Ponder this:

Friday, December 6, 2013

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself

A friend sent me this in an email yesterday. At first I thought it was one of those goofy things that end with "I sent this to you because you're special. Now YOU send it on to all the special people in your life." But this isn't treacly hackneyed folk wisdom (God help the folk!). This is worthwhile. Taken in toto it reminds me of AA wisdom. I guess wisdom is wisdom . . . and largely common sense. 

It was written by marcandangel, whose blog I've added to my bloglist.


When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.
As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Nothing could be closer to the truth. But before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
1.     Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.
2.     Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.
3.     Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled.
4.     Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.
5.     Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.
6.     Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
7.     Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.
8.     Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
9.     Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness.
11. Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.
12. Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
13. Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
14. Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
15. Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others are doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
16. Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”
17. Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, and it may be tough. But reflect back on those negative curveballs thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.
18. Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time.
19. Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
20. Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.
21. Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. – The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
22. Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.
23. Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. Read Getting Things Done.
24. Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.
25. Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.
26. Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.
27. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But making one person smile CAN change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world. So narrow your focus.
28. Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth worrying about.
29. Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
30. Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.


Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Words we don't use often enough. Especially correctly.

tor·tu·ous
ˈtôrCHo͞oəs/
adjective
  1. 1.
    full of twists and turns.




tor·tur·ous
ˈtôrCHərəs/
adjective
  1. 1.
    characterized by, involving, or causing excruciating pain or suffering.




tor·tious
ˈtôrSHəs/
adjective
LAW
  1. 1.
    constituting a tort; wrongful.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio...

My friend sent me a link to Colossal.com, and specifically, to this post:
Click and watch the video!----->:Nature Imitates Andy Goldsworthy: Rare Ice Disk Forms in North Dakota River

I am uninformed enough to be completely unaware of Andy Goldsworthy . . . my friend probably knows him and all his works . . . but this natural phenomenon must exceed anything a human could produce.  My first thoughts, when I saw the video and the pictures, were of high school geometry, and my teacher telling me that there was no such thing as a perfect circle. 

Surprise.

Nature Imitates Andy Goldsworthy: Rare Ice Disk Forms in North Dakota River rivers nature ice

Friday, November 22, 2013

JFK



7th grade. 
Sent back to our homerooms. 
The office turned on the public address system and we listened to the radio report. 
Then we were dismissed early and sent home on the school buses.
All those twelve-year-old kids in the halls opening and closing lockers, going down the stairs and nobody speaking a word. 
There was a barely audible shuffle of feet, and that was all.
A vacuum, a waiting.

Two years prior, my father.
Five years later, RFK and Martin Luther King, Jr.
They weren't as good as we thought they were, but we believed in them.
All dead. So much for belief.


"Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave 
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; 
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. 
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned."
~Dirge Without Music
by Edna St Vincent Millay

Monday, September 23, 2013

Husband's talent or: One of a kind

Ever since I met him, Husband wanted to work with wood. 
Five years ago, give or take, he began to equip his wood shop 
and now he's turning out tables.
Here's the latest one, made for a friend. 

I think it's wonderful that he's finally doing 
what he's wanted to do for all these years.




Since it's work done from his heart, 
the result is beautiful.




When he started, making dovetails was so frustrating. 
Now he's got 'em down pretty well, I'd say.



The pattern in the wood that he used for these drawer fronts 
started out as a mistake.
He didn't know that this pretty grain was 
inside a piece of wood he'd been working with. 
He sawed it in half, et voila! there it was. 
To me, it looks like sand dunes . . . or cloud layers.
Something to catch the eye instead of just a plain drawer front.



If you were here, he'd show you every place where there's a mistake.
I keep telling him not to do that.
But . . . maybe in years to come, the "mistakes" in his work will be 
the hallmarks by which the pieces are identified.

These tables will outlast all of us.
I'm so proud.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Peep and Molly Moments

8/11/2013
When Molly came here, she was perfectly happy to lie on the floor and not on couches or beds, etc.
She was . . . and IS . . . a very good dog.
A Very Good Dog.
It never leaves my mind that we could RUIN this great dog because we love her so much. 

We were just watching a dvd and Husband invited her up onto the bed in which he was lying. He often does that and she stays for a while, he says, and then gets down and sleeps on the floor or in her crate. So she lay there while we watched the movie and when the movie was over, Husband told me I would have to make her get down. I told him no, he would have to be the one to tell her to get off, since he owns the bed. He was not able to accomplish that, so I told Molly OFF. She moved . . . not one hair. I pulled on her collar and said OFF, and she did not move.
So I wrapped my arms around her circumference and slowly but firmly slid her off the bed. She landed on the floor pretty much in the same position as she had been in on the bed. There, I said, that's it, and left the room. Husband turned off the light, saying, Geez, June, that's a little rough. Molly followed me in here and I got her a Milk Bone and she ran for her crate because that's where she eats her last-treat-at-night-Milk-Bone. Now she's settled happily in there, with the door open.

