Waiting

Well, I’m still waiting for that snow around here.  Some folks say they saw it, but it was just some flurries that didn’t stick around.  I’m ready for it.  Stocked up with food - including cocoa!  Bring it on Mother Nature!

pixabay

            *We interrupt this post for breaking news*

      It’s snowing! ❄️  It’s sticking! ❄️ It's beautiful! ❄️

Although I grew up in hot Texas - rarely saw snow there - I have always had a fondness for the glistening white snowscapes.  Something about it tugs at my heart.  I can feel the cold out there, but also the warmth that is found indoors.  I sense a fireplace, crackling wood, with a kettle of coffee or hot cocoa.  It gives me hope that despite the bitter cold, the lack of nature’s green and blossoms, deep within the ground there lies the presence of tiny powerful seeds.  Something magical will awaken, we only need to patiently wait, and take care of what needs to be done in the moment.  Even if that is shoveling the snow!

I’m grateful for seasonal changes.  Endless cycles, they come with expectations, yet still captivate me with their wondrous beauty.  Mother Nature, thank you, God’s grace is surely a part of you.    Theresa M

While we’re here, let’s look at some beautiful snowy landscapes:

📸 by bernswaelz on pixabay 

📸 by 12019 on pixabay

📸 unknown source

📸 unknown source

my pic snow cat & snowman 2021

my pic snow dog & snowcat 2024

Celebrate the Spirit

You know what?  It’s time to get festive.  Let’s make the most of it.  Bring along the memories, both of the sad times and the good.  This is life - let’s celebrate.

AI by prompart, pixexid cc

          “It’s the time of year for thanks and giving.”

                     (sign at a local church)

Indeed it is!  Don’t worry about giving money and gifts.  There are plenty of other ways:  some people need a smile, a thank-you, an appreciation post, a helping hand.  Feed the birds and the strays.  Call- actually phone- somebody.

Embrace the day.  Let go of the negative energy, from disruptive memories, social media punks, naysayers.  We’ve got this day.  We will live with hope in our hearts.

art by geralt on pixabay

Last week I decorated for Christmas.  Slowly but surely the magical feelings of wonder and delight are stirring within me.  Started the holiday music as well.  I absolutely love singing along.  Just little things like this brighten my day.  I urge others to try either traditional activities or create new ones.  Find what helps you get into the spirit.  Be a part of the spirit.       Theresa M

my girl Lilly, our last Christmas 2023

Trying to Find a Way

So now autumn is half over.  Leaves are on the ground and in the gutters.  No rush to rake them up.  After a few days of rain, it is again sunny and 60ish.  Still warm.  The weather forecasters tease about possible snow this week - but it won’t happen.  I wish it would though.

Sadness found its way back into my heart.  Just thinking of losses old and new.  Even of the impending gloom over our country.  How far will the damage take over?  Why are so many falling for lies?

I feel so powerless.  The truth is there was never a guarantee we would always be free.  Many people want to believe in a new Messiah, want someone to take over and make their lives so easy.  So I guess believing the lies, using denial, rationalization, and hero worship was their great quick fix.  But history yet again repeats itself.

Only I didn’t think it would happen here.  But it is happening.  What about those checks and balances?  The checks are figuratively bouncing around avoiding justice.  The balances are totalling up the grift to be distributed to the wealthy.

📸Free-Photos on pixabay

What about us old folks?  Us poor?  And those who are in even more “categories” that are vulnerable?  Who do we all matter to?  Certainly not to the ones taking charge next year.

At least they didn’t get my soul.  They couldn’t take away my belief in God.  They didn’t defile my commitment to virtues, like faith, hope, love.

There is a power greater than ourselves, greater than the grifters and their new messiah.  Greater than their hate.  God is love.  Love will find a way when there seems to be no way.  

Maybe we’ll even get a bit of beautiful snow this winter.    Theresa M

📷pixabay

Time to Move

"Don't judge yourself by your past.

You don't live there anymore. - unknown

We’ve all been there.  We made mistakes in the past, as we were growing and learning.  We made some stupid decisions.  Consequences followed - hopefully - or else why bother to do better?

Sometimes old memories may haunt us.  Yet we can work on changing for the better.  As the above quote says - we don’t live in the past - except in our minds where we make ourselves  go back, and end up judging ourselves for how we acted back then.

🎨Belgian artist Jos Troch

We are able to make a strong effort to move away from the past, into today.  OK, we carry luggage while moving.  Well, time to change that too.  Letting go of past mistakes, finding forgiveness in oneself, and sharing the burdensome past with a friend, or therapist, with someone, can help ease that transition.

