Rescue dogs on the job!

Many of the forsythia stems in our two vases have leafed out. Seeing fresh, new green is encouraging, since I just finished clearing four or five inches of snow from the drive. If it really does warm up next week, I want to help Mother Nature as much as I can to move through the icy driveway phase. Other accomplishments for today include ordering new glasses, dropping off the tax organizer and documents with our tax preparer, and reading to our granddaughter for awhile. A day full of more accomplishments than many this winter.

Maybe the fact that I was too busy in the real world to spend time on social media helps explain the fact that I’m in a better mood than I have been for weeks. Maybe the promise of warmer weather and a spring thaw has a lot to do with it. Maybe the fact that I’m beginning to reengage with a conservation organization I’ve belonged to for decades is a contributor. It’s been a pleasant change from the business as usual mode of the past few months.

friends: SiSi (left), Harry (right)

Photo by J. Harrington

I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge that our two rescue dogs, I belong to SiSi on the left, Harry on the right owns the Better Half, bring a little aggravation and a lot of joy into our lives. They’re no doubt looking forward to once again having a chance to play in their run without getting frostbitten paws. I would also be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge how rejuvenating it is to visit a person a little less than 18 months old who finds joy in exploring and testing everything about her. She’s a classic example of zen mind, beginner’s mind, not so full of everything there’s no room to learn more. A model I should take to heart more.

What a lot of today’s posting amounts to is my recognition that learning to enjoy what I have is as important, perhaps more important, than working toward new, improved, bigger, better, more! I’ve recently been fretting about the dogs spending as much time sleeping as they do. Then I thought about the fact that their food and shelter is taken care of, and they’re learning how to play together without wrecking the house, so most boredom is self-inflicted. That helped me realize that spending less time sitting on my duff fussing about the state of the world would increase my chances to enjoy and work toward saving or improving those parts of that world that are important to me. Maybe after I’ve relearned this fact another couple of dozen times it will begin to sink in.

Yes! No!

by Mary Oliver

How necessary it is to have opinions! I think the spotted trout
lilies are satisfied, standing a few inches above the earth. I
think serenity is not something you just find in the world,
like a plum tree, holding up its white petals.

The violets, along the river, are opening their blue faces, like
small dark lanterns.

The green mosses, being so many, are as good as brawny.

How important it is to walk along, not in haste but slowly,
looking at everything and calling out

Yes! No! The

swan, for all his pomp, his robes of grass and petals, wants
only to be allowed to live on the nameless pond. The catbrier
is without fault. The water thrushes, down among the sloppy
rocks, are going crazy with happiness. Imagination is better
than a sharp instrument. To pay attention, this is our endless
and proper work.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.