Reflection of Real Life

During the holidays I was playing with my grandchildren at my daughter's home.  One of the items we were playing with was the dollhouse and dolls that go with it.  When I saw the mother and father, I just had to take a photo and reflect on how it portrayed reality.

As you can see, Dad is fully dressed and looking dapper while Mom is missing clothing and an arm.  As usual, the man is relaxed and put together while the woman has been doing all the work with home and kids.  You know, life just ain't fair!

Thought for the day:  Sometimes I wonder if men and women are really suited for each other.  Perhaps they should live next door to each other and visit now and then.     Katherine Hepburn

Henry the Gentrified

Again it has been awhile since posting, and during that time Henry has become quite comfortable in his new life.  He has now had all his vaccinations, deworming, ridden of fleas and ear mites and been neutered.  Through all that trauma, he has become more attached to me rather than rejecting me.
He now does typical cat stuff such as sitting in front of the computer screen while I'm trying to use it, curling up on my lap while I'm watching television and batting items around the house.  He actually follows me around like a puppy.

 

 

He and Maxine have come to some type of agreement which is nice.  Henry loves to sleep with me when I go back to bed in the morning after Brian goes to work.  He shows up some times during the night but seems to prefer to wander around during that time.  I do wish he would realize he can show his love for me in other ways other than licking me; at times he even licks my hair. Not good.

He has become quite a handsome cat, and I am still a bit baffled as to why I love him so much.  I find myself having a great amount of respect for his ability to survive in the wild battling predators, weather, disease and traffic.  He is a miracle cat in my eyes.  Now and then he will sit by the patio door and watch birds, squirrels, etc, and I wonder if he longs for the old life.  However, he has made no attempt to escape to the outdoors.

Quite a few times in my life I have learned to "never say never".  I was never going to get another cat, but fate won out and now Henry David is a big part of my life. 
Thought for the day:  Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.  James Herriot

Present Moment

I have been pondering lately the difficulty of grasping the present moment.  Humans seem to be able to think of the past and dream of the future, but living in the present is extremely hard.  I am guilty of it, no doubt about that.  In fact, I have always loved looking at the past through photos, books, thoughts, memories, etc.  I am finding the more I think about living in the present, the less thoughts I have about the future.  Perhaps it comes from being in my 50s and realizing I have more past than future, and the present is quite important.
It seems that we are able to view the past through tainted lenses; we remember the good and forget the bad.  Our minds skew the past and polish the future, but it's too much effort to change the present. We also view it through our own personal experience.  If you asked three siblings about their childhood, you would most likely get three different responses.  We are all individuals with our own perspectives and thought processes.  We always seem to think the future will be better.  Once this happens, then this.....    So it makes me wonder, is our present really that bad that we can't enjoy it?    Children seem to be able to live in the present until they reach puberty and start thinking about cars, dating, college, etc. 
This morning I saw this video which touched me greatly and made me want ever more to live in the present moment.  It's really all we have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBVJuA0jr6Y&list=RDNBVJuA0jr6Y

Thought for the day:  Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha  

The Old Milwaukee Road

On occasion I will walk on a road outside Colfax that makes a nice loop back into town.  I have noticed that people like to drink beer and litter on that stretch of road which is a pet peeve of mine.  So last time I walked with my husband, and we picked up cans.  We only made it about 1/4 mile before bags were full so will have to make another go of it at some point.  Below is a photo of what we found and why I now refer to it as the Old Milwaukee Road.

This experience confirmed a couple things for me....Wisconsin folks love beer and some people are fools.

Thought for the day:  "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
-Albert Einstein

Got My Eye on You

Henry has been creeping out more just to see what is going on.  For the most part, he stays in the basement or at the top of the steps.  However, on occasion, he will check out what might be going on in other parts of the house.  Below is a photo of him watching us in the kitchen and dining room.

As a typical cat, he does things on his own time and when he feels like it.

