A friend of mine dropped a dog off for me to check out. I was thinking that I was going to take a look at it, he was thinking that he was going to leave it here for three days...so, I have a dog, of sorts.
This dog is probably about three years old and is calm and housebroken. She doesn't go into the trash at all but will pinch food off of the counter when given the opportunity. She is afraid to be touched-at all, so I have not been able to brush her or bathe her. This is enough for me to abandon the project.
Supposedly her name is Sneakers, but that is a surprise to her because when I call her name I get no reaction at all. I have taken to calling her Pickles because it is the only thing that she will not eat.
She has one blue eye and one brown eye, and as much as I hate to admit it, it freaks me out a little. She is chocolate brown and has some speckling which could turn out to be white if she ever gets a bath.
It is amazing how much I can waffle on taking this dog to the pound. The truth is that I don't want her. She is good with the cat, but the fact that she won't let me touch her is unacceptable. How can you train a dog you can't touch? I will have to figure out how to get a leash on her so I can turn her in. That will be a new experience for me...turning in an animal...
I've had a lot of new experiences these last couple of years, this is not one that I am looking forward to....
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Where'd This Week Go?
Time is so fluid, one moment it rushes like an overflowing river and without any warning what-so-ever it seems to still like a placid lake. I don't know any placid lakes, I'm not sure that I ever did, but these past couple of weeks have gone by as if I were busy-which I am not.
I have been doing a lot of writing, and liking what I've written. The bear has made some reappearances, and I am happily looking out for him while keeping my trash indoors. I did some online research and discovered that my bear isn't dangerous as long as I never feed him, that's easy...just as I'm getting used to this whole bear idea along came...the snakes. Yes, you read that right, snakes, plural.
At some point during the Waldo Canyon Fire, which was just a couple of miles away and mercifully progressing further away, I noticed the wood among the leaves on the far side of the house. The wood was not so much piled as collected there after each of the storms knocked them off my trees and my neighbors. One of the disadvantages of living at the end of a street, or just my street in particular, is that the wind carries all of the debris right to the top of my driveway.
As a last resort, I began pitching them over the fence and wishing I had a fireplace...or wishing that I'd assemble the fire pit Aunt Joan/Jean gave me that last Christmas...or figuring that I'd deal with it eventually. As the heat and smoke persisted, and the news ran updates minute by minute for days on end, there was no avoiding it, the wood had to go!
The next day laborer to knock on my door, as they do around here, looking for work was hired. He stacked and tied the branches to be carted away and then went out to turn the leaves and spread them around the yard to avoid spontaneous combustion. He came to the door carrying a young snake which he had accidentally whacked and wanted to know if I wanted to try to save it. He was very sorry. I did not scream but I surely wanted to.
As it turns out, these too are harmless-which is a very good thing because he saw several of them darting away when he happened upon the other. I also learned that the snakes are excellent for keeping field mice and such out of your house and that they mean that my ground is very healthy...okay, I guess...though I don't know why it would matter because I am never going out in that yard again.
I have been doing a lot of writing, and liking what I've written. The bear has made some reappearances, and I am happily looking out for him while keeping my trash indoors. I did some online research and discovered that my bear isn't dangerous as long as I never feed him, that's easy...just as I'm getting used to this whole bear idea along came...the snakes. Yes, you read that right, snakes, plural.
At some point during the Waldo Canyon Fire, which was just a couple of miles away and mercifully progressing further away, I noticed the wood among the leaves on the far side of the house. The wood was not so much piled as collected there after each of the storms knocked them off my trees and my neighbors. One of the disadvantages of living at the end of a street, or just my street in particular, is that the wind carries all of the debris right to the top of my driveway.
As a last resort, I began pitching them over the fence and wishing I had a fireplace...or wishing that I'd assemble the fire pit Aunt Joan/Jean gave me that last Christmas...or figuring that I'd deal with it eventually. As the heat and smoke persisted, and the news ran updates minute by minute for days on end, there was no avoiding it, the wood had to go!
The next day laborer to knock on my door, as they do around here, looking for work was hired. He stacked and tied the branches to be carted away and then went out to turn the leaves and spread them around the yard to avoid spontaneous combustion. He came to the door carrying a young snake which he had accidentally whacked and wanted to know if I wanted to try to save it. He was very sorry. I did not scream but I surely wanted to.
