I’m adopting a new mantra. It’s free week … loosely translated it means you pick out any day of the week on any given day.

For example, it’s Sunday. But I’m just getting around to my Five Minute Friday prompt. Why you might ask. It isn’t because I lost track of time or I was ultra busy or ultra lazy or because I just can’t read a calendar. Well, it’s actually all of the above … but Friday I was getting ready to be HERE {this week’s prompt} and Saturday I spent most of the exhausting day getting HERE.

But I’m HERE now and ready to join with the other talented writers at Kate’s place (http://katemotaung.com/2015/08/06/five-minute-friday-here-one-year-anniversary-post/) to share our five minute thoughts on HERE. You should really stop by the site and see what some of these amazing writers write.

At any rate, the timer is set and I’m as ready as I’m going to get on this week’s prompt — HERE. So, let’s GO …

I’m here. In Maine. Finally.

I picked up the keys to the apartment Saturday afternoon and started moving in. There isn’t must to speak of … a long table where Karen rests overlooking the Piscataquis River … a recliner tripling as a writing station, eating station and bed … and a couple of other odds and ends.

I’ve been taking inventory on what I need to bring and/or purchase. I don’t mind the exposed beams and concrete, but the apartment definitely needs a woman’s touch. The only drawback thus far has been the echo. It’s defining.

Karen is also here. I decided to bring her to her new home, realizing as I stood in New Hampshire traffic she, actually, had never stepped foot in the Pine Tree State. She has now, each and every … STOP

… ash. She’s out of the gazebo and her view has shifted from the {overgrown with weeds} rose garden to overlooking the river in the climate-controlled apartment. I think she would have approved of the change in venue.

And I feel God is here too. I woke up this morning to a sunbeam splashing through the clouds onto the peaceful river and reflecting into the apartment. I know the rainbow is God’s covenant, but I see His awesome beauty and power in the sunbeams and outlines. That’s my sign of God’s presence in my world.

So, while I’m not here permanently, I plan on being here enough to enjoy the simple life in mid-Maine as I transition into the next season of life.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.