SoCS: What do Orcas Think About Us?

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “sink/sank/sunk.” Use one, use two, or use ’em all and get bonus points. Enjoy!

Thanks, Linda!

I have no ideas.

The Titanic sank. They were over-confident according to the movie which is the most fun way to learn history regardless of whether 100% accurate or not. We can take historical fiction with a grain of salt.

Seems like there was some kid’s song that ended with something like sink, sank, sunk, but I think it was another word with those three tenses. Maybe it will come to me.

There have been orcas, aka killer whales, who have sunk three boats in European seas. At least one boat was a yacht. I looked this up and the whales seem to be acting in an organized way, led by a female who humans have nicknamed, Gladys. There is some speculation that the whales led by Gladys are seeking revenge for some wrong done to them, or they may see the boats as a threat. This particular pod of orcas is an endangered subpopulation. Whales, including orcas, are very intelligent. They are not normally that aggressive toward humans. I’m getting curiouser and curiouser.

I’m thinking these whales are thinking:

WE’RE MAD AS HELL AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! Bam!

I would not blame other animals or mother nature for thinking this way after all the damage humans have done. I don’t think anyone has been killed from the boat sinkings.

Here’s a video if you’re interested. Remember Jeff Corwin?

….

What was that song? I think it’s coming to me.

Think, thank, thunk? Thank doesn’t really fit there, but it’s a good word. Okay, I typed it in on youtube and discovered something about The Grinch song which ends like this:

The three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote,
“Stink, stank, stunk”!

Maybe that’s how the some orcas think about us humans.

The song really does paint an ugly picture of the Grinch. It’s a miracle that he got better. Wasn’t it music that helped him get better? He heard the Whos down in Whoville singing – with no presents at all.

Maybe we could sing to the whales. It might not help with the orcas. But you never know. We could sing all day long, but what we really need to do is stop harming animals and the planet.

Here are some peaceful encounters with Orcas:

…

Last week, Marley got the tube out of his ear flap that had been draining a hematoma for three weeks. It seems to be healing okay. To celebrate, we took him out to eat with us. He was a very good boy and had a few French fries. This vegan restaurant is so dog-friendly, they brought him a dog bowl with water.

A good boy!

More fries?

Long shadows

There’s a squirrel up there!

~~~

For more on Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

visit our host, Linda Hill,

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Love, Hate, and Yes, I Like that TV show, Plus: Dogs with Sticks.

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “stick.” Use it as a noun or a verb; use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Love is not always easy. To be honest, there are people and things that are hard to love. I admit to saying I hate some things. Maybe I don’t hate any particular person, but I hate it when people are mean and act like bullies. In order to save ourselves, sometimes we have to love people from a distance. Like people who are critical, or talk constantly, know it alls, who might have a good heart somewhere deep down, but after a while they can be toxic.

Back to love. How to stick with love….. I suppose it’s possible to remember that God loves everyone. But God doesn’t hang around with everyone all the time (I’m guessing here.) God can assign angels to hang out with someone. God, please don’t assign me to hang out with a critical know it all who talks all the time, after I die. I try to be good, and that would be hell. Why do I keep going back to that?

Love! I can pray for someone from a distance, even if I want to hit them with a stick. Sticks should never be used for hitting, except in self-defense. Sticks are better for poking things. Gently. But be careful what you poke. Don’t poke a skunk. Don’t poke…

Wait. What was that movie? Oh, it was in a Young Sheldon episode when one of the kids questioned a compliment and Mee Maw said, “Don’t poke at it.” Or maybe she said, “Don’t go pokin at it.” Yes, I like that show. I didn’t watch it for a long time, thinking it would be…. IDK…shall we say, not my cup of tea. But I have discovered it’s funny and comforting. Mee Maw (played by Annie Potts) is Sheldon’s grandma. She’s usually sassy, but not always. I wish I could be a little more like that sometimes, even though some things she says might not be aren’t very loving to her son in law. (Is she like my alter-ego? Would I even like her in real life?) Anyway, she loves her grandkids, daughter and even, deep down, her son in law. Love always wins.

One time we saw Mee Maw’s human side when she secretly tried to use Sheldon’s new computer and cautiously picked up the mouse like it was a microphone and said, “Hello?”

I couldn’t find that video. But here’s another one that’s typical Mee Maw.

I had zero intention of writing about Mee Maw and Young Sheldon, but that’s where the stream went. I never thought I would like a show like Young Sheldon, but anything is possible. We need a little easy comedy.

I was going to share a video about dogs carrying big sticks. Marley has done that, so there must be a photo.

Marley got him a stick.

Here’s a short video of a smart dog, Theo, figuring it out:

If you really want something, don’t give up. Be like Theo. Keep trying!

FYI, Youtube has lots of video of dogs with big sticks.