I feel pretty good about all this. This leadership stuff does not come naturally to me, but I'm learning.

8/20/2013
Husband says that Molly had three(!) deer chases while they were on their walk tonight. Molly is one happy puppy.
Peep stayed in (with some management from mom) last night. Tonight she's outside again, probably for the night. She shimmies underneath the garage door and curls up on the riding lawnmower seat. I caught her there the other day when I was looking for one of Husband's tools.
Molly likes to stay out until it's truly dark. To get her to come in all we have to do is go out and play "Iiiiiiiii'mmmmm gonnnnnnnna GETchoo!!!!!" and she gets a big rammy case of the zoomies and zooms right into the house. Precious girl. 
Husband got home today before I did, and found the focaccia bread that had been on the counter . . . on the floor, on a rug that Molly likes to lie on. She had pulled the plastic wrapping up and open, like the Jiffy Pop popcorn packages from the 1960s (remember them?) and had eaten all the cheese and black olives and whatever else off it. Husband left everything on the floor just the way he found it so I could see how she'd enjoyed it. Most of the bread was still there, but BOY! she did love that parmesan cheese! Molly is, apparently, following the dietary advice to eat only the part that you REALLY LOVE and leave the part that you don't LOVE. 
Lesson learned. She is big enough that she can get things off the counter, and especially things that SMELL REEEEEEELLLLLY GOOD! 
Actually, of course, I think the whole crime was kind of cute. 

8/26/2013
I think that Molly has a problem with at least her left hip and maybe her right one as well. She walks in a particular way that lets me know she's avoiding flexing her hip joint very much, and when I was brushing her yesterday, I pressed on her hip and she yelped in a way that let me know for sure IT HURT! Poor girl. She isn't crippled by any means, but there's trouble down the line. Whatever's wrong (dysplasia?) doesn't slow her down when she's trotting or doing zoomies. Not one bit. I notice it when she's been resting and gets up . . . she swivels her hind foot a little bit instead of flexing her leg. Maybe it isn't even her hip, now that I think about it . . . maybe it's her knee. Whatever it is, it is NOT a problem we have to worry about right away. Husband's quite calm about it all..."So she'll get a hip replacement. that's all." I figure the more muscle she has, the better, no matter what the underlying problem is, so it's good that her legs are becoming more defined. 
She's so pretty...  
When she goes to the doctor next time . . . not until next spring, God willing! . . . I'll have them check her legs/hips. Maybe it's arthritis. Maybe she got nicked by a car in her former life... No telling. 
But she's happy and beautiful and enjoying life about as much as any living critter can, so we don't worry about it for now.
She's been keeping a close eye on the woodchuck who lives in the hedge row of the house field. She lies on the yard to the side of the barn and gazes out in that direction, waiting for him to show himself.  
Peep caught a grasshopper yesterday, and Molly went over to say, "Whatcha got?" and ate it. Peep just turned around and went off to get another one.....


9/2/2013
Took Molly on a long, long walk this morning and Husband took her out again in the late afternoon, bringing her back covered in grass burrs. Could be worse. At least it isn't burdock burrs! She and I had long brushing sessions. I ended up with rabbit-sized (and -textured) bundles of hair. We could keep at it for days and not run out of hair. Molly likes being brushed, but gets tired of it after a while, as anybody would. 
REALLY MOM? A THOUSAND STROKES A DAY? REALLLLLY?  

9/9/2013
Molly is outdoors right now, making the rounds of the immediate house/barn area. Peep was out all night and when she came in, Molly twitterfooted right over with her ears up and her tail wagging to check and make sure her little sis was okay. This dog is a caretaker. And a love bug. A big love sponge. A great companion. 

9/10/2013
She's been carrying her stuffy toy baby from place to place in the last few days. Not constantly, but from time to time we find the baby moved. From the crate to the couch, from the couch to the bedroom, this afternoon on the floor next to the couch, with both his little cloth ears chewed off. I picked up Baby and Molly left her supper dish and came over with her big round eyes out on stalks. I squeaked Baby and she oh-so-gently took Baby's head and carried him back to her crate. What a doll. Husband and I have both said we almost wish she weren't spayed because it would be such a joy watching her mother her puppies.

