IT'S A COMPLIMENT.... RIGHT?

When a child becomes sick, they immediately want the comfort of a mom.

We all want the hugs, warm blankets tucked around us by tenderly, our feverish forehead soothed by a gentle hand, and someone to tell us it's all going to be okay, and that they will take care of us no matter what.

We need the reassurance of a safe place where we can recover and get 'all better'. And perhaps our favorite blanket or lovey or story.

Sound familiar?

So when my dog comes up next to me, snuggling close and asking for some attention - and then vomits a particularly disgusting mass of partially digested wild rabbit all over my foot, carpet, and desk chair, it's a form of an accolade to me as a nurturing and caring provider, as a surrogate mother figure.

Right?

ORTHOGRAPHIA

I can't spell.

I mean, yeah, I can spell well enough to write this.

But to spell a word like "pneumonia", I cannot even get close enough for spell-check to recognize it.

I must go to an on-line thesaurus (and to look up how to spell thesaurus, I need to use spell-check, but I can at least get close enough for it to recognize what I am trying to spell), put in a synonym for "pneumonia" such as lung inflammation - illness - cold - none of which bring up "pneumonia."

See what I mean?

Do you think I can get disability tags for my truck for this?

KILLING THE RABBIT

As a child, I rescued innumerable 'slightly' killed small animals from overly grateful cats who wanted to present me with their spoils - nursed them back to health if possible - disposed of the bodies when necessary.

As a young adult, I learned how to quickly and efficiently butcher pigs, cattle and sheep in the name of pursuit of a B.S. in Animal Science.

As an adult, I balanced (uneasily) between spurts of vegetarianism, high-protein diets, and trying to explain to extremely young children why sweet little animals were killed and where their spirits might go.

Now as an antediluvian (ain't that a great word?) I am happily settled between eating some meat, not eating some, and people who live both ways.

However, my dog Sofi is your completely normal carniveous dog who, as a labrador, is genetically predisposed to hunt - and kill - almost any warm-blooded creature smaller than her.

(With larger animals, Sofi is reduced to simply glaring at them menacingly)

But yesterday, she actually caught a rabbit.

I honestly think that Sofi is geared to only chasing small furry animals, and since she is quite well-fed ('volumptous' - 'healthy' - 'big-boned'), the inclination to EAT them is not present.

So she went right to the middle of the problem - literally.

It has been a long, long time since I have had to dispose of half of a body.

FACEBOOK THERAPY

A Facebook 'aquaintence' (I'm not really certain how we became friends), who is obviously going through a rough patch, posted very very early this morning "How does one stop the pain if one neither drinks nor drugs?"

An almost immediate flow of love, friendship and conflicting advice came sweeping over the Internet, ranging from meditation to a massage, chocolate to crying, acupuncture to assertions.

Is it because we, as human beings, love to give advice -- could it be a wicked snide joy that someone else besides us is suffering -- or is it something as wonderful as the pure love that flows from God above?

Hopefully the last.

Thank God for us insomniacs who have Internet access.

JUDGE YE NOT

"Wow, I can't believe how judgemental people can be!" 

"I know, they don't even know anything about us, and here they are just ignoring us, like we don't exist."

"Can you believe the nerve of some people? And they claim that they are Christians!"

Can you see the difficulty here?

It's sort of like freedom of religion - you are completely in favor of that... as long as it's YOUR religion that's being discussed. But those cult/ freaks/ fringe groups? Oh, no, it doesn't mean them.

Someone being judgemental is extremely easy to spot -- as long as you yourself are being judgemental.

I know that I hang a label on someone the instant I first meet them - by what they are wearing, by how they speak, by what kind of car they have. I may excuse myself by saying that I am just observing something about them, but nope, it's really judging them.

My little 'ole brain is spinning through its file drawers to drop this person as quickly as possible into clothes-from-WalMart, impatient-parent-with-children, too-flashy-a-pimp-car or the worse one possible OMG-they-have-a-bumper-sticker-for-THAT-candidate!!

And although my opinion may improve upon further acquaintance, I am judging. Unrighteously. Because that is the only way us mortal can judge.

I can't know that this person dealt with the loss of a loved one last month - has been up for the past three nights trying to do the business tax forms - was treated miserably by a person who looked just like me.

So I'm working on it. Got a long ways to go, but as soon as that file drawer opens with that metallic screech, I am trying to shut it.

(And I'm including the Star Trek poster just because I find it so funny - if you can't read the caption, it says "What, you don't see it?!")

"RETREAT? HELL, NO! WE'RE JUST ADVANCING IN ANOTHER DIRECTION"

I believe in clean starts. I encourage new beginnings. And when you have been rambling in marshy areas, it is only smart to wade out, shake off the mud on your  boots, and look again around for landmarks, headings or even something as simple as the direction of the wind at that moment.

Let's begin... again.

EVERYONE IS A RELATION

This morning at 5:30 a.m. it was 26 degrees outside.

Two weeks ago, that would have been horrible.

This morning, it was almost a relief.

Everything is relative, isn't it?

MISSION STATEMENT

1. This blog IS for my entertainment and developing of writing skills, phrasing, illustrations, and increasing the likelihood of spelling a word such as exemplary without having to revert to a thesaurus to get a word close enough to exemplary that I can actually find exemplary in a dictionary.

2. This blog IS NOT for constant and anxious checking of the stats to see if anyone else might actually have glanced at my blog, noting down the time and location, and fantasying about old high school nemeses grinding their teeth at my brilliant posts.

3. This blog IS for reflection, contemplation, arranging of thoughts, beliefs and concepts.

4. This blog IS NOT to be viewed as a potential source of income by allowing crass advertising companies to take over.

5. This blog IS for future development to an increased audience, and if somehow on the way we share the spotlight with some potential grass-roots movements with admirable goals and the ability to support us in a manner to which we would like to become accustomed, so be it.

6. This blog IS NOT for the posterity to learn more about doodling old Grandma Wilt's illiterate and confused scribblings (in fact, I would be pleased and honored if the first thing done following my death is the total and complete destruction of all my computer files - especially Hope/Documents/Self/Mutterings/CCM.)

7. This blog IS to be used for entertainment purposes only. The information and images on this site are not to be used as advice in any medical action, legal proceedings, or government overthrows, and are not representational of any and all actions to be undertaken by a legally sane individual.
 
Okay, I feel better now. Do you?