Light

Light is to darkness what love is to fear

In the presence of one, the other disappears

~ Marianne Williamson

- - - - -

Same with Superman and Clark Kent. Or vampires and mirrors.
 

Door

Look on every exit as being an entrance to somewhere else.

~ Tom Stoddard

- - - - -

 To Lily, every door is a doggie door.

Smile

Life is like a mirror. Smile at it and it smiles back at you.

~ Peace Pilgrim

- - - - -

Lily doesn't always smile with her face, but she almost always smiles with the rest of her - wagging tail, happy trot, kind demeanor.

And sometimes she smiles with her face.

 

Dog

If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?

~ Steven Wright

- - - - -

Lily does not like the heat, but she likes hot dogs. Is that ironic? I don't think so. I think it's just her 
 

Amazing

 I think dogs are the most amazing creatures. They give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive.

~ Gilda Radner

- - - - -

If you look at the world through a dog's eyes, life becomes much simpler. And closer to the ground.

Dog

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.

~ Edward Hoagland

- - - - -

 If Lily was in a film noir, I think this might be the poster for it.

Sleeping

 Sleep is the best meditation.

~ The Dalai Lama

- - - - -

I wonder sometimes if people don't sleep well because they feel guilty a lot. I think dogs sleep well because they don't have guilt to keep them awake. Dogs don't wrong anyone. Or maybe people wrong one another because they don't get enough sleep.

Whatever the reason, I wish they'd quit doing those wrongs. 

Lily

Sometimes where you're born isn't where you belong.

~ Alix E. Harrow

- - - - -

Sometimes when I'm home and Lily is at daycare, I forget she's there and wonder where she is. Then I worry because she's usually with me and if she isn't, she might be getting into trouble. And then I remember she's at daycare. 

I wrote this a while ago when Lily was a little tiny baby puppy. Now I don't always worry when she isn't with me because she's usually asleep on the couch or the bed in the back room. 

I still notice and miss her, though.

Satisfied

He who is not satisfied with a little is satisfied with nothing.

~ Epicurus

- - - - -

I was watching a food show one time and a woman said, "What I just tasted is what I would want to have if I was sitting by a pool in a back alley somewhere." 

I was not familiar with that saying. I went back to the start of the scene and realized she said, "... what I would want to have if I was sitting on a low stool in a back alley somewhere."

(pause)

I was not familiar with that saying, either.

Onions

Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep.

~ Carl Sandburg

- - - - - 

There is an old story of a baby onion that was about to be plucked from the ground to put in the stew of an old woman. 

"Wait!" he told the old woman. "You don't want to eat me!" 

"Why not?" she asked in a crackly old woman voice.

"Because I am puny and have little flavor. You will want to use something more bold and flavorful."  He looked quickly around and pointed at a wild garlic plant growing nearby. "That plant will be good," he said. "You will want to eat that."

The old woman stared for a moment at the garlic and then again at the onion. "Okay," she agreed finally. "I'll be back for you another day."

She walked over and fell into and perished a pit that the baby onion had dug near the garlic. 

And that is the origin of the term "rapscallion" because that baby onion was no baby onion. 

No.

A cucumber should be well-sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.

~ Samuel Johnson

- - - - - 

Lily loves lots of different foods. Including vegetables. She particularly loves tomatoes. She does NOT like cucumbers as evidenced by this abandoned cucumber slice from a few months ago. 

(pause)

I should probably go pick that up.

Dog

Music is at its best when it has a purpose.

~ Eddie Vedder

- - - - -

Lily is a big Pearl Jam fan.

I just don't have the heart to tell her that the song doesn't go, "Don't Call Me Dogterrr."

Create

(Photos by Patti Butler. Creative Addition by Michelle Boettcher)

You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

~ Maya Angelou

- - - - -

Me: I just finished the book and sent it off to the publisher.

Leslie: Congratulations! What are you going to do tomorrow?

Me: (thinks)

Leslie: Start working on the sequel?

 

Soul

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

~ Swami Sivananda

- - - - -

I do little collages like this in my journal sometimes. They'll probably sell for millions once day. If you want to get in on that, I'll sell you one for mere tens of thousands today. 

(pause)

Because I care about your future is why.
 

Bradshaw's

Whenever conflict arises among living creatures, the sense of ownership is the cause.

~ Shantideva

- - - - -

I saw this on a drive across South Carolina. I asked Kirk if he thought it belonged to our family. He wrote, "I don't think so. Our people came from Kentucky." What does he know? I went in and started running the place anyway. 

Also, "our people" Kirk? Seriously? You sound like Great Grandma Bradshaw. Well, the way she used to sound. Well, the way she used to sound in my made up version of her. And let me just tell you, Kirk, she doesn't appreciate you making fun of her one bit. Not one single bit.  

Toy

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

~ Ellen Glasgow

- - - - -

This is Lily's toy. For a few days, every time I went to the hallway it was closer to me. I'm sure it was random. Or our house is quite slanted. Or Lily is a practical joker.

Or the toy is alive.

Barn

There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.

~ Indira Gandhi

- - - - -

I recently joined a Facebook group called "Barns." I really like it. I have seen some amazing barns because I joined that group. I've seen some amazing barns in real life, too. I'm just lucky that way - seeing amazing barns.

