes and any spices/sugars/vinegars into a 9 X 12 Pyrex glass pan — with a 400 degree over, you’ll be done in an hour or so plus, with the juice boiled off. (Soak dish to ease clean-up, but you can do two pans at once.) (See San Francisco Chronicle (SFgate.com) for sauce recipes several weeks ago.)

While waiting for the oven, Jane Kirkpatrick works well. This well established author (new to me) lives in Eastern Oregon, and writes fact-based historical fiction. Her latest, Flickering Light, is set in Winona, Minnesota, and deals with a young woman and her interest in photography. Another is A Sweetness to the Soul, set in Eastern Oregon around 1860. Both are excellent reads.

Please know that you three remain very much in our hearts and prayers.

dick and susan gale, laguna woods, ca

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Comment by Jeff Parker

August 17, 2009 @ 6:59 pm

Your words touch my heart Connie, thank you for them. Thank you also for the faith that you display with each word you write. It is an inspiration to all of us who read your words. My thought and prayers go with you as you travel this journey.

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Comment by Pat Ohlmann

August 20, 2009 @ 11:56 am

Ah, Connie–each of us and all of us will at some time come to the end of our days. But few of us will have left for our loved ones the grace-filled testimony to faith and life and loving that fills your blog each week. Thank you for sharing your days and years–all of your readers are the richer for it. You are certainly God’s gift to all of us.

Pat Ohlmann

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