SoCS: Mats, Mutts, and Mosaics

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “mat/met/mitt/mot/mutt.” Choose one or use them all, any way you’d like in your post. Have fun!

I’m not planning a bit, even a minimal as the rules allow if I recall. Not to say I plan a lot or at all on other weeks, but sometimes I mull over the prompt before I start writing the stream. Today, I’m just writing.

No idea what to do with mot. Mottled? Is mot a word? should I look it up? Na. Not right now. I’ll go to the mat. I got a really thick yoga mat for my feet and knees, but it’s harder to balance on, so I went back to the regular yoga mat that lives in my car waiting to go to yoga class. The thick mat might come in handy if I ever go camping again or want to lie out on the deck.

We’ve used an old yoga mat for Marley to practice staying in “PLACE.” We should practice that more and not just use it when we practice being calm and lying down when Mama Cat is on the other side of the gate. The command comes in handy, and Marley’s pretty good at it in situations where there is control and Mama Cat stays behind the gate. We would not try it otherwise. Maybe one day….

Marley’s still a bit fixated

David has been getting Marley to lie down when they see a cat on walks – just until he is calmer, though Marley is on high alert when there’s a cat around outside. He’s become less reactive to squirrels, but when the squirrels get close to taunt my mutt, he gets excited.

Mutts are great dogs. I’ve read that they are often healthier with a diverse mix of genes. I don’t know if I like the word mutt as it’s got a sort of negative connotation. Mixed breed might be better. Heinze 57 is okay, I guess, but could there really be a dog with 57 different breeds all mixed together like a melting pot? Who knows? I know there are plenty of mutts and mixed breeds who need homes.

There’s a quote by Jimmy Carter about how we’re not a melting pot, but something better. I’ll go fetch it.

We become not a melting pot

but a beautiful mosaic.

Different people, different beliefs,

different yearnings,

different hopes, different dreams.

Jimmy Carter

A woman at my church, Alice, is a kitchen designer. For fun she makes mosaics from tiles, broken glass, found objects, and melted marbles. She’s donated several to our church. Here are some of her creations:

Doves over a wave

random close up

Tree

Weave Us Together

Mother Nature also makes mosaics:

Maybe one day I’ll make a mosaic out of my big bottle cap collection.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness and the rules,

visit out host, Linda Hill

By clicking HERE.

Tree Love: A Network of Energy Above and Below Ground

“Messages hum from out of the bark she leans against. Chemical semaphores home in over the air. Currents rise from the soil-gripping roots, relayed over great distances through fungal synapses linked up in a network the size of the planet.” Richard Powers, The Overstory

This could be a doorway to the secret underground network:

Look closely. See the door?

Doorway Tree

Trees with moss

Spanish Moss

Before yoga class at the senior center, I’m just looking for tree shade to park under. After yoga class, I am more aware of the trees themselves. They call to me with an energy stronger than the noise of highway traffic. Their energy is always there, of course. When we pay close attention, we feel the trees hum and allow ourselves to be entranced.

Spanish Moss Swaying in the Breeze

~~~

Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.
For more Tree Love, visit Parul at Happiness and Food.

SoCS: The Conservation Kid, Osteoporosis, and Forward Bends

 Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt is: “the first 2-5 words at the top of the closest printed matter.” 

There’s a Goodnewsletter open on my coffee table with a story I was thinking about including in my Good News Tuesday post but have not used in the month it’s been sitting there. Now I can use it and move it. Here’s the title on the open page: “Meet the Kid on a Mission to Pick up One Million Pounds of Litter in 2022.” Twelve-year-old Cash Daniels is known as “The Conservation Kid.” Cash and his friends spend “several hours each week picking up trash along the Tennessee River.” Kids like cash give me hope for our future.

(