Are you ever sitting quietly, having your morning cup of coffee… and think… “Hecky dern.  I wonder where ol’ Stinky Pendleton is these days?”  Or maybe… “Hmmm.  I wonder how my cousin Elwood is doing?”

Here’s the thing of it.   We lose touch with people.  Our lives shift and change.  I see it a lot with work situations.  You might be on the same job with someone for 15 years.  You are the very best of friends… working side by side… every day of the week.   And then one of you quits or moves away.  Oh…. you VOW, to stay in touch. You DO.   You poke your thumbs and seal it in blood while your standing in front of the vending machines in the break room.

But then it happens.  They just sort of fade away.  All that time just drifts away.

We don’t mean to, or do it on purpose.  We just get pulled into another part of our lives.

Sure….  there are certain people we keep connections with… for years, and years.  In fact, I have one friend that I’ve know since I was about 8 years old.

I’m not sure why it happens one way this and one way that… but it does.

I can only say that I am very glad and grateful for all the good people in my life right now.  I am blessed with loved ones, in the shape of family and friends.

I am also thankful for every person in my past.  The significant and the passing.  Each person I have met, has in some way, affected my path.  My life journey.  It may have been a little blip, or a huge kapow.

I just learned that my cousin Judy passed last night, making her the 3rd one of my cousins to pass.  She was born in 1947…. the same year as my oldest sibling.  We were never extremely close, because of our disparity in age.  But I am sad for her, and her kids… and all those people who were significant in Judy’s life.   I know she will be missed.

My point, I guess… is that no matter where we find ourselves in life, there are people who mean a great deal to us.  We should let them know how much we love them…. not only in words… but in actions.

Nothing is permanent or guaranteed.  But we can take this moment and be a part of life.  While we have it…. life … precious life.

 Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.  —  Marcus Aurelius
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Forever is composed of nows.  —  Emily Dickinson
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 Buy the ticket, take the ride.  —  Hunter S. Thompson

Some days can be tricky.  Other days… not so tricky.  It seems to be arbitrary.  But is it?

Here is the thing. We had dinner this evening with some old friends. Good old friends.  Not only are they wonderful, kind people…. yes… they really are old. (Joking.)

We had a great night, and as always… truly nice to spend time with the ones you love in life.

At any rate, one subject which came up tonight was “a rogue squirrel on the bird feeder” at their home in Cincy.  The topic spun a hundred different ways… but I suggested “embracing the squirrel.”  That got a good laugh.

But.

I was being serious.  You see, I continue to get the message of “acceptance” in my life.  Not fighting the river, but letting the water flow just as it does.  Acceptance is very key, I think, to our well being.

Accepting change.  Accepting diversity.  Accepting differences.  Accepting a lot of things.

One of my favorite prayers is the Serenity Prayer.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Ahhhhhh….. the wisdom know the difference.

But.  The truth of the matter is…. life is unpredictable.  It changes all the time.  We don’t control the universe… in fact… we can’t even control everything within our own circle of life.  We can influence, or try to influence things all we want.  But there are things which are completely out of our control.

We can’t control others.  People may not “be” the way we want them to be.  Sometimes, we simply have to accept this.  Or let go.

Life is imperfect.  We are imperfect.
There will be things we don’t know how to handle, or don’t want to.  But in the moment, if we can accept where we are, and know this is where we are supposed to be by the way of the Universal Clockworks….

Acceptance does not mean that we completely agree with what is happening.  Some situations need to be changed.  But.… Acceptance means that we are able to look right at the present…. and say in that single moment that…. this moment is right now in front of me.. and I acknowledge… it is here… neither good nor bad.

This is where the ultimate understanding is.
At least, in this moment, that seems to be what I think about this life.  It is best for us to try to accept our moments.  And live.
And for crying out loud… let the little squirrel live.

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao-Tzu

“Of course there is no formula for success except, perhaps, an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.” ~Arthur Rubinstein

Well.  There used to be a song about it.   Free to be, you an me.  Marlo Thomas was the one who did the album project about this back in the 1970s.

Cat Stevens sang about it too.  “If you want to sing out, sing out.  And if you want to be free, be free.”

Here is my problem.  Can I remember who I was before the world told me who I should be?   Can you?

If only.

I think that is where we find a big part of our happiness.   When finally find out what we always already knew.  Who we really are deep down inside.  Who we truly want to be.  The trouble is… digging down to that old familiar spot… where the answer lies.

