WALKING BETWEEN THE RAINS

It has been raining for days. JoJo and I have been staying inside (mostly) and we were eager to get out. My wonderful neighbor told me about an amazing web she and her young ones had seen earlier in the day. After dinner there was a break in the rain. Time to go exploring!

We found the spider. He really was remarkable.

 We found all sorts of plant life, full of color and enjoying the nurturing rains.

 

While we were stagnant inside, nature had been busy!

We even came across some visiting chickens. Apparently, they were restless too,

BUSHES

After our recent driveway washaway, this little patch of ground got torn up and leveled off. That was a happy side effect for me. Now what to do with it?
An herb garden perhaps? Maybe flowers? Bushes? Flowering bushes!

They seem small now but I certainly hope that they will grow.
I chose a pink rose and two red begonias. When they get bigger and fuller they will look amazing!

Also, I made new friend while I was at it...

I hope he enjoys a little home improvement too.

ROOM TO RUN

My first vacation! I had many firsts this weekend. Just look at all of this space to explore.

I wonder where this path goes.

I caught a scent, did it go this way, that way? That way! I ran and mom came with me. There it was! My shackles went up. I growled, I barked. Mom said, "A rock? Seriously, you're barking at a rock?" I growled and barked again. This time, the 'rock' moved. I had tracked a big turtle!

Mom brought along new toy. She calls it a flirt stick. I call it FUN!

I made some new friends too. I met a couple I didn't quite get along with but most of them were pretty cool. After all of that activity, it was sure nice to go back to our home away from home.

I think I like vacation.

BECOMING A BETTER PERSON

You need a dog!

I have been noticing more often how much a dog can influence the lives of their owners in positive ways. I always knew it but sometimes it becomes more apparent.

The other evening my neighbors dog came to visit. I never mind, he is a great dog, but I also know that it isn't permitted. Apparently he had wandered off while they were working on the numerous projects that accumulate over the winter months.

The next evening I spotted their entire family headed out for a hike. Sometimes it takes a dog to remind us of the importance of taking time out for fresh air, exercise, family time and nature.

These winter months have left my dog and I with a few extra pounds. He is young and energetic. Me, not so much. I thought the ideal solution, besides walking along the road all the time, might be a flirt pole. This is similar to a cat toy. It's a pole with a stretchy cord and a stretchy toy at the end. Terrific for exercising a dog while you stand in one place. However, before we can begin to use this new wonder we have to conquer a few new skills. 

We need to learn the game of fetch. Apparently this is not an automatic thing for dogs, at least not my dog. I had to break it down. Throw the toy. "Fetch" "Bring it" "Give" "Good boy" Treat

Repeat. Seems easy right? Once or twice we get through the chain.

Throw, fetch, drop toy halfway back. "Get it. The toy. Get it." "Good, bring it. Give. No tug of war, Give. Good. Treat." 

It is a lesson in patience and in figuring out how to get through to him what he needs to do to make the game continue.

I have found myself breaking down many command/responses this way over the past year. I learned the power of yes!

Bringing a dog into your life is a rewarding and challenging thing. Every dog is unique and no matter how many dogs you have had, each has a special gift to bring.

I recently read a book by Erin Taylor Young. The book is 'Surviving Henry - Adventures in Loving a Canine Catastrophe'.

It was definitely a laugh out load read. I know, I've seen that phrase on many a dust jacket too and barely cracked a smile but this book actually lives up to it. Her Henry is definitely a handful! Her humor through the frustration and damage a dog can cause is wonderful. Her conclusion is even more so.

She writes:

"Through Henry, God has been giving me not needless suffering, but a lesson in real love - God's love. The kind of love he has for me. The kind that's the hope for all of us flawed creatures.

Real love can't be about satisfying a feeling. It's too hard for that. It costs and it hurts and it's one life-wrenching mess of a lesson. Its choices and challenges and changes that are about you and not about the other person. It's embracing - no, embodying - the notion of unconditional giving. Of mercy. Of commitment.

It's becoming a better person for having lived through the crucible.

God did not punish me with a whacko dog. Henry is a gift. An opportunity day by day, minute by minute, disaster by disaster, to discover not what Henry can become, but what I can become.

I wouldn't trade this adventure for anything.

Maybe, after all is said and done, this isn't a dog's redemption story at all.

Maybe it's mine."

I know that the love, joy, pain, sorrow of sharing a lifetime with a dog has changed me in profound ways. I am becoming a better person.

BRINGING YOUR WORK HOME

I've brought my work home with me on occasion. Sometimes it is easier to pick a quiet time and focus on the task at hand.
The man of the house can often accomplish his job over the internet, dialing in to the site that has a programming problem. I've gotten used to that. 
Today, he brought his work home with him.

Picked up today, delivering and installing tomorrow. I told him his 'toys' keep getting bigger and bigger! I still can't believe he got it around that corner.

That was unexpected....kind of like the snow!

