What a great day.

I can’t really think of how my heart could ever feel better than it did today.

Spending time with the ones I love.
The warmth of Spring was in the air…. and in our moments.

Really good moments.

NOT TO MENTION…. we  got to run around and hunt for plastic eggs filled with treats.
And at dinner we had the opportunity to learn advanced buttering techniques.

Shoooooweeeeeee.  Some days it just seems too good to be true.

The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart. – Unknown

Where there is love there is life.  – Mahatma Gandhi

Do all things with love.  – Og Mandino

Things have been strange today.

I am pretty sure I saw Santa Clause driving an RV on Barron Street in Eaton, Ohio today.

He was heading north.

I can’t help but to think it has something to do with Easter.

And tonight, we went to the Candy Bar for a cup of coffee.  This was a scene from the bar.

Keep your rabbit ears handy.  You may want to tune in later.

Happy Easter.

People love to decorate during the Holidays.  And it doesn’t really matter which holiday.  It could be Christmas… with all the Santa figures, and lights and jingle bells.  Or Halloween with pumpkins, and witches, and goblins.  Fourth of July… everything red white and blue.

Even right down to Easter.   Bunnies, and Chicks, Baskets and Plastic Grass.

Now…. what I really love…… is when people hang those little plastic colored eggs all over a tree or a bush.  Every time I drive by one… I say… “Now THAT took a lot of effort.  I can only imagine why.”

For one… I am simply NOT the Holiday-Decorating-Type.  I am not saying it is bad or good… it is just not for me.

But the thing about this Easter Phenomenom.. of these plastic eggs in trees…. well.   Well, well, well.  I just don’t understand.  Somebody ‘splain it to me.

Did the Easter Bunny purportedly tie the eggs in the tree?  And why is this bunny so fixated with eggs.  Okay… that’s a bad argument.  I am rather fixated on chicken eggs… at breakfast time.

But back to it.   Why are the eggs all different colors?  What does the chicken have to say in any of this?  Or is the chicken the brains behind the whole operation?

And the candy.  ALLLLLLL the candy.  It is crazy how much these “sweet treats” are associated with this holiday.  Where does all the marshmallow figure in?

The bottom line is… what does any of this have to do with Easter?    Plastic eggs in trees.

Okay.  Well.  Enough of that I suppose.  How about if I just tell you about some good parts of my day?
Tonight we watched the movie Gravity.  Reallllllly good movie.  And we had pizza from Central Avenue Pizza in Camden.  Super great pizza.  And earlier in the evening, we took a long walk around the property. Among other things…. we saw a big fat bunny… and this Sycamore tree … with these round things hanging all over the place.  Which sort of reminded me of….
… oh…. for crying out loud….
never mind.

All in all… it was a Good Friday.

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“Although I cannot lay an egg, I am a very good judge of omelettes”  – George Bernard Shaw
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“We have to stop and be humble enough to understand that there is something called mystery.”  –  Paulo Coelho

Dear Humans,

Max here.

Maxine Virginia Swift.  (Because I am lightning fast… in every way.)

Hey.  I gave Mom the night off.  She and Frances were heading out to go howl at the moon for a while.

It is something they like to do together.   Kind of like “Girls Night Out” because they are both girls.  But one is a dog.  The other is a human.

She is the only person I know up close, that likes to howl at the moon.  She barks with us too.   I hate to say it… but I think there is something terribly wrong with our human.

I wouldn’t trade her back in at the shelter or anything.  She feeds us real good.  And plays…  and things.

But she a little quirky, I think.  Like today.  She chased me and France and Ollie around the yard.  She was laughing and yelling… “I’m gonna’ get ya’…..ohhhhhh…..  yes I am!”

Yeah. Right.  She’s delusional.  She can’t get us.  Never has caught us once.  Never will.  But she keeps taking us out and playing this game… over and over.

At any rate, we wore her out today.  So she and France packed up some Beef Jerkey… and off they went to howl at the moon.

I think I hear them now.  It is a beautiful thing.

So ….. to all five of you who read this thing….   here is my profound and infinite wisdom for the day:

“Wave your paws in the air like you just don’t care.”

