SoCS: Life is Precious with Old Dogs and Dogwoods

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was “beside you.” Linda says: “…write about whatever is beside you when you read this prompt. Not when you sit down to write, but whatever is beside you right now. Take note of it if you think you might forget. Enjoy!”

Well that’s different! When I read the prompt a few minutes ago, I was sitting on the couch by myself, so there was nothing beside me but the couch cushion. I had been thinking about picking up Mary Moo and putting her beside me while I was looking to see if there’s anything I want to have on the TV while I do this SoCS. The TV is often background noise because that’s how I was brought up, though I’ve had it off all day since Star Trek was not on BBC today.

I’m breaking the rules now and re-writing from this point the post I wrote earlier, before I read the sobering statistics which are more than just statistics. I’m still trying to do the SOC thing, though. I wrote about my old dog Mary Moo and getting up with her Thursday at 2am when I heard her whining. She was standing in her bed with her head bent over on the floor and couldn’t figure out how to get out of this position. It’s like “head pressing” which is where a neurological problem makes a dog stand with head pressed against the wall. I think it’s comforting for them – gives a sense of security. Mary is almost 18 and losing strength in her back legs. She’s also deaf and almost blind. Any day now it might be time to say goodbye.

I think I’ve been trying to escape from the reality of the coronavirus. But tonight, after I typed up my first SoCS post with too many details about my old dog while I was feeling a little sorry for myself, my perspective changed when I read about how many people have died in such a short time. It was like my heart dropped into my stomach.

Deep breath.

Life is precious. Every moment is precious, even getting up with an old dog or a baby in the middle of the night. Every day is precious whether rainy or sunny. Every dogwood blossom is precious.  Every bee and every bird.

For those who have not met Mary Moo, this is one of my favorite photos of her:

Mary Moo in the Back Yard Jungle

Here’s another picture of Mary Moo from years ago when we were on a road trip.

Oh, yeah. Saturday (tomorrow as I write this) is Earth Hour is at 8:30 PM. Turn off the lights for an hour for the earth. Oh, I have to turn off the TV too. Maybe I’ll play my guitar.

Here are some photos I’ve been taking around my yard lately. Wait, I have to find something you haven’t seen already. I’ll be back. In the mean time, stay well and stay safe.

 

…

For more streams of consciousness, more info, or to join in,

please visit our host, Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/03/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-28-2020/

Here are the rules: (which I usually follow)
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!

Welcome Wellness

Welcome wellness!

Welcome spring!

Welcome sunshine!

Let us sing!

Sing with the birds

Sing to the trees!

Sing to your neighbors.

Just don’t sneeze.

Go ahead and sneeze.

But turn your head

Or sneeze in your elbow.

Be safe instead.

Welcome life!

Welcome buds!

Welcome blossoms!

Welcome bees!

Welcome geckos

On my tree.

Welcome wellness.

Set us free.

 

I interrupted a couple of geckos on my mimosa tree a couple of days ago. I don’t know if they were fighting or courting. But as I tried to get closer with my phone camera, the closest one turned around and faced me, opening it’s mouth. I didn’t hear a hiss, but that was the effect. I backed off.

This is about the time I got “hissed” at.

Don’t they look like dinosaurs?

My azaleas are looking better than ever. Nature doesn’t know about the virus. Nature continues on, flourishing in spring abundance.

Here’s a photo I took of dogwood blossoms in twilight.

Be well. Welcome wellness! 

…

#SoCS is brought to us by Linda G. Hill.
Today’s prompt was “welcome.”

You’re welcome to join us. For more information, visit:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/03/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-21-2020/

Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

SoCS: Brains, Birds, Trees, Electricity, and Singing in the Wire

Today’s prompt is “wire.”

It’s interesting how many wire thoughts can run through my brain between the time I read the prompt and the time I start writing. Brains are sometimes said to be “hard wired” for certain things. Maybe like, survival. But we don’t hear much about being soft wired for things, which is more often the case. I believe we can override much, ? some, a lot of the wiring in our brains.