It’s time to move into the present - into a new house of the mind.  Be kind, be warm, be forgiving.  Be accepting.  And if you please, be a good Christian.  Don’t be angry and hateful or exclusive.  Be human with a touch of loving spirit, inclusiveness, acceptance of who is different.

We can transform our lives and be an influence for others as well, without forcing our beliefs and ideas on others.

We can live in the here and now and be free of judgment.

We are not going back.  We are moving forward.     Theresa M

🎨New Zealand artist Peter Siddell

Autumn Life

 It's October now, and the leaves have been changing colors and swirling about.  This is my favorite season.  Yet this time I feel a bit sad, from losing Lilly in August.  She always loved autumn too, enjoying sunshine days on the screened porch, and cuddly evenings with me and Luke, and the past two years with Merci.

Life goes on, always in memories, in hearts, in spirit.  Somehow I do not feel a dread about the future, I just feel as if I am getting closer to home, our heavenly home.  Although I feel the sadness, I also feel the hope and upcoming joy of eternal life.  Not time yet though - I must live in today.  I will enjoy the beauty around me, the leaves, the pumpkins, the colors of fall.  The comfort of life - how fortunate to have this. 

Enjoy life as best as you can.  Some days are real terrors, others are pure joy.  Keep the faith, and the hope, and overall the love.     Theresa M

Lilly October 2023

us fall 2023

All the Time

For years I wore a watch regularly.  Of course I did need to keep track of the time to get to work, to eagerly check how close it was to lunch break, and especially for the time to go home.

📸 Alexis_Fotos on pixabay

Had clocks in the home in every room.  Needed an alarm, sometimes two, to get up.  Nevertheless I was often close to on time or was late for work anyway.  There was always something at home needing my attention.

Being retired now, I don’t wear a watch daily, and only sometimes do when I leave the house.  I still have a clock in every room, but rarely set alarms.

I like it this way.  No need to rush to have to go somewhere.  No need for “time” in that sense.  But oddly I do feel a sense of time slipping away.  And faster than before.

When I remember an event from the past, I get that feeling of “it seems like just recently it happened.” Even guessing when, I find that I can be more than a year off!  Maybe several years.  “That much time?” I find myself asking.

How could this be - how could life feel this way?  Time itself just moves at its own pace, never changes.

🎨 mine

I can’t hold time.  I can’t keep it, to save some for here or there.  There is no “time” to distribute where I want it.  Maybe life is like climbing a mountain, daily we check the time for this or that.  Once I’m up on top of the mountain, I continue on down the other side, only the going down part suddenly goes swiftly, as if I am on a raging river.  Whoa!  No clocks to grip onto to check the time for something.  It is just all going by so fast.  I can't hold on to time just as I can’t hold onto a snowflake in my hand and keep it.  That snow melted into this water slide!

What is there to do now?  Why not just keep living one day at a time - moment to moment.  Let it pass.  There is nothing to hold on to anyway.  Moments and Memories gently sail by.  Let me at least float on a raft once in awhile and take it all in.  This is all the time I have now.      Theresa M

The Passing of Lilly

Sometimes there are signs of things to come.  Both sad and happy, healthy and sickly.  A feeling of the passage of life - time.

me and Lilly Aug 2024

This summer, not over yet, suddenly took a break from the heat.  Nature allowed a wonderful cool autumn-like visit to stay with us for nearly a week this August.

I certainly enjoy autumn most of all.  Cool breezes, comfy night temps, just cold enough to have to put my socks on.

And my cats love to cuddle with me through the night in cool or cold times.  Being a hot summer, they tended to sleep elsewhere.  But this gift from nature, the autumn-feel, brought them back to me.

Merci, Luke, Lilly & me Aug 2024

One last time for Lilly.  It all happened so fast within three and a half days, she had become ill.  Waited to hear from vet and finally got appointment, but too late.  She died hours before.  She died at home.  I had held her part of the night, then lay next to her.  I held her paws and pet her.  When I had to go to the bathroom, she reached out her paw, patting me - telling me to stay.  I rushed back to hold her on my chest and we lay there awhile.  I talked to her, I prayed.  Then I realized there were no more words I could say.  My love and commitment were expressed; my pleas in prayers were all cried out.  It was totally in God’s hands, and in Lilly’s willingness to let go.

I tried some words again.  “Please let go Lilly, please let go.  The Lord is waiting for you.  So is Snapper, Nikki, Bailey and you’ll meet Bon Ami and Chelsea.”

She moved in pain, but no meows.  Her mouth opened briefly a few times.  Her eyes sank away.  Breathing was labored, deep, slowing down.

