welcome back

We should all smile and make others smile like this...

il silenzio

shrew #2

I was sitting in my chair. I heard HoneyBoy come in and head up the stairs. His breathing was funny. Something was not right. I jumped to my feet and headed up the stairs after him.

At the landing, a shrew cowered in the corner--live. HoneyBoy's breathed fine. Shrews squeal, apparently.

HoneyBoy picked up the rodent and headed for the front door. I closed it behind him--them.

Some time later, HoneyBoy came in the kitty door...with the shrew in his mouth--still alive. I opened the front door and started praising and coaxing HoneyBoy to pick up his prize and go out again. He kept dropping and playing with it, in no hurry to be tricked outside again.

Shrew started to escape. I stepped in front of it. It moved to the right. I stepped in front of it with the other foot, trapping it in the V between my heels. "Help!" I called to SO.

SO grabbed a dish towel and reached between my feet to grasp the shrew. Got 'im! They all went out the front door--HoneyBoy, SO, and the shrew. I locked the kitty door. SO, my hero, I allowed back in.

love thursday 07.28.11 ~ choose kindness

Keep the other person's well being in mind when you feel an attack of soul purging truth coming on.

Betty White

A spiritual teacher once told me, "When the choice is between truth and kindness, choose kindness."

He and Betty are right.

new day...new joy

Can the joy of yesterday ever be repeated today? The desire for repetition arises only when there is no joy today; when today is empty we look to the past or the future. The desire for repetition is desire for continuity, and in continuity there is never the new. There is happiness, not in the past or the future, but only in the movement of the present.

J. Krishnamurti

Standing in the flow of the Beloved...
Loving for no reason at all.

New joy--
Every
Day.

it is no accident that...

...post #1111 was hula flash mob.

Not planned...and no accident.

ten things i (re)learned this weekend

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

Dorothy Parker

1. Three-legged cats can catch shrews.

2. Sometimes when I break something, the fix is cheap and easy.

3. There is more than one solution to most problems.

4. If I break something with high priority repair status, it gets me out of doing something else I was planning to do but didn't want to.

5. Garden gloves (the ones with latex or nitrile palms and fingers) are good for opening jars.

6. Pickled jalapeño slices are great on hamburgers.

7. Beer does freeze...even Canadian beer.

8. Frozen gel packs can break when you sleep on them.

9. In spite of the people whom I need to love for no reason at all, there are some genuinely, wonderfully nice people in the world and I am always grateful when they cross my path. I love them for reasons and no reason.

10. If you wait long enough, lettuce turns to liquid in the refrigerator.

Anything you learned that you'd like to share?

he's baaaaaaaaaaack....

HoneyBoy caught a shrew today. Played with it all day.

Success.

hula flash mob

at 38,000 feet...

Ahh...ALOHA!

only in portland

(healing progress)

Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.

Arthur Schopenhauer

I accidentally ran a stop sign. In my defense, an overhanging tree hid the sign from view until I was right beside it. Fortunately, no cross traffic happened by at the same time. (Thank you!) However, the oncoming driver commented aloud to me (I had the top down) that I had just run a stop sign.

Who was the oncoming driver? A cyclist...who ran the stop sign coming across the intersection toward me. No lie.

love thursday 07.21.11 ~ being reminded

Lose yourself, lose yourself in this love.
When you lose yourself in this love,
you will find everything.

Rumi

Today was a bad traffic day on the way home after the third hour-long doctor appointment of the day--not all mine. I was tired...and a bit cranky.

The person ahead of me was turning left. There was a left turn lane. However, she managed to steer only half of her mega-SUV into the turn lane leaving the other half in the lane of through traffic. I had choice words for her.

SO had to remind me..."and I love you for no reason at all." Sigh.

The good news. Upon being reminded, I embraced "I love you for no reason at all" without attitude.

The other good news? SO reminded me. Now there is at least one other person thinking about love...for no reason at all.

Love someone today...for any reason or no reason. Just love someone.

green bird

(the ones that are green have not had as much sun)

For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

Ivan Panin

If we ever get a summer, the whole plant will be black...like it is supposed to be. (In case you're listening...Beloved.)

aye...there's the rub

(flower pot? i thought it was my throne.
it has my picture on it. ~ mijo)

If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?

Rumi

HoneyBoy is doing well--better every day. He is now taking half the pain med dose and will probably go down in dose by another half soon.

Mijo no longer hisses at him. They are playing together sometimes. He lets HoneyBoy lick his head. No doubt, they will both be thrilled when HoneyBoy has free in-and-out and they can play together more freely.

Misi is having to get used to HoneyBoy chasing her again. It's hard to tell whether she enjoys it or finds it annoying. I think at some level, fending him off keeps her up on her game.

And we humans are adjusting, too. All in time.

universal compassion

(this year's blackbird)

Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.

Arthur Schopenhauer

We are half way through the fourth night of the Mayan calendar. How do you think we are doing? Are we really getting it yet?

Only a few more months until October 28th--when Calleman says the calendar ends. What do you think will happen? I truly don't know. Part of me thinks that nothing different will occur. That the morning of the 29th will occur like any other day. However, I am hoping that we will have made some progress in treating each other well.