THE POWER OF YES

(Or what my dog has taught me)

When I first brought JoJo home, I was afraid I may have made a big mistake. This little dog barked at everything. He hoarded his food dish, running off with it after gulping down his meals. Nothing was safe from his chewing. He cowered whenever he got yelled at.

We began slowly. First step, 'sit'. At first he cowered and tried to slink away as if I were yelling at him. When instead, he got a reward and praise he began to understand his first "YES!" 

We continued finding new things to do and tricks to get more praise. He sure enjoys hearing that 'Yes'.

Still, we have some issues to work through. He has run off on me more than once and I find myself keeping him on a lead or a leash. He seems to tune me out when I call him. Then it struck me, he hadn't learned the associated 'yes' yet. I've extended his lead so that he has the entire side yard for his playground. I use treats to put him into a sit/stay and walk around the corner. Wait a moment and call out, "JoJo, Come!" He comes flying to get his treat, praise and 'yes'. I have stopped rewarding with the treat every time and do so at random, but he is coming when called, even when he's out on his own and I'm just calling him in.

How remarkable the transformation since the days of hollering "no" and generating even more fear and nervousness in this poor animal. The simple act of recognizing that he didn't know what I do want as opposed to me simply appearing to not wanting anything he was doing has resulted in incredible changes in both of us.

We truly enjoy our time together and finding new things to say yes to.

I wish I had such an epiphany when I was raising children. With the advantage of age, I see so clearly now how always correcting kids does little in teaching them the joy of "Yes, I'm proud of you. You did a good job!" Give children the opportunities to do the 'right' thing at every stage of their lives and be sure to reward them when they do. The results are astounding.

Now, if I can only figure out how to reinforce the 'yes' to not barking whenever the fuel truck backs up the driveway!

CACOPHONY

There are times when I feel overwhelmed by the world in which we live. Terrorist groups, school shootings, the opioid epidemic, the Tide Pod challenge. How did we ever get here?
I see and hear from people all the time about gun control, immigration, violent video games, pharmaceutical lobbies, discipline, the list goes on and on.
I am left to wonder just what has changed over all these decades. I see technology as the root of our problems, or more specifically, our use of technology.
The further back in time that we look, the closer our family ties were. Transportation was slower and our communities were more rural in nature. This meant that most of our time was spent with family. We also spent time in our schools and places of worship. Our upbringing was defined by those that we were exposed to.
Enter the television.

When I was young there were three stations and PBS if you used the UHF dial. The news was one hour nightly and most of the programming was variety shows and sitcoms. There we became aware of things happening beyond our community. Still, we watched TV as a family. 

It wasn't long before we developed the TV dinner and tray tables. The family meal was becoming a thing of the past. Soon, TV became the babysitter, keeping the kids occupied and out of their parents hair.

Today we have 100+ channels and in order to fill all of that time the networks have had to create programming that is often meaningless. We have channels dedicated to sports, food, news, weather, history. We have information (and disinformation) overload. 

I remember the first home video game.

It really wasn't much more than a way to pass some time. Board games and card games with family and friends was still much more entertaining. Today's games are much more realistic looking, more addictive and solitary.

Along came the home computer and with it came the internet, although at 2400 baud it was slow. 

The computers of today allow us access to pretty much anything and everything that we can conceive of. It is wonderful to be able to keep in touch with friends and family that live all over this country. I love finding new recipes with just a few clicks of the mouse. But I also find my inbox full of links to 'cheap viagra', 'meet singles', 'bitcoin opportunities', yada, yada, yada.

When we are young, we're taught how to be a contributing family member. Then we are taught how to be a member of our school and our church. In high school we are taught how to be a member of our community. It was in early adulthood that we learned how to be a member of the world at large.

Society these days, exposes children of very young ages to the world at large. We expect them to be able to develop a worldview without laying the groundwork in our homes first. 

In my time, kindergarten was a fairly new concept. Now we have preschool. Children need that time to experience and learn family membership and to have the people in their lives model how to be 'good' people before they are sent forth into the larger world.

We have abdicated our roles as parents to the so-called experts and to technology. 

There was a time when communication occurred face-to-face or over landlines. You actually had to sit where the phone was located, (and where you were within earshot of your parents) in order to use it.

In the modern world, children compete with technology for their parents' attention. Parents compete with technology for their children's attention. Look around on any street  and you will see people walking around with a phone capable of delivering violent games,, internet craziness, news and nonnews, viewpoints with which we strongly agree and viewpoints with which we strongly disagree. Our young people have developed an addiction to these phones and we are the ones who give it to them.