“I’m with you.”  Last breath.  No heartbeat.  My baby girl is gone.

Lilly April 2023

What a blessing it was to have this brief autumn-like weather in Lilly’s last week of life.  It was a sort of comfort.

All around the world, folks and their pets tweeted us condolences.  Pet love is universal.

One person I don’t even know, sent a poem that really, really touches my heart.  “I’m Still Here.” (author unknown) These two lines near the end of it got me……

               “I’m the colorful leaves when fall comes around.

                and the pure white snow that blankets the ground.”

Fall leaves and winter snow.  My spiritual connection with nature, with Lilly.  We would snuggle through the cold together, providing an enduring warmth of love, lasting forever.

Rest in peace my sweet Lilly girl.  See you soon. Mama loves you.     Theresa M

❤Lilly  born April 27, 2008; Gotcha Day June 27, 2008; died August 22, 2024 💔

Merci, Luke & Lilly July 17, 2024 last pic together

Luke, Merci & Lilly Feb 10, 2024

Lilly, Luke, & Bailey Oct 2019

Lilly, Nikki, Snapper Sept 2008

Lilly Sept 2008

me and Lilly April 19, 2024

The Fable of Chico the Little Chicken

📸 onefox on pixabay

Peck…peck…peck-peck-peck.

The little chick could not get enough of the scattered grain on the ground.  Mother Hen also pecked around while watching over Chico, her youngest, and the rest of the brood.

📸 Alexis_Fotos on pixabay

“Mama Hen!  Mama Hen!  This is so tasty!” cried Chico delightfully.

“Yes, little one.  Enjoy as much as you like.  Farmer Man always feeds us good.”  Mama Hen was a happy hen.

All the little chickens ate and flapped their tiny wings, tumbled and rumbled about.  Some of them wished they could fly like the birds they saw above.  Chico flapped and jumped from a crate, only to fall.

“No, no,”  Mama Hen directed.  “We chickens aren’t made for flying.  If we were, maybe some of us could get away from the humans who want us for food.  But alas, here we are, earthbound, left to the fate of what humans choose for us.”

Chico thought over that for a moment, then asked,  “What is fate, Mama Hen?”

Mama Hen chose her words carefully.

“Fate is something that we have no control over.  Fate is a force that some humans use to get what they can from us. Some humans are greedy, some are just trying to survive.  Whether we are destined to live comfortably here, providing eggs, or are doomed to provide a meal, we as chickens have no choice.  That is our fate.”

Chico took it all in, cocked his head up to look at the sky birds, turned to look over at the farm, then looked down at the ground.

“But I do have a choice right now, Mama Hen.  I choose to keep eating the grain, playing with my brothers and sisters, and later snuggle up with you!”

Mama Hen looked surprised.  What a smart little chick Chico is, she thought.

“Yes, dear, live in the moment and don’t brood over anything.”

So Chico, Mama Hen and the rest of the offspring clucked on and peck…peck…pecked.   

Moral of the story:  Mama Hen said it, “Live in the moment.”  After all, you never know for sure what Fate has in store for you. Might as well make the most of it.         Theresa M

📸 BernhardFalkinger on pixabay

In the Heat of This Moment

These days are way too hot and long.  Please autumn, come early and bring us relief.  Bring back cool days with gentle breezes, and nippy nights with just a hum of crickets. 

📸 pixabay

I am hoping fall foliage will be beautiful this year.  Last year was not pleasant, as heat extended into October (my favorite month) and pretty much dried up everything to a brown crisp.

Of course we have no control over the seasons and the results they bring.  Time to focus on what we do have control over.  Well, maybe there’s not too much of that either.  We convince ourselves we can make certain things happen.  We can try.  We can make a difference here and there.  But it’s important to ask why we do the things we do.  

🖼 johnhain on pixabay

Is it for one’s own ego, self-importance?  Is it for fighting against deep-set fears and the what-ifs?  Or is it because we truly want to make things better not just for ourselves but for others as well?  Does it have to be my way?  Is there any compromise?  Will what I do interfere with someone else’s freedom; am I forcing my beliefs, my wishes on others?

Live and let live.  We can do this.  We can free others and thus ourselves, if we allow people to be who they are, make their choices - deal with their consequences.  Just let them live, and we can live our lives too.

There is no perfect freedom, no perfect world.  Sunshine on some days, storms on another.  Damage.  Regrowth.  We really ought to knock off the negative and start uniting, rebuilding based on love and the ability to let go when needed.  

OK.  I’ll live in this heat, but I can still long for autumn.        Theresa M

via GIPHY

Lilly

She can’t hear me, but I still call her name.