I keep wondering what all those corporate bigwigs think they are going to do with all their money when there is no one left to buy their products or provide them services. Let them (us) eat cake?

In the meantime, just remember...I love you for no reason at all. And them, too.

part of today's harvest

(the boys checking out the garlic)

But in the end he [St. Anthony the Great] concluded that not even the devil was purely evil, since God could not create evil, and all His works are good. It may come as a surprise to learn that St. Anthony, of all people, thought the devil had some good in him. This was not mere sentimentalism. It showed that in Anthony there was not much room left for paranoia. We can profitably reflect that modern mass-man is the one who has returned so wholeheartedly to fanatical projections of all one's own evil upon "the enemy" (whoever that may be). The solitaries of the desert were much wiser.

Thomas Merton

Today we harvested the garlic (seen above drying on the front porch) and the fava beans. While watching a movie, we shelled beans. A friend told me he has a wonderful recipe for warm fava bean salad. He says he'll share. I'm waiting....

In the meantime, I feel very secure knowing that no vampires will be coming to our front door for the next several weeks.

universal consciousness (ninth wave of the mayan calendar)

A new way of thinking has become the necessary condition for responsible living and acting. If we maintain obsolete values and beliefs, a fragmented consciousness and self-centered spirit, we will continue to hold onto outdated goals and behaviors.

Dalai Lama

Sounds very Ninth Wave, doesn't it?

I love it that whether people know anything about the Mayan Calendar, astrology, religion, philosophy...any of it...the trend is toward an understanding that we need to get our collective act together and be--well...a collective.

The question always remains: Will we manage to get it soon enough to make a difference? Soon enough that we don't destroy each other and the planet?

What I find interesting is how difficult most of us find it to be good, kind, and loving to others we perceive to be the most unlike us and to ourselves. It's much easier to be good, kind, and loving to those we like--those close to us.

And here's the thing...we are all us. No difference. Usually the problem we have with loving ourselves is the same one we have with those we perceive as so very different--the things we don't like that are in our face.

The Beloved loves us anyway. We are after all the beloved to the Beloved, are we not? Guess it is time to grow up.

kindness

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.

Seneca

I hope that someone is kind to you today.

Happy Friday!

love thursday 07.14.11 ~ as i have loved you

(mijo)

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

John 15:12

Well, that's clear.

I have my good days and my bad days in the Year of the Beloved on the Love for No Reason at All path. Doesn't that commandment sound like "no reason at all"? Just because. Because you exist. Period.

Oh, man. Lately, the best I can do is remember to add it. Love still does not supersede my impatience or frustration. However, at this stage, even when I recognize those in myself and add the Love, that changes my impatience and frustration. It changes me.

I like that. And I am looking forward to the days when I start there.

You know, if everyone were orange and fuzzy (see above) this would all be a lot easier.

that's how the beloved works

(yep...again)

You can never bring about the Kingdom of God by means of fear (see Romans 14:16-17). It is not by definition the Kingdom of God if it is brought about by fear or coercion, but a mere Pax Romana maintained by force and power. It is not the peace of Christ at all.

God allows and respects the freedom of creatures, even to the point of allowing rebellion and blasphemy against God! Inner freedom is a prerequisite for all virtue, just as it is of sin. This is God’s great risk—and God takes it—refusing to use dominative power to force his will, even in the presence of evil. This is really quite amazing, humble, and patient of God.

Richard Rohr

I thought the year of the Beloved would be more...warm and fuzzy. Not so much.

Car problems, cat problems, computer problems, work problems, weather problems...and more. Right down the list. I guess this is my opportunity to be in love with the Beloved for no reason at all. It's certainly not because I am receiving lavish gifts and being kept in the manner to which I hope to become accustomed.

Today begins the Fourth Night of the 9th wave of the Mayan Calendar. This 18 day period is about expansion of the new energies. I think of the "nights" as introverted times where we complete the work of the previous "day" and get ready for the next day. We've come through the introduction and the resistance. The Fourth Night is about incorporating all the energies that have come in so far, getting ready for the budding and bearing of new fruit in the next day.

I'll be sitting over here, continuing to love for no reason at all--working to find peace and equilibrium in the midst of it all.

I wish peace, equilibrium, and lots of the Beloved for you, too.

shhh...healing in process

All is well. He is getting pain meds every 12 to 15 hours. He can do stairs. He can still play aluminum foil soccer.

The sound of cars scares him and he runs in the house. That's good.

Once his hair grows back he'll be his old self again.

let patients help

Become an e-patient:

simon lewis @ ted

Amazing on so many levels...not the least of which is the low standard our medical system sets for discharge. But look what more can be done for people...

and now for something completely different...

"there is no wrong way to have a body"

Everyone who has one must read this.

love thursday 07.07.11 ~ happy birthday, brother

(me...in the pea patch eating from the vine)

You need not think alike to love alike.

Francis David

I am learning much from Love For No Reason at All, including the reality of the quote above. If we can't and don't love in spite of our differences, we are still not getting the "no reason" part.

