then and now

The rain was relentless on the morning I moved to Providence. It drummed on the roof of the car, made the windshield wipers work at a frenzied pace and did not let up until the last box was in my new apartment — the apartment that had been professionally cleaned the day before to ease my transition now had mud tracked everywhere and in every direction. I left the wet boxes where they sat dripping. The dogs and I crawled onto the bed and huddled together as a frat party raged on the other side of my uncovered windows.

I felt utterly raw, unmoored and uncertain.

That was five years ago this weekend — an anniversary I intend to celebrate with much happiness because, as uncomfortable that beginning might have been, my life continues to flourish here in my adopted city. I was reflecting on all this the other day as my dear friend Susannah recently moved and experienced her own challenges during the acclimation process.

Change, by its very nature, must push us onto unknown ground.

If it’s familiar, it’s not change, but variety. Change shakes us up, cuts away the safety net and hurls us out into the deep end.

Don’t get me wrong — change is good and I like it, but I also resist it, fiercely.

Summer — definitely my season of rest, recalibrate, reset and refresh — is also, more often than not, a time of new beginnings. Today we are launching an updated version of this website which is hardly a big change, more like a slight modification. The main objective was to make our site mobile-friendly, but we took the opportunity to shift things around and spiff the place up a bit. No doubt there might be some bugs or wonky bits yet to be sorted, so if you find anything not working — please do let us know! Your feedback is so very helpful.

Right now I am gazing at the sweetest card (pictured above) I got a few weeks ago from Cheryl Blacher sharing her thoughts about the Morning on the Dock series.

Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you so very much for “Morning on the Dock.”
I have a long and tiresome commute home, and your delightful and fascinating interviews keep me calm and entertained along the way. I just wish someone else was doing the driving so I could immediately go onto your website and follow the links and buy all the books and patterns and yarns and stuff!! That you put in the links. Some of your guests I already know of, some I meet for the first time, and all are so inspiring and warm and friendly– like you!! Please say “hi” to the dogs, keep up with the media feeds and photos, and I hope to return to Squam in 2017.  – Lots of love, Cheryl

Oh dear lord. I am so honored and grateful, there are no words. There’s no way to know if what you do touches someone else and it really means everything to me to know what I put out in the world can be received with such love, kindness and appreciation. Just wow.

Okay now, everybody back to your hammocks and lavender-honey iced tea!

Or, you know– whatever summertime pursuits most bring you ease and comfort.

bisous, Elizabeth