I love certain things about life.

There are so dang many things that seem just too good to be true.  Way beyond.

These big shiny, sparkly, crazy-good gifts of life.

Take Fruit.  I am so grateful for fruit.  Seriously.  Last night, I cut into a Honeydew Melon that was just like a gift from the Honeydew Goddess of GoodGolly, or something. It was SO delicious. Same thing with a recent Peach.  I just don’t know what to say sometimes.

Have you ever heard a song that makes you feel so grand?  The melody, or words, or both, give you the “Shiver-Me-Timbers” up and down your spine?  Yeah.  Big gift-o-rama.

Tonight, the sunset was absolutely spectacular.  The colors were so perfectly put together.  The purples, and oranges, and yellows. Majestic.  Awe-inspiring.  I stood there, and stared… with the awe just spouting right out of me.

And then you look out across the meadow, and see two amazingly beautiful Does, approaching with two their small Fawns.  Yes, a family with two Moms, of all things.   And you sit quietly and watch them enjoy the corn and apples you had put out earlier in the day.  And it makes you cry because they are so exquisite and so very innocent.

More gifts came bounding our way this evening.   We spent time with our dear friends.  (As well as our Deer Friends).  But these dear friends are human.  So kind, and smart, and funny, and comfortable.  The kind of friends who insist you order pizza… to make everything simpler for the evening.  (And oh, how I LOVE pizza)   And you realize once more, that life is filled with the good.

In each day, I am given a big-plenty of this goodness.   I can only hope that I am doing enough in this Universe …. to give as much back …. or forward, whichever way it goes.  I want to give more than I get.  I think if we all do more good, than we take… it helps the bigger scheme of goodness in life.   Way beyond peaches and deer.

Way beyond.

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.  —  Marcus Aurelius

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.  —  Soren Kierkegaard

Transformations.  They are everywhere.  All the time.  In so very many different manners.  You can count on it.

To define a transformation would take half a page.  But essentially it is a thorough change in form, appearance, or cycle.   Yes, a change. An alteration, conversion, overhaul.  Perhaps a reshaping, redoing, reorganization or rearrangement.  Oh it could go on and on.

Okay.  The big transformation in the news lately is Bruce Jenner, Olympic Decathlon Gold Medalist.  Now Caitlyn Jenner.  Caitlyn is an attractive woman, especially at 65 years of age.  Which brings me to this, gosh darn it.  Bruce, why oh why pick the name Caitlyn?  Caitlyn sounds like a 12 year old girl.  Not a 65 year old woman.  It should have been Brenda, Donna, Margaret, Patricia, Linda.  Something from 1949.  But… I digress.  She can pick whatever name and bra size she wants.  Free country, and all.

Here’s another example.  This one is so obvious.  Transformers.  The toys, the movie… you name it.  They are those vehicles which transform in a few flips of a hinge….. into a robot of magnanimous proportions.  Now THAT is a quick change artist for you.

Since we are on movies, and transformations, let’s talk about Harvey Dent.  I just thought about the first Batman Movie.  District Attorney Harvey Dent was portrayed by Billy Dee Williams.  Yes… a black man.  However, by the time Batman: The Dark Knight comes around,… Old Harvey is a white guy… played by Aaron Eckhart.  Now THAT really IS a transformation. Either that or a major casting error.

Caterpillars to Butterflies.  Grapes to Raisins.  Babies to Adults.  Ice to Water to Steam.  Sand to Pearls.  Tadpoles to Frogs.  All going through the change.

You, and I, are in a constant state of transformation.  Every little atom in our bodies is in motion, moving from one form to another.  Spinning and whirling, and producing all sorts of energy.

But what kind?  What kind of transformation are we?  What kind of energy do we make.  Are we always finding what is going wrong with life, or do we search for what is good?

Not only on the outside of us… in the world which surrounds us.  No.  What about that inner self?  Are we a work in progress.  A beautiful painting to be completed?  The verge of joy at our very next bring?   The dark to light?

