Inspiration for the Day: The Romey Edition

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; 

they are the charming gardeners 

who make our souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

Mellow Monday

Chloe is peeking her head out to say Happy Spring!  It still doesn't feel like spring here...but we are hoping to see temps in the 40's this week...so we gotta be happy about that!

Chloe's Inspiration for the Day:

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.T. Alan Armstrong

Just a Dog...

From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog," 

or, "that's a lot of money for just a dog." 

They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a dog." 

Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog." 

Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog," 

but I did not once feel slighted. 

Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog," 

and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day. 

If you, too, think it's "just a dog," then you will probably understand 

phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise." 

"Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, 

and pure unbridled joy. 

"Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person. 

Because of "just a dog", I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. 

So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, 

the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. 

"Just a dog" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away 

from myself and the worries of the day. 

I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a dog", 

but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being 

"just a man or woman." 

So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog" 

just smile... 

because they "just don't understand." 

by Richard Biby 

Fall Inspiration!

What a gorgeous day it was today!

We spent some time out in the yard just enjoying the fresh air and sunshine...perfect temps!

To believe is to know that every day

is a new beginning.

It is to trust that miracles happen,

and dreams really do come true.

To believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds,

To know the wonder of a stardust sky

and the wisdom of the man in the moon

.
To believe is to know the value of a nurturing heart,

The innocence of a child's eyes

and the beauty of an aging hand,

for it is through their teachings we learn to love.

To believe is to find the strength

and courage that lies within us.

When it is time to pick up the pieces and begin again.

To believe is to know we are not alone.

That life is a gift and this is our time to cherish it.

To believe is to know that wonderful surprises

are just waiting to happen,

And all our hopes and dreams are within reach.

If only we believe.

Author Unknown

BlogPaws WW: Chloe's Inspiration for the Day

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. 

Marcel Proust

Dream BIG!

If there were ever a time to dare,

to make a difference,

to embark on something worth doing,

it is now.

Not for any grand cause, necessarily-

but for something that tugs at your heart,

something that's your aspiration,

something that's your dream.

You owe it to yourself

to make your days here count.

Have fun.

Dig deep.

Stretch.

Dream big.

~From a Macintosh computer ad, 1991~

Welcome Spring!

 

It is better to light candles

than to curse the darkness.

It is better to plant seeds

than to accuse the earth.

The world needs all of our power

and love and energy,

and each of us has something that we can give.

The trick is to find it and use it,

to find it and give it away.

So there will always be more.

We can be lights for each other,

and through each other's illumination

we will see the way.

Each of us is a seed,

a silent promise,

and it is always spring.

The Old Man and the Dog

The Old Man and the Dog

by Catherine Moore

"Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!" My father yelled at me. 

"Can't you do anything right?" 

Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle. 

"I saw the car, Dad. Please don't yell at me when I'm driving." My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt.

Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts. Dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. 

What could I do about him?

Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon. He had enjoyed being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess. 

The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger man. 

Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing. At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived. 

But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone. 

My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue. Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad's troubled mind. But the months wore on and God was silent. Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it. 

The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered. In vain. Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, "I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article." I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog. 

I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs all jumped up, trying to reach me. I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly. 

I pointed to the dog. "Can you tell me about him?" The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement.

"He's a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow." He gestured helplessly. 

As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror. "You mean you're going to kill him?"

"Ma'am," he said gently, "that's our policy. We don't have room for every unclaimed dog." 

I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision. "I'll take him," I said.

I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch. 

"Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad!" I said excitedly.

Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. "If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want it" Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house. 

Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples.

"You'd better get used to him, Dad. He's staying!" Dad ignored me. "Did you hear me, Dad?" I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate. 

We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw.

Dad's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal. 

It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even 

started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at his feet.

Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years. Dad's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel Cheyenne's cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night. 

Two days later my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad's peace of mind. 

The morning of Dad's funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life. And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers." 

"I've often thanked God for sending that angel," he said.

For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article... 

Cheyenne's unexpected appearance at the animal shelter. . .his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father. . and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood. I knew that God had answered my prayers after all. 

Life is too short for drama & petty things, so laugh hard,

love truly and forgive quickly. 

Live While You Are Alive.

Tell the people you love that you love them, at every

opportunity.

Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a

second time.

Inspiration for the Day: The Chloe Edition

Always know in your heart 

that you are far bigger 

than anything that can happen to you.

Dan Zadra

Inspiration for the Day: The Beemer Edition

Our lives improve only when we take chances...and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.

Walter Anderson

Inspiration for the Day

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. 

Ralph Waldo Emerso

Words to Live By

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Seeing Beautiful: The Sackets Harbor Edition

It is my opinion that everything must be based upon an extremely simple idea; and it is my opinion that this idea, once we have finally discovered it, will be so compelling, so beautiful, that we will say to one another, yes, how could it have been any different.

John Wheeler

Inspiration for the Day

This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good. 

Happy Friday!!

Go forth and enjoy your weekend!!

Seeing Beautiful ... The Love Edition

 

To those who see with loving eyes, life is beautiful. To those who speak with tender voices, life is peaceful. To those who help with gentle hands, life is full. And to those who care with compassionate hearts, life is good beyond all measure.

We are joining the See Beautiful Blog Hop hosted by Sugar!

The Beginning of a New Day

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." 

Author Unknown

 

BlogPaws WW: Beemer's Wisdom

“If you live with dogs, you'll never run out of things to write about.”
― Sharon Delarose

 

Reasonable Confidence

Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.

Norman Vincent Peale

 

Inspiration for the Day

 

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good."