Monday, September 9, 2013

My inner child is weeping



My father had sent my sister and me away for the summer. My mother was in the hospital for the second or third time and (I was told, long after the event) Mrs. Furness, mother of one of my sister's friends, had started a murmuring that maybe something was going on with that man and those girls. To protect his good name, my father sent us to his brother's house. 
My cousin D was a year younger than I. Her father was a college dean. The house was big and white with many well-decorated, well-kept rooms. Everything was clean all the time, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone cleaning.
From time to time, the three of us girls would visit two kids who lived down the road . . . a sister and brother. I think the brother was younger than the sister, and possibly, younger than I. Nevertheless, he outranked me because he was on his home turf. I remember him as being volatile. One day, I think, we had a dust-up of the kind that kids have when they are all on the young side of twelve. Somebody said, "Let's pretend that..." and somebody disagreed with the vision . . . tempers rose and the group broke up into segments. 
On this day that I remember, I think my sister and D went to ride D's horse. I wasn't interested in horses, so I was walking back to D's house, feeling lonely for my own house, my own road, my own pets. From his yard, the little boy yelled to me: Why don't you go home! I hadn't known he was there, and if I had known, I wouldn't have expected him to holler at me. I was such a minor player in the group, having no standing as a real resident . . . I just went along with everything.

My heart broke. Not because it was he who'd said it, but because he asked out loud the question that rattled and rang in my head all day.
I wanted to go home, but there was no home to go to.
My mother wasn't there and my father didn't want me there.
The only place for me to be was right where I was: walking in the sun all alone on a road to a house where no one would know or worry if I was there or not.

I think it was one of the first moments in my life when I realized that there was no point in crying if no one would know, if no one would care to make it better.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Molly's field walk for today

Husband is usually the Mollywalker. 
Today he has gone to do some business. 
It's a perfect walking day: cool, sunny with passing clouds, breezy. 
I fleeced up, filled my kangaroo pouch with training treats, and set out down the fields. Nice slow pace. Molly can run hither, thither and yon at will. I follow, or lead (depending on how many loops back around me Molly's done), at my own pace. 
These are recently cut hayfields, hard on the ankles. Wobble, wobble.
The yellow line is the trip out. All downhill. Notice how there are no stops?
The trip back is the pretty hot(!) pink one, all uphill, with yellow stars where I stopped . . . strictly to admire the view. 



From Molly's point of view, the highlights were, in chronological order:
  1. crossing the path of some animal only seconds after it had passed that way (I saw a tail tip but no body)
  2. rolling in a nice fragrant grassy mouse nest left open to the elements by the passing haying operations
  3. coming back and sitting for a treat when I clapped my hands (I tried not speaking to her throughout the walk to see how that would go . . . it went well) or when she felt like checking in with me
  4. finding a place that smelled strongly of Someone Else . . . to which she enacted "Poop On You!" It's her field, after all. 
  5. catching sight of a rodent near one of the edge-of-field lilacs and hopping on it, killing it.
If those highlights were in order of excitement value, number five would head the list. She carried the corpse back to the front lawn and threw it over her shoulders for ten minutes before she ate its head. I don't know what it was. It was white, so not a regular ol' field mouse. Longish legs. Maybe a small rat?

For me, the highlights were, in order of value:
  1. seeing Molly being A Dog Living A Dog's Life
  2. sitting on that stump
  3. leaning on the hay bale
  4. and sitting in the sun at the picnic table when we got back.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Janeless

Important background, see here: My Starving Brain, 8 February 2010

Jane has taken another full-time job. Elsewhere. She still works for Small Pond, but her job is changed from full-time to part-time. Chief Executive, reportedly, begged her not to take the other job, but she told him, "They aren't taking no for an answer."
She will be in the office after I have left for the day. We will communicate through notes. 
During my workday mornings, I may now hum, sigh, laugh. I may breathe deeply. I might never have to work in the same room with her again.

I feel as if I'm on vacation. And yet . . . I'm about to go shower in preparation for going to work!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Drama, country style

Thursday, 10:00PM
Molly and I set off for our field walk around 7 and down by the old orchard I realized that Peep was coming with us, fifty feet behind. Molly playfully chased her into the old, old orchard, which is a MESS of tangled vines and weeds. So far as I know, Peep is in there still. While Molly was frolicking with Peep, she disturbed a fawn with just traces of spots left on its back and it burst out down into the fourth field (out of sight from the house). Molly thrashed around in the brush for a few seconds and then burst out in hot pursuit and chased down well into (and beyond, I think) the fifth field. Our great recall is off the table when there's a deer in the picture. She came back all smiley and pleased with herself. When we passed the orchard again, Peep and I yelled to each other, she sounding pouty, but she wouldn't come out. Molly thought since she'd had such a good time mining for deer there, she'd give it another try, and BY GOLLY, didn't she get another fawn out of there. The thing came out and almost turned toward me but went across the path to where the old barn collapsed. Molly reappeared and went completely in the wrong direction, but retraced her path. So Molly got to chase not one, but TWO deer tonight.