What transformations do we have in us?  What are our possibilities?

We are amazing,  all of us.  I think the prospects are endless.  In fact… I am counting on it.

What would it be like if you lived each day, each breath, as a work of art in progress? Imagine that you are a masterpiece unfolding, every second of every day, a work of art taking form with every breath.  — Thomas Crum

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Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.  —  Dennis Prager

Every now and again, something happens in life… which is out of the clear blue.  And for no apparent reason.

That “something” may elicit an emotion, or a response, or even a memory.

Wouldn’t you know!  This happened to me to day.

I had just washed my car and was in the parking lot, all by myself… no one else around.  And as I was pulling out… a little purple ball bounced its way in front of my car.  Completely out of nowhere.

Of course I had to retrieve it and have a closer look.  It was just a cheap little hollow plastic purple ball.

And all of a sudden, I was spun back to childhood.  Watching some children’s show, on something.  And they wanted us to sing along.  What did they say?  “Follow the bouncing purple ball.”

The words of the song magically appeared on the TV screen, along with the tune “Old McDonald”…. and out came the purple bouncing ball…. keeping in perfect time… ALL the words we were supposed to sing.

Eee – I – Eee – I – Ohhhhhh.  And on his farm he had pig.  Eee – I – Eee – I – Ohhhhhh.

Sing, I did.  Yes, I sang my little lungs out along with that purple ball.  It was all laid right out there for me.  Very simple.  Very clear.

So as I sat in the car wash parking lot…. purple ball sitting next to me in the passenger seat… the question begged.

“Why can’t all of life be spelled out so clearly, so simple?”  The purple ball did not answer.  Not a peep.  It just sat there on the seat next to me.

Yet.  Maybe it did answer in its own little way.  Maybe it was there to tell me that sometimes “things” happen in life for no apparent reason.  The little ball strays from the song… and hops right across your life…. when you least expect it.  It is keeping perfect time.

And what are we supposed to do?  Keep perfect time with it. Accept it for the moment.  Follow the little ball… as it rolls right with us.  Don’t try to put it back on the screen of the TV.  It came out for a reason…. after all.  It has a song to teach us…. and I’m going to sing along.

In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.  —  Dalai Lama
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If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song.  —  Khalil Gibran
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The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.  —  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Here are some things that I believe to be true.  I think they might be some of the most important things in life.  Well, besides a good macaroni salad… and blue playdough.

Okay seriously.  I keep getting the message of “peace” lately.  Striving to find peace within ourselves..   AND…. finding a way to  live in peace with others.  I think, collectively, this is the most important thing we can do in our lives. I truly don’t think anything else comes close.

You see.  Peace equals happiness.  To live in peace is the fundamental wish of all people. Whether we all realize it or not. Because.  If we have peace, inner peace…. we have happiness.

The next thing is compassion.  It is the “link” that will truly connects all people.  Yes, I will say it again. Compassion.

We won’t always agree with everyone.  You can bet ME on that one!  But…. it  doesn’t mean we can’t get along with them. (See the earlier reference to peace.)  When we express compassion and understanding towards others (all beings)… all throughout our lives …. we have built a path of peace and cooperation.

We need to learn to live with compassion and understanding for others.  One of my biggest faults is when I want others to be on MY side of thinking.  This just can’t always be so.  So… acceptance of others and their views.

We are all different.  It’s through these very differences that we find ourselves. We are individuals. Unique…. in all our big world.  With all the other unique people.  Be understanding… we each have our own way.

And finally.  I believe we are all basically good

At the very heart of  each one of us…. is a goodness.  It can’t be disrupted if we don’t let it.  It is in our core.  Deep within us.  And… this basic goodness will never go away.  We may push it aside, or misplace it.  But it is always right there.  Right next to your belly button, but on  the inside.

I think when we really pay attention to our own inner peace…the direct result is that we live with compassion, love, and understanding towards others.   In this…. is the good within us.

The good within you.  And the good within me.