Thought for the day:  "Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." - Anonymous

Pennies From Heaven

Normally I am not one who would believe in our departed leaving coins around for us to find, but since losing my sister in June perhaps my thoughts have changed. I once knew some one whose husband had passed away, and she found pennies everywhere.  Below is a photo of the pennies I have found in various places in the past two months.  It seems to be more than one would normally find and so it leads me to wonder if there really is such a thing as pennies from heaven.

Most of them have been found on the street or sidewalk, but the last one I found was sitting right in the middle of the floor in one of my closets.  This is not a coat closet but a storage type closet, and I have been in there many times.  This one caused me to really take notice and pause. 
Maybe there is nothing to it at all, but right now it makes me feel better to think that Lynda might be telling me that all is okay.  Of course, I have joked that if she really wants to say hello, leave a couple of $50's. 

Thought for the day: 

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”

Henry David Thoreau

Too Much Loss

As I have ventured outside in this colder winter-like weather, I have found it chilling me to the bone.  Normally I don't have an issue with cold weather and in fact, at times I can embrace it.  So this got me thinking (not again!) about why the cold bothers me this fall.  Then I realized that it was a reflection of my own soul.  Since losing my sister in June, I have not really been able to fully deal with her loss.  Perhaps the warm sunny days of summer helped me put it on hold, but now the change of seasons has truly revealed the state of my soul.  It is dark, cold and full of loss. 
It is difficult for me to grasp how quickly one can be gone and yet life goes on.  It makes me think of my own demise...will the lives of those around me continue as always?  Do we put so much effort into living life only to be forgotten so quickly?  It makes one wonder why we toil so hard and worry so much about life when we know it will end, and the world will continue to turn without us.  Perhaps that is why we all hope for some thing beyond our earthly constraints.  We couldn't possibly end after putting so much into our own existence and that of others. 

Well, I must deal with this loss.  I am just not sure how to do it quite yet.  Maybe I need to spend some time at her house in order to truly comprehend that she will no longer be there.  I have been looking through old photos and understanding our history together.  I am grasping that losing Lynda has set me adrift because she was one of my caretakers; some one that knew me and cared for me my entire life.  She along with my parents and so now they are all gone.  It makes you feel a bit orphaned.
All this has also made me realize just how much loss there has been in the past two decades.  I have lost many special aunts, uncles and my parents.  The host of characters that made up my formative years such as neighbors, family friends and church people....all gone.  There has been the loss of a family dog and three cats.  You begin to realize why the elderly feel like there is no one left.
And so I must take a look at the condition of my soul and do whatever is necessary to get it to a place of warmth again.

Thought for the day: 

“Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see”  William Newton Clarke

More Henry

I have been off the radar for awhile and since last posting, Henry has moved into our home.  Just about a week ago early one morning I opened the patio door, and he came in.  After a few minutes, I quietly closed the door.  He attempted to run towards it once, but after that he has not even looked outside. 
He has taken up residence in the basement for the most part; he does, however, venture up now and then.  In fact, one night he showed up in our bedroom and spent the whole night with us.  He started out sandwiched inside a mattress pad that was on the shelf.  This way he felt protected but could look out and see what was happening.  Then he started laying on a sleeping bag on the floor, and this is where you will normally find him.

I also placed a blanket at the top of the basement steps, and he will sleep there at times.  Of course, Maxine (our dog) is jealous and has to hone in on my time with Henry.  She also likes to eat his food so I have to keep watch. Henry loves Maxine and looks up with adoration at her.  He went too far one day when he started batting at the ID tags on her leash. It gets complicated.
Yesterday I managed to get Henry into a cat carrier in order to get him to the vet.  He needed vaccinations and also antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection.  It went better than expected, but he did hide from me for a couple hours afterwards.
So looks like Henry will be warm and dry for the winter; perhaps he will want to venture out again in the spring.

Thought for the day:  “If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.”
― Mark Twain

The Saga of Henry

In a previous post I told the story of Henry, the stray cat.  Since that time he disappeared for 16 days and returned again.  While he was gone, I was heartbroken.  I didn't realize just how much he had stolen my heart and how much I loved him.  He appeared in my dreams, and I found myself looking out the patio door often feeling lonely.  Little by little I took away his stuff and ultimately decided to throw away his moist food.
The very day I threw away that food he came back!  My daughter and granddaughter were visiting, and I happened to look out the patio door.  I yelled Henry, Henry!  He was in the yard eating old pieces of bread I had thrown out for the birds.
He was starving and covered with cockle burs, not to mention a few ticks.  Over the course of a couple days, I got him well fed, cleaned up and applied the rest of his meds.

