April 25, 2021

Storming In

Something is energizing me that comes in the moments before a storm. Just before the calm and stillness come, I can feel a shift. It’s as if the winds are whipping up even though they aren’t. I tingle with anticipation. Then again, I love a good storm. I used to enjoy them immensely.

Since the four-footed has come into my life, I feel a bit different about storms. I still love them, and I still get energized by them. However, I also don’t wish for them the same way because the four-footed one dislikes storms as passionately as I adore them.

Beloved isn’t as thrilled by storms as I am, but he also isn’t afraid of them either. He will hunker down with the four-footed one if I want to watch the lightning perform artwork in the sky. He will sit with me in a dark room and watch the lightning flicker and cast a glow into the room if the four-footed one has gone into her kennel den away from us.

I grew up in a place where wild storms would suddenly whip up and last from a few seconds to hours. To me, the power of nature is held in awe, respected, and enjoyed at a base level, provided it doesn’t cause harm or damage.

March 28, 2021

Sleeping Dogs

The four-footed one takes napping to a whole new level of art. She’s a serious napper. She naps in the sun. She under tables and chairs. She rests on the softest surfaces. She sleeps on mounds of her toys. She steals part of the pillow to curl up on and settle down.

The four-footed one puts a lot of people to shame with her napping skills. She takes rest very seriously and isn’t ashamed of that fact.j

Wake her up in the middle of a resting period, and you risk the full wrath of her. I know. You are thinking, ‘so what? She’s not that big.’ You are right. She isn’t that big. However, her dedication to the craft of napping makes her dangerous.

Her dedication, combined with her muscular build and teeth, make her far more ferocious than you might first think. Laugh all you will. I will not be the one to wake her from her slumber if it can be helped.

Some people are still learning how determined and dedicated she is to this art. Some people will wake her up for things like bubbles and ducks. Those people end up experiencing the wrath of the four-footed one. They also end up temporarily deaf from her high-pitched barks.

March 23, 2021

How Does Your Garden Grow

My neighbor can spend hours in her garden. She will weed, water, deadhead, most of the day away if she can. Her husband also spends time in the garden when he has to. When the vegetables need tending to, he is frequently out there. However, unlike his wife, he is only in the garden when it is necessary. The garden with its flowers and vegetables is a labor of love and passion for his wife.

Even more fascinating to me is how she will squat for hours at a time when she is weeding. My knees ache on behalf of her knees, which seem not to be bothered with all the squatting.

The weather does not seem to deter her either. If there are dying blooms on a plant, or she wants to limit the number of fruits to ensure those that grow are the best, she will be out in the rain removing any blossoms she feels need removing.

Her passions and hard work result in beautiful flowers, delicious fruits, and vegetables. Even the animals know that if you want the tastiest items, you need to stop by my neighbor’s garden and a feast is there for the taking. I am nowhere near the gardener she is. Thankfully she shares her bounty with many.

February 1, 2021

It’s A Short Cut

A wise friend once told me that there is no harm in having adventures. Of course, she didn’t offer to come with me. Over time friends have learned that I tend to plunge myself headlong into things without having a concrete plan in place. It has lead to some exciting times.

Beloved was laughing at my latest unplanned adventure’s results. He wasn’t mean or cruel. To be honest, if the shoe were on the other foot, I’d be laughing too. However, covered in thick, sticky mud wasn’t my favorite thing to do, so I wasn’t up for laughing just yet.

I should probably mention that as he was laughing, Beloved was also using the hose on me to get the worst of the sticky mud off me. It had seemed so logical at the time, to just sort of sit down and slide down the hill rather than try to walk down it and not slip. My thought was that this way, I couldn’t fall.

That part of the idea worked perfectly. I had failed to realize that the mud, which looked slippery, was thick and sticky. So by the time I got to the bottom of the hill, I was well coated in the sticky, smelly stuff. And I still had to walk a mile to get home. My short cut ended up taking me so much longer. But at least I tried something new, I guess.

July 31, 2020

Bowled Over

If he had his way, Beloved would eat everything out of a bowl, and use a spoon as his utensil. To his way of thinking, bowls are ideal for most food, and spoons naturally go with bowls. Now there are some exceptions to these rules of Beloved’s. Steak doesn’t work well in a bowl unless you cut it up small enough. He also refuses to eat cake or pie in these vessels.

Naturally, these days, when Beloved is looking to try a new recipe, he’s most interested in whether you eat the meal out of the bowl. There are, surprisingly, a lot of bowl recipes out there. And it seems he’s not alone in his passion for this eating vessel.

Today he made a messy sandwich recipe that had been reimagined into a “bowl.” As he showed me the sandwich, I was grateful for the change because if I had to eat it in the original form, I would be wearing most of it on my clothes.

It isn’t that I’m opposed to eating out of bowls; they are perfect for soup and cereal. But I lack the same passion Beloved has, so when I decide to make a meal, I don’t consider what I will be eating the food out of, which drives Beloved up a wall. That may be why he does all the cooking these days!