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Acceptance looks like a passive state, but in reality it brings something entirely new into this world. That peace, a subtle energy vibration, is consciousness.  —  Eckhart Tolle

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Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.  —  Buddha

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Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.  —  Albert Einstein

The capability and potential of the human being is quite amazing.  Take into two simple considerations.  Human Memory.  Human Emotions.  Each, by their own right is incredible.  Our ability to recall certain events in our mind’s eye…. from different periods throughout our lives.

And emotions. Love, Joy, Surprise, Anger, Sadness, Fear, Envy, Relief, Longing, Anxiety.

But the two together, memory and emotions, are like peanut butter and jelly.  They go right along with one another.  Each one will spark the other.

Tonight, I was thinking back about 10 1/2 years ago.  It was a frigid cold November night.  Unseasonably so.  And our furnace went out.  And at 1:30 a.m., our newly adopted dog Frances, bumped my hand with her nose as I slept. She told me it was time.

Time for her puppies to be born.  Boy oh boy.   We were ready too.  We had a whelping box we’d been training her with, in another room in the house.  But Frances plopped right down there, on the floor in the bedroom, and started cranking out the kids.

When six little puppies had made their way out… I turned to Mary and said… “She’s not getting any smaller yet.”  And those puppies needed heat.  Mary was the better maternity nurse.  So off I headed to Walmart, at 4 in the morning, to buy heating pads.

Snow was falling.  It was so still and quiet in that parking lot at Walmart.   I felt completely alone there…yet at the same time… very surrounded by everything.  It was very surreal.

Upon returning home, two more puppies had arrived.  Oh… But we had a few to go.  Thirteen in all.  Yet despite the large number and difficulty….. Frances gave birth in the same manner she does everything.  With compliance, and grace, and peace.

Tonight.  My sister told me that one of those Incredible 13….  her boy Dashe….  had died.  You see, of the 13 puppies, Dashe was the last of the brood to find a home.  Well, he and Eleanor.  Nobody wanted him, for some reason.  But my sister did.  And away he moved to Columbus, with his new family.  He turned out to be a completely amazing dog.  Like mother, like son.

He was charming, and funny.  Smart and well-mannered.  Handsome and athletic.  He was dashing.  He was Dashe.

And now that bright, bright spirit, has left his little dog body.  My sister is crushed. I am so sad.  And I am remembering his first weeks here, on Planet Earth.  In to the world he came, and now into the world he goes.  In a different time and a different space.

He goes elsewhere…. from us humans with our amazing capabilities.

Physically, he leaves.  But he stays here now… forever in our memories, and emotions.  In our hearts.   And we ache because he is gone.  And we long for more…  … ..

Certain things surprise me.

Surprise CAN be good.  Sometimes not.  And then there are the ones which simply make you go… . Hmmmmmm.

Like I saw this little empty nut shell on the ground today.  I can’t image who might have eaten it.  You see, our squirrels are so fat from eating the corn we put out in our deer trough, they can scarcely move.

It must be an old nut.
I am an old nut.  This part does not surprise.

Pine cones seem like they should only be on the trees in the winter time to me.  But today, I saw a lot of pine cones, on a lot of our trees.

It just seemed wrong somehow.  Like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I am frequently in the wrong place…. at the wrong time.

Here’s another thing that surprises me.  I am… mostly every day… finding a new song that I really like.  Or one which I have never heard before.  There are a lot of talented people out there creating good music.  I am listening to Yellow Ostrich right now and…. I am starting to get a little crazy about them.

I get a little crazy about a lot of things.

So there you have it.  The story of my life.
I am an old nut… who is frequently in the wrong place at the wrong time…. and I am starting to get a little crazy.

But something tell me I am in good company.

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Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.  —  Marcus Aurelius

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.  —  Soren Kierkegaard

I was thinking today about how different my life is from 30 years ago.  How different I am.

It is sort of amazing to me, really.  I was so young then, didn’t concern myself with too much of anything.  No community involvement, or political involvement.  Certainly nothing in the way of healthy living.  No environmental concerns.

