Today is the last day of Just Jot it January. I think I participated in all but a couple of days which is good for me. Thank you to our host Linda Hill for originating and organizing this annual event and thank you to Susan for today’s prompt: facetious.
Looking up the prompt, because I knew it meant funny, but wasn’t quite sure how, I found this definition:
“treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.”
Sometimes we need to be facetious so as to not take ourselves and the world too seriously. Humor is important. But we also have to be careful which serious issues we’re being facetious about.
I prefer facetious to sarcastic. Sarcasm often seems dishonest and confusing to me. Makes me wonder if I’m on some kind of a spectrum. Anyway, as I’ve mentioned before, my favorite kind of humor is silly, like Steve Martin. I remember watching him make this difficult confession on Johnny Carson in 1978. 😉
For more facetious jottings and a link to Susan’s blog, click HERE.
Today’s Just Jot it January prompt is “abscission,” from Lakshmi. I had to look it up. Here’s what I found:
“the natural detachment of parts of a plant, typically dead leaves and ripe fruit.”
It’s good to learn new words, especially when there seems to be no one word alternative.
Last week we took Marley to the vet to be neutered. That was not a natural detachment, but hopefully it will help calm him down a little and not add to the problem of homeless pets. His previous guardian said he sometimes escaped and was gone for a couple of days, so he may have offspring somewhere. After leaving Marley at the vet for his procedure, I went to the nearby laundrymat, which is technically spelled laundromat, to wash and dry a big comforter that had been in the attic for years.
This laundromat has some very nice plants in a big window. The snake plants and succulents are doing well, but the spider plants are pathetic. They probably get too much sun and not enough water.
dying spider plant
Abscission was not working for these plants. They needed help, and I could not ignore them.
I went outside to the attendant who was in her car on her phone and asked her if I could work on removing some of the dead leaves from the plants and give them some water. She looked at me like I was from another planet, then said, sure, I guess so.
Some of the plants were too high to reach, but some I was able to clean up and water. Later, I sent a FB message, presumably to the management who thanked me. The manager wrote that he or she had been very busy and did not have the much time to take care of the plants. I responded that I might drop by and work on them some more if that was okay and was told that would be fine. I hope this nudges someone at the laundromat to take care of the spider plants.
Sorry I didn’t take pictures of the healthy plants, but maybe will put some in the gallery below along with Marley the evening after his surgery when he was uncharacteristically mellow due to residual medication effects.
Marley the evening after his surgeryPlants at the laundromatPlants in Cat Room – Upper ShelfMama Cat still gets attentionDragonfly on a spider plant leaf
Spider plants are one of the few plants not toxic to animals. Fortunately, Mama Cat doesn’t play with them since she tends to be a cave dweller. For enrichment, we’re going to be adding some walking shelves that lead to her cat tree upper level, and I’ll be encouraging her with treats to use them.
For more on Just Jot it January, visit our host, Linda Hill, byclicking HERE It’s still not too late to join in!
Live oak trees lean over the street named Grace near a big brick church called Grace United. I often take this road on my way home from errands in the historic downtown section of my city. In the summertime, the shade is a welcome relief. In winter, the leaves are mostly green, though a little thinner, continuing to give oxygen to humans and other animals.
Heading East toward HomeHeading West to Downtown
The large branches, draped in Spanish moss, provide a feeling of shelter to drivers, pedestrians, birds, bugs, and squirrels.
Spanish MossSpanish MossOak with a palm friendLittle door with ferns on the porchSpanish MossCanopy with sun
Do you see what looks like a little door at the bottom of the tree trunk?
Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. For more Tree Love, visit Parul’s post HERE.
Today’s prompt for Just Jot it January is, “understanding.” Thanks to Wendy for the wonderful prompt and to Linda Hill for hosting. Click HERE for #jusjojan details. When I took these tree photos yesterday, I was standing under the trees, so I guess you could say, I was understanding, or trying to. Trees communicate in different ways, mostly underground with each other. But if you put your hands on a tree and are very quiet, you might feel them humming. I hope and pray we humans can all come to understand the life-giving importance of living trees.
“Monumental gimmers” Hint at possibility fleeting yet never ending.
It’s been well over a year, maybe two, since I read the words, “monumental glimmers” on Trini Lind’s blog and apparently added the next two lines. I wish I could remember which of Trini’s posts they came from. Her words spoke to me of glimpses we get of something big and beautiful beyond our understanding, one of those magical things waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
It’s time for the 24th day of Just Jot it January. Thanks to our host Linda Hill for keeping us going and to Jill for today’s thought provoking prompt: “unbelievable.”
