Category: Humor

Checking in

 

Well, that may be the longest stretch of NOT posting on my blog since I started it way back when…well, I don’t actually remember when my first post happened.

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But I have not posted for a whole month. And even then, and during the weeks before that, it was mostly the easiest post possible. (Thanks to whoever first coined the term WordlessWednesday!)

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I do think about it all the time though. In my mind, I create what I think are clever photography slide shows, or I write interesting or inspiring essays. But real life, the one outside my internal process, has been loudly in charge for a while. (Oh, the pitiful list of excuses I could insert here…sigh…and the thing is, my life-interruptions are similar to every person’s on the planet this last 16 months so no special sympathy for me…)

I’ve barely had the time or energy to read my favorite bloggers either.

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Self-centeredly, I do continue to check my notifications occasionally and am always pleasantly surprised to see a new follower. And a “like” on some older post can make my day!

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I always intended to welcome each new follower (I still hate that word “follower”. I’m not leading anyone anywhere! OK, each new “reader”) And I even saved each new name, but somehow those numbers climbed to 628 behind my back!!!

Realistically, I know that number does not mean that there are actually 628 people out there is the world who, with great anticipation, look forward to checking each day to see what I posted….only to be disappointed. Most likely the number is closer to 3 or 4 who look occasionally, just to see if I still happen to be alive.

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In hasty conclusion, because one of those life-interruptions is happening as I type, I long to be back at this more regularly.

Any encouragement greatly appreciated.

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And here’s a slide show with left over photos:

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Spirit Lifters–Day 328 of being “grounded”

I don’t do Facebook so I don’t know the protocol here. Forgive me if I am stepping on anyone’s toes. I don’t know who to credit. Not even sure this will work, and anyway, you may have already seen it.

But just in case you missed it, this definitely lifted my spirits!!

(Warning: rated R due to completely forgivable fowl language…but it IS a Cat, so there’s that…)

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3623336671049566&id=100001198050321

Spirit Lifters-Day 316 of being “Grounded” 1/16/21

Photos and humor…both can shift my whole mood, can change a whole day!!

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This one’s been around but it still cracks me up when I read it! My current favorites are #3, #5, and #12! Enjoy!

1.    The dumbest thing I ever bought was a 2020 planner.

2.    2019:  Stay away from negative people.  2020:  Stay away from positive people.

3.     The world has turned upside down.  Old folks are sneaking out of the house & their kids are yelling at them to stay indoors! 

4.     This morning I saw a neighbor talking to her dog.  It was obvious she thought her dog understood her.  I came into my house & told my cat.  We laughed a lot. 

5.     Every few days try your jeans on just to make sure they fit.  Pajamas will have you believe all is well in the kingdom.

6.   Does anyone know if we can take showers yet or should we just keep washing our hands?

7.   This virus has done what no woman has been able to do.  Cancel sports, shut down all bars & keep men at home! 

8.   I never thought the comment, “I wouldn’t touch him/her with a 6-foot pole” would become a national policy, but here we are!

9.  I need to practice social-distancing from the refrigerator. 

10. I hope the weather is good tomorrow for my trip to the Backyard.  I’m getting tired of the Living Room. 

11. Appropriate analogy.  “The curve is flattening so we can start lifting restrictions now” is like saying “The parachute has slowed our rate of descent, so we can take it off now.”

12. Never in a million years could I have imagined I would go up to a bank teller wearing a mask & asking for money. 

13. The spread of COVID-19 is based on 2 things:  

        1.  How dense the population is.  

        2.  How dense the population is

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And here’s another chuckle!

Have faith in Pfizer’s Covid vaccine. Pfizer patented Viagra. If a company can raise the dead it can certainly save the living.

 

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just seconds later…

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I can’t decide whether I prefer sunrise or sunset, but in the winter, both can be a spectacular show to watch!!

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A Photo a Week Challenge: Cityscape 10/23/2020

I knew the photos I wanted to share for this challenge right away. I love the view of the city I have from my house…of course, the view is not of the city I live in. Nope, this view is of the next city over to the West of me.

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That’s the downtown Seattle skyline, with the glorious Olympic Mountains behind.

