No, this isn't an April Fool's joke, I am truly sitting in the truck typing letters of the alphabet in hopes of creating a words, to make sentences, to divide into paragraphs, all aiming at post. In the truck... heading to Edmonton. I am having trouble sitting still. Reality has landed. Finally after years of waiting, many trips to the city and a new hole in my head, I will be fitted with a hearing aid tomorrow. What a birthday present!
Everyday on our walks we attempt to push boundaries. Where the snow melts around the farm, we walk. One goal is a circle around the barn, so the dogs can sniff for rabbits. Don't worry, the dachshund has decided he is too old to go to ground with a mature rabbit. Opps, sorry Chirpa, too mature and dignified for such antics. Circle of barn completed I had my 'Today I Learned' experience.
This is the card my Hero gave me with the roses. I can't resist love from Snoopy, I mean my Hero. I love you more than my heart can tell. I like being your wife.
Seeing Snoopy on the card brought forth the memory of Snoopy flying his dog house against the Red Baron. And the song, "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen, "Just at the turn of the century, in the clear blue skies over Germany..." My friends and I sang that song often enough to annoy parental ears!
What is best about receiving a dozen roses is the look he gives me when he places them in my arms. Makes me feel like a teenager again. I love you sweetie. How can I resist yellow roses on a cold arctic day. I hum to myself as I go through the ritual of clearing the wrap, trimming the stems and placing them in a vase. I have a perfect location for them in the parlour. The fireplace has a mirror behind the mantle; there it looks like I have dozens of yellow roses!
My mother-in-love showed me how much better roses look when you actually arrange them loosely, giving each rose room to breath. Much better than my previously jamming them a jar! Growing up bud vases made an appearance, but I don't remember a dozen at once, until I met Steve.
I know many hate Valentine's Day. If you are not in a relationship, you can treasure yourself. You are special -- you don't need anyone to make it so. Take care of yourself; be gentle with yourself.
Not sleeping tonight. Restless, not wanting to desturb my sweetie or be grumped at by Chirpa. Too tired to do anything requiring thought. Sitting at my laptop trying to avoid the hell-hole that is doom scrolling. Looking at my data drive wondering if there is something exciting enough to hold my attention. A flicker of interest. I have my newest blog working. I am happy with it; why not clear out the accumulated chaff consisting of decades of old blogs, blog attempts, blog ideas, blog templates... There must be thousands of directories listed under LBBWeb.
Soon I was happily puttering away deleting collected themes from long forgotten platforms along with the notes made in the attempt to understand them. Ah, yes, delicious progress, the trash bin filling up and bytes freed for future use. Then it happened, this tiny, unassuming file with one of those blog challenges popped open on the screen. "If I were..." Tired brain seizes on this and starts typing...
If I were a month, I’d be September, remembering the excitement of back to school.
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Monday, the freedom of being back at school.
If I were a time of day, I’d be 2300 or so, quiet and peaceful.
I know Valentine’s Day is a month past, but I want to share with you the story of a special yellow rose. This pretty flower was one of a dozen - a gift from my love. Yellow roses have always been special to me. A favourite, I carried when we were married, 46 years ago now. So when he is able to purchase them he brings a dozen home. So special, so beautiful.
How easy it is to keep me entertained… you simply shake things up (good therapy) and set the jar down in a sunbeam. Next you lean in close and watch the sparklies spin.
After they settle, you shake the jar, position it once more in the sun and be mesmerised. The only bad thing about it: the glitter settles too swiftly.
At this point repeat until marvellously calm or your sweetie asks for the nth time, “What are you doing?”
I had a marvellous time cleaning the cages and steaming them to make sure they were really clean. They look so shiny and the glass drinkers are such a bright green under the cage lights.
Sadly, it was a full days activity... simply doing something I love resulting the pain of arthritis in my hands. You work and enjoy it all the while knowing the next few days will be frustrating days of little use of my hands and fingers. And this was with Steve helping wash up the vacated cages and accumulated accoutrements. With the arthritis hanging over everything I do I am so thankfully for my loving husband.
This is a fabricated, misleading slice of my desk area. It is untrue 98.7% of the time. It represents the ideal, the image of of my corner before I pop into existence. Ignore the cable mess. The only time they are a vision of perfection is for the ten 10 seconds allotted after tying them into position. Instead feast your eyes upon a work space set up to delight my soul.
The view out the windows has been grey and soul draining. The vibrant colours of fall have leached to a dreary brownish/greenish tint in a world of white, grey, and more white. I crave colour even more than chocolate at this time of year... honest! Well, once this month may-be. But there are soul refreshing spots to treasure. While returning library books the other evening I discovered, tucked away in a hidden corner, a touch of wonder. There behind a service station, on the edge of the parking lot, was a beautiful snow covered spruce. Someone had draped the tree with large, old fashioned Christmas lights. Snow now covered of the branches; each bulb's light softened, causing the snowy branches to glow magically in the night.
“Time is an illusion.”
:: Albert Einstein
I have always heard the phrase, “There are enough hours in the day to accomplish what is important to you.” Yet, I pressure myself to fill every hour with a plan and must accomplish. I have a to do list (more of a binder full) that would make a turbo charged super hero weep in despair.
❝ My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the heck she is.❞
~ Ellen DeGeneres