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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Dirt Lover

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.  
~Margaret Atwood

Two days after Spring arrived, it snowed. We awoke to a light dusting really, maybe a couple of inches. By late afternoon the same day, if just arriving on the scene, you'd never have guessed it had snowed. All evidence erased and with it my hope for Spring. 

Now I sit here, one day later, basking in the warm Spring sun. My body has forgotten how intoxicating it can be to have the warmth of the suns rays penetrate my deprived translucent winter skin. I'm drunk with the sun's kiss, stoned to the soul.  I could fall in to eternal bliss right here.

But there's something about the first bona fide spring day that snaps me to my senses. Dirt. I need to get my hands into the dirt. An hour later, I've dug out a bush that did not survive last summer's heat. And into the newly bare earth, I transplanted another bush that had outgrown it's previous locale. Standing back to admire my work, I dusted the dirt from my hands and smiled lovingly at the soil now caked in between my nails.  Garden gloves are standard protocol but today, I claimed to not recall where I stored my gloves as winter arrived so many months back.

Later, a cool chill drew goose bumps on my skin, I bid the sun goodbye as it retreated behind the clouds rolling in. Tomorrow it will rain, as it will the next day and the day after that, all the way through the rest of the week and on through the following weekend. I'm ok with that. The sun was my wonderful in today. It's brief visit will sustain me for a little longer as I glimpse winter's strength waning, it's presence fading a tiny bit with each day. And tonight I will slumber with the aroma of Spring lulling me into a contented sleep.




Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Happiness Is My Pillow

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog. ~Edward Hoagland

I've often marveled at our dogs abilities to deem the couch and our bed as their preferred places to sleep. They will spend ten minutes building a nest among our covers, destroying the blankets and flinging the couch covers, until a suitable pile has been formed on which they will plop themselves down upon it and be asleep immediately.

One of our dogs has become quite taken with a chair pillow from our garage. If we leave the door to the garage open, he sneaks out there, grabs the pillow, brings it inside and places it wherever he thinks is most comfortable.

Sometimes he prefers the floor

Other times the table will do just fine. 



Usually though the couch works best.


Sometimes posing with the pillow is fun too.








 I've stopped trying to figure this out. He must have his reasons.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Things you should know

Be at peace and see a clear pattern running through your life. Nothing is by chance.


There's some things you should know. I'm all over the place but then again, maybe not. My focus in life is clear. My fervor well anchored and acted upon. Though, on an given day, one of my passions may stand out, my emotional state emphasized. The world will take me by surprise. Disappointment may be an unwelcome guest. Frustration may cross my path. Overwhelming sadness may take up residence, albeit temporary, as it's never allowed to stay long. Uninhibited happiness may rush over me like a rapidly overflowing river whose sandy banks cannot hold back the rush of water. You name it, it has visited. That's what makes my life a crazy pot-marked emotional response to all that goes on around me and in whatever I encounter as I ride the waves of life. I will take a hold of it. Feel it. Turn it around and around and examine it. If it fits, I will put it in my pocket with other life experiences. If it is not my thing, I will let it go. Whether they are treasures, bewildering puzzles or wrotten piles of steaming shit; they each take to me like a sculptor, shaping me like clay, molding me into who I am, who I am becoming, who I will be.

It's true, although I choose with each encounter how I will motivate my self and figure out the conundrums, my response time will vary. It may appear as if I am stuck, suspended in time on a particular issue; or I may revisit it from time to time. Such is my journey in life and one that I have come to take in stride and most of the time embrace.

I was meant to go through the first half of my life conducting it in such a way that one would tend to think of as stumbling onto difficulties and misjudgments. But although it wasn't clear in the beginning, those steps were helping to part the clouds of confusion, assisting me in charting out my life path, whittling away at my vague form. The second half of my life, now, I am emerging with a distinct edge, with an almost qualified inner truth and harmony. I can find my way more quickly back to my center, although I still get lost from time to time in the melodrama and the ever moving pendulum of my moods. I will say this again. This is the second half of my life. The feeling is new, almost honeymoon-like. My stride is not without reserve but I walk with a more confident gait.

Preparation is key if you are going along for the ride. Then again, you may follow with wild abandon. The revelations may stun, render you speechless, make the hair on your arms stand up, tug on your heart strings, give you sensations and awarenesses previously mysterious. I could never provide an agenda because that's the thing with life, with my one wild and crazy life, I never know what is around the bend. This time though, I'm a little more prepared, a little more of an expert. This is the chapter where I build my connections to the universe, open the channels to the spirit world and experience the tilt a whirl of life with skilled practice, well almost, but close enough. These are the things you should know.