~~~

For more about Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: It’s Okay to Start Over

Feeling overwhelmed is something I try to avoid. When you’ve lived 67 years, you start to learn what overwhelms you, like too many social events in one week, too many appointments, a crowded room where a lot of people are talking and not being able to hear the person next to you.

Thankfully, I’m not overwhelmed as often as I used to be before I retired. I just have to learn to not take on too much, as in volunteer work, community activism, and damn social events since I have embraced my inner introvert. It’s not that I’m anti-social, but I don’t do well at events that are purely social. Just the thought makes me cringe. So ENOUGH OF THAT!

I’m starting this post over.

But first, here’s my plan:

It might not always happen, but peace is a priority in my life. Do you hear that, mind? Step away from the drama and go to the light.

One of the things I learned in recovery meetings for codependency, overeating, or other side doors to recovery, is this:

“You can start your day over at any time.”

You can start your day over at 11pm if you want to. The past can’t change and maybe I messed up earlier in the day, but nothing can ruin my entire day, because there can be good moments mixed in among the bad ones. But those are judgements. As many of us have learned, something “bad” can eventually turn into something “good.”

In starting the day over, a deep breath can help. In my yoga class, we do this thing where we open our arms wide, raise our hands overhead so that our fingers touch in an overhead arch, then bring our hands straight down in front of our body as we makes a shhhhhhhsh sound. Sometimes I wiggle my fingers like rain is washing away the tension. We so it three times. It’s pretty simple, and I should/will use it more often at home…. or at social events when I retreat to the bathroom.

Starting over. What a good thing to be able to do.

After looking up songs about starting over, this cover was my favorite:

Are we ever too old to start over?

I don’t think so. What I really mean is, hell no!

Happy Mother’s Day to ALL Mothers,

including dog mothers, cat mothers, horse mothers…..

Peace and blessings to all.

~~~

For details on SoCS,

head on over to Linda’s blog

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: High Hopes, Trinity Center, and Marley Gets Ice Cream

Today’s prompt from Linda is to think of a song from our childhood and start writing. The first song that popped into my head was, “High Hopes.” Not knowing the whole song, or even who sang it, I decided to do a little research before I started typing the stream. The song was sung and made popular by Frank Sinatra in a 1959 movie called, A Hole in the Head. The song won an Oscar, so must have been played a lot on the radio when I was a kid. I remember by older sister singing it. She was ten years older than me. Dad must have sung it, too. They both liked to sing and many years later, sang together in my sister’s church when my parents visited them in California.

Now, I find myself missing them – my parents and both sisters have passed on to the other side. I can almost hear them singing, “High Hopes,” in that faraway place, or like they are closer now, whispering the song in my ear, wanting me not to be melancholy, because they are happy and I have a lot to be thankful for.

One thing I am thankful for is my husband, David. Last weekend he led the Cursillo weekend at Trinity Center near Atlantic Beach, NC, and I joined him on Sunday for the closing ceremony and stayed overnight. I have pictures of the scenery for today’s gallery. But first, back to that song…

They sing about an ant trying to move a rubber tree plant and a ram trying to punch a hole in a dam, which are unlikely, UNLESS the ant and the ram get help. Working together and with perseverance, we can accomplish a lot and make our dreams become realities.

I have high hopes for peace and that humans will learn to cooperate and work together to heal this precious planet Earth. I have high hopes that my adult kids will find comfortable and affordable homes where they want to live. I’m thankful they have jobs and supportive partners.

What are your high hopes?

Here are some photos from after Cursillo when David began unwinding and processing. He actually went to Trinity Center on Wednesday to start preparing for the event with team members. The pilgrims arrived Thursday evening. So, by Sunday evening, there was a lot to process.

Cursillo Memories

David and Me

Trinity Center Accommodations

Trinity Center View

Tunnel under road to beach

Tunnel to beach

Rough Surf

Processing

Unwinding

Connecting

Dune

Trinity Pond at Sunset

Thursday evening, we took Marley for some ice cream. I saved him some vanilla and some cone. Dogs should NEVER have chocolate.

Vegan Blueberry and Vanilla

No chocolate for Dogs!

Marley gets vanilla

