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My stubborn Dachshund was barking outside and when I called him in, he very slowly stared and me and laid down in the yard. "Nope, not coming in."
Pets are so neat, aren't they?
My new cats are making me laugh. Yesterday one jumped up on my desk and when I walked over to say, for the thousandth time, "Get down" she immediately looked up at the ceiling as if to say, "Oh, I'm not up here to get into your stuff. Not even looking at it. This just gives me a closer look in case there's a ladybug on the ceiling." Sly little rascal.
Pikabike talks about the little niceties. I think developing a habit of looking for them is a great idea.
Once you start you begin to notice them everywhere.
I call them little gifts from the Universe.
They've always told us you see what you look for. Turns out "they" were right.
And I bear no risk of being overly optimistic either. In fact my habit of seeing the negatives first is what prompted me to start the practice. Life's better this way.
The sun has been out for two whole days. I sat out in it like a reptile & didn't do a damn thing. The dogs rolled over on their backs to sunbathe, one had her tongue hanging out. Two bald eagles were soaring in the clear, blue sky.
The last 2 posts made me smile and nod (gotta love these little creatures we share our lives with, whether they be kitties or dogs or birds or LIZARDS, who cares? ). And ClaraC's book recommendation was welcome as well. And all the rest!
My older son plays in a local jazz band. Last night they did a benefit performance for the county humane society. Wonderful performance, including two vocalists who were superb, one of whom literally never missed a beat when her microphone quit working.
I anticipate a nice contribution to the humane society coffers. A win for many pets!
My new cats are making me laugh. Yesterday one jumped up on my desk and when I walked over to say, for the thousandth time, "Get down" she immediately looked up at the ceiling as if to say, "Oh, I'm not up here to get into your stuff. Not even looking at it. This just gives me a closer look in case there's a ladybug on the ceiling." Sly little rascal.
Pikabike talks about the little niceties. I think developing a habit of looking for them is a great idea.
Once you start you begin to notice them everywhere.
K
I call them little gifts from the Universe.
They've always told us you see what you look for. Turns out "they" were right.
And I bear no risk of being overly optimistic either. In fact my habit of seeing the negatives first is what prompted me to start the practice. Life's better this way.
Little gifts from the universe, what a great way to think of those moments, events in which we find untold delight. I think the mindset that has us looking for those becomes a habit, or second nature after a while, or perhaps it's, at least for some of us, something we learn as we get older. Maybe a lucky few of us are born with that mindset, or have it from an early age.
I don't think the mindset makes us blind to the negatives, they're always around us and reality says we must deal with those too. But the optimistic, "smelling the roses" mindset, IMO, helps us to handle those issues, and puts us in a much better perspective as we do so.
And the sense of humor is an invaluable help for that as well!
The sun has been out for two whole days. I sat out in it like a reptile & didn't do a damn thing. The dogs rolled over on their backs to sunbathe, one had her tongue hanging out. Two bald eagles were soaring in the clear, blue sky.
Ha, seeing the sun two consecutive dry days in the PNW winter is indeed a treat.
Looking up at the sky often brings other pleasant surprises, too! I still lovelovelove those endearing, ubiquitous, mischievous, ultrasmart, and fun-loving northwestern crows.
There's a short book, written a couple years ago, called The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. He decided he'd write a journal, each day, and put a delight he experienced that day in it. (Spoiler alert, he fell a bit short and some of the things are not delightful at all). But anyway, just the exercise of going through his day trying to pick which wonderful thing was going to be the "chosen" one to make it into his journal gave him a real lift.
Oh, now, that comment about the not delightful at all items has me intrigued. I’ll be looking for that book. Thanks for the tip!
Mine for today was this: I went to water a former neighbor’s cactus garden in her house (belongs to her relative now). Since the last time I watered them, a lovely plush-looking, creamy-white flower had blossomed. I have no idea what kind it is, only that is was an unexpected nicety—like a thank-you from the plants!
Ha, seeing the sun two consecutive dry days in the PNW winter is indeed a treat.
Looking up at the sky often brings other pleasant surprises, too! I still lovelovelove those endearing, ubiquitous, mischievous, ultrasmart, and fun-loving northwestern crows.
That reminds me of a story my daughter found somewhere on the internet and shared with me, about those crows. I have no idea if it's true or not, but it's possible, as you say, those crows ( as most birds are) smarter than you could imagine any critter could be, ultra observant ( they don't miss a trick) and so playful. You may or may not know, but crows can learn to imitate the
sounds they hear, including human speech they hear repetitively ( and like the sound of- they won't learn it if they don't want to or don't like the sound).
So, the story goes about a bunch of crows hanging out around a Taco Bell. They look for and pick up bits of food dropped on the ground by the customers, and of course they, like many birds, are attracted to and will pick up shiny objects. So, the author of that story writes that she would also notice some human sounding words among the loud chatter of those crows- they are excellent imitators. One day, she says, as she came out of the Taco Bell and was about to get in her car, she sees a nickel drop right in front of her, landing nearby. She looks up and sees a crow right above her, from a relatively low branch, and he's looking at her. Then, she hears the crow say something that sounds suspiciously like "TACO"!!!!!!!!!!
As I mention, don't know if it's a true story, but we got a good laugh at it either way at the thought of a crow ordering a taco and paying for it.
^^^I totally believe it Even if it isn't true, it's too good of a story not to believe
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Even if it isn't true, it's too good of a story not to believe