And. Back to my stumbler.  I don’t necessarily compare myself to anyone else, but I sure do care what people think of me.  Or… more to the point… what I THINK they might be THINKING of me.   I know I should stop worrying about  other people’s opinions.  Gosh dern it anyhow.

But I sure do give it a lot of weight…. even though intellectually, I know better.

It has been said that we can be whoever we want to be.  But sometimes, it seems like life circumstances get in the way of that.  I can only say, that I think it is important that we try to travel to that place. That space.  That time.

Shakespeare started this movement a long time ago.  To thine own self be true.  In today’s plain English…. Be true to yourself.  We are the only people in charge of our lives.  My life, is mine to live.  As is yours.  The only question is…… What do we want to do with the rest of it?

The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.  —  Vince Lombardi
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The things that we love tell us what we are. —  Thomas Aquinas
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 Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.  —  Carl Sagan

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I could write any number of things about this day.  It is true.  Yet, one occurrence stands out in my mind.

Today, I got a massage.  I love massage.  It can be incredibly healing and  beneficial to both our physical and mental wellness.   Especially when you find someone who is completely amazing with their gift.  Lucky me.  I have found such a someone.  And she happens to be a good friend.  Another bonus.  (Okay, shameless plug to Mary Christman, who is the best massage person I have ever found.  To all my other massage friends…  I love you all too.  But Mary is like some kind of rarity in the world of healing massage powers.  She probably should be wearing a cape… or start talking like Yoda… or something.)

Anyway, that is NOT the thing that happened. It was AFTER my massage.  We had talked briefly before we started, and decided the week was on the downside, as things go. It appears there must be heavy energy in the air.  Not a great week thus far.

After we were done with the massage, I stepped into the restroom, feeling completely rejuvenated, and relaxed…. but with a full bladder.  I looked in the mirror, and realized just how pathetic I truly am.  There I was… all freshly dressed after my session.  Unfortunately… I had managed to put my t-shirt on inside-out AND backward.  Yes. You may call me a Fashion Princess from this moment on.  I had my nice big tag hanging right below my neck.     Beautiful.

Of course, I laughed out loud.  Hard.  In the bathroom all by myself.  I could not switch my clothes at that point.  Because…..  I had to share my utter pathetic self, with my good friend Mary.  We laughed and laughed.  I was strutting it…. showing of my new fashion statement.  We laughed more.  It was just what the BOTH of us needed.

As I left, I simply hoped I didn’t get pulled over by a policeman on my way home.

A few things came to mind after that.
1. I am so very grateful to the people who are healers in my life.
2. Sometimes, we all need a good heartfelt laugh.
3. Other times, the perfect moment falls right from the universe, and in to your lap.

Oh…. I guess if you can’t laugh at yourself, you might need some massage in your life…. or something.  I laugh at myself a lot these days.  When I walk into walls, or put my socks in the freezer, and the frozen pizza in my sock drawer.  And also… when I put my t-shirts on backwards and inside out.

But when it comes down to it … with all the imperfections, shortcomings and the like… I am grateful that I am who I am.  For the most part… on most days… everything on me works just fine.  But there are days… when I am especially thankful… for the little things in life.  Like… not getting pulled over by a policeman on my way home… with my t-shirt on… inside out and backwards.

“In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”  —  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”  ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

It is funny, isn’t it.

We use this phrase a lot.  Whether something is funny or not.

“It is funny how time flies.”  “It is funny to think of him running for office.”  “It is funny how much things cost these days.”   Oh.  You get my drift.

But I’m off topic already.  I didn’t mean to start writing about “funny.”
It is funny how often I get off topic when I start writing here.  ( Holy crap …. there I go again.”)

Anyway.  Back where I began.  It is funny how some things bother me and other do not.  Point in case.

I get up every morning at 5:30 or before. Now.  I really slow myself down when I make the coffee.  1. Because it is dang early and I haven’t had any coffee yet. And. 2. Because I am a big klutz.   This is amplified when I am in a hurry.  Yet this morning, as careful as I was being, I managed to spray the coffee grounds all over the kitchen counter, into the freshly cleaned pot, and into the purified water bin.  DO OVER.

Yet. It didn’t bother me.  I just gladly cleaned up the mess, and started over.

