6/14/2017 2 Comments June 14th, 2017No words. Another day. Another shooting. Where the heck are we headed? Sorry, but I truly am worried for us as humankind. Ironic that the word "kind" is used to describe us. Something to think about. But no words...just can we just stop the madness? Now? Please? I remember the 60s. We were singing this then. Fifty years later...still? I guess hope never dies.
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6/13/2017 1 Comment Dog's Bedtime PrayerI Googled to see who wrote this fun little poem and came up with several different answers, including the ever prolific, "Anonymous". So I am not sure who to give credit to, but if credit is due to you, so it is given, whoever you are, thanks.
In the meantime, I love re-reading this after it popped up on my "On This Day" feed in Facebook. I shared it three years ago. And it still holds true. My shiz-tzu, Ching Ching, Likes to sleep right by my left side in the center of the bed. Sometimes he moves down to the end, sometimes up toward the head. But he always likes to "stay in touch" at least with one paw. Miguelito on the other hand starts out on my chest expecting (and getting) his full body massage and scratching. He moans and grr's and let's me know its never enough until I raise the cover and he scurries down to nestle between my legs. We lie like this for a bit until I am ready for some serious sleeping. I maneuver myself to my side, tucking a pillow between my knees where Mig comes to rest for the rest of the night. Of course we repeat all this each time I make the trip downstairs to answer nature's call. I can't imagine having my kids anywhere else. They are my companions of the night and are really not that demanding. And thank heavens for them, and me, I suppose, I am not a restless, thrashful sleeper. We sleep well like this and I wouldn't have it any other way. I have been retired eight years now. Yet even after that many years, I still wonder if I am getting this retirement thing "right". (Of course "rightness" is so subjective, I know, I have to keep mindful of what is "right" for me, right?) Some people say because I have remained active, involved in different things like photography and writing, my friend's estate sale business and, of late, travel, I am "rocking" it. I guess so, but that doesn't mean Monday mornings don't bring a little angst along with them. I wake up thinking about how it is the beginning of another week. It is the 24th week of 2017. How did that happen? Seems we just started the new year, and now its almost half over! Madness. Anyway, I always wonder if I should have accomplished more in the eight years since I retired. I retired with great expectations. I would write a memoir. I would find a hobby that satisfies and delights me. I would travel. And more. Some I have done, yet I still have this nagging critic inside my head that it not enough. So I know its just an general malaise, the kind that is always lurking just below the surface. Sometimes I feel like I'm drifting down the river of my life, letting it take me wherever it so heads. But then I realize the oar to this raft is in my hands. As Henley's poem, Invictus, says at the end, "I am the master of my fate/ I am the captain of my soul." Amen. An empowering statement. Also one that brings responsibility for one's life back home. So as the new week unfolds, I am keeping mindful of what is I want to be when I grow up. Or maybe the decision should be: do I really want to grow up? Happy Monday!! 6/11/2017 0 Comments The Grumpy Cat of PortovenereIt seemed we saw this beautiful if disgruntled kitty cat when ever we went walking near the little village at Portvenere. Portevenere is on the northwest coast of Italy, north west of Pisa and at the gateway to the Cinque Terre. Kerry and I fell in love with this small port city with sailboats and small beaches and a ruined castle.
When ever I encountered the kitty I wondered why he looked so grumpy. He has everything. This is still a fishing village and the restaurants seems very tolerant of visits by the local cats. Hard to know if they actually have homes or are just under local maintenance. Either way, they seem to me to have the idyllic life any cat (or human) might aspire to. I guess I will never know for sure whether this was just his resting face or if he truly was grumpy. Perhaps the constant parade of tourists and such get on his nerves. He likes to see who comes and goes, though. I know I wouldn't be adverse to settling in a small seaport village on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. Especially if someone kindly gave me food and water and maybe a hug now and then. I will never know why the sour puss, but I have to belief it is genetics and not disposition. How could anyone, even a grumpy looking cat truly sustain grumpiness in such a lovely spot for long? 6/10/2017 0 Comments But Is It Peeve-worthy?A while back I mused about writing blogs about pet-peeves. I would even think about whether a peeve that is a pet is more worthy than a feral peeve. Then I created a side page to do just that. And I apparently promptly forgot about it. Now there is a pet-peeve of mine: having good intentions that somehow get lost when doing other things. Hmmm.philippineslifestyle.com/blog/2014/12/15/opinion-pet-peeves-that-might-drive-you-up-the-wall-in-the-philippines/ So that said, I am now going address this burning issue. But is it peeve-worthy? Well, let's see. A peeve is something that irks or annoys. Hmmm. That list could be very long. Slow customers ahead of me in line at the grocery store. Clerks who are more interested in the bag-person's work schedule, break time and what time they go home. Yep. Waiting at a four-way stoplight when there is NO ONE coming from any of the other three directions. Okay. Those are all peeves. And, yes, they all irk and annoy. But I wouldn't elevate them to pet-peeve worthiness. At least I don't think so. Now let's think about this. What are peeves that I tend to pet to the point I break out in a rash? Politicians who forget who they work for. Leaves and pine-needles that refuse to be swept up on first rake. In fact, why don't they just go along with the winds that brought them down? Huh? That definitely is a big peeve, and I guess it could be a pet-peeve. Okay. Politicians, leaves and pine-needles. Yep, pet-peeve worthy. I have to stop here and think about why something irk or annoy and others don't. And then why those that do, do. Maybe making it a pet gives it too much importance. And of course, like any pet, you have to feed it, train it, groom it and take it out for walk everywhere. Those more attention you give something, the more importance it has in your life and controls you experience of life. If you're peeved, you're not pleasant. Okay, I think that's enough for now. But this might well be the first of an irregular series appearing here. Now and then. When I think about it. I hope inconsistency and capricious muses aren't on your list of peeves; and I especially hope the are not pets of yours. If you enjoyed the cartoon above, (if you didn't, well, another pet peeve of mine), check out the cartoonist, Dave Carpenter, at this site: http://www.hireanartist.net/style.asp?cartoonist=133 |
Rob McMurray,
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