~~~

For more streams, songs, and SoCS guidelines,

visit out host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Yesterday, Today, and Scrambled Eggs

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “yes.” Find a word that starts with “yes” or use the word “yes” as is. Bonus points if you start your post with the word you choose. Enjoy!

The first thing I thought of was the Beatles song, “Yesterday.” Such a sad, but pretty song. “Why she had to go, I don’t know, she wouldn’t say, ” That’s a mystery right there. But the clue may be that he said something wrong.

It’s funny how things can seem so wrong but eventually turn out right. Funny and good. I don’t long for yesterday, though I might have in 1972 the day after 15-year-old David, my first boyfriend, moved so far away with his family. Today, the 66-year-old David, now my husband, is leading a spiritual “Cursillo” weekend at the beach. I’ll be joining them Sunday for the closing service.

Who would have guessed? Neither one of us.

God can take something wrong and, in time, make it work out better in a way we never expected.

Just goes to show….

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow’s a mystery.

Today is a gift.

That’s why they call it the present.

I stepped out of the stream a bit to research the song, “Yesterday,” and came across this little piece of fun. Now I want scrambled eggs but will have to find a substitute since I’m vegan, like Paul changes chicken wings to tofu wings since he’s a vegetarian. I can always have a tossed salad without the scrambled eggs, but that’s another song…. from Frazier.

Have a wonderful day!

~~~

For details on the Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Remembering “Little Turtle,” Flowers, and John Denver

Don’t make a scene. Unless you’re painting. That would be my usual goal. Lately, I’ve become less and less tolerant of drama, especially when it’s violent.

But on this Earth Day, I can’t forget about the violence in Atlanta in January. I don’t want to forget about Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, which means, Little Turtle. Tortuguita was an environmental activist camped out in a forested area near Atlanta on the site proposed for what they called “Cop City.” His family denies allegations that he shot and wounded a police officer. The recently released coroner’s report states the body of 26-year-old Manuel had 57 gunshot wounds which resulted in his death after police opened fire.

57 gunshot wounds.

I wonder if I would have protested clearing the forested land for a huge police training center if I lived in Atlanta or if it was proposed for my city. I can’t imagine carrying a gun, but then, I would not have camped out there. Maybe when I was 21, I might have camped out to protest. But not with a gun. A baseball bat is the deadliest weapon I’ve ever kept nearby – behind my door. Thankfully, I’ve never used a weapon. My environmental activism is generally as peaceful as I can make it: not eating meat, buying eco laundry sheets that come in recycled brown paper envelope, reusable grocery bags, letting the trees grow in my backyard urban forest… pretty safe stuff.

I’m just wondering….. and I don’t want to forget Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, Little Turtle.

Yeah, I’m a little down at the moment of writing this. But I’ll be okay. Getting outside helps. I’m still recovering from a virus (negative for covid and flu) and have a lingering cough and congestion. My cup runneth over with invitations and events I could go to, but I’m being very selective, being mindful of my energy level. I do enjoy walking Marley around the neighborhood in the evenings. It’s the highlight of my day.

So that’s where the lions are! I was wondering.

The house on the corner has been vacant for as long as I can remember. I don’t get it. The nice thing is that, in between occasional mowings, wildflowers take over. Thank God for flowers.

Spiderwort Abundance

See the face?

A favorite of bees

spiderwort close up

Speaking of flowers, here’s a John Denver song to lift our spirits.

