Totally Insane With Joy

http://hollymueller.blogspot.com

by writer, David Dudley, about his dog:

...he entered his dotage in roaring good health...”, writes Dudley. “He was what gerontologists would call a successful ager.

“And then, seemingly overnight, he wasn't...He started limping after a vigorous bouncing-a-soccer-ball-off-his-nose session. Then he needed help climbing into the car or crawling under the bed, his favorite sleeping spot.

“Our epic rambles through the woods became short hikes, then brief spins around the block. Sometimes he'd stop midwalk, frozen like a Parkinson's sufferer. The stairs grew perilous.

“He became a wandering insomniac, barking at ghosts, claws clacking aimlessly through the darkened house. He'd vanished into the shadowlands of canine cognitive dysfunction, and he would not be coming out.”

****

 'Everything you do for a dog to help them age well, you should do with them.'

“So eat the best food you can afford. Go for a walk, even if it's raining. Take a lot of naps. Keep your teeth clean and your breath fresh, so that the people you lick will not flinch.

“And when someone you love walks in through the door, even if it happens five times a day, go totally insane with joy.”

                                                                             David Dudley

Hello!

So very glad to see you visit my post!

Hope you are feeling well.

Riverwatch

Efficiency in Thinking

My son and I were discussing a post on somebody's Facebook.....a post that went on and on and on and on...........and on and on.

" I tried to read this, Mom, but Ken just went on and on and on and on.....and I am too tired to plow through all these words.  Do you want to read it and tell me what you think of this post?"

I read.....and read.....and read.  After all, Ken is my son's childhood friend and spent hours in the company of our family.   Ken came out of the closet after he moved to New York City.
He is brilliant and highly educated, and has money.  

Did I mention Ken has money?

Ken looks with longing at my son's family of three kids and a wife who insists on raising chickens in the middle of the city, free range chickens that roost in the trees.  
Ken doesn't see the clutter, the struggle, the financial challenge.  
Instead he sees only the love.

Looking up at my son I say, "Oh, this is a sad post.  Ken is so lonely."








"I know that, but I can't plow through all his lonely ramblings.  I am too tired.  I just want to live my life, love my kids and die."

I am a little shocked.  "Well, what then?  After you die, what then?  What do you think is the purpose of life?"

He looks at me in the same way he looked at Ken's Facebook post.  Defeated by the abundance of words.

"Mom, people have been asking that question as long as man has existed and nobody knows the answer.  I'm not wasting my time thinking about it."

"So, you think life has no purpose, no meaning?"

"Oh, it has meaning and purpose but I have become efficient in thinking.  I no longer waste energy thinking about the unknowable.  Just live my life and enjoy the goodness of life."

"Are you depressed?"

"Nope.  I'm happy.  As long as you keep your thinking efficient, you won't get depressed."

"I think you should reply to Ken's post with 'r u ok?' "

"Naw, that's too wordy anymore.  Maybe just 'K'.  and let it go."





Today's world.......          efficient......
                                                                              vocabulary dwindling.









Thanks for dropping by,
Riverwatch

Knowing.

Knowing

by

Riverwatch

If I could chose between flying and Knowing

I would chose Knowing

though I long to fly.

If I could chose between loving and Knowing

I would chose Knowing

though I were to die from lack of love.

If I could chose between gold and Knowing

I would chose Knowing

though gold beckons and Knowing pierces.

Knowing is the flowing of the universe

and never empties,

while all else round it swirls.

Truth is understanding, that changes through the age,

but Knowing is the flowing of the universe

and never empties.

Knowing. The piercing flowing.

Knowing is forever.

Great God of the universe, I fear You.

I am in awe.

Who are You? What are You? Why are You?

Who can withstand the power of the Knowing?

I fear the power.

I fear becoming.

Most of all, Great God of the universe,

I fear change.

Who am I? What am I? Why am I?

What will I become,

 or am I ever changing?

Brush me gently, lest I die.

Skipping right along.

January 18, Sunday

"Happy Birthday, Riverwatch."


So my brother Richard called.
I missed his birthday New Year's Eve, but he remembered mine, today.
Our brother Johnny helped him remember.  They are both old....but younger than I.....and Rich was visiting John, so they called me up on the phone to be properly horrified at how old I am.

After Richard had his dose of horror, I decided it is time to interview him for my blog.  He is 65.
He reads my blog, hit and miss, and says he likes it "ok" but has trouble remembering anything I write about.
Hum.
So, since he is an aging super-active Mormon, and I am not Mormon, I decided to ask him what the Mormon term "endure to the end" means to him.  (I know what it means in Presbyterian terms, since pastor has said "The end does not mean what you think it means!  It is the end of Jerusulem, not the end of the whole world!")  I think my brother thinks "the end" is about his own life.  So....I had to ask.

Well....Richard doesn't like that word endure, because it conjures up all those uphill hikes in West Virginia on hot days..... thirsty...... tired......... hungry.......sweaty.

He prefers "faithful to the end".

Ever the reporter, I say, "Faithful to what?"
"To that which I hold near and dear."
"And what would that be?"
"My wife, of course!  and my covenants.  My covenants to God."

Ok.  I feel dismal.

"Kool", I say with fake enthusiasm.
"Yes", he says.  I am a Mac man, not a Windows ."

Well, a reporter doesn't have to understand everything!
Just record it.  In case YOU understand it.

Let's change the subject.

"So, do you like being 65?  How different do you feel?"

"I'm on Medicare", he says by way of explanation.

I probe further, revealing to him he is being interviewed for my blog.  "But have you noticed any changes in your thinking or your caring?  Do you find you care less about  things as an old person."

"Yes and no.  I care MORE about some things and LESS about some things."

"Oh?"

"I don't much care about the now things of today, since I am no longer trying to earn a living or raise kids.  The little things of today just don't bother me.  Not even my health.  I am not afraid of death. You know Anjanae, though.  She's a nurse and she reminds me that taking care of my health is about avoiding suffering, not about avoiding death.  But I just don't care as much as I used to care.   However I care MORE about trends now.  Now I see trends and frankly I am more political than I used to be."
                                                                             
                                                                  

Thanks for dropping by,

                                                                                           

Riverwatch       skipping right along