As it turns out, these too are harmless-which is a very good thing because he saw several of them darting away when he happened upon the other. I also learned that the snakes are excellent for keeping field mice and such out of your house and that they mean that my ground is very healthy...okay, I guess...though I don't know why it would matter because I am never going out in that yard again.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
In a MInute
You always know that your whole life can change in a minute. Minutes we hope for, like winning the lottery, meeting the right person or finding the right...minutes we dread, like a terrible car accident, the death of a loved one or the dreaded diagnosis. We don't know when these moments are coming, we are aware of their possibility but for the most part our lives are spent between these moments.
Most of our lives are unremarkable selections of what to wear or what to have for dinner, perhaps who to date or what we want to do with our lives but even those seem to evolve over time until your choices come together into a lifestyle and in the end, your life. Sometimes, we can trace a change to a particular decision but often we don't exactly know when we became so committed to the life that we are living.
Today, a small black bear walked out from behind my van...right to the end of the driveway and in that moment, I realized, that my life was changed. This person that has lived her entire life just outside the two largest cities in the United States was now living among the bears and the deer.
As intentional as my move to Colorado was, and as beautiful as I think it is here, I never thought for one moment about living with such large wildlife. To think that I was so impressed by a friendly squirrel last year...a double rainbow last month...and now a young bear in my driveway. It is a staggering thought.
A certain part of me has always wanted to live in such a place, but another part of me cannot believe the transitions that have brought me to this moment. I didn't think of my new home as being as rural as this event portrays it. I won't change it, if I wanted to I doubt that I could actually pull it off anyway. I have committed myself to enjoying this life, as different as it is from the rest of my life, it is a good life just the same...but a bear in the yard? That gives me pause.
I have been building my life here slowly, because that is my speed since everything happened. Each minute that brought these huge changes was not necessarily more than a situation to be dealt with, the best I could. I didn't handle them all well, by a long shot but I have accepted this truth and still I know that my life will change in a minute, though when that minute arrives is a total mystery to me.
Will it be the moment I've been waiting for? Will it be a moment that I did not see coming? Like a bear napping by the creek, that thrilled me or like that same bear popping out from behind the van that made me aware of my vulnerability? Certainly. I hope it is something much more satisfying like meeting the love of my life as well as the successful resolution of legal matters that I decline to discuss. Between these two ideas are a hundred more, each more abstract or fantastical but if a bear can and, in fact, did appear from behind the van in my driveway, is it any more fantastic to think that in a minute I could publish any part of my writing from the last thirty years? Or become a non-smoker which I have been pursuing just as long. Or establish a home business that allows me to work when I can, and which I crave? Or become the artist that I have always dreamed of? Which is more realistic? Which is probable, or does that even matter?
This house on the corner, with a creek at the back has all these possibilities and more, but for the first time in my life, I think I might take up target practice...it's a new idea that could change my life, in a minute...
Most of our lives are unremarkable selections of what to wear or what to have for dinner, perhaps who to date or what we want to do with our lives but even those seem to evolve over time until your choices come together into a lifestyle and in the end, your life. Sometimes, we can trace a change to a particular decision but often we don't exactly know when we became so committed to the life that we are living.
Today, a small black bear walked out from behind my van...right to the end of the driveway and in that moment, I realized, that my life was changed. This person that has lived her entire life just outside the two largest cities in the United States was now living among the bears and the deer.
As intentional as my move to Colorado was, and as beautiful as I think it is here, I never thought for one moment about living with such large wildlife. To think that I was so impressed by a friendly squirrel last year...a double rainbow last month...and now a young bear in my driveway. It is a staggering thought.
A certain part of me has always wanted to live in such a place, but another part of me cannot believe the transitions that have brought me to this moment. I didn't think of my new home as being as rural as this event portrays it. I won't change it, if I wanted to I doubt that I could actually pull it off anyway. I have committed myself to enjoying this life, as different as it is from the rest of my life, it is a good life just the same...but a bear in the yard? That gives me pause.
I have been building my life here slowly, because that is my speed since everything happened. Each minute that brought these huge changes was not necessarily more than a situation to be dealt with, the best I could. I didn't handle them all well, by a long shot but I have accepted this truth and still I know that my life will change in a minute, though when that minute arrives is a total mystery to me.