~~~

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was: “scene.” Use it any way you like. Have fun!

For details about SoCS and more streams,

visit our host, Linda G. Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: No One Person has a Monopoly on the Entire Truth, but Together….

Today’s prompt: “starts with mono.” Find a word that starts with “mono” and use it in your post. Enjoy!

It’s very unlikely that I have mono. I have been fighting a virus for almost a week. Thankfully my immune system is working along with the vaporizer I used last night since I feel better tonight (Friday pm) than Thursday. Vaporizer sounds like a weapon from Star Trek/Wars. Maybe it’s a humidifier, but it’s small like the vaporizer my parents had when I was little. Anyway, it helps. Maybe taking an intentional break from Facebook has helped, too.

The mono prompt has many other possible streams. ~~~ It’s okay to be single. Having a dog helps. Or a cat. Being married now is like icing on the cake. But my life was good cake with or without the icing. I’m glad I decided to trust God’s plan and to trust the timing of that plan.

Monotheism is an interesting topic. Most people would probably say that Christianity is a monotheistic religion, in spite of the holy Trinity – three in one. Personally, I believe there are many paths and manifestations of one most high God. This is illustrated by the story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” which I recently mentioned to another blogger. There are multiple versions of this story. Each man experiences the elephant from a different perspective, and each thinks his experience is the whole elephant.

I like how the narrator concludes that the only thing the blind men were entirely wrong about was that each thought he was entirely right.

What might happen if this story was about six blind women and the elephant? Do you think the outcome would be different? Do you think they might have listened to each other better? Maybe one woman would say, “Hey, Flo, come over here and feel this part!”

That would change the story, but not necessarily the message. Maybe they would start to argue, but then investigate further. The message is as important today as ever. No one has a monopoly on the entire truth. We have different experiences. Let’s listen to each other and learn from each other’s experiences. Maybe we won’t change our minds every time, but we might have a better understanding.

Some of the photos in today’s gallery can be interpreted various ways. For example, the fallen monkey toy is a good sign that Mama Cat, normally a cave dweller, played with the monkey I put on the top of her cat tree at bedtime. Most mornings, it’s on the floor. This time, it was on her window seat.

fallen monkey

Dragon or brontosaurus cloud

on our last trip, I forgot the forks

Rat snake in the barn

Underground shark?

Or cypress knob?