An hour later, we went down to see if Peep would come out, but she would only call. I'm worried, but the brush is too thick and I can't get in to her. 
Oh. And on our attempt at cat retrieval, Molly found a nest of baby birds a foot and a half off the ground and ate them. It's been a great night for Molly....

I'm hoping to wake up to a Peep cat on my doorstep. If that doesn't happen, we'll be out for an early walk!



Friday, 7:00AM
I was awake at 3, up at 4 making supper to get it cooked before the heat of the day, in the back yard calling and calling for Peep at 4:30. I planned to hold the resumption of the Peep search until the supper was out of the oven, and was sitting on the screen porch when Molly came scampering in from the front yard (the front door was open to let in the early morning cool). I thought she was just coming in to say hello, but when I got up to get her breakfast, there was Peep lounging on the floor. I was so relieved and happy! and rushed to make sure she had kibble and fresh water. 
I wanted to get Molly's morning walk out of the way early while it was still cool, so we set off and behind us, here comes Peep once again. She caught up and stayed on a course parallel to Molly, but forty feet to the east. When we all reached the thickety part, Peep apparently said, "Chase me!" and Molly did. Peep went up a silver maple tree (lots of winding, twisting limbs) and cried for attention. "Watch me! Watch me!" I stood below and observed her performance, as she pranced back and forth on narrowing limbs, chewing off small twigs, frequently casting glowing golden eyes at me to make sure I was appreciating her skill. When she leapt five feet from one limb to another, thirty feet above the ground, I had to leave. I didn't want to encourage her daredevil showing off. I headed back for the house. I looked back and there was Molly sitting and watching her kitty sis. They both reappeared about the same time. Peep is happily and staidly playing with her little bell-balls now, looking at me as if to question why I would worry about her since she is so expert at taking care of her small self.

Gawd.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Miscellaneous thoughts

The 7/6/2013 Quote of the day was Thor Heyerdahl's, "For every minute, the future is becoming the past."
I remember having that thought when I was very young. Even to think "Now!" takes a second that will never come back. When people finish something unpleasant and say, "Well, there's an hour of my life I'll never get back!" I know exactly what they mean.

I have a book on my shelf called, "Living Through Breast Cancer." Every single time I catch it out of the corner of my eye, I think "Better Living Through Breast Cancer," and smile to myself at the silliness of the thought.

For me, lying on the grass with my dog is like yoga. I feel my spine click around, feel my shoulder and neck muscles relax... I become aware that my skin is an organ of my body, and I pay attention to its messages. All that is among the reasons I like warm weather. It isn't as much fun lying on crusty snow with an icy wind blowing over me. I have tried it and I know.



I read the other day that everybody in Europe is genetically related to every other European, as close as cousins. I can't now find the article but it didn't surprise me. It's about the same as the village I work for: if you start counting through people you know, you'll shortly come to a relative of the person you're speaking to. Europe's the same way, just bigger. It's a "six degrees from Kevin Bacon" thing. We are all related. Depending on one's feeling for Family, that's either good or bad.

Perfectionists learn to take time to do a thing properly. I always used to think I was a perfectionist because I was always frustrated with my mistakes. I have, however, always hurried through chores because I wanted to get to the "sitting and reading" part of my life. Morning job and observing Morning Boss have begun to teach me that it's all right to take a little more time to make sure I'm on the right course.  Removes a lot of the tension from any task.

I wish I liked myself better. I have accused so many people of thinking I'm not good enough, when, really, it is I who has no use for myself. (Should that be "I who have no use...?") 

The really good thing about mowing the lawn on the tractor is that I'm creating my own breeze while I'm accomplishing something that needs to be done.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The danger of celebrity

Husband happened upon this pose a few mornings ago.
I fear that Peep is in danger of believing her own press.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Independence Day

I was looking for some pretty-colored fireworks to put in here, but then I kept thinking about how, when the Revolutionary War re-enactments are going on down at the old fort in the village, every time I hear the whump of a gun or a cannon, it is a remembrance of war. And, really . . . haven't we had enough of that by now?