 

 

Twice this week I have gotten him to come in the house for a brief time.  He sat on my lap for quite awhile, and I felt like we were both thinking the same thing.  Would his moving in be a game changer?  Is our relationship better the way it is?  Last night he came in and most likely would have stayed, but I opened the patio door to give him a choice.  I don't want to frighten him too much or make him feel trapped.  He went out again, but I will try again tonight.  Henry gives me purpose and a link to childhood memories.

Above is a photo of Henry having a good rest on the deck due to a full stomach and lots of hugs from the woman that loves him.

Thought for the day:   Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.   Wm Shakespeare

Tiny Miracles

This summer is the first time I have had hummingbirds in my backyard, and I have just been mesmerized by them.  They came in June, and I have seen them everyday since.  They actually showed up right after my sister, Lynda, died on June 6th.  So in that respect, the little creatures are even more of a miracle for me.  I so want to believe that it is her way of telling me that she is okay.  Even if that isn't the case, it makes me feel better.  Not only do they feed, but they often sit on the clothesline or power lines.

You have to look very closely

 

Another interesting activity I was able to watch was a hummingbird being banded while we were in Nashville.  It was at a nature center. They often have the same birds return to the center and often around  the same date each year.

 

Hummingbird Facts

 

They are the tiniest bird in the world

 

They can hear better than humans and see farther

 

Their hearts beat up to 1,260 times per minute and the heart is 2.5 % of their body weight

 

They weigh  between 2 and 20 grams (a penny is 2.5 grams)

 

They can fly forward, backwards, sideways and upside down and can also hover in mid-air

 

Their wings can beat up to 200 times per second, and they can fly 25-30 miles per hour

 

They do not mate for life, and the females do all the nest building and care of the young

 

They fly across the Gulf of Mexico which takes them about 20 hours

 

 

So indeed, the hummingbird is a miracle.  I am going to miss seeing them when they soon leave for the winter.  Really hope they decide  to come back and visit me again next summer.  I will be waiting!

 

 

Thought for the day:  In wilderness, I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.    Charles Lindbergh

 

 

 

Snapshots of a Free Summer

This is the first summer in well over thirty years that I have not held a job.  It has been wonderful having the freedom to truly enjoy it.

Here are few things that made it special

taming a cat (see previous post)

watching hummingbirds all over my backyard

watching a sunflower open

 

Hanging all my clothes on the line ( haven't used my dryer for a month)

 Spending time on gardens

Trip to Nashville

Time with family

 

 

Yep, I am one very blessed individual!

Thought for the day:  Summer afternoon, summer afternoon...to me, those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.   Henry James

Henry

I grew up on a farm, and one of the things I did was attempt to tame wild cats.  We had plenty of them, and I would sit for long periods of time in the hay shed and meow or simply be quiet.  Most of the time I was successful in being able to tame those cats. 
Cats have always been a part of my life...from farm cats to house cats.  Our last house cat died about three years ago so my life has been catless since that time.  I had made a decision not to get another cat for many reasons....they live a LONG time, not a fan of litter boxes, cat hair gets tiresome, etc.
Well, awhile ago this scrawny gray cat started hanging around the area.  He was very skittish and fearful so you would only see him on rare occasions.  About three weeks ago, I noticed he was around more often so I decided to start setting out food and water.  I also noticed that he seemed to have some sort of respiratory infection so maybe a little food would help so his energy would not have to be used for hunting.  Because I am not working and have extra time, I used my old skills of meowing as well as being quiet and patient.