April 19, 2020

Luck, Blessings, And I Don’t Know What

Her weathered hand patted my arm as she told me that Beloved was the lucky one in our relationship. She said it is rare for man to be able to hold fire in his hand and feel the passion of a woman who knows what she wants.

The truth is, I am the lucky one. You see, I am the one who is blessed to have a man who will put up with my stubborn ways, matched by a fiery spirit. Many others would leave, but not him.

He has weathered the tempests and the storms. He has held things down while I went off to see what I felt I needed to see. He has been the steady one, the one with the plan and a way to get there.

How many people can say that they are loved enough to follow their dreams, going where they want or turning back as they need? How many can know with confidence that their lover will be there regardless, ready to soothe any hurts and celebrate the successes?

I’m not so sure I would put up with what this man puts up with if things were reversed. He smiles when I ask him about this, he simply says, the cost is nothing compared to the rewards he gets back.

March 28, 2020

Digging It

The four-footed one was digging in the garden as if she had found the X on a treasure map. Neither butterflies nor birds could stop her from the task at hand. She dug with the pace of passion and determination.

Panting with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, she came and flopped down at my feet. If she found the treasure, it must have been tiny because I never saw anything. Then again, she may have eaten it. Or, the treasure had been moved without the map being updated.

Whereas I would have been upset or at least disappointed not to have the treasure, she seemed happy. Maybe digging the hole was the whole purpose, the path to her happiness.

Hopefully, I will have some of her happiness when I go to fill the hole back in because I assure you, it isn’t staying as a hole. Not a hole as deep as the one she dug in a short amount of time.

February 16, 2019

Piece Of Cake Indeed

I’ve come to the conclusion that tea won’t solve everything despite what Beloved thinks. It won’t even make things better, unless you really like tea. Then I guess it can calm you or at least provide the comfort of something warm and familiar.

And while I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing really solves everything, cake comes close to it. Yes you read that correct. Cake. Not just any cake, but good, cake. Cake made with quality ingredients. Delicious cake. Cake made with passion or love and offered as a wonderful comfort.

Feeling hungry? Cake is the very thing. Need something sweet? Cake. Need a comfort from a loving person who isn’t near you! Cake will work. Feeling out of sorts? Cake helps pull things together. Feeling blue? Cake will help lift your spirits. I think you get where I’m going with this.

Frankly I’d offer cake all the time if it were the thing to do. But there are calories and fat content to watch. There are so many factors to consider, so I don’t always offer it, but when I’m in need of something, like I was today, I got cake.

Besides cake and treatment work well together!

July 8, 2018

Flames Fanned

Beloved got it in his head that he wanted to try his hand at a barre class. He has never done ballet, although he faithfully attends numerous recitals of the nut cracker each year. It did not matter to him that the class was mostly women, he was determined to give this a try. So he grabbed an unsuspecting friend and off they went.

What came home was a different man. The one who left the house could walk and move freely and easily. The one who limped in the door looked as if in dire need of medical attention. Or at least a place to collapse. Now if he hadn’t done something similar before, I probably would have been a bit concerned, but I’ve watched him stagger in from other classes so this time I just kind of set up a collapse zone and let him be.

Beloved has a bad habit of overdoing things. Case in point, a few years back he decided to grab a friend and sign up for a spin class. Spinning seemed easy. So the two of them did three classes in one day. End result was that neither of them could really move well for a few days. But hey, it was easy.

When I was young, I did ballet. I’ve done yoga (poorly) and pilates as well so I had an idea of what he was up against. But I held my tongue and kept my peace because he wouldn’t have listened to me anyway. Just as he ignored me when he decided that swing dancing would be so much fun. Until he hurt his back. Then it stopped being fun. It stopped being something he did and he settled for working on his waltzing.

I have no clue how these fires get started in him, or what fans these passions within him. But he dives all in, not even waiting a few moments to see what is all involved. Instead he learns as he goes. And then he will, he crashes or gets burnt out or something. And it settles to something else.

So for now I shall leave him in his heap of barre class recovery and see where the flames are fanned with this fire. If needed, I have a bucket of water at the ready!

April 21, 2018

Silly Me, Still Learning

When I was younger I remember thinking there would come a day when I would no longer be carrying books around with me in a backpack. I also remember thinking here would be a day when I would be finished with classrooms. Ha! I still carry books in a backpack and am in a classroom most days. Silly me!

I’m not sure when the change happened, but now I cannot imagine not carrying around my books or bopping in and out of classrooms. Although I confess that I struggle when I’m on the other side of the desk these days. And yet, I still sign up for classes and continue to be a student. Because there is always something to learn. I just tend to do my learning online these days.

I’m now wondering if there will come a time when I cannot carry my books with me because they are too heavy or I am too frail. I know there will come a day when I won’t be in a classroom all the time. I’m okay with that. And if I really need to be in a classroom I can always sign up for classes that require me to attend them in a classroom. Who knows, I may come back around and enjoy it!