So instead of lauding the rockets' red glare and the bombs bursting in air, I'm going to celebrate that I was lucky enough to be born in this country, have always had enough clean water, enough to eat, a place to live, more than enough clothing, the luxury and joy of pets and private transportation and the freedom to live with one other person in the middle of forty-eight acres of hay fields that belong to us. 
More or less. 
If you don't count having to pay the bank and the taxes.

Around 9:30 tonight, we will sit on the back lawn and watch the tippy tops of the fireworks from the park in the village. Molly will cool her belly on the dewy grass, I'll stretch out completely flat and feel at one with the earth. Peep will come and go and wonder why we are all out in the open like that in the dark, and not jumping on tiny bugs in the grass.

I'll celebrate the fact that tonight when it gets dark, my fireworks will be at the ends of little magical bugs that fly over the tops of the grass . . . and fly, sometimes, far, far up into the sky. I wonder if, every now and then, one of them spies the stars and is drawn that way. 
Who is to say it isn't true?

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Pet Rescue Soapbox

Some of the most welcome comments I've received on the last several posts have been from people saying that after hearing about our experience, they've decided to get that cat or dog that they'd been thinking about. That's pretty rewarding to me. 

I've written before about how rescue animals are different. My rescued cats and my two other rescued dogs have just seemed forever grateful and devoted. As if they remembered. I'm sure they didn't, but . . . who knows. 
Molly is bearing out the tradition. She's happy for a loving look, and grins back at us. When she hears her name, her tail wags, even when she's sleeping.
As for the way Husband and I feel, you've seen the change in tone here between "petless" and "happily and completely dopey over our pets." And everybody knows that pets are good for you.


Some of the stories behind these rescues could break your heart . . . 
little Sandy and Mac, for example, 
who're being fostered by Molly's foster mom, Melissa.


where we found Molly.


All this to say: 
If you're thinking of getting a pet, Google "pet rescue" and 
take a look around at any of the shelters or rescue sites that you find in your area. 
You might be lucky enough to get a Molly. 



Sunday, June 23, 2013

Peace and joy reigneth

Life goes on apace here in the Season Of Happiness. The temperatures have risen to comfort level, day and night, and there is Light. There are a dog and a cat, both beautiful and living excellent dog and cat lives. There is a Husband and . . . there's me. We're all happy and comfortable.

Friday night Nephew and Wife and Darling Great Niece (DGN) came to visit. We had burgers and potato salad. I labored over the latter for many hours the night before, worried that there wouldn't be enough potatoes, enough celery and onion, enough hard-cooked eggs. And the outcome was bland unto blahness: a result of my having forgotten to put in mustard, I believe. It may have been that I do not add salt to anything anymore, having tired of puffy eyes, feet and hands. Everyone ate it, but no one asked for some to take home. A major clue. 
If you see the Russian army traveling by, please direct them to my house for a plate of potato salad. I have plenty left over.

DGN has grown since her birth two and a half months ago. To be expected, and certainly A Good Thing. But the cheeks! She could store a winter's worth of nuts in those chipmunk cheeks! Cobalt blue eyes, perfect lips, a calm and docile demeanor. A perfect child, despite having had her first vaccinations that day. Molly was interested in the small one, and very very gentle. She knows how to act around tiny helpless creatures, having had several rounds of her own in her former life. 


Here she is last January being a Mama Umbrella with her last (EVER!) brood.

Saturday was given over to the usual chores: laundry, groceries, housekeeping in general. We enjoyed potato salad with our lunch and with our supper. Watched "Running With Scissors" last night, and while the movie conveyed some of the flavor of the story, I think the book was better. I always think the book is better than movies made from the books. I do highly recommend Augusten Burroughs' books, with the caveat that one's mind must be open to finding humor in tragic situations. But then, if one could not do that, one could hardly live, could one? Or maybe that's just my life.

Last night at dusk, four wild turkeys came out of the woods above the house. But no. It wasn't four turkeys. It was three turkeys. The fourth being was Peep, stalking them. She stalked them right back into the woods. Her hunting skills haven't improved appreciably; earlier I had seen her waiting in the plum tree for one of the many perching blackbirds to fall into her paws. She does, however, continue to practice, bless her little heart.




Today, the temperature will be a humid ninety-some degrees Fahrenheit. I plan to slurp ice water and read. I have showered and am leaving my hair to drip dry. The result will not be attractive, but I'll be comfortable. 
I am old: comfort is sufficient.