We went on vacation for a week so plenty of food and water was set out, and with his condition, I assumed maybe he wouldn't be around when we returned.
Well, guess what!  He was around, and just a few days after we returned I was able to pet him.  The next day he was rubbing all over me and purring.  Today I spent some time brushing his coat.  So it appears that a new cat has entered my life and time will tell whether it becomes a house cat or simply a backyard pet.  By the way, I also got close enough to confirm it is a Henry and not a Henrietta.  Also, it is not a surprise that he is named after Henry David Thoreau.

Thought for the day:  a cat improves the garden wall in sunshine, and the hearth in foul weather.  Judith Merkle Riley

The Traveler

About two weeks ago, my husband and I were headed to the airport for a trip to Nashville.  I decided to stop for gas about four miles before the MN border.  As we were getting back in our car, we noticed a young girl who appeared to be hitchhiking with a dog.  We discussed the situation and decided that if we saw her again, we would give her a ride.
So as we approached the freeway ramp, there she was.  I pulled the car over, and we asked where she was going.  Her reply was anywhere in the St. Paul/Mpls area.  I opened the trunk to put in her backpack, and the dog jumped right in, too.  She got him out of the trunk, and they both got in the backseat.

We discovered her name was Kara (sp?), and the dog was Deter.  It was a German shepherd she had gotten as a puppy while in California.  She was originally from Philadelphia and had been on the road for quite some time.  She had come from California most recently and was headed back that way before winter.  We were amazed by a number of things.....she was able to travel with a dog which gave her both companionship and protection...this was a lifestyle that was chosen, not forced.....no harm had come to her (even after riding with truckers).....and last but not least, she had ridden freight trains for most of her journeys.
I am so glad we were able to help in a small way and glad I was able to see that not every one chooses the safe, easy route through life.  There are all kinds of different ways of life, and if they differ from our own, that does not make them wrong.
Happy Trails to You!!
Thought for the day:  Two roads diverged in a wood, and I.....I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.    Robert Frost

Should be a Crime to be so Cute

This past weekend our granddaughter, Aria, came for a visit.  Her parents were attending a wedding so we got the pleasure of spending some time with her.
She didn't cry or get upset when they drove away so I knew she trusted me.
Her first order of business was to check out the whole house to see what might be of interest.  We quickly discovered which doors would need to stay shut and what items to put away.
My husband asked a couple times, is this really happening?  This was in response to seeing such a cute little person walking all over the place.

 

Some of the things we did............

Visited the railroad museum

 

 

Walked down to the creek

 

Went to the park

She carried all my potatoes into the living room



Enjoyed our dog, Maxine

Snuggled

Snuggled some more


It was a wonderful time, and I sure hope she visits often.

 Thought for Today:   There are places in your heart you do not even know exist until you love a child.

One Year

I have not been blogging lately because I was having difficulty opening my post page on our computer, but now it works!
Today marks one year since leaving the workplace.  It does not seem possible that I reached that goal.  Now I have a new one....to make it until the end of the year.  Seems like if I break it up into time frames, it is easier for me to sustain.  Of course, my sincere hope is that I can meet the goal of never having to return to the formal workplace. 
I am just now starting to relax more about being home and enjoying it to the fullest. 
Thought for today: Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.    Winston Churchill

Losing Lynda

This post is a difficult one to do because it is about my sister, Lynda.  She passed away on June 6th, two days before her 69th birthday.  It involved a series of events...heart attack, triple bypass, stroke and ultimately arrhythmia that they were unable to stabilize due to all the other health issues. 
 
So she has been gone from this world for 16 days, and I just cannot wrap my mind around it.  She is in my thoughts several times a time and during the night if I happen to wake up.  I look at her photo and remember all the life events we shared together, and my heart aches to realize we will not be sharing the future.  Even though our phone calls were infrequent, I want to pick up the phone and call her.  While driving through the twin cities on my way to Brainerd yesterday, I wanted so badly to be able to stop by for a visit and asked myself why I didn't visit more often.  We get so busy with our own lives that we forget to make time for those people we care so much about.