An painting by Joannaoftheforest

The painting above was done on a piece of bare wood in the kitchen. I did not plan on it being so strange. I started by following the grain in the wood, but guess I ended up following the stream of consciousness.

~~~

For more streams and info on SoCS,

visit out wonderful host,

Linda G. Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Antic Words, Intellect + Heart in Jane Goodall’s Book of Hope, A Veteran’s Perspective on Guns, Carly Simon, the Atlantic Ocean, and Pictures from My Hike

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “antic.” Use it as a word or find a word that contains it. Bonus points if you do both. Enjoy!

I confess to looking up the word, pedantic, because I’ve heard or rather read it a few times, but wasn’t really sure what it meant. Don’t want to use that word, but I might. I further confess to looking up words that rhyme with pedantic. This was not planning, it was just curiosity, BEFORE I even began to write the stream.

Words that rhyme with pedantic…. I’d much rather be romantic than frantic or pedantic. But if one is too romantic, one might end up being frantic about trying to get away from someone pedantic. This might happen because we need both the heart and the brain, working together for the best outcome. “Follow your heart, but take your brain with you,” is a quote I use in my short book about finding a healthy relationship.

Speaking of books, hearts, and brains, I’m reading Jane Goodall’s The Book of HOPE. It’s written as this guy Douglas Abrams interviewing her, but very personal, not at all pedantic. I went to get the book to see if I could find the quote. This is not planning; this was just stepping out of the stream for 30 seconds. Well, I’m not going to look that hard for it. It was in the chapter about the “amazing human intellect” being one of the things that gives her hope. BUT and this is a big but, we need the heart, as in compassion, to work with the intellect and the intellect to work with the heart. We need intelligence and compassion. It reminds me of how we need both knowledge and ethics. But human knowledge is overreaching and sometimes lacking in ethics and compassion.

My intellect says, people do have a right to own guns, though not necessarily automatic assault weapons. Why would anyone need those, unless they are paranoid or watch too many doomsday movies that I’m trying to stay away from so as not to give them power. Compassion for our children and other beings says there need to be limits, boundaries, so that the gun ownership is “well-regulated” as the second amendment states.

I recently read an article by a military veteran who makes a case for implementing strict regulations on guns like they have in the military and apply these regulations to society and guns in general. He wrote that on most military bases, people are not allowed to carry concealed weapons for example. I did not mean to write about guns, but that’s what happens sometimes in the stream of consciousness. Here’s the article from my Goodnewspaper: A Veteran’s Case for Implementing Military Gun Standards in Our Society.

Personally, I’d rather not have anything to do with guns. I’d rather go for a stroll along the Atlantic Ocean or hike in the mountains. Did I share the video of our flight over the Atlantic? I’ll have to check that and come back to it.

Meanwhile, here’s a song with antic in it:

I love Carly Simon.

Okay, in case you’ve been anticipating the flying video… I’m having trouble finding it. Plus, it makes me a little nauseous just to look at it. But here are some of my pictures of the Atlantic ocean: (click to see the whole picture.)

Now for the hike! It had been about two years since I last hiked this rocky trail next to the river. My feet seemed to have wings as I leapt from rock to rock. April Fools! Seemed like I was much nimbler in the past. This time, my feet were hesitant. But I did not get frantic. I heeded the caution sign, took my time and even sat down and butt-scooted over rocks once or twice.

Caution Sign

What’s around the bend?

I might have scooted down here.

Steps

Same steps with pool

Mossy rocks

leaning toward the light

View from between

Anybody home?

Heading back

Worth the view

Imagine the sound

Face in rock

Hill across the river

fungi on tree

(There are a few more photos from my hike I’m saving for a tree love post.)

~~~

I hope you enjoyed this rambling stream of consciousness.

For more streams, rules, and such,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: 3/25/23: Reaching the Bottom of the Laundry Hamper and Other Natural Highs

Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “the last thing you emptied.” Think of the last thing you emptied or something you empty often and use it as your prompt any way you like. Have fun!

We arrived at the mountain house late Thursday afternoon. I thought David had gotten everything out of the back of the car, then discovered he had not gotten the yoga mats and something else. I forget what. Hopefully, I will actually use a yoga mat while I’m here. Probably Monday, or tomorrow, when the kids will be going to see their paternal grandfather who’s in town for the visit since some family have come from Indiana.

In preparation for the trip, I washed clothes and actually got to the bottom of my laundry hamper. That had not happened in a while, so I got to empty little pieces of debris that had collected in the bottom. They looked like tiny pieces of leaves which are abundant in the home of this tree lover. But I really don’t want to know. Now, it’s clean at the bottom.

What’s something more interesting I could write about? Surely there are interesting things that have happened or been talked about. The air here in the NC mountains is fresher than on the coast. The trees are different and have more of an earthy-airy smell, while on the coast, there are different kinds of pine needles, sand, and more pollen since Spring comes earlier. My sinuses are not empty but seem less stuffy. I was reading about the worst cities for allergies. They only looked at big cities, and I don’t think mine was quite big enough, so didn’t make the top 20 list, though Raleigh, the state capital, did. Florida had more cities than any other state.

