Food

It doesn't matter how precisely the onion is cut if the person chewing it is happy.

~ Padma Lakshmi

- - - - -

I like to watch cooking shows. One night I was watching... wait. This might have been on the Great Pottery Throwdown. (pause) Or it could have been a cooking show.

Anyway, I was watching TV while Leslie was bringing in dinner. We had strawberries and blueberries and as soon as she set them down the woman on TV was serving her kids bowls of strawberries and blueberries!

Life is so magical.

(pause)

We had more for dinner than just strawberries and blueberries, but I forget what. Not sausage sandwiches because I'm the one who usually cooks those. Anyway, Life is so magical.

Thinking

Looking back is a way to sharpen the focus on the things you want to change in your life. I think there's something about nostalgia that really puts a fine point on the here-and-now, and that can be incredibly fascinating and interesting and engaging for the mind.

~ Sarah Paulson

- - - - -

I wonder what Lily thinks back about when she is in a reflective mood. And then I think that dogs probably aren't reflective at all. I mean, I believe that they can learn things. I've seen that. But retaining knowledge and focusing on the past aren't the same thing.

Dogs just live in the moment. We could learn a lot from them when it comes to that. And in a lot of other ways, too.

Like sometimes you just feel a need to poop in your neighbor's yard. 

Bubble

Two bubbles found they had rainbows on their curves.  They flickered out saying: "It was worth being a bubble just to have held that rainbow thirty seconds."

~ Carl Sandburg

- - - - -

My friend Deborah asked me recently, "Why are you always at the coolest places?" I responded, "I try to see cool things at all the places."

That is true. I do. I try to see things and pay attention. I probably let my camera get a little too involved sometimes when I should just be looking, but I also think I see things differently (not better or worse) when I look at them through a camera.

What is interesting is that my friend Deborah is an amazing artist and teacher. I think she sees pretty cool things, too. And I KNOW she creates beauty every day.

I am lucky to know many wonderful people. I am lucky to know a few lousy ones, too. They make me appreciate the wonderful ones more. 

(pause)

So there's that, at least.

Dwelling

 We shape our dwellings and afterward our dwellings shape us.    

~ Winston Churchill

- - - - -

This quote is not true for dollhouses. I'm pretty sure some plastic fabrication thing shapes the inhabitants of dollhouses. Unless you had a house where you grew dahlias. Of course that would be a greenhouse.

(pause)

Sometimes I start typing and just keep going hoping it wall end up sort of cohesive. 

(pause)

Sometimes that doesn't happen.

Attention

The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.

~ Henry Miller

- - - - -

And the moment a dog or a toddler gives close attention to any thing, it becomes a potential snack.

Leslie

No quote for this one. It speaks for itself. Just a photo of Leslie cutting the cheese.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *gasp* hahahahahahahahahahah!

 

Birthdays

 

Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.

~ Gloria Steinem

- - - - -

I don't use the same image in my blog very often. In fact, usually when I do it is a mistake. But today is Elizabeth's birthday and I think it's good to revisit birthdays past. The plan above was a good plan. I don't remember if things went exactly on schedule. I feel like there was playing at the school and maybe there was an issue with some other kids who were at the school playground, but not part of the birthday party.

Regardless, "jump on tramp" will probably always be my favorite birthday activity in anyone's birthday plan. Ever.

Nosy

It's part of a writer's job to be nosy about everything.

~ Sara Sheridan

- - - - -

I think that Lily was a writer in a past life. She must have been a good and kind person because she came back in this life as a dog.
 

Watching

Dogs do know how comfortable you are with yourself, how happy you are, how fearful you are, and what is missing inside you.

~ Cesar Milan

- - - - -

Lily is always looking out for us. She lets us know when the neighbors park their car in an unusual place, when plastic bags have blown up against our fence, or when one of our chairs gets tipped over.

When we were on vacation, there were some kids staying in the cabin next door. With some adults. Anyway, one morning a boy - maybe he was nine? I don't know. I didn't ask. He looked like he might be nine. He was about to cross the little creek to the yard in front of our cabin. Lily growled. Before I could say anything, she did her mean repetitive bark. The boy ran up the edge of the creek and up the hill to his cabin. 

I think I heard him say, "I need to get into the pond. I just wet myself a little bit."

I think we all learned a valuable lesson:

The boy learned to be more aware of his surroundings.

Lily learned she can control who gets to come into her yard.

I learned I don't really know how to tell how old a kid is.

Vacation

Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares that will not withdraw from us.

~ Maya Angelou

- - - - -

At least a couple of times a year we go somewhere quiet (or at least we hope it will be quiet) and enjoy nature, I write or blog or journal and Leslie hikes and reads a lot. 

Now that we have Lily, she goes along too. She likes to go on walks and hikes with us, but doesn't really read or write that much. She's too busy focusing on the now to worry about writing about the before and the next.

Wild

You were wild once. Don't let them tame you.

~ Isadora Duncan

- - - - -

My dad used to tell this joke:

Q: How do you catch a wild squirrel?

A: Climb up a tree and act like a nut.

Q: And how do you catch a tame squirrel?

A: Tame way.

I think that tells you all you need to know.

Friends

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.

~ Lao Tzu

- - - - -

Lily: I think you're great. I like keeping you here all the time.

Lily's friend: Then why are you chewing on my ear?

Lily: That's called conversation. "Let me chew your ear for a minute."