I woke. I worked.  I smoked and drank. I partied and played. I slept.   And did it all over again the next day.  And the next.

Tonight, as I sat in the Chicken Yard, with some of the people I love the very most in this world, and as we talked and laughed, and sat…. and watched chickens….. I saw the Universe showering me with these tremendous blessings.  Like a bunch of shooting stars flying through the night sky.

Indeed.  A beautiful summer night.  A campfire roaring on the hill by the tent… and us in the chicken yard.  Feeding chickens.

Sometimes…. just like all those T-Shirts say… life really is good.

Tonight I gave thanks for this.  From the bottom my heart, all the way to the top.  And back again.

I hope to do it all over again the next day.  And the next.

Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.  —  Og Mandino

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.  —  Khalil Gibran

Tonight was a good night.  We went to Oxford and had dinner at Kona.  It was pretty delicious, except for the overkill of olive oil on my salmon.  I eat a lot of fish these days. You see, I’ve started naming our neighbors cows…. and every time I eat beef… I get really nervous… the next time I drive home.

And of course there is the OTHER.  I tried to order the 1/2 Grilled Chicken…. but the words would not come out of my mouth.  So.  The salmon.

At any rate, we were walking around downtown Oxford and running into everyone Mary knows.  Not hard to do.  It was a lovely night to be out walking and chatting.

We strolled by one small shop.  In the window hung a little handwritten sign. Psychic Readings 5:15 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.  I checked my watch.  Eight’O’Clock straight up.  So.  Why not?

I went inside and met Ron, the Psychic.  A Celtic Psychic.

I sat down at his table, well equipped with Tarot Cards, and a little timer.  Psychics charge by intervals, I suppose.

This was only the 2nd time I’ve ever done this.  The first was in Sedona, Arizona, and it was a bit of a farce.  But I was up for some fun tonight.  I told him I had no expectations.

Well.  Ron went on to tell me some things about myself, my personality, which were very true.  Things that he couldn’t really have known.

My struggle with something throughout my entire youth… all the way until after I turned 40.  My stubbornness.  Hard worker.  Artist.  And a few other things about my spiritual nature.

Then he said something he could not possibly have known.  It gave me the weeblies.  And the wobblies.

He also said I have a built-in lie detector.  I didn’t need a Psychic to tell me this.  I can tell right away when someone is lying to me.  He noted that I don’t often “call” them on it.  But I know when it happens.

I have a certain someone…. who has been lying to me lately.  I just wish they’d be square about things.  It would be better that way.  But I guess until they are ready… I’ll just keep nodding.

But I digress.  When my time was up with Ron, I paid for his services, and away I went.

I always take these sorts of things with a grain of salt.  Heck, if you know me… I salt EVERYTHING.  Yet, he hit a few chords that really made me wonder.

And I know… above all things… WONDER is good.  Never be so sure of yourself…. and lose that most precious room to wonder.  To explore.   To grow.  And to believe in the things… that MIGHT just be possible.

Your big opportunity may be right where you are now. –  Napoleon Hill

Wisdom begins in wonder. – Socrates

Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.  –  Neil Armstrong

Forrest Gump’s Mama only had it partially right, in her now-famous quote.  And that good old Forrest could recount it at any given moment. “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.”

And that is true.  You never, ever really know what will transpire, from day to day.  If we are lucky enough, most days glide from one to the next, without a major upset. Of course, it is a grand thing, if we find ourselves in good fortune on most occasions.

But that box of chocolates is just like life, in other ways too.  On the inside of each one of those pieces, is some great and wonderful surprise.  It could be peanut butter creme, or raspberry, or even a nutty almond.  But surely enough, there is a treasure inside.  All you have to do is take a little time to discover it.

And so it is with a lot of things in life.  Since we are talking about candy, the Tootsie Pop is a prime example.  Oh…. when you bite into one of those things to get to the delicious center!  But by looking from the outside, you would never know what lies within.