Then tonight, as I was pulling out some things to heat up for dinner, I heard Frances whimper at the backdoor.  There was rain on the way, and she does not like the thunder.  I opened up the door and gave her a hug.  She walked in about 5 steps, and proceeded to puke up a rabbit… right on the kitchen floor.  Talk about a magician pulling the rabbit out of the hat!  And… how completely appetizing this looked right as I was about to have dinner.  Nonetheless, I cleaned up the mess.  Regrouped.  And started over.   It didn’t bother me.

Jump back to earlier in the day. At the store, I got in line behind a woman with a cart filled to the brim with groceries. She proceeded to stand and watch the cashier to ring up all 9,452 items.   And then, when the cashier announce the total… the woman began to dig around in her oversized purse.  Finally, she produced a check book.  She slowly and carefully wrote out the check, and then dove back into that purse… in search of her driver’s license and Marsh card.

By my estimation, she knew for AT LEAST 10 minutes… .while waiting in line… that she would eventually have to PAY for these items.  In fact… prior to shopping… she must have had SOME idea that she would eventually have to pay for the groceries.  She might have spent a few moments getting that check all ready to go… except for the final amount.  But no.  We all waited. More.

I did NOT regroup.  Clearly, this bothered me.

Funny, isn’t it.

Now, I don’t know why the water rolls off this duck’s back in some cases… but in other situations … the big weight of “The Bother” sticks to me like peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth.

It might be the difference between happenstance and intention.  Accidents happen.  But… intention… or lack there of…ARE…. for lack of a better word… intentional.

I think the big part of my problem is the need for perfectionism, and the expectation of efficiency in others.

So.  Relax Polly Girl.  I think my best bet is to realize that we are all simply different.  What some people see, others do not.  And vice versa.

I just need to keep practicing at this thing called life.  Heaven knows, I have a long way to go myself.

“Happiness can only exist in acceptance.”  —  George Orwell

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“Give love and unconditional acceptance to those you encounter, and notice what happens.” — Wayne Dyer

I don’t have much to say tonight.

Go figure.
Or it could be that  I don’t know how to say it.
So.  That’s it. For tonight.

I will leave it for people who do know what and how to say what they need to say.

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.  —  Lao Tzu

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What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?  —  George Eliot

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Kindness, I’ve discovered, is everything in life.  —  Isaac Bashevis Singer

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“Live each day as if your life had just begun.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

The last couple of days have been a little sideways for me. I think my planetary alignment has gone kablllooooey.

At any rate, I went to see my Mom this morning, as I do most days.  She is 91 and has dementia.  She lives at Greenbriar.  Sometimes she knows this, other times she does not.  Depending on the day, I may find her in any number of mental states.  Some visits are good, and others… well… not so good.

Today was not so good.  There are times when her mind is swirling in a non-stop vortex of muddled time, reality, and trenchant confusion.  Yet, in the midst of all of this, she will occasionally have incredible intuitive insight.

Out of nowhere.

Thus, today, Mom says… “What are you searching for?”
Me: “How do you know I am searching for something?”
She:  “You are.  What kind of treasure are you looking for?”
Me:  “I don’t know Mom.”
She:  “Well, here is what you have to do.  You have to dive.”
Me:  “Dive?  Where Mom?”
She:  “Dive like into the water.  What you are looking for is underneath the big rock.  You have to lift up the rock and look underneath.  Then you will find the treasure.”
Me: “I’ll try Mom.”
She: “The big rock wont’ be so heavy since is under the water.  You just have to tip it up and look underneath.  That’s where you’ll find what you are looking for.  That’s where the treasure will be.”

Okay.  While this might sound like mumbo-jumbo to you, it was incredibly profound, and apropos.  In fact, I wish she had told me sooner.

I don’t know how any of this works.  Her mind.  Or more to the point…. the universe.  I know there are a lot of people who believe in grand design… everything happening according to plan, just as it should.  And there are others who think this is all an arbitrary assemblage of swirling randomness.

I don’t know which one is true.  Or maybe both.
But.  I am supposed to dive deep today.  I just know it.

My Mom told me so.

Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.  —  Stephen Hawking

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.    —  Ralph Waldo Emerson

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.  —   John Muir

My invitation got lost in the mail. I am sure of it.

Do you ever have one of those days, when it feels like your invitation MUST have gotten lost in the mail… or your bread falls on the floor.. butter side down… twice.

You stubbed your toe on the invisible.  And your morning coffee went down the wrong pipe at breakfast… and you spit eggs out all over the table.. and couldn’t quit coughing?