These next shots are from an early morning walk when I just loved what the sunrise was doing to the Columbia Center…76 stories, and when it was built, it was the tallest building on the West Coast.

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This towering scraper of the sky has always fascinated me, though I had never been inside it. I rarely go into Seattle. Just not an urban type, although I guess I can hardly say that anymore, given that there is nothing left of the “country-side” my home was part of when I bought it 47 years ago.

Anyway, just a few years ago, I had the extreme pleasure of officiating a spectacular and delightful wedding at the top of the Columbia Center. I adore this couple and was thrilled to be asked to marry them, but I have to admit, when they told me where, I nearly fainted. I have a more than mild case of Acrophobia.

I knew I would need to prepare myself so I could be fully present and grounded for their ceremony so I started taking pictures of the building from all over town….trying to make friends with this giant black monolith, towering tall over all it’s neighbors…

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On the day of the wedding, I arrived early to prepare for the celebration. The ride up the elevator to the very top took forever. It made me seasick and break into a cold sweat. When I saw where we would be standing…so close to the windows, I nearly chickened out, but James kept me calm by reminding me that I would be facing inward, my back to the view. (Well, that half glass of Chardonnay he brought me probably helped too. Hmm, I wonder what the Minister’s blood alcohol number is for the legality of the marriage to be in question…😋)

Once I found my footing, I could embrace and enjoy the spectacular view we would all have this day.

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I never told my sweet couple about my trepidation that day but I suppose, now they’ll know. So worth it!! What an amazing, creative, beautiful, warm, interesting wedding. And the “Cityscape” setting? Well, hard to imagine ever topping that!!

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As I was selecting photos, I noticed something! A surprising number of airliners showed up, I suppose headed for landing at SeaTac. How many do you count?

 

https://nadiamerrillphotography.wordpress.com/2020/10/22/a-photo-a-week-challenge-cityscape/

Lens-Artists Challenge #115-Inspiration 9/23/2020

I am so lucky, so blessed, to be inspired, energized, and moved to gratitude by so little.

Oh it’s not that I don’t love witnessing grandeur. The Redwood Forests, Grand Canyon, the Mighty Mississippi, and a sunrise in Fiji, all moved me to tears.

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And it’s not that I always remember to look for inspiration in the really small or mundane things.

But when I need inspiration, It shows up for me in amazing ways….

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Like the sunset last night…first time I’d seen the smoke-hidden city and the Olympics in 10 days. Inspired me to keep holding on…

And these lovely, end of season flowers have been such a joy. I can only have flowers in my house in one location, the bathroom. My otherwise, well-behaved cats insist on dumping vases, just for fun, and the bathroom is off limits to them, because they also climb shower curtains!

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My junior high school boyfriend, and his son, paid me a visit a few weeks ago from clear across the U.S. We’ve stayed in touch all these years, which inspires me to value shared history, and to refuse any limiting definition of “friendship” .

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Spotting this lovely on my car inspired me to consider deeply, the hand-painted beauty of Nature!

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This, in my yard…

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And these at the local Farmer’s Market yesterday, inspired me to eat healthy, even though otherwise disgusting treats are extra tempting during this Covid Lockdown time!

Speaking of produce…this guy moved me to a huge Belly Laugh! At first I saw a large- nosed cyclops with a tail. But then I realized the tail was an arm…still on a big-nosed cyclops.

 

During our 8 or 9 days of Smoke-from-Hell, due to West and Northwest Coast fires, I had to be doubly sequestered…behind drawn shades, closed curtains, air purifiers blasting 24/7, and no daylight. So seeing the return of our usual beautiful blue skies was more than inspiring. It gave me the determination to hang on.

 

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This morning in my unused office-group therapy room, I spotted this plant. At first, I thought “tears”…but then realized it could mean “abundance” (of water).

This one, you may have to think about for a minute, but seeing the two things side by side inspired me to remember…everything is relative, and I can choose different perspectives on things as time passes. (Forgive my rare derogatory, political comment, but seriously, have you ever seen a more condescending smile???)

 

Seeing that last one, I am moved, energized and inspired to encourage everyone I cross paths with to VOTE!!!

 

https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/2020/09/19/lens-artists-challenge-115-inspiration/Du