Caution

Don't ever take down a fence until you know why it was put up.

~ Robert Frost

- - - - -

The old gate hadn't been opened in many years. The "NO TRESPASSING" and "BEWARE OF DOG" signs still clung to the metal mesh, but they were faded. No one was sure if the dog was still alive. The kids in town still avoided that yard. Just because someone hasn't update their "BEWARE OF DOG" sign to "BEWARE OF GHOST DOG SIGN" doesn't mean you should be playing in that yard. And a ghost dog is scarier than a regular dog because it can bite you on the soul. 

And there's no treatment for that.
 

Nurse?

Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine.

~ Lord Byron

- - - - -

Recently, I had a series of unfortunate events involving my right leg. First, I hurt my knee on a walk with Lily - all my fault. I just misstepped and messed up my knee. Then my calf kept cramping up because I was walking weird on my bad knee. Then, during this same period of time, I put on my shoe and there was a bee or a wasp in it and I got stung under my second toe. 

My point is, no matter how much pain I was in, I was not going to go to this particular medical professional for assistance. I have concerns about their hygiene and based on their expression I am not convinced that their bedside manner will be very good. 

Checkers

My computer beat me at checkers, but I sure beat it at kickboxing.

~ Emo Phillips

- - - - - -

When I was in fifth grade, my best friend Joel Hanson beat me at a checkers tournament in the first round. He didn't get all my checkers, but we were both blocked and neither one of us could move. I didn't know that you lost if that happened. It was my turn and I couldn't make a move, so I lost.

I had to go to the loser's bracket. I made my way back to the finals. I assume I lost because I don't remember winning. The point is that I am super humble because I bet I won and just don't remember it to brag about.

Change

Change in all things is sweet.

~ Aristotle

- - - - -

Not in a chicken salad sandwich. Wait, I mean, finding coins in a chicken salad sandwich is not sweet. However, changing up the chicken salad sandwich recipe once in a while could definitely be sweet.

You're right again, Aristotle. When will I learn to quit arguing with you? Some things never change.

See what I did there, Aristotle? No. Probably because you are dead, but if you were alive, you'd see. And we'd laugh and laugh. 

Beer

Next to music, beer was best.

~ Carson McCullers

- - - - -

Sometimes people drink beer on the weekends. I think it's because both "beer" and "weekends" have two ees in them.

(pause)

Of course, so does "week". 

Sign

There is a kind of magicness about going far away and coming back all changed.

~ Kate Douglas Wiggin

- - - - -

I don't think most bears need to carry "go away" signs. I think often when we see bears we just know to go away.

But if I was a woodworking, sign maker bear, I might want to show off my work, too.

(pause)

I think Johnny and June Carter Cash sang that song... "If I Were a Woodworking, Sign Maker Bear... would you still love me?" 

I don't know. I'm not sure if that's how it went or not.

Bubble

Life is mostly froth and bubble.

~ Adam Lindsay Gordon

- - - - -

Dear Adam Lindsay Gordon,

I think you mean rabies. Rabies is mostly froth and bubble. Not life.

Love, Michelle.

Birthday

Today is the oldest you have been and the youngest you will ever be.

~ Nicky Gumbel

- - - - -

I see people post, "Happy Heavenly Birthday" on social media. For a long time I thought that meant happy anniversary of the day you went to Heaven (i.e., happy anniversary of your death). And I used to think, "I can't even remember the dates for when people were born, there's no way I can remember the date of the day they died."

Now I realize that "Heavenly Birthday" is just that it's their birthday, but they are not alive.

I want people to do what they need to do to honor the memories of those who went before them. That said, there are a lot of things that some of you all do that I really don't understand at all. 

But.. happy birthday if it's your birthday.

Wherever you are.

Day

With each new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

- - - - -

Today is my birthday. I'm really glad I was born so that I could put this entry in my blog. If I hadn't been born, I wouldn't be able to post this here.

Bio

Your life is what your thoughts make it.

~ Confucius

- - - - -

 

My life is entertaining, confusing, and creative. At least that's what I think it is.

Fireworks

Beautiful things never last. Not roses or snow and not fireworks, either.

~ Jennifer Donnelly

- - - - -

What if fireworks DID last forever? Would there come a time when we would launch rockets of night to cover them up? 

(pause)

That's not rhetorical. Seriously. Would we?!!!

Deception

The world is satisfied with words, few care to dive beneath the surface.

~ Blaise Pascal

- - - - -

A lot of the time groups are like this bag of Twizzlers. It looks organized from the surface, but you move beyond the top and there is chaos within.

Also groups look like this because they're so crowded. That's another reason I avoid groups.
 

Beauty

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

~ Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

- - - - -

And frustration with being awoken from a nap is in the eye of this dog.

 

Sheep

Sheep are never going to talk to you about cricket.

~ Alastair Cook

- - - - -

What if Bo Peep had a brother? I would like his name to be Luke. Bo and Luke Peep. 

Also, it is possible my nephew Zak is smelling sheep butt in one of these photos. Of course, depending on the intensity of the smell, he might be smelling sheep butt in both of these photos.