I’m wired to be an introvert, but I can override this to a point. Then, I have to have alone time. I like alone time. I might not mind being quarantined, but I don’t want to be sick. I wasn’t going to write about the virus, but it snuck in here, like trash in the stream of consciousness. Damn news. But we need to know some things. I feel sorry for extroverts who get quarantined. I read about some people in Italy singing, but I’m saving that for Good News Tuesday.

Speaking of GNT, I just wrote about… no wait, that was Thursday Tree Love! In TTL (Thursday 🙂 ) I wrote about trees coexisting with electrical wires in the city and the grotesque, well I actually wrote unnatural, forms the electric company cuts the trees into for the electrical wires to have the right of way.  Notice I don’t write “power lines,” because when we lose electricity, we still have power. I made a meme about that. Let me see if I can find it.

This is not the one. It’s just a photo with wires. I bet I have a lot of those.

Okay, I’m still going back for the meme in my computer files….  Here it is:

And then there are the birds on a wire that I wrote about in the post about letting go of my parents’ house. When we were loading the last boxes on the day the house sold, there were four birds on the wire in front of the house. They represented my four family members in heaven (Mom, Dad, and my two sisters.)  Each one flew away, one at a time, and the last one (my father bird) lingered. It was a powerful experience telling me it was okay to let go, to move along in my own journey, that their spirits were alive and well. Oh, yeah, and we were staying at their house when our house was being re-wired.

Here’s that post in case you missed it.

Finally, I keep thinking about a line from a song that goes, “I hear you singing in the wire.” It was a really pretty old song by Glen Campbell. “Wichita Lineman.”  I’m not normally a country music fan, but this song seemed to cross over into 70s soft rock. It always moved me.  Maybe it’s because of the message of hope and perseverance, a love that lives on, and the soothing music.

 

Stay well, everybody! Take good care of yourself. Keep calm and wash your hands.

…

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to us by:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/03/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-14-2020/

Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!

SoCS: Infinity, Time Travel, Doggie Dementia, and the Circle of Life

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “figure.” Use the word “figure” any way you’d like. Have fun!

Go figure. So many ways to use that word, figure. The first thing I thought of was the figure 8. Turned on its side, it’s the sign for infinity.  ∞  is what it looks like from my symbols icon panel.  I bet I can find a better one. Maybe pixabay has one.  Oh yeah, that was a fun little diversion from the stream.

Infinite possibilities in infinite combinations. Where does that line come from? Star Trek maybe. Sounds like something I might have read in a ST novel. Spock might have said it. Maybe I’ll look it up later. Don’t want to divert again right now.

I’m typing this on Friday morning from my home away from home in the mountains. The snow is coming down steadily as I look out my window to the balcony. It’s amazing that I’m here right now. If I could go back in time to myself in say, 1972 or 2001 which were some of my toughest times and tell myself it’s all going to be okay, better than you could imagine! I would, and I will send that message back. I’m imagining putting my arms around that lonely confused teenager and the lonely confused divorced woman many years after that and telling them, “It’s going to be okay. Better than you can even imagine! But you’re going to go through some stuff. It’s not going to be easy, but you can do it. You are strong.”

Wow, I didn’t know that was going to come out.

If you could go back in time to any point in your life, what would you tell yourself?

I’m writing this Friday morning because by grand daughter will be here this afternoon and we’re going to have a sleep over. It’s going to be wild and crazy, but also cozy with bedtimes stories. My grand dog is coming too so my son and his wife can have an out of town date night.

We brought Mary Moo with us. She’s sleeping and it’s 10:19. She’s two months from being 18 and has had some rough nights. Don’t know how much longer she’ll be with us. I read an article about what if we treat death like birth. Maybe I’ll go find it in a minute. It’s been useful in preparing for the coming death of my little mutt, Mary who is the last of our five pack. Taking care of Mary, who is deaf, mostly blind, demented, and has accidents, is like taking care of a baby. We just accept it. That has helped.