DON'T FORGET - YESTERDAY

It seems that lately the books I read, the conversations I have, the news I hear, a recurring theme is Alzheimers and forgetting. Since this disease runs in my family and is the thing I fear most, I have given a lot of thought as to all of the things I don't want to forget.
It really isn't the places I've been or have lived. I have many fond memories but if they were to fade away, I don't think it would destroy me.
I would like to remember the people that I have loved and those that have influenced me. Knowing who I can turn to, who I can trust would be a very good thing. Even so, if my memory of them was lost, I doubt if I would know that it matters.
The things that I have experienced such as childhood, parenthood, life experiences are things that I could let go of too. I have already lived them and they are part of my past.
What I truly want to hold on to is the lessons that have been the end result of the places, people and experiences of my life. The me that I have become. The knowing of my place in the universe, as small as it may be.
Confronting those things that had held me in their grip from my past, when I looked honestly at them, showed me that at every age of my life, it was I that had the greatest influence on every level. Rage, guilt, shame washed way.
The lesson that I determine my life is a lesson I never wish to forget.
The lesson that guilt and shame creates a wall between myself and spirit, a sin even greater than any 'crime' I may have committed is one that I hold dear. I never want to forget that.
Learning to be grateful in the face of adversity knowing that all things lead back to spirit is another lesson that was hard to learn and that I never want to forget.
Every life is an opportunity to learn, to advance the spirit. The lessons of my life have created a me that I can live with, a me that I don't want to forget.

A FULL CUP

I love my morning cup of coffee when I have the day off from work. The day lies in wait for whatever I choose to do with it.

Those calm quiet moments, waiting for daylight to come, are a joy for me. I sip and ponder what the day will bring.

On workdays, I tend to hurry through two cups, counting on the caffeine to help jump start my day. I have a time frame to go by after all. That's not a bad thing. It's nice to have the decisions already made for me as to how to proceed with the day.

No matter which type of day it is, one of the things I do as I drink my morning joe is to try to greet the day with a smile. I find that if I can intentionally bring a positive attitude to my morning the day will nearly always continue to be a good day.

I saw this gem on my Facebook feed and found it definitely worth sharing. Perhaps it will give you something to pause and think upon.

SUE'S RECIPE

I admit it, I'm especially proud of myself today. Because of the high cost of beef these days, our dinner menu has been a steady diet of chicken or pork. Salads have been rare because I truly love the fresh farmer's market produce and let's face it, Walmart's produce sucks. Not exactly an iron rich diet and I tend towards anemia. One thing I do have plenty of in the freezer (thanks to some butchering friends) is liver. So tonight was liver and onion night.
I had made it once before and I was less than impressed. In other words, yuck. So I was determined that I would create the ultimate liver dish. I actually succeeded. It was almost delicious.
So I present to you, Sue's Liver Recipe. Maybe you need iron, or are just adventurous, but try it. Besides, I wanted to write it down so that I could make it again just as good.

Early prep: In the morning, place the liver in a colander or strainer and rinse until all the blood is washed out. Place the meat in a Ziploc bag with milk to marinate all day. (this reduces the bitterness).

Approximately two hours before dinnertime: Slice an onion, saute in plenty of butter. While the onions are cooking, put one can of cream of mushroom soup, and one can of water with a beef boullion cube into a casserole dish. Add another half can of water, salt, pepper and 2 tbsp. of brown sugar. Put your cooked onions into the casserole dish. Now brown your meat in the butter you cooked your onions in. Heat oven to 325. Stir all of you ingredients in the casserole dish then add your browned liver. Press the meat into the liquid so that it is covered. Cover dish with foil and place in oven for about one and a half hours. After one hour, pull out, stir, add another boullion cube, salt, pepper and a sprinkling of nutmeg. Replace foil and return to oven.

Serve with mashed potatoes. The gravy has enough flavor to cancel the bland/bitterness of the meat and this makes a lot of gravy.

Bon Appetit!
Sorry there's no picture. I wasn't expecting it turn out so good. The leftover night was even better!

MANGE?

In this tree, so close to home....

was this bear. In January. We wondered why it wasn't hibernating and why it was hanging out so close to our homes in spite of the barking dogs and playful childrens' shrieks and laughter.

The answer may lie in the fact that he appeared rather unwell and a bit mangy.

The Game Warden was called and advised our neighborhood to watch for it and report any sightings. They hope to capture it and hopefully treat it so that it won't spread the disease among the local wildlife.

A little research turned up this,

'Animals with sarcoptic mange will often exhibit hair thinning and loss. The skin becomes thickened, wrinkled, and covered in scabs and foul-smelling crusts due to overgrowths of normally occurring bacteria and yeasts. Skin lesions can involve the entire body however the ears and face are most commonly affected. Severely affected animals may become emaciated, depressed, and lethargic, and may lose their fear of man. When the skin around the eyes, mouth, and ears is involved, animals may experience blindness, difficulty eating, and hearing loss. Red foxes are typically the most severely affected wild species and often die of this disease. Severely affected bears will often not den.'

That may explain a few things.

TRANSFORMED

This is our pleasant little creek, site of much children's laughter and dog's splashing. This long stretch of cold has transformed it into something our longtime resident (40 years) claims he hasn't seen before. It has frozen.

The ice is thick where there is a rock dam. It shows how the water looked when there had been several days of rain.

It appears as a whole new world to explore.

In spite of the windchill, it called to me and I had to go see what nature had recreated. Such beauty!