I have a habit of thinking that people I know and love tend to agree with me. Then, when I find out they disagree, I am often shocked. It's good for me to be shocked. It's good for me to know that I love them even when we don't agree. I hope they still love me, too.

I don't know how my brother feels about blogging. I don't know if he even knows I have a blog, so I am not posting a picture of him here, in spite of the fact that I am celebrating him.

There are some things we agree about. Some we don't. One thing we do agree about is that we love each other. How does it get better than that?

Happy birthday, big brother. (Just as a side note, I often mistype "brother" as "bother." Hmm....) I do love you and I hope you have a great day followed by many more great years.

want

Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want.

Jonathan Swift

Today I discovered that the a/c in my car blows hot air. The sheets on my bed have holes in them.

I have more sheets. I can put the top down.

May your wants be wants and not needs.

misi

(misi @ 17)

Peace is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.

Thomas Merton

Misi doesn't get much air time. Part of that is because she doesn't like to be seen. She rarely holds still long enough for me to take a picture and she would rather be under the bed than in front of the lens. But she is lovely. She is dainty and sweet--then out of nowhere she will let loose with a blood curdling scream for no apparent reason. I don't know. Maybe she is singing.

She turned 17 this month. For a cat, she is approaching the age they call "extreme geriatric." Human equivalency would put her in her 80s. I hope she lasts a long, long time. And I hope she is at peace here and now.

Update: HoneyBoy is doing well. The staples come out today. Mijo is doing well, too. He's been pissed off that we make him come in early, but the fireworks have been relentless and we don't want him to get spooked and run into danger. We will all be glad when the explosions stop.

my morning of cats

(sitting on the edge of my bed, i look to the right and see
misi, fresh out of the hot box, staring at mijo
doing full-otter in the hallway)

(to my left, honeyboy sleeps in his own little blue cocoon)

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?

Henry David Thoreau

I wonder what it would be like to look through their eyes. I wonder about the emotions they feel--and yes, I do think they feel emotions. Perhaps they are not driven by them like many humans are, but they do experience them.

Since HoneyBoy's accident, he has been more affectionate with me. Some of it is probably the endorphins of his pain meds. Some of it, I believe, is because he knows we are taking care of him and I think he appreciates it.

What I know is that these beautiful and wonderful creatures bring great pleasure and companionship to my life. I know that everyone is not an animal person. Maybe you aren't. Maybe you don't know what it might be like to look through my eyes in this instance. I do hope, however, that you have some pleasure that is comparable to mine.

May the Freedom of the Fourth be with you!

update on love for no reason at all

(a few of my favorite things: french press coffee on the
front porch on a summer morning, hawaiian prayer
flags, banana, and purple clematis...oh, yeah--and sun)

If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.

Dolly Parton

At the butcher counter this evening, after preparing our purchase, the man behind the counter said, "Have a blessed weekend."

At the deli counter, the man who weighed my order called me "dear."

I went to the check stand to claim my bottle deposit refund. "I have 137 bottles," I said.

"Oh, thank you for counting them! I could just hug you."

"Okay."

"Really?" said the checker in high pitched disbelief. "I really needed a hug."

So we did.

I guess what goes around comes around.

update on the three c's

My computer is home, but not fixed. I have a "loaner" external display. Two trips to the computer store to get it all working, but at least I can now do what I need to do on my own machine. Theoretically, they will call me next week when the part is in. Having their monitor increases the likelihood that I will hear from them.

On another note, the battery is completely dead. So dead that it was interfering with the machine's ability to boot up. Will. Not. Charge. That's how dead it is. Sitting in the shop for two weeks not being plugged in completely drained it beyond redemption. So, now I get to buy a new battery, too. Sigh.

When I left the computer shop, my car wouldn't start. This is an ongoing, intermittent problem. Unfortunately, the replacement of the alternator earlier in the week didn't fix that, too. Oh, well. It runs. I am grateful. When this happens, I just take the key out and reintroduce it to the car--remind them they know each other.

The cat improves daily. The incision is looking well-healed. We have been able to spread his pain meds out a bit. He's getting around better all the time. We found out he can run, too, even though he is not supposed to. We were outside. He was wearing his collar and leash, as per instructions. A car went by and scared him. He ran. I didn't have a good enough grip. He took off into the greenspace and I did what I always do in those situations. I swore.

Fortunately, he was easy to catch. I expect it didn't feel very good once he stopped running. That was a lot of effort and he is not supposed to run or jump for another week. Here's hoping he didn't hurt anything.

None of the three c's is well. All are workable and improving. And for now...that's as good as it gets.

second friday this week

I swear, all day yesterday was Friday. I like Fridays so if I am going to have two of anything, this is a good day to double up.

I'm picking up my computer this morning. "Oh, they fixed it!" you say.

No...not so much. I insisted that I have it back because I have deadlines to meet and my anxiety level is rising steadily. They'll call me when the part is in. Yes, the bulbs that will allow me to see the screen.

I asked if they have an external display that they could rent to me for the duration. I think they are actually going to loan it to me.

I decided before I called them today that I would practice Love For No Reason at All. My computer isn't fixed, but I have a short term solution and I feel better about all of it.

That counts.