I wave to her as I approach,

but her eyes fail to see.

The years go by, now nothing is the same.

Her coat needs brushed by me daily

Over her frail body.

For sixteen years she has been by my side.

A cuddly companion so loved.

My little girl Lilly.  💜

 

Theresa M  -  dedicated to my little lady Lilly, who turned 16 on April 27, 2024.

Blurred Vision

One drop of rain does not a storm make. - Theresa M

📸 pixabay

Water drops from dew on flowers and leaves are an abundance of refreshment for little bugs.  Be careful, don’t drown in them, you bugaroos.  

📸 DenisDoukhan on pixabay

So I guess when rain falls, that must be like a humongous storm to the little creatures.  Torrential rain for them is a mere shower for humans.

The perspective of every living creature in life thus varies.  And as far as humans go, there are millions of perspectives, each person choosing their own version.  From the fantastic to the fanatical, the realist to the OMG-are-you-kidding-me!  Too bad there is so much fighting and stupid behaviors that many people dwell on.

📸 geralt on pixabay

My belief may not change your belief, and likewise.  There has got to be a better way to deal with differences.  They can be found if more would practice acceptance, tolerance, compassion…oh, wait.  That is my belief.  What’s yours?        Theresa M

📷 geralt on pixabay

Wishes for Everyone

Make a wish!  Ha!  I ran across this pic on social media (original source unknown)

            

Actually that is my wish!  A cat!  Right now I have three.  Love them dearly.

Everyone wishes for something.  From having lots of money, to simple things, like a nice sunny day.  Wishes are bits and pieces of dreams, dreams that come and go.  It gets hard to remember a whole dream as soon as you start to awaken.  Thus, I believe that a wish is a fragment of your dream.

Wishing upon a star - wonder where that idea came from?  Does it represent how far-fetched a wish is?  Or simply having that feeling of how powerful the universe is, that putting a wish out there in the wide expanse of space will help to make that wish come true right here within one’s self?  You know, like believing in a Higher Power. 

📸 unknown source

Wish you were here, wish you were there.

Make a wish, we’ll see each other somewhere.

Wish you well.          Theresa M

📸 vamriot on pixabay

Picture This

Remember taking pictures with real cameras, not phone cameras?  We didn’t have a camera for most of my childhood, so there are very few pictures from then,  Not even any baby ones.  There were some school ones though.  

me about 4 or 5

As a young adult I had different cameras, nothing too expensive.  We used to not have previews, like we do now, so we would have to wait till the whole film roll was used up, then send it in by mail to get results back in a week or more.  It took sooooo long!  But then the Polaroid One-Step arrived!  Wow!  Cutting edge! 😆

Boy, we are all so spoiled today.  Since we all have pictures in our phones and computers, physical copies aren’t made as often.  But it is good to have real prints to frame and share.  I noticed recently that I did not have actual prints of some of my cats, so I got them.  Of course now I just use the ones on computer to order them and it only took a few days to receive them (I was just too lazy to pick them up at local photo store).  

Now I will title/date them on the back, then put them in a photo album.  They will be in my collection with all the years past.

Memories.  Prints of them. Frame your scene the way you want to.  For now, mine is the old-fashioned way. 🙂     Theresa M

Luke, Merci and Lilly

In Memoriam of Self

“Everyone goes back to where they felt loved.  In a memory.  In a thought,  In a hug,  In a dream.” - Linda Valentinis

Memories are stories of our lives.  Stories that are not seen by anyone but self.  And the way something is remembered can be very different from someone else who was within the same experience.

So do our memories tell the truth?  Obviously what is true for one may mean something else for someone else.  I don’t think that makes it any less real.

🎨 kellepics on pixabay

If the memories are not written, then when the person dies, those memories die too.  A person’s whole self dies in more ways than just the physical.

For instance, Alzheimers, or other brain disorder, that eats away one’s memories, one’s self-recognition, is a horrible death.  A long drawn-out one too.  You are you within your memories.  Without them, who are you?

📷 rusterche on pixabay

I no longer dwell on the memories that reflect difficult times.  I do like to reflect on good times, good things.  As time goes on and when and if my mind starts to descend into the hell that is dementia, I hope the last few remaining memories are the good ones, in the chance that as I lose myself, a part of the positive will remain in the shell that I become, so I do not feel so very lost. 

me at 17

I remember me now.  Let it be a good thing.       Theresa M

“Everyone goes back to where they felt loved.
In a memory. In a thought.
In a hug. In a dream."

-Linda Valentinis pic.twitter.com/4eAXRjUmiY

— gregorio catarino (@gregcatarino1) April 12, 2024