On Friday, I did a two short hikes with grandkids with a nap in between and more to come. Here are a few photos so far:

On our first night we saw a smiling crescent moon with maybe ? Venus above. My phone camera does not even come close to doing the scene justice, so just imagine it being a smiling crescent moon.

The moon and Venus ?

Do you see a face in the mossy tree trunk below?

Do you see a little green man stepping out of the cave?

I swear my only high was and is a natural one.

Mossy trunk and more

Mountain Stream in Early Spring

Kids in the clouds

~~~

For more on Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Scotch Tape, 8 Track Tapes, Duct Tape, and My First Airplane Flight with David as Pilot

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “tape.” Use it as a noun or a verb. Use it any way you like. Enjoy!

It’s Friday evening at 8:16. Earlier this afternoon, after reading the prompt, I became curious about the history of tape. Seems like it’s a relatively recent invention in the big tapestry of time. Tapestry, by Carol King is one of my favorite albums, by the way. But we will come back to music, if the stream goes that way.

“Scotch” tape was a brand name and a household marvel in the 50s and 60s. It was developed to help make a dividing line between paint colors on cars staring around the 1920s. Before Scotch Tape, there was glue and paste, wrapping things in paper, and string. There was a video I watched not long ago about wrapping presents in cloth – like small blankets or bandanas. Very cool way to save resources and reduce waste.

After Scotch tape became a common household tool, there were tape recorders. Or maybe tape recorders were about the same time or earlier. When my dad was overseas in Vietnam, he sent a recording of himself talking to Mom for her to play on the tape recorder which had two small reels. Later there were 8 track tapes that took the place of vinyl record albums, but not completely. I still have a box of vinyls that held up way better than 8 track tapes. But you could play 8 tracks in your CAR! and that was amazing at the time. When David and I dated in the 70s, he had a case of 8 tracks that he brought with him when we hung out with friends. I’m sure Jethro Tull was one of the tapes. Then there were cassette tapes. Sometimes the tape player would eat the tape. If a whole loop came out without breaking, you could sometimes wind it back in with a pencil and it might still play. Then there were VHS tapes for the TV, another amazing invention at the time – to be able to record a TV show or watch a movie whenever you want was quite a revolution for someone who liked TV.

Oh, remember taping posters on your wall as a teenager? Now, it’s considered tacky, but back then, it was fun.

Tape. So many ways to go with this. Duct tape is pretty versatile. I had a coworker years ago who said he (or someone else) needed duct tape on their mouth to keep from saying something inappropriate in a staff meeting.

I have a picture of duct tape on windows somewhere.

Speaking of windows, I have to be careful next time I fly with David in a small plane to not look out the side windows much. Motion sickness has always been a problem for me. Dramamine has usually helped a lot in big commercial planes and on boats, so I figured two Dramamine would work for my first private plane trip with my husband David as pilot. I didn’t quite throw up but came very close.

The first half of the 30-minute flight was interesting as I made myself think of something other than my fear of heights and that I might die. It was fascinating to look down at the Atlantic Ocean and intracoastal waterway. I took a bunch of pictures which probably didn’t help. After turning around to go back to the airport, I started feeling worse and worse nausea to the point of feeling miserable for the second half of the flight.

Before our next flight, I’m going to research additional motion sickness remedies, including pressure points on top of medication, and I’ll try to minimize looking down over the side…. next time.

Our flying club rental

Seating

Dashboard

Roads and waterways

Carolina Coastline

Inlet

Pier and Waves

Large brush fire

Waterways and Beach

David flying toward Carolina Beach

David did an excellent job as pilot. I’m proud of him for working hard to accomplish his flying goals. There are not many people I would trust to fly me in such a small plane. I hope next time, I’ll be able to enjoy the flight more.

~~~

For more on Stream of Consciousness Saturday, visit

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by clicking HERE.