Mary Moo doesn’t make figure 8s. She makes circles that get tighter over time. She always circles to the left because of her dementia. Like the circle of life. She’s starting to stir now and I should get her up and take her out for a little walk in the snow with her old wobbly legs and circles to the left.  I’ll be back here after I take her out and see if I can find that article on death and birth.

Well, she’s not quite ready to get up yet. I can understand that.

Here’s the article: What if We Treated Death Like Birth?

 

∞

#SoCS is brought to us by our excellent host, Linda G. Hill. For more information, visit:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/03/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-7-2020/

Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!

SoCS: RESPECT

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “ect.” Find a word with the letters “ect” in it, and base your post on that word. (Not to be confused with “et cetera,” which is “etc.”) Enjoy!”

This might be short. My computer is in the shop with a dying hard drive and its info being transferred to a newer model. It’s been a long time since I did a post from my phone….

I’m not perfect, but I deserve respect. RESPECT. Doesn’t everyone deserve respect? My short, PC answer is, “Yes.” But I’m not 100% sure. There are few things I’m 100% sure of, because, after all, anything is possible.
I could say respectfully, “No thanks. I’m not interested.” But if someone keeps bugging me after I’ve said, no, I might say, “Hell, no.” Or Leave. Me. Alone. If I don’t call them demeaning names, that’s somewhat respectful.
You know who deserves respect? Mother Earth.  I don’t have respect for people who disrespect her.
A long time ago, I read a book called, Ecotopia. It was about a culture of sustainability and respect for Mother Earth that took hold in a big way in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington state. It was a eutopian novel. So Northern CA, Oregon, and Washington state divorced the United States and formed Ecotopia. Maybe this book was ahead of its time. Or maybe we’ll all start waking up and unite for our planet and no body will need to get a divorce from the country. Either way, I hope it’s respectful. Could we have a respectful revolution? They had a “civil war” once. No, let’s not go there. The times they are a changin’.  That’s for sure.

My Saturday morning will be spent planting trees in the inner city. Because that is something within my power. Little pockets of Ecotopia. Tiny but teeming with possibly.

It’ll probably be late Saturday afternoon before I get my new computer and catch up with all the interesting ect streams.
Happy Saturday!

Ha! I just realized that Ecotopia does not contain ect. Well that’s the way the stream of consciousness tumbles, fumbles, and flows.

Here’s a picture from my phone:

Raindrops Hanging from Cedar

Here’s a song:. RESPECT

SoCS is brought to us by Linda Hill. For more information, click here.

 

Mysterious Sounds & a Song from my Heart

 

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was “animal sounds.” “Write about the sounds animals make and how you experience them. Have fun!”

…

It was after midnight. I went out onto the balcony to look at the stars. The darkness was thick like a wool blanket over our mountain hideaway. A few stars peeked out through the evergreen trees. Cool, fresh air filled my lungs and tingled my face and hands.

Then I heard it. It sounded like a duck quacking at first. Then there was a screeching, snarling noise below, maybe fifty feet away. Were the two sounds from the same animal? Were two animals fighting. Was something hurt? I didn’t want to think about that. I waited and the same noise came again, both noises right after each other suggesting it came from the same animal.

Over the next few minutes, the noise repeated. The quacking diminished and the snarling increased.

I would have loved to have heard a wolf howl, or even a coyote. Or a bear grunting. A wolf would be better. When I was five years old my dad was stationed at the naval base on Newfoundland, Canada. We lived on base near some hills where wolves would howl at night. I don’t remember this well, at least not consciously, but oh how I would have appreciated this more much later in life.

After a while, the noise did not come back and the chill sent me back inside. I never found out what animal or animals made that sound. I’ll listen for it when we visit the mountains again.

Years ago, I wrote a song. It was back in high school, kind a corny maybe, but heartfelt. The song was about extinction. I added a stanza more recently, but for some reason, I don’t know where I put the words. I wonder if I can remember it now. I’ll try.

