Choosing

 

The wind howls, it's cold, the dog is somewhat freaked out by her first "measurable" snowfall since joining my household, but! we did not get as much snow as predicted.  My fingers near froze in first session of shoveling, which happened after I got Ember into her crate for puppy nap #2.

Amazon tells me they will deliver my replacement remote for the TV today.  I will believe it when I see it, as the little map shows their delivery vehicle on its way from Omaha... and who knows what the highway conditions are between there and here?

In case anyone is curiously paying attention to my change of the tag line with the first of the year... I'm trying things out.  Life is Good was Kevin (MOBYCARP)'s line.  I've been experiencing dog training with a focus allowing the dog to choose good behaviors.  I want to add choice into my tag line:  it is indeed a choice to live, and to live as fully as we can!  It may take a while before I come up with just the exact "signature" phrase, but in 2025, choice is a part of the picture.  

There is also a Biblical reference for this one.  Deuteronomy 30: 19.  It's a verse that has stuck in my mind for several years of ponderings.  We are not told to choose "good" versus "evil", but to "choose life".  This ties in with Kevin's "Life is Good" theme.

From KJV:  "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:"

Monday

Single digit temperatures outside and I woke shortly after 3.  After a minor attempt to fall back asleep for an hour I did the math in my head and decided to get up and have my shower.  Making plans to put together something for Ember's mental stimulation today.  I had seen a good suggestion online Sunday and thought "that's something I can do".  It said, simply, hide things in a box for her to search through.  Well, I have lots of leftover packing materials... cardboard boxes and crushed up paper... that would be perfect.  Hide some of her toys amid the paper, and voila, puzzle time!

Maybe one of the toys inside can be the treat-holding kind.  Got to do something, as it's mega cold out there and not suitable for even back yard play for more than short trips.

LOL!  Well that lasted less than five minutes!  You know how babies want to play with the box more than the toy inside the box?  Seems Ember has something in common with that stereotype.

Anyway, we are on to puppy nap #2, it's cold out, but there is sunshine, and she has done some independent playing outside, in addition to what I've devised for her inside.  We also took a car ride to fill up Dexter's gas tank.  Tomorrow it's doggy day care for her and my trainer workout for me... and I have my to-do list for those free hours.

Choose life!  Spark on!

A cat may look at a king...

 

The Prisoner has his own throne, from which, if he were so inclined, he could watch the new King of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland on the telly.

The first printed version of the idiom a cat may look at a king was published in 1562, in The Proverbs And Epigrams Of John Heywood, “What, a cat may look on a king, ye know!” 

Link to the Grammarist entry, quoted above.

Anyway, the brain is full of random thoughts these days.  

• I got the e-mail from the health department to make my appointment for the "new" booster for Covid-19.  I scheduled it for Friday afternoon, after the school day, at one of the local high schools.

I had not been to that high school in quite some time, but it was pretty obvious where to go, between the signs and the other "old folks in masks" filing in and out.  It went smoothly and quickly.  These are getting to be pretty routine.  It had been five months since my second booster, so I'm hoping this is a good interval, and also hoping that it morphs into a "once a year" thing like the flu shot, which I did not get at the same time.  

• The last weekend for kayak rentals is this coming one.  My friend Geri and I are plotting a Sunday morning outing on the water.  I hope I'm recovered enough from the shot.

• Discussion with kid sis on Wednesday's walk on two topics - one, what a proper curtsy is (head not bowed, knees bent... if I can do a lunge, I should be able to do a curtsy).  I'm not there, but I've been practicing in front of the TV.

This had to do with watching the live feeds of the queue of people paying their respects to Queen Elizabeth.  I have been impressed with the diversity of both individual people, and how they show their respect.  I have seen so many combinations of gestures.  One woman, walking with two poles through the whole line, put her poles together, steadied herself on the arm of her escort, and dropped a deep and perfect curtsy.  Curtseys, crosses between a bow and a curtsy... deep bows, bowed heads, the namaste hand gesture, many people crossing themselves, some blowing a kiss toward the coffin, tears wiped away... and silence... respectful silence through it all.  The signal for changing the guards was clearly heard, every 15 minutes.  

I had an irreverent thought at a recent change, when a much shorter guard replaced his/her taller counterpart... and a line from Star Wars popped into my head... "a little short for a storm trooper, aren't you?"  

I sought out and found YouTube channels that allowed me to watch coverage of the National Mourning in the UK without talking heads commenting over it.  I have been fascinated by the differences in uniform, music, and traditions between Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.  Seeing the drums and brass wrapped in black for the funeral marches in London, and appreciating the choice of pieces (Beethoven, Mendelsohn)... this is the culture in which I was raised, and it seems right.  The Scottish also seems right, with the bagpipes and the royal archers carrying their longbows.  

The Welsh memorial service, delivered in their national language Friday morning was poetic. I could follow along because the name "Solomon" was not translated, and made it obvious the Bible passage it was based on. The rhythm of the wording and the repetition, along with my own familiarity with Solomon's prayer on inheriting the crown from his father David filled in what I lacked in the specific language.

• Second topic of discussion - our own reactions to the book, White Fragility, that we're both reading, and how we observe what we read in the world around us, or in our own history.

Reading this book and thinking about it as I watch the pomp and circumstance surrounding the period of mourning, and also catching some of the reportage of the royal family "issues" had me questioning my own reactions, and also coming to the defense of tradition at the same time.

I started being conscious of and appreciating what I've been reading.  This mourning period is white heritage, it's not colorless or lacking in racial/ethnic roots, and there's some negatives associated with it, as well as the positives.  The immense wealth of the royals hits home:  Balmoral estate is 50,000 acres.  And it is only ONE of many... the "summer" getaway.    

• Big Brother has got down to the final four, and as usually happens, game play becomes slower.  But this has been an amazing season, very unpredictable.  That's generally caused by both good and bad game play!  It will be but a memory in a couple of weeks.

Well, that about covers the week as it was.  Laundry, grocery shopping, one workout with the trainer (he canceled Thursday due to a track meet schedule change)... and the weather not feeling at all like September... it's been hot... pretty much completes the picture of my life.

Here's hoping you all are well, and getting done what needs doing in your own lives, all while remembering to gently take care of yourselves!

Life is good.  Even at times when it can be sad.  Spark on!

🔥✨💖