Grrrrrrr.....

So, have you ever tried to put your dog on a diet....not fun.

My little guy has put on a couple of pounds this past winter. The vet tells me that each pound for his size is equivalent to about 20 pounds on a person....yikes. So, Graham is on a diet. He's not happy. As a matter of fact he reminds me of myself on a diet....cranky....grouchy....and just kind of sassy about everything.

He growls at me and stares at the closet that holds his treat....he goes over to his empty food bowl and barks at me...so I go to the fridge and come back with a few carrots for him....he "gruffs" at me and walks away....I turn and go back to what I was doing....he waits and waits and waits....finally he quietly goes over to his food bowl and eats the carrots.

Sorry fella, I know exactly what you are feeling....mom is on a diet too!

Porch time

So, this past week I went down to Orlando for a work event. Instead of staying at a hotel, I stayed with some friends.....they work on the Orlando campus and I work on the Wilmore campus. We have been building up a long distance friendship through the phones and email. This past week I got to spend downtime with them....we laughed until we cried. As I sat there in this group of friends...I realized how much they mean to me...each one. I realized how they are some of my very dearest friends...yes, in this new era....I can have very dear, dear friends live 12 hours from me.

Thanks for the porch time, southern style!

Let me kiss it

So, this past weekend I went back home to attend the funeral of my aunt Nelda. It was hard to watch my cousins have to go through the loss of their mom.....

At the end of the funeral, we formed a circle around the sanctuary and sang "Blest be the ties that bind." As we sang, the mortician came in to close the casket. He lowered my aunt down into the casket and then tucked the lining of the casket around her and then closed the lid. Two of my cousins could not watch that.....tears streaming down their faces they stared into the air....one of my cousins and my uncle watched....they did not want to not miss one minute of the time that they had left looking at her.....

I stood there watching and thinking...your mom is there for you all through your life....teaching and nurturing.....kissing your boo-boos and teaching you how to go through the difficulties of life. How ironic it was their mom had probably tucked them into bed thousands of times.....and yet here they were....watching a stranger tuck her in for the last time.....and she was not there to kiss away the pain.

I know why the caged bird sings

I found this poem by Maya Angelou. I know about singing with a fearful trill....of singing of things unknown but longed for still, I know about standing on a grave of dreams. But sometimes I fear that I have forgotten my song of freedom.

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The forgotten song

So, it's been a very LONG, cold, hard winter here in Kentucky. I mean long and cold....no sunshine...no warmth....just cold and gray. BUT today.....today, I saw the sunshine.....and I heard birds sing.....and I smelled dirt.

That made me want to sit on my porch....so I sat on my front porch.....closed my eyes and listened to the birds sing. Before today, I was convinced that even the birds were depressed over the long winter....it seemed that they had forgotten their song. But today....today they sang their songs loudly and I sat on the porch and listened to them.

I had forgotten how wonderful dirt smells....the earth....but today, I smelled the earth and it restored my hope.

I had forgotten how warm the sunshine is....how it can seep into the very depths of my being....but today....I let it seep into my soul.

Yes, I sat on my porch and took the sounds and smells and warmth of the day in.....it was a very good day.....and I know that I can make it to spring now....I will keep humming the song of the birds until they can sing me awake every morning this spring.

I am illustrated

So, this past weekend I had urgent need to rent a truck....a moving truck. The last time that I was in a moving truck was almost 2 years ago. It was a 24 foot Penske truck. A friend (and co-worker) and I were doing a road trip for work....heading to Florida.

It was a very long drive....we were taking turns at the wheel. It was my friend's turn to drive. We stopped for a break and I turned to start down the 2 steps from the cab of this very large truck and my foot got caught and out I fell....backward.....my head crashing on the cement road beneath me.

Anyhow, that was 2 years ago....but I am still a little apprehensive to get back into a moving truck. My fears were quickly turned to laughter as I noticed a very large sticker on the dashboard.

It said, "WARNING: Can cause serious injury / death." And the picture was this:


I began to laugh...I'm an illustration....I'm a stick-figure....if only they would have had this sticker in that truck 2 years ago...maybe I would have heeded the warning and not thrown myself out backward.