Love,

Max

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“I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it” – Albert Einstein

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“I pointed out to you the stars (the moon) and all you saw was the tip of my finger”- Tanzania Proverb

We people… can be a big bunch consumers… it seems.  I consume.

One thing I tend to buy a lot of….are Apps.  I need Apps.  I didn’t use to.  But dang.  Now I do.  And when I make these purchases, I depend on the old five-star rating system.  I look to see what other people have said about a particular App.  Good, Bad, or In-Between.

But let’s put in more practical terms.  Product ratings can be quite helpful. The only tricky thing is, we don’t know who’s doing the rating. Take a washing machine for instance. Five stars from “Twinkly on My Toes” in New York. She writes this make of washer take is great for my needs. It does the perfect job.  And the next guy.  This time he’s from  the Bay Area in California.  “Dashing in San Francisco” writes….five stars! perfect for what I need.  Super duper machine.

So… it is a great machine. But wait!  The next rating is zero stars. Big Boss in Des Moines say…..This washing machine sucks. It’s the worst  I’ve ever seen. It never gets the clothes clean.

Here’s the thing. What are their needs? We don’t have any way of knowing… at least not from these reviews.   How can one minute something get five stars and the next minute zero stars. It just doesn’t make sense.

My guess is people have different needs. Twinkly in New York? Turns out…..She’s a dang ballerina…… in the New York City Ballet Company. She only washes her leotard’s. On the delicate cycle. With Woolite. Same thing with the bay guy in San Francisco. He’s a drag queen. He only washes his hose. And a few very fine dresses. Once again.. on the delicate cycle.  With Woolite.

How about Big Boss in Des Moines? She’s a mother of six kids. She uses the heavy duty cycle. She does big humongous loads. The thing breaks on her every other day. Now Big Boss…..She is doing my kind of washing. Zero stars.

So there you have it.  Each person has a different “thing” they need, and when it comes down to it…. they “rate” their experiences based on whether or not their needs were satisfied.

Consumer Ratings.   And all of life.  Life Ratings.

Different people.  Different needs.  Different perspectives.

Let those stars whirl about in the spin cycle for a while.

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“Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.” – Unkknown

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“I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.” – Abraham Lincoln

Snow in April.  I guess it isn’t that big of a deal, given the winter we’ve had.  But, here it is April 15.  Tax Day.  And it is colder than a well-digger’s bottom.

It just goes to show you…. there is no such thing as a sure thing.

Spring has sprung, you see.  We’ve been singing things like…. “April Showers bring May Flowers”…. you know… warm weather songs.    But to no avail.

But while we are on the point of Summer Songs.  I am not a Jimmy Buffet fan.  At all.  It seems like people really start playing Jimmy Buffett songs in the summer.  How many times are these folks going to get wasted away in Margaritaville?  Most of his songs are kinda’ focused on the party.  “Why Don’t We Get Drunk?”  or “Last Mango in Paris”…

I guess if I had to choose any song of his that I could listen to, it would be “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”  Now….. that one seems right to me.  I mean… just about any time you have a cheeseburger…. it IS paradise.

But I guess  the definition of paradise depends on the person describing it.  Skiing down a mountain in Colorado, in 20 degree weather is FAR from paradise to me.  But there are some people who would chose this activity above all the rest.  Or scuba diving off the Great Barrier Reef.  While this may be a totally fascinating experience… it just isn’t my cup of tea.  Diving out of airplanes.  Big NOPE again.

It seems that paradise is quite specific to the individual.    Kind of like beauty.  It is all in the eye of the beholder.  I am not sure what my specific paradise would be.  Bowling, while watching football, and eating cheese burgers, at a dog-friendly bowling alley… sort of comes to mind.

But wouldn’t you know it.  I am WAY off topic.  I was going to write about the coldest April day on record.  Or…. was I going to write about the history of tax day.  Well… at this point… both are probably history.

Perhaps some of you are getting really big tax returns though.  Which may be paradise for a lot of you.  And…. I image that the folks who owe a whole bunch are probably going to take a little trip to Margaritaville.  I bet the IRS is to blame for the lost shaker of salt too.