Will it be the moment I've been waiting for? Will it be a moment that I did not see coming? Like a bear napping by the creek, that thrilled me or like that same bear popping out from behind the van that made me aware of my vulnerability? Certainly. I hope it is something much more satisfying like meeting the love of my life as well as the successful resolution of legal matters that I decline to discuss. Between these two ideas are a hundred more, each more abstract or fantastical but if a bear can and, in fact, did appear from behind the van in my driveway, is it any more fantastic to think that in a minute I could publish any part of my writing from the last thirty years? Or become a non-smoker which I have been pursuing just as long. Or establish a home business that allows me to work when I can, and which I crave? Or become the artist that I have always dreamed of? Which is more realistic? Which is probable, or does that even matter?
This house on the corner, with a creek at the back has all these possibilities and more, but for the first time in my life, I think I might take up target practice...it's a new idea that could change my life, in a minute...
Saturday, July 28, 2012
The Quest for Greatness
Perhaps it was the Opening Ceremonies that got me to thinking that everyone has a secret, or not so secret, desire for greatness. Those who discover their particular brand of greatness early in their lives appear to have a decided advantage over the late bloomers. Certainly we are more aware of them, but if you live long enough, you usually get to see them fall as well. Some more gracefully than others.
As for the late bloomers, a group I include myself in, I wonder if they/we ever know our true greatness? For most people, they unlike whoever it was that said each person gets fifteen minutes of fame, go about their lives without fireworks and standing ovations.
Still, deep inside, I suspect there is a desire that bubbles up to the surface now and again. I wonder about people that don't receive their accolades in their lifetimes. Heroes known to their families, or the lady across the street. People who do amazing things that just make the world a better place to live.
I'm thinking of a secretary I used to know. She always managed to keep it together. I was one of the few people who knew that she often came back to school after dinner and got things ready for the next day. The only reason I knew is because that was when I went back myself.
We made an agreement somewhere along the line to stop scaring the crap out of each other when we came in by singing or saying hello quite loudly. This always amused the night custodian, who laughed easily and was happy for the company. We seemed to develop another agreement, tacit for sure, that we didn't chat socially-we came to get work done, and we never mentioned that the other was there to anyone else.
I sometimes think of her late in the evening and wonder...I wonder about a lot of people actually, including myself. I wonder how things are getting along without us? I wonder which of the seven million things I did actually changed someone else's life? I wonder about my own life, and how it will play out over the next couple of decades? I wonder about things that happened, and to be honest, I wonder about things that didn't happen a whole lot more. I wonder about greatness and if this desire will be quenched by some event or fade like some teenage fantasies?
Sitting here, at the computer provided by the love of a brother and his wife, I wonder about things that people do out of the kindness of their hearts. I wonder if we ever really know the true greatness of people from different political parties, people from different social classes, people who work behind the scenes to make certain that everything is ready for tomorrow? I hope they know their greatness, I hope they know that it is not the same without them.
I wonder if I could know that each and every person that I have ever or will ever meet in my life has a greatness? I believe that the more I can be mindful of this simple fact, the better my own life will be. I believe that the more each of us can be mindful of this, the better the world will be.
As for the late bloomers, a group I include myself in, I wonder if they/we ever know our true greatness? For most people, they unlike whoever it was that said each person gets fifteen minutes of fame, go about their lives without fireworks and standing ovations.
Still, deep inside, I suspect there is a desire that bubbles up to the surface now and again. I wonder about people that don't receive their accolades in their lifetimes. Heroes known to their families, or the lady across the street. People who do amazing things that just make the world a better place to live.
I'm thinking of a secretary I used to know. She always managed to keep it together. I was one of the few people who knew that she often came back to school after dinner and got things ready for the next day. The only reason I knew is because that was when I went back myself.
We made an agreement somewhere along the line to stop scaring the crap out of each other when we came in by singing or saying hello quite loudly. This always amused the night custodian, who laughed easily and was happy for the company. We seemed to develop another agreement, tacit for sure, that we didn't chat socially-we came to get work done, and we never mentioned that the other was there to anyone else.
I sometimes think of her late in the evening and wonder...I wonder about a lot of people actually, including myself. I wonder how things are getting along without us? I wonder which of the seven million things I did actually changed someone else's life? I wonder about my own life, and how it will play out over the next couple of decades? I wonder about things that happened, and to be honest, I wonder about things that didn't happen a whole lot more. I wonder about greatness and if this desire will be quenched by some event or fade like some teenage fantasies?