Her memorial service was beautiful with music by our brothers and sister-in-law.  I shared memories and thoughts as well as my nephew, Lynda's friend and both of our brothers.  There were moments of tears and laughter and an outpouring of love from the many friends and family that loved her so much.  I am fairly sure she had no idea how many people's lives she had touched and how dearly she was loved.  Lynda was a person who always put others first, almost to a fault.  She would make sure every one else was taken care of before giving a thought to herself.  She did not want any attention and so I attempt to comfort myself with the belief that she would not have wanted to live as an invalid and have others fuss over her.  However, I needed her here longer as did her entire family, especially her three young grandsons that she adored.
 

 

I feel like life should have stopped longer to honor our great loss.  How dare the sun continue to shine or rain continue to fall?  My lovely sister is gone, and even Mother Nature should have given pause.
Oh, Lynda.  I love and miss you so much and don't want to let you go!

Thought for the day:  Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.

Happy Birthday

This past week I celebrated my 54th birthday.  I was thinking back and wondering how many birthdays I actually remember and decided it was three.  
On my 18th birthday I graduated from high school so that is memorable.  When I turned 30, I was on my way home from Nashville with my parents and sister.  When we woke up that morning my dad was a bit cranky and totally forgot it was my birthday which caused me to cry because not only was I 30 but he forgot.  The next one I very clearly remember was my 50th when my amazing daughters arranged a surprise party and invited several women who had been important at different times in my life.  I was totally and completed surprised, and it felt like a wonderful episode of "This Is Your Life".

Guess I am not a big birthday person in that I don't make a big deal of it nor do I profess to remembering every one's birthday or recognizing it. It did seem amazing that out of 54 years, I only remembered three birthdays. In doing some research about birthdays, this is what I found.

It was  believed that one could be helped by good spirits or pursued by evil spirits on one's birthday. For this reason, people would gather around the birthday person to offer protection from evil spirits. The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit that guarded over his birth and protected him during his life. This spirit, the Greeks believed, "had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born".

So my conclusion after thinking about birthdays for the past few days is this:  the main reason we do it is to honor a person and to make them feel like they are cared for and loved.  It is a day set aside to simply recognize our specialness as a distinct human being.  

Quote for the day: A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun.  Enjoy the trip.  – By Author Unknown

The Web of Life

Yesterday while doing yoga, I heard a loud thud.  I got up to look out the glass doors to see what happened.  I saw a bird twitching on the ground and realized it had flown into the glass.  It stopped moving, and I went back to my yoga mat.  For the next few minutes, I kept checking out the glass to see if perhaps it had just been stunned and would soon fly away.  However, that did not happen; the only movement was the wind rustling the feathers.
So having the contemplative mind that I do, I wondered why I was so touched by this occurrence.  It came to me that what happened to this bird is the same as what can happen to any living being, including we homo sapiens.  It was probably just seconds before that the bird was making a stop at one of my feeders to grab a quick bite to eat.  He wasn't even enjoying the moment because the mind was focused on the next move.  Well, it turns out that the next move was the last.  This happens to deer, squirrels, raccoons, skunks, etc as they simply try to cross a road to get to their next task in life.  It happens to humans as we rush from one place to the next and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This leads to the thought of how important it is to live in the present moment because in reality, it is all we have.  We would be so much more at peace if we could reach a place of living in the present moment and enjoying it.  Instead, we rush through each moment just to arrive at the next  task or event and some times that next one never comes.
We can't change the past nor predict the future, but we can live right now.  It's all we have.
Thought for the day:  The meeting of two eternities, the past and future....is precisely the present moment.
-- Henry David Thoreau

Mountain Pose

In previous postings, I have mentioned that Sundays have a different feel for me.  They are steeped in memories.  Now I am realizing that Saturdays feel that way, too.  So I have been contemplating why do weekends feel so unique.  In fact, it's more than just a feeling; it is as if I am transported.  There is no similar occurrence for weekdays. 
On Saturdays I can feel the bustle of chores being done, and a special lunch being made.  My mother worked full time so weekends were different; she was around and busy.  Sundays, of course, were all about the weekly trek to the small Lutheran church  which included its own cast of characters and always a wonderful Sunday dinner. On the way home from church, my dad always swung over to the mailbox to grab the Sunday paper.  While my mother put the finishing touches on dinner, my dad would watch the late morning news shows.   In later years, we might have gone out to eat on Sundays.  These rituals began as a small child and continued until my mother passed away at age 78.  I still spent time with my father, but things were never the same.  My children became a part of this routine, too.
Until recently, I couldn't really understand why were these things so ingrained in my brain (to the point of almost being there).  It is finally clear that those people and experiences were the longest in duration of any others in my life.  They became in my mind a place of security and longevity. 