With the title of my blog being “Anything is Possible,” there aren’t many things that I find unbelievable. Unlikely maybe. Unimaginable, perhaps…. It is possible to believe in the possibility of most things. So how do we choose? Logic helps. We can look at our own experience which grows with the years. Sometimes it helps to ask people we trust what they believe. Sometimes we just feel it in our bones.
One thing I find difficult to believe is the possibility that there is no divine higher power. Call it what you will, experience leads me to believe in some kind of intelligent, benevolent power beyond this material world. I feel it in my bones. The easiest thing for me to call this power, is God, but that’s mostly out of habit and upbringing. When I see the word, “Father,” I tend to change it to Creator, Mother, or Great Spirit. Sometimes I change God to Goddess. “The Universe” works, because it’s all encompassing.
Like the blind men and the elephant, we may each perceive this divine higher power in different ways. We all have the right to believe what we want to believe. Or not. As long as we don’t hurt anyone. Karma steps in, sooner or later. We reap what we sow, though it might take a while. Perhaps Karma and angels are helpers or appendages of the Great One with many faces.
What do you believe?
Have your beliefs changed over the years?
For more Just Jot it January posts, rules, and a link to Jill’s blog, visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.
Today’s prompt for Just Jot it January is “surviving.” Thanks to Wendy for the prompt and to our host, Linda Hill, for keeping us going! You can learn more about #JusJoJan at Linda’s post HERE.
Until I started volunteering at Blueberry Lane Farm Animal Sanctuary, I hadn’t had much personal experience with chickens, goats, or pigs. Now, the menagerie is like extended family. At the sanctuary, they are not just surviving, they are thriving, and they are loved.
Every Thursday, I prepare lunch for the sanctuary residents. I cut up produce and feed it to the pigs and roosters and check to make sure the goats have plenty of hay. The pigs were rescued from factory farms and the roosters from kapparot where live chickens are twirled overhead. The roosters get along fine for the most part. After feeding, I like to hang out with the gentle old lady goats. The goats were rescued from petting zoos or breeders where they were not well cared for. Esther is one of my favorites. It’s taken a while for her to trust me.
Esther’s stomachs are permanently distended because she was not fed properly. When she arrived at the sanctuary, Esther was secretly pregnant. Her daughter, Mira, short for Miracle, was a sweet surprise. Mira, being born on the farm, is friendly and assertive. Now, Esther gets different kinds of hay, forages in the yard, and gets lettuce and other greens as a treat. She loves it when I pick an occasional green leaf off of a tree for her.
Surviving is usually better than not surviving, especially if there’s the hope of something better. Animals living in small cages, enclosures where they cannot turn around, as with veal calves and lactating pigs, or living in terribly crowded conditions on factory farms, may be surviving, but their lives are miserable. We humans can do better. This is why I’ve progressed to being about 95% vegan and why I volunteer at the sanctuary. If you’ve thought about reducing your meat consumption, it’s now easier than ever. Vegan alternatives and restaurants are popping up in most cities. Consider meatless Mondays. It’s a great time of year for minestrone or lentil soup!
‘The most ethical diet just so happens to be the most environmentally sound diet and just so happens to be the healthiest’ – Dr Michael Gregor (quote found here.)
Sheep and GoatsEsther and MiraGoat NuzzlingA happy pigPatrick and FrancisRooster Emmanuel likes hanging out with the pigs. Nice tail feathersOwl keeping watchLeo is so handsomePadre and Bennie in the summertime
Don’t forget to check out Linda and Wendy’s posts at the links above!
Today’s SoCS post is “icing on the cake,” because HAPPY BIRTHDAY to LINDA, our SoCS, #JusJoJan host! Linda asks that we write about the first thing that comes to mind when we think about the phrase, icing on the cake.
My husband David is icing on the cake. Not that we eat a lot of sweets, but he’s an extra blessing. Before he came back into my life, I was willing to stay single and starting to accept that, if me staying single was what God wanted. I focused on the things single women have accomplished and the advantages of being single – the freedom, no snoring, doing yoga while watching TV with no make-up on (which I do anyway.) It’s totally okay to be single. And I’d always have dogs for company.
Having a compatible partner is icing on the cake – extra. He’s not perfect of course. He snores and he doesn’t like to watch TV, so I watch whatever I want while doing yoga with no make-up. And he doesn’t like coconut. It’s a texture thing. Like I don’t like sauerkraut. It’s a texture and a smell thing. Yuck. But David is intelligent, handsome, spiritual, and he loves dogs. Handsome is icing on the cake. It’s also a strange word, hand some. As in, hand some cake over.