Those days.

It seems like you say all the wrong things, get in the slowest line at the grocery, and lose your car keys.  Four times.

Yoda told me.. in that ONE movie.  “There is NO try.  You either do, or you do NOT.”  Well… it appears I am doing NOT all over the place.

All day long, bad decisions.  The Reuben was terrible…. I should have had the Pastrami and Chicken Liver Sandwich on the pretzel bun.

On days like this… I blame it on the stars.  The planets.  And especially on Uranus.  I chalk it up to the imperfections in my design.  Not by my choice, but because Saturn lined up with Mercury when I was born.

Or maybe I’m just having a bad case of indigestion.

Either way.  These are the days that Badluck Schleprock and Wednesday Addams are made of.

The good part of it is… I suppose… is that tomorrow is a new day.
I’ll try putting my left shoe on my left foot again….. and hope that will be a good start.

I guess Yoda was wrong.
You can try.

Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.  —  Stephen Hawking

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!  —  Dr. Seuss

This day was a pretty full one.

The first thing in order… after chicken duty and such…. was walking in a parade.  By 11:00 a.m. we were knee deep in Tootie Rolls, Smarties, kids, dogs, balloons, and wouldn’t you know…. a couple of clowns.

You see. We attended the Lewisburg Derby Days Parade, walking with the HIT Foundation Float… an 1930 Antique Ford Truck… and the Senior Repair Van.

It was a great parade.  Lots of entries.  Lots and lots of entries.  And also a bountiful crowd along the route.  If you have never been to the Lewisburg Derby Days, it is a great community event.  Especially the Soap Box Derby and the Car Show.

Lewisburg seems to have a very strong community presence and awareness.  An impressive village here in Preble County.   It says a great deal about that Village’s leadership and its residents.  You can tell they take a lot of pride in their community.

Unfortunately, that is one thing that seems to be lacking in a lot of places these days.  Events like the Derby Days are dwindling, mainly because people seem to be losing interest in volunteerism.

Everybody wants to reap the benefits of a solid community with an abundance of resources.  Yet, only a handful of people seem to be the one rolling up their sleeves.

I wonder what would happen… if every time we complained about something in our community… IF perhaps… we spent that time volunteering for a community program instead.  It may just be a couple of hours per month.  But if everyone did it… … how does that old saying go….’Many hands make light work.’  Oh true to be sure of it.  True, true, true.

It is so very nice, though, to attend an event such as this.  It has a way of warming your old-town-heart.  You know… belly-up to the Corn Dog Bar… and watch the day go by.

And the band played on and on…..

Sometimes, life gives us incredibly talented people.  Sometimes, amazingly funny people.  One of the people who I admire most (without even knowing a  THING about the guy)…. is Gary Larson.

Today is his birthday.  He was born on August 14th, 1950 in Tacoma, Washington.  If you aren’t familiar with him, he is the genius who created The Far Side.

Day after day, I would look forward to opening up the newspaper and reading The Far Side.  A one square cartoon, most of the time, with one caption… or none at all.  And oh, each day… I truly would laugh out loud.

He was so incredibly good at finding the funny in the possibilities of life.

My all time favorite, is the one with the two circus bears riding a motorcycle in the circus ring… both of them muzzled and wearing funny hats.  And the Male Bear says to the Female Bear…’Looks like a trap,’ I said.  ‘Nonsense,’ you said.  ‘Who would set a trap way out here in the woods?’ you said.

Oh my gosh.  Now…. let’s all LOL.

Day after day, he would come up with the hilarious.  About anything and everything.

Then, on a very sad day in  October of 1994, he announced he was retiring from writing the “Far Side”… and I cried.  Almost as hard as I cried the day Gilda Radner died.

So on January 1, 1995, the last Far Side appeared.  And then it disappeared.

I can only say thanks to the Universe for giving us people like that.  Those that bring joy to our lives, time and again.  Sometimes it is someone we don’t even know.  But the world knows them.

Today is also my Aunt Janet’s birthday.  My Dad’s youngest sister.  She  is another one I could go on and on about… a great gift in this life.  I thought the world of my Dad.  I think the world of my Aunt J.  You can tell they were cut from the same cloth.  I am thankful for her too.

So Happy Birthday Aunt J. and Gary Larson.  Once again, lucky me.

 The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all directions.  — Chanakya