This brings me to why I named the post "Mountain Pose."  I do yoga several times a week in my home, and each exercise begins with that pose and returns often to it.  Mountain Pose is a place of grounding, strength and well being.  It's simple but profound.  Your legs are planted on the Earth, the chest and head are slightly elevated, and you stand strong and secure.  Now I make the connection between that special period of time in my life and this pose.  My parents, the people of that community and all the experiences associated with it were my "mountain pose."  One by one those people and those times have been wrested from my life and now at the age of almost 54, I have to come to terms with that and learn to look back with gratitude and fondness.  It can never be recreated.  I can't join a local Lutheran church and make Sundays dinners and expect it to be the same.
I suspect that weekends will always have a different feel; that will not end.  It is nice to come to an understanding of why.

Thought for the day:  Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
― Dr. Seuss

If Life Were a DVR

I don't fancy myself a lover of technology, but I do have to say the DVR is one of the greatest inventions.  No longer am I held captive by commercials or an entire show.  For instance, when watching Andy Griffith I can skip Henry Winkler (aka the Fonz) pitching reverse mortgages to old people.  Or maybe while watching American Idol you don't want to see Nikki Minaj play with her hair one more time....Fast Forward!  While watching Ellen, I can skip ahead if I really don't care about Mario Lopez's pets.  It's great!  Now I either DVR a show or watch public television that doesn't have commercials.
People will often ask me if I have seen a certain commercial to which I must reply "I don't watch commercials."  You can cut almost an hour off a two hour show by skipping commercials.

So this got me to thinking about the possibility of life being recorded on a DVR.  How wonderful it would be to either skip ahead to avoid a winter that is getting too long (like this one) or I would love to skip to June 1st so our renter would be gone.  You could also reverse so you could spend another day with loved ones that are gone or revisit your childhood.  One might also want to spend some time with your children when they were young; just one more day watching them play in the park or snuggle in your arms. There is nothing like new love so wouldn't it be awesome to go back to the first few days of a new romance.
  Of course, the rule would be that you couldn't change a thing; all would be left as it was.  You wouldn't have the option of fast forwarding through the bad parts.  You would also have to fast forward to reality once again.  Well, I know this is a pipe dream but awful fun to think about. 
Thought for the day:  “No man is rich enough to buy back his past.”    Oscar Wilde

Conflict

Well, once again my confidence has been shaken.  Since moving to Wisconsin in November of 2011, we have owned two homes.  Our home in Minnesota is for sale but with the weak housing market, it is still ours.  We began renting it in June of last year so this allowed me to begin my journey of leaving the workplace.  About ten days ago, I received a telephone call informing me that the renter had taken his own life.  This news immediately made my thoughts go in the direction of needing to find a job.  Of course this was the only solution; we needed more money.  I grappled with this for a few days until I regained some clarity of thought and then began to look at other possibilities.  My daughter encouraged me not to look for a job; things would work out. 
For the past couple days, I have had the classic experience of having two small figures (one of each shoulder) going back and forth with conflicting advice.  My responsible classical thinking self tells me I have no choice while my "think outside the box" self informs me there must be other ways to make this work.  It tells me you want the summer off and do not want to sit in some office again giving your time and energy to some thing you don't really care about.  You want to be available for your family, your home, the outdoors, etc.  If you had the knowledge that your life would end soon, where would you want to be? 
So this is my life right now; back and forth between conflicting ideas.  I truly want to continue this journey.
Thought for today:  A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. ~James Allen