Sitting here, at the computer provided by the love of a brother and his wife, I wonder about things that people do out of the kindness of their hearts. I wonder if we ever really know the true greatness of people from different political parties, people from different social classes, people who work behind the scenes to make certain that everything is ready for tomorrow? I hope they know their greatness, I hope they know that it is not the same without them.
I wonder if I could know that each and every person that I have ever or will ever meet in my life has a greatness? I believe that the more I can be mindful of this simple fact, the better my own life will be. I believe that the more each of us can be mindful of this, the better the world will be.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Restless
I am in such a strange mood...I don't know the right word to describe it...not melancholy, or sad...a little restless and wanting to laugh, but not really having a reason to. I suppose that it's got a name, I just don't know it...perhaps you do?
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Fluffy Arrises From the Ashes
Quite recently, I realized that I really do prefer a drama free life, and to a certain extent I have achieved that. Certainly, I have had my traumas but I am convinced that a trauma doesn't have to become a drama. It's a working theory at this point, but I like it just the same.
Among other things, I have found parts of myself reemerging in small ways like, my love of power tools. Sanding my picnic table with my Makita sander is therapeutic in some measurable way. I don't make tremendous progress, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that I feel able. I like that feeling so I'll probably be sanding some more.
My former husband taught me how to use a power sander, he wouldn't let me do it-but he showed me how. It came in handy today as I prepare the redwood table to be reassembled after all this time. I look forward to eating at it sometime in the next few weeks. It's not a big job, but I don't have any reason to press myself in such hot weather. It'll get done.
While I was sanding, and watching the beauty of the natural redwood reappear from beneath the weathered surface, I found myself rewriting my Fluffy book inside my head and I have decided that it is safe for me to approach that project that went up in smoke. I guess I am over it, for all intensive purposes. It feels good for that to be part of my past, and not part of my present.
I have decided that I really won't be maintaining this blog anymore...I can't say that I'll never post, it's just that while I was traveling it was important to me that people were able to find out what I was up to rather than worrying about what was going on with me. Near as I can tell, I have one reader in the United States and the rest are in other parts of the world. This is interesting in it's own right, but since I have no idea why people in Denmark and Russia want to read my blog while my family and friends do not, I don't really feel compelled to post on any sort of a regular basis, especially since no one posts any comments at all and I am getting busy with other things, finally.
It is good for me to have other things going on in my life. I hope that you do too. If you'd like to share them with me, please do. I can be reached at goodhobbits@comcast.com. I would really enjoy talking with you so don't be shy, even if it is an English lesson, after all, I am a teacher. Once a teacher, always a teacher :D
Among other things, I have found parts of myself reemerging in small ways like, my love of power tools. Sanding my picnic table with my Makita sander is therapeutic in some measurable way. I don't make tremendous progress, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that I feel able. I like that feeling so I'll probably be sanding some more.
My former husband taught me how to use a power sander, he wouldn't let me do it-but he showed me how. It came in handy today as I prepare the redwood table to be reassembled after all this time. I look forward to eating at it sometime in the next few weeks. It's not a big job, but I don't have any reason to press myself in such hot weather. It'll get done.
While I was sanding, and watching the beauty of the natural redwood reappear from beneath the weathered surface, I found myself rewriting my Fluffy book inside my head and I have decided that it is safe for me to approach that project that went up in smoke. I guess I am over it, for all intensive purposes. It feels good for that to be part of my past, and not part of my present.
I have decided that I really won't be maintaining this blog anymore...I can't say that I'll never post, it's just that while I was traveling it was important to me that people were able to find out what I was up to rather than worrying about what was going on with me. Near as I can tell, I have one reader in the United States and the rest are in other parts of the world. This is interesting in it's own right, but since I have no idea why people in Denmark and Russia want to read my blog while my family and friends do not, I don't really feel compelled to post on any sort of a regular basis, especially since no one posts any comments at all and I am getting busy with other things, finally.
It is good for me to have other things going on in my life. I hope that you do too. If you'd like to share them with me, please do. I can be reached at goodhobbits@comcast.com. I would really enjoy talking with you so don't be shy, even if it is an English lesson, after all, I am a teacher. Once a teacher, always a teacher :D
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Most Relaxing Day, Ever
It was such a beautiful day, seventy-two degrees with such a slight breeze. The birds were vocal and the porch was perfect. I talked with a neighbor over the fence, ate watermelon and drank my tea. It's not much to report, but I'll take it.
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