Getting back to coconut, my favorite icing on a cake would be the coconut pecan icing that normally comes on German chocolate cake. I would put that icing on dark chocolate cake with chocolate chips in the cake and more nuts, because I’m nuts about nuts. It would all be vegan, preferably, which is entirely possible, and while I’m at it, no calories, which is very unlikely, unless I’m imagining the whole thing which is probably for the best. But I could have some nuts and dark chocolate which I do have on hand. Some.
Now “some” looks weird. Somewhere over the rainbow way up high. Okay, enough already.
For rules and other details about Stream of Consciousness Saturday and Just Jot it January
Today’s prompt for Just Jot it January is, “Looking.” Thanks, for the prompt, Di. And thanks to our host, Linda Hill, for keeping the January Jotting going!
The first thing that came to mind was when I decided to stop looking for my soul mate. It was the year 2011, in January. What if it was January 20? That would be a hoot. I’d been married for 20 years and divorced for about 10. There were two unhealthy, stressful relationships followed by five years of unplanned celibacy when I wondered why no one interesting was interested in me. I had described to God what I was looking for, but it wasn’t happening.
The on-line dating scene was not working at all, and neither was going to community events where I hoped to find someone with common interests. But maybe the community events were working in the sense that I was going for me and reclaiming my interests as well as meeting new friends with common interests.
So, in January of 2011, I was looking at some on-line dating site and got disgusted with shallow, adolescent minded men my age looking for younger women. I tried to be cynical, but that only worked sometimes. I promised myself that I would stop looking, especially online, until my daughter graduated from high school in June. Then maybe I’d have some adventures of my own.
The two of us took a mother-daughter trip by train to my hometown of Washington DC. We stayed with friends, rode the subway and went to museums. My daughter graduated on the first Saturday in June. On the Monday after that, I found a Facebook message from my long-lost high school sweetheart. It had been 39 years since we’d had any contact. He’d been living in New England all that time and was working as a fire fighter/EMT. More importantly, he had three dogs! Must love dogs was on the top of my soulmate list!
Well, to fast forward, we got married on December 1, 2012. (We thought about 12/12/12, but that was a Wednesday.) Want to read the whole story? Click on my book cover for Trust the Timing, on the right side bar above.
19722011 Second First DateDecember 1, 2012Must Love Dogs20162018
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines….”
Maya Angelou
This quote is from Dr. Maya Angelou’s powerful poem, “A Brave and Startling Truth.”
We, this people, on a small and lonely planet Traveling through casual space Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns To a destination where all signs tell us It is possible and imperative that we learn A brave and startling truth
And when we come to it To the day of peacemaking When we release our fingers From fists of hostility And allow the pure air to cool our palms
When we come to it When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean When battlefields and coliseum No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters Up with the bruised and bloody grass To lie in identical plots in foreign soil
When the rapacious storming of the churches The screaming racket in the temples have ceased When the pennants are waving gaily When the banners of the world tremble Stoutly in the good, clean breeze
When we come to it When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders And children dress their dolls in flags of truce When land mines of death have been removed And the aged can walk into evenings of peace When religious ritual is not perfumed By the incense of burning flesh And childhood dreams are not kicked awake By nightmares of abuse
When we come to it Then we will confess that not the Pyramids With their stones set in mysterious perfection Nor the Gardens of Babylon Hanging as eternal beauty In our collective memory Not the Grand Canyon Kindled into delicious color By Western sunsets
Nor the Danube, flowing its blue soul into Europe Not the sacred peak of Mount Fuji Stretching to the Rising Sun Neither Father Amazon nor Mother Mississippi who, without favor, Nurture all creatures in the depths and on the shores These are not the only wonders of the world
When we come to it We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade and the dagger Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace We, this people on this mote of matter In whose mouths abide cankerous words Which challenge our very existence Yet out of those same mouths Come songs of such exquisite sweetness That the heart falters in its labor And the body is quieted into awe
We, this people, on this small and drifting planet Whose hands can strike with such abandon That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness That the haughty neck is happy to bow And the proud back is glad to bend Out of such chaos, of such contradiction We learn that we are neither devils nor divines
When we come to it We, this people, on this wayward, floating body Created on this earth, of this earth Have the power to fashion for this earth A climate where every man and every woman Can live freely without sanctimonious piety Without crippling fear
When we come to it We must confess that we are the possible We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world That is when, and only when We come to it.”
Anything is Possible! 