Oysters.  Yep.  Now that is one found in nature.  You crank one open and there inside is a beautiful milky pearl.  And to think it starts from one little grain of sand.  That is really something.  But you have to open that Oyster to check.

Another gift of nature….. the incredible, edible egg.  Who knew?  I mean really.  Seeing an egg from the outside gives no indication that something some amazing would be lurking inside.

This entire concept transcends our lives.  It weaves in and out.  What about the little dog or cat…. the one from the shelter or the rescue group?   On the outside, the dog may seem like a jumpy, barkey, bundle of nerves.  Which may be true.  Yet, inside that pup is one of the sweetest, sensitive, caring little dogs ever.  Or perhaps smart as a whip, or funny, or maybe ever all of the above.

Another example which becomes more and more apparent to me… is people.  There are certain individuals in our lives….. and we think they may be this way, or that.  And then suddenly, out of the clear blue sky, they do something great, or valiant, of spectacular.   It might take us by surprise, but I for one, am always delighted when it happens.

Surprises my be one of life’s greatest gifts, I think. But to get the gift, you have to unwrap.

And so it goes.  We just may need to take a little time, to find out what it inside.  What truly lies beneath.  And once we do, we find that  surprise is a most wonderful gift.

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.  —  Brian Tracy

Yes, my friends.  Jeff Golden had it right with his assessment of the final European Vacation Night. (Please see his original comments below.)

I had been here at home. Alone. With the chickens. For two weeks. The experience was harrowing, at best. During the course of those 14 days, and 14 nights, I had sustained several injuries as a direct result of my interaction with those chickens.  Something was fowl.  The task of caring for them was growing more an more difficult each day. I was beginning to suspect that they were, in fact, organized.

And plotting against me.

As yet another storm threatened from the west, I ventured out at the clip of dusk. I was just beginning to fill water containers and small food bins, inside the coop, when I heard the door to the coop slam shut. A strong gust of wind, I thought.

I completed the task at hand, and decided to go out into the chicken yard to begin retrieving the birds for the night. I turned the latch on the coop’s door. When I attempted to push open the door, it would not budge. I pushed a little harder, and still, nothing. Finally, in the dark, dank, smelliness of the coop, I began to feel agitation creep in. I put a shoulder to the door.

It would not give. It was like a heavy object had been placed outside the door, and it would not move an inch. Suddenly I heard what sounded like the creak of the yard’s gate swing open. Oh good. I thought. Someone has stopped by tonight, and they’ve spotted my predicament.

But alas… I heard cackling, and the flapping of wings. It seemed rhythmic. Like they were speaking to one another. The chatter seemed to get more and more quiet, as if they were moving toward the main house, and away from the coop.

I had my phone with me, yet, with the approaching storm, I could not get a cellular signal. But my wi-fi was connecting. Barely. And that is where I wrote that last chicken-escapade-column. Trapped, inside the squalor of the chicken coop.

I did not know chickens could swim, but I swear they were having a pool party.  I heard the clinking of ice on the walls of Margarita glasses.  It sounded like the Hot Tub was firing up.

The next morning, one of our friends, Mike,  stopped by to do some work. He opened the door, just a crack. “Polly, what the heck happened here?  Who was at the pool?  They left a mess!  HOW did you get in the coop? There is a huge boulder rolled in front of the door.”  And on and on he went.  “I’m going to need to get some help to move it.  I’ll be right back.”   No…. I screamed inside my head.  Don’t leave me here…. alone…..    But no words would come out of my mouth.  I was in shock.

I can’t imagine how those chickens did it. Although later that day, I found what looked like the makings of some levers and pulleys behind a row of bushes, nearby.

There is so much more to this story, and I will continue when I regain my emotional strength. At any rate, until then, we have Fryers for sale. By the pound.

I wonder if Duck Eggs are any good?

Don’t become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin.  —  Ivan Pavlov
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Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.  —  Max Planck

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