“It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”   –  Dale Carnegie

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” – Unknown

Oh, tonight I am not feeling very creative.  So how about a few fast fun facts that have to do with things I’ve thought about today?

I don’t see as well as I used to.  I am forever grateful for eye glasses…. and now bifocals.  BUT… here is a misconception about eyesight.  There are more than 1,200 species  of bat in the world and not one of them is blind.  Throw that old catchy saying out the window….  I am no longer “Blind as a Bat”

Here’s something more we don’t get right about animals.  There are 4,800 species of frogs in the world….. but only one of them goes “ribbit.”   And I am pretty sure… none of them really say… BUD…. WEIS…… ER.

And speaking of speaking…..

I am trying to learn a little bit of the Russian language.  Just in case the tanks really get rolling over there…. and we HAVE to learn it.  Now… for some strange reason, Russians have no word for “blue,”  only two different words for  “light blue” and “dark blue.”  I guess when everything is frozen…. and that dang cold…. you have to give people different distinctions of color there.  
”Yes, I would say Yuri was so cold he was dark blue.   But his brother, Androv, was much warmer.  He was light blue.”

And while we are on the subject of colors…..Andy Warhol always wore  green underpants.  I have no idea why.  I think the guy was a little quirky….. maybe.  Or… it could have had something to do with Campbell’s Split Pea Soup.

Switching gears…. and in to the kitchen.

They say too much of a good thing….. can be bad.  Or something like that.  Maybe it is…. too much of anything isn’t good.  Whichever the case…. here is proof of its validity.   In 1999, a four-year-old girl  turned yellow after drinking too much Sunny Delight.  Shine on.

Now… one thing I normally can’t get enough of is a super duper hamburger.  Boy, oh boy…. I love a good burger.  I wanted one for dinner tonight… but didn’t feel like going out.  I even love a  MickeyDee’s.   Now here’s the thing……. 4,000 McDonald’s hamburgers  (as many as you could get from one cow) are eaten every minute.  That’s a lot of beef every hour, on the hour.

But I think better it be beef than some other thing.  For instance….. every year,  4 million cats  are eaten in Asia.  Special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions…. on a sesame seed bun.  Hold the whiskers.

“The truth is more important than the facts.”  —   Frank Lloyd Wright

Wouldn’t you know it?  I have all sorts of little “ism’s” about life.  You know…. theories… or postulations about how things work.

A lot of these revolve around the whole “Full Circle” deal. … .. or whatever it is you like to call it.  Some people say  “Karma” and others say “What goes around, comes around.”  How ever you slice it…. the fact of the matter is… you still have bread.

One of these little quips of mine is called the “Tricky Ricky.”  I am pretty sure I’ve told that story here before, but maybe I will revisit it again soon.

There is one  I thought about a whole bunch of times today.  It is the Delvin MacGruder.

You see, Delvin started out much the way any of the rest of us.  He came out head first and crying like a baby.   But something happened with Delvin, and by the time he was about seven years old… he was a pretty mean kid.

He would bully the others in his class.  He would call the kids “stupid” or “worthless.”  He would tell them they stunk.

As a result, Delvin didn’t have too many friends.  Like….. Zero.  This only made him madder and sadder.  He would resent other kids who had fun, and who had a lot of friends.

Unfortunately, this continued.  When he was in high school, he had turned into quite a handsome young man.  But…. as they say… you can’t judge a book by its cover.  He was still pretty lousy to people on the inside.

A good athlete… in both prep school and college, he would take all the credit.  The great catch.  The big hit.  And on  and on.

He married.  Not happily.  He was mean to his wife too.  They divorced.

He spent most the rest of his life, working as a janitor.  Cleaning up others messes… day in and day out.

So life went on, and Delvin turned out to be indignant, aggravated, and bitter.

I met Delvin in a nursing home.  He told me all about this.  He was alone as alone could be.  No visitors.  No loved ones.  But as I looked around the room, most of the other residents were in the same situation.  No visitors.  No friends.  Yet, I knew for a fact, that so many of the other old people living here were very nice, kind hearted people, who had families.  They were loving and thoughtful in their lifetimes.