Seeing the Past More Clearly

Ever since I was a child, there has been a fascination for me with the past.  The Amish have always intrigued me, the Little House book series was my favorite and there has been a feeling that I belonged more in the 1880s then the 1980s.
I even had this absurd concept that the world really was black and white at one time or at least there must have been less color.  Subconsciously I think I believed that people had a difficult time functioning without modern inventions or conveniences. 
With my extra time I have been watching some old movies and televison shows.  Through this I have come to realize that my odd beliefs were not true.  People lived life in color and grappled with the same human issues of today.  They didn't go through daily life bemoaning what hadn't been invented; they just lived.  If I look back at my own experience, there wasn't time spent contemplating what could or might be.  Certain things such as rural electrification and modern washing machines certainly changed lives considerably.  However, I would argue that even with modern conveniences, we still don't have more free time or a larger sense of fulfillment.

So I have been forced to look at the past in a different light and to realize that while some aspects may have been better; other realities were not.  Much the same as our world today.  There are parts of the world of the 1880s that I would embrace, but at the same time I would not want to return to a time when blacks and women had no rights.  I am learning that each era has good and bad elements; perhaps we can choose to keep some of the good and be thankful some of the bad have been eradicated.
Thought for today:  “The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion”    Albert Einstein

Too Much of Everything

Having lived now for almost 54 years, I have a few decades to contemplate.  What I have been feeling lately is that at this stage in the history of mankind, there is too much of everything.
I grew up on a farm, went to a country type school, had one television channel and a party line telephone.  Now the family farm has been diminished by corporate farms, country schools are no longer, there are hundreds of channels and cell phones rule the world.  I am not naive in thinking that things shouldn't and won't change, but I also feel like we don't have to embrace things just because they exist.
Having all those television channels doesn't mean there is any thing worthwhile to watch and are we really more connected as a society just because we can be reached 24/7 via cell phone?  I would say we are less connected and due to having too many choices and too many things, our minds are cluttered.
While I regret to admit I am a fan of American Idol, lately I have been wondering do we really need any more "artists".  What happened to the time when people were just discovered and not forced.  The channels are bogged down with "reality" shows.  Are they reality?  I highly doubt it.  Why not embrace our own reality and make the most of each day rather than sitting around watching other people's lives?  Why do we care about the Kardashians or the daily barrage of which star's relationship ended or who got a tattoo?
As a society we must not like our lives much if we are so enamored with the trivial details of others.
I would venture to say we were a happier people when we could walk into the local grocery store with less choices but where we were known and cared for.  We were more contented when we watched our one channel rather than flipping through hundreds.
We were more connected when families and friends actually helped each other rather than were "friends" via Facebook.  As Jay Leno once said, "when you need helping moving, you will find out just how many Facebook friends you really have."

I don't claim to be a Luddite, but I do believe it may be time to take a step back and reevaluate our priorities before our minds become as cluttered and overflowing as our landfills.
Thought for today:  Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. ~Henry David Thoreau

Living The Dream

Yesterday it finally became clear to me that I am living my dream.  It has now been 8 months since leaving the work force after 33 years of working in various offices.  So you might wonder why did I just arrive at the realization.  Well, I think it is because of the fear of it ending; therefore, I didn't want to fully enjoy it. 
We had quite a bit of snow yesterday, and as I watched it come down it became clear to me that I didn't have to go out if I chose not to.  That led to my pondering how nice it was to have the choice.
So then I asked myself why I wasn't fully enjoying this time which led me to the conclusion stated above.  I further thought about it and told myself that every thing ends at some point, but we still take time to enjoy such things as childhood, family, romances, vacations, even life itself.   This dream is so important to me that I don't want it to end.  It has given me time to regroup, relax, rest, spend time with my kids and grandchildren, to just be.   Now I am looking forward to spring and a summer without having to go to a job.  Being at home and caring for the house and my  husband is rewarding for me.
Now I am going to attempt to just enjoy every moment of it and not think of the possibility of it ending.  If I do have to enter the work force again, I will try to do it with grace and thankfulness for the time I did have.

Thought for today:  To live in the present moment is a miracle.  The miracle is not to walk on water.  The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.    Thich Nhat Hanh