Once you could see

a million brown deer

We knew they’d be here for us

a l w a y s…… a l w a y s

Once you could see

the birds in the sky

We knew they would fly for us

a l w a y s…… a l w a y s

(bridge/guitar solo)

You can still see the birds

You can look, even feel

And they seem almost real

Yet somehow out of place

In their polished glass case.

And the deer in the park

stumble in the dark

And they seem kinds lame

But no one takes blame

For their blindness.

(Here’s the new part:)

Once we could hear

the wolf and the whale

Their voices would sail to us

a l w a y s…… a l w a y s.

But the wolf and the whale

No longer cry

They’re just stars in the sky.

No one stands by

For the singing.

(bridge/guitar)

Still we can see

the birds in the sky

We pray they will fly, always.

Still we might see

A million brown deer

We pray they’ll be here, always.

Still we can hear

the wolf and the whale

May wisdom prevail for them

a l w a y s…… a l w a y s……

© Joanne Macco, aka joannaoftheforest

 

Hard to explain with no editing. I don’t remember if all these words are what I originally wrote, but it’s pretty close. On the guitar, I use chords …. wait let me check…. E, Em, and another chord I don’t know the name of in the beginning. Then there’s a bridge into the sad parts with G, D, A, and Em. Then back to the first chords for the hopeful part.

Dang. I didn’t write about Doodle howling when I tuned my guitar. But you can imagine.

I miss Doodle bug.

…

For more animal sounds in the stream of consciousness, and the rules for #SoCS,

visit Linda’s blog:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/02/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-22-2020/

…

 

From Un-packing Baggage to Dogs in Heaven

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was: “(un)pack.” Use “pack” or its opposite in your post. Have fun!

It’s hard not to plan a little, though one of the rules for SoCS is minimal planning. The minimal planning takes place between when I read the prompt earlier on Friday afternoon and now sit down to write the post Friday evening while watching the pack of democrats debate. I haven’t watched the other debates, but figured I better tonight and there are no really good movies on.

Earlier I thought about writing about how our close friends, spouses, partners help us unpack our baggage, as in family history baggage, like my codependency for example. It  gets processed over and over at deeper levels with my husband. But there is healing as I let go of some baggage and accept that there will always been remnants in those zipper compartments of my luggage. But that’s okay. Progress is the goal, not perfection.

Maybe I’ll come back with examples. Probably not because I want to write about something else.

Dogs are family. They love to be with the pack.  I’m glad this is understood better now than when I was a kid. We didn’t always let our dogs in the house when I was a kid. Now, I can’t imagine not having a dog in the house. When Mary Moo’s gone, I’ll be traveling to see my grand dogs.

I finally got to see the movie, A Dog’s Purpose, on TV. Good thing I saw it on TV and not at the movies, because at the movie theater I would have to hold back my sobbing. There were hard scenes when the dog dies, bringing back memories. But the good news is that the dog comes back into as new dogs. In the movie, you get to see different lives the same dogs lives and how he or she is loved and part of a pack most of the time, but not always. It brought back some sad memories from my childhood.

There were also good memories like waking up early when I was about 9 or 10 and running with a pack of dogs around the neighborhood who had been turned lose overnight.  That brings us to my idea of heaven. I’ve written about it before, but the more we write about something, or speak about it, the more likely it is to happen, right?

When I get to heaven, I will say hello to my family members, hugs and smiles, and Jesus of course. But what I really want to spend most of my time running with my pack of dogs through the woods, diving into a lake, sleeping under the stars, or maybe in a log cabin. My husband can come there, too. Good thing he likes dogs, loves dogs. We’re going to have a big pack!  Here are some of our heavenly pack members who will be waiting for us.

   

 

 

Why do I long for the dogs more than the people in the afterlife? Maybe because the dogs had such short lives, along with my sister (who is pictured above with Lobo in 1974.) We have unfinished business. Or maybe I just love dogs. A Dog’s Purpose Explains why. The love and the laughs are worth all the tears.  And dogs will help you unpack your baggage.

…

For more streams of consciousness, details, and guidelines, visit Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/02/07/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-8-2020/