So I asked Delvin….  “Well, Del.  It looks to me like everybody here is in the same boat.  No matter what has happened before.  So.  With that said…. Would you do anything different?”

He answered very quickly…. “I would be kind.”
“Why is that Delvin?”  I countered.
“At least that way… I could visit good places in my mind….  I would have happy memories.  And more than anything, I could hold on to that love in my heart.”

And that…. is the Delvin MacGruder.

“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.” ~Seneca

“Don’t wait for people to be friendly, show them how.” ~Author Unknown

“Don’t be yourself — be someone a little nicer.” ~Mignon McLaughlin

Spring was in the air… in this part of the world.  Not only does this warm your body, it warms your heart as well.

Everyone, it seems, was outside today, taking advantage of the day.  From the birds high in the sky, to the fish in the water…. all creatures were engaged in the day.  I could hear the Seven Dwarfs a-singing.  THAT’s what kind of a day it was.

We were lucky enough to spend a good part of it… with two of our favorite little grand beings.  Isaac and Titus.

Heuston Woods was our destination of choice, where we visited the Nature Center.  Lucky us.  We  saw eagles, and owls, and bobcats and such.  Snakes, and turtles, and so much more.

The adventure continued with a search for whole acorns, and time spent at the lake, and even numerous deer track sitings.  It was just like Disneyworld, only way different.  BUT.  No hippopotami at either park though.

And after a good long day at the State Park, we traveled back home for a quick game of hoops, and Darth Vader and the Light Saber vs. the Boys.

But one thing…. through all of this…. is absolutely certain.  Sugar has an almost immediate effect on the brains of young boys.  Just add sugar.  AND……Wind ’em up…. and watch ’em go.

Yes. Just a spoonful of sugar….. I’ll tell you.  Mary Poppins nailed that one.  The medicine goes down because you are all trumped up on a sugar buzz.

So maybe today… the boys had more than a spoonful.  Maybe a whole tub of double fudge chocolate delight ice-cream from UDF.   But sugar…. undoubtedly.

But…. This day was jammed pack with all sorts of good things…. from start to finish.  Too many to mention all in one night.

I am so full of gratitude for days like this one.    Yet…. there is yet another thing that is absolutely certain through all of this wonder and amazment.  I think one of the best and happiest things in all of life… is getting hug from someone who really loves you.  And then of course…. hugging them back.

Angels.  Now there is a pretty lofty subject.  What are they, and do they exist?

Some people say… unequivocally no.    They  suggest there is not a god, a heaven, or hell… or things like angels.   That is one side of it.

Then there are others who believe there truly are angels.  But many people have a different “take” on exactly what this might be.    That is another side of it.  I mean…. just the Bible itself describes them in a hundred different ways.  Not to mention the Talmud or Quran

Well… what exactly are they, if they “are”?

As Noah “The Word Sleuth” Webster puts it:

An angel is a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God; or  an attendant spirit, especially,  a benevolent one;  OR…. a person of exemplary conduct or virtue.

So my questions continue with this.   Can humans become angels?

Funny question…. I know.  But it came up in a discussion I had with someone today.

Some religions  give a resounding NO.  Christians say no.  Muslims  also say no.  Jews say no.

A big YES comes from the Mormons.  In fact, they are counting on it.   The Hindu also give a big yes on that one.  Devas.

Neo-Pagans… well…would probably say it is possible.

All I know is that I suppose angels exist.  A belief. There is no saying for sure… we don’t have proof.  And the human to angel thing… we don’t have proof of that either.

But I think there are humans who walk around every day who are just like angels.  Or they act in such light and goodness… they must have  some kind of angel influence… or something.

And then…. there have been other times in my life… when it felt to me like a power great than myself was at work.  Again, a belief.

I know some people would think this is hooey.  But I am forever thankful for those times…. and that presence…  or whatever it was…. that I felt.

So tonight… no answers…. only questions.  But I like to believe in things which are “that some kind of wonderful.”