Lily's friend: That's "Let me BEND your ear for a moment."

Lily: If I bend your ear, you can't hear me.

Lily's friend: If you chew my ear I can't hear you.

(pause)

Lily: I think you're great.
 

Friends

 Today I am posting a special GUEST BLOG by my friend and one the primary philosophers whose ruminating guides my life: Amanda Melita Green. Happy birthday, Amanda.

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.

~ Socrates

Movement

All change is not about growth, as all movement is not forward.

~ Ellen Glasgow

- - - - -

You know that old book, Who Moved My Cheese? Well, I figured out who it was. It was Lily. And she moved it into her stomach.

Kind

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

~ Aesop

- - - - -

I have never regretted being kind. I have regretted seeking revenge on my enemies, though.

(pause)

BUT NOT AS MUCH AS MY ENEMIES REGRETTED ME SEEKING MY REVENGE!!!

Dog

Why does watching a dog be a dog fill one with happiness?

~ Jonathan Safran Foer

- - - - -

When I had Ripley, he could recognize the sound of specific cars and knew when people were coming home. Lily has not learned the sound of our cars yet, I don't think. Or else she doesn't care when we come home. 

She HAS however learned the sound of her best friend's car. The three year-old-who lives next door has a pink Jeep (I think it's a Jeep) and when she's out cruising in the driveway, Lily freaks out and wants to go outside. 

And we know it is because of the three-year-old and not the fact that it is a Jeep because I drive a Jeep, too.

Of course maybe if I painted it pink...

Machines

What a forced lifestyle our technology, our inventions imposed on our lives when we tried to live synonymously with computers; when we stepped inside their world, we left the natural one behind.

~ Katie Kacvinsky

- - - - -

Me: I'm super good at Jumble puzzles. I don't know why, but I can just see words.

Leslie: You should have been a code breaker.

Me: I still COULD be a code breaker! Maybe that is my next job.

Leslie: I think by now they have computers doing that more quickly than people can.

Me: Haven't you heard the story of John Henry?! He beat a machine!

Leslie: And then didn't he die?

Church

The operation of the Church is entirely set up for the sinner; which creates much misunderstanding among the smug.

~ Flannery O'Connor

- - - - -

Going to church can be like going anyplace else. You sit there with a bunch of people who say one thing and do another. Who judge others for doing the exact same things that they have done. It's like going to kindergarten. Or congress. 

Thrones

On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our bottoms.

~ Michel de Montaigne

- - - - - 

I disagree. I have known some people on some pretty high thrones (or so they believed) who actually sat on their hands.

And one time I sat in some gum.

Bird

It's impossible to explain creativity. It's like asking a bird, "How do you fly?" You just do.

~ Eric Jerome Dickey

- - - - -

I don't think I want anyone to give me the bird. I don't have a bird cage, I don't know how to take care of birds, and while I don't mind watching them sometimes, their poop grosses me out.  I also don't want anyone to give me the finger because it would probably make me throw up a little bit to get a finger - even if it came in a very nicely wrapped box.

Running

Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.

~ Jimmy Buffet

- - - - -
My dog runs just like Phoebe Buffay runs. 

(pause)

I'm good with that.

Images

There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.

~ Ansel Adams

- - - - -

Every once in a while I get what I think is a really good photograph. This is one of those times. I didn't create the scene you see here. I just really appreciate it.

Pleasing

If you try to please all, you please none.

~ Aesop

- - - - -

Lily is a pretty good dog. She tries to do the right things. She only gets in trouble when she gets distracted by something she wants more than she wants to do what she is asked to do. In short, her willingness to please is sometimes outpaced by her willingness to be pleased.

Bowling

Some people have their own bowling ball and their own bowling shoes... And no friends.

~ Jim Gaffigan

- - - - -

I complained because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had only bowling shoes and then I complained because I liked his bowling shoes. I still had no shoes and still complained a lot.

Fun

Girls just wanna have fun.

~ Cyndi Lauper

- - - -

That's not true.

Soul

Someone tried to save my soul in a gas station.

~ Orlando Bloom

- - - - -

Someone tried to save my soul once at a bus stop in Arkansas. I hope it worked.

Television

Abra-abra-cadabra

I wanna reach out and grab ya

Abra-abra-cadabra

Abracadabra

~ Steve Miller Band

- - - - - 

When I was a kid there was a local children's show on called "Abracadabra." They used the song by the same name performed by the Steve Miller Band as the theme for the show.

Now that I think about it, I bet that was a copyright violation.

But I digress...

My point here is that I don't think a song sung by an adult about wanting to "grab ya" is a good theme song for a children's show. 

Caring

Edee: Why are you helping me?

Miguel: Because you were on my path.

~ From Land, screenplay by Jesse Chatham & Erin Dignam

- - - - -

Sometimes when I am looking at what people put on Facebook, I go to click on the like button, but instead I accidentally select the "care" thing. Then I change it quickly to the "like" thing. 

And then I spend some time worrying that people saw I "cared" and then I quit caring.

My life is hard.

House

There ought to be a room in every house to swear in. It's dangerous to have to repress an emotion like that.

~ Mark Twain

- - - - - 

If you have a swear room in your house call it a "swear room" and not a "curse room" because if the sign maker accidentally puts "cursed room" you won't want to go in there. And after a mistake like the one the signmaker made, you will have some cursing you'll be wanting to do.