Puppy Pile!

This is a happy story. The mama to these chubsters is named Jasmine. She was in a shelter about to be euthanized when, at the 11th hour, someone saved her. She's being fostered in an excellent home...the one in which she gave birth to 6 puppies. The almost 4 week old pups are all thriving. I went to visit today to help with one of their feedings. Their mama is kinda petite and can't quite keep up with their big appetites so they are receiving supplemental food about 3 times per day. It was so sweet to hold them and try to get them to slurp up some of their food. It's kinda a messy endeavor! And then to watch them pass out one by one in a pile...well you know what that does to a person!!!

"I made some studies, and reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. I can take it in small doses, but as a lifestyle I found it too confining."

"See, the human mind is kind of like . . .

a piñata. When it breaks open, there’s a lot of surprises inside. Once you get the piñata perspective, you see that losing your mind can be a peak experience."*

* From The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe by Jane Wagner. Reprinted with permission.

Normal?

Probably most of us think of our lives as fairly normal, no?
Well, the other evening I was taking a shower and perched just at eye level on the top of the shower stall facing me was a banana slug. As I've written, I have a BS infatuation going on so when I saw it I immediately smiled and started talking to her. Now I may have been making this up but I swear she was responding to me. No joke. Like she was listening or something...I kept up my end of the conversation with words but she kept hers up in BS language which I am new to learning! Anyways, I kept splashing water on her and she seemed to like that and even turned her body as if to say; "this spot...get this spot." I know, I know!
Then today as I was thinking about how normal that seemed to me I started laughing at what a relative term that is.

Cake Recipe!

I'd e-mailed my friend asking him what kind of cake he was making for an event yesterday and this is what he wrote:

"Poppyseed Cake- vegan, non-bacon, non-gluten, non-sugar, non-joy, non-life."

Covered CA, My Booty

I had the great good fortune of going to an enrollment counselor today to help me sign up for health insurance. I'd started the process online but at a certain juncture was SO frustrated I was ready to throw my computer out the flipping window. If ya gotta do shit like that they oughta make it easy. Anyways, this young woman who was helping me was so much fun. Partway through my sister cut in line and joined us and we just laughed our way through the process. We found out that she (the enrollment counselor) really likes Chocolate so I left and came back to give her some I was SOOO grateful.

As we were wrapping up she told us she works full time for Healthcorp (similar to Peacecorps) and doesn't even make enough money to have any kind of insurance but Medicare. How ironic is that?

Snowing Petals

It's hard to capture the effect of this little vignette right outside my door but this will give you some sense...the wind and rain blown blossoms of the weeping cherry tree drizzled all around making it look like pale pink snow! It kinda has an other worldly effect...like the fairies just twinkled through and poofed some magic all about.

Snail mail

Last week I received a hand written letter in the mail! These days that is a welcomed gift and one of my favorite things. I had written an e-mail to a friend and instead of e-mailing me back, he "put pen to paper" as he said. So, this weekend I wrote him back and when I did I was reminded of how much I love to write letters. Not only do I really enjoy the actual activity of writing...the tactile experience of pen to paper, the slow, deliberate activity of my brain but I also enjoy imagining my friend sitting down, likely outside with a cup of tea, and reading his letter. I enjoy the thought because he, too, is a slow moving critter and it will suit him to spend the time reading a hand written letter and reflecting. I am looking forward to writing another letter this weekend to a different friend, another someone I know who will love sitting down with a cup of tea to read a hand written letter.

My dad and I used to write each other letters. It was during a time in our relationship when, without saying so, we were trying to better understand one another. I treasure those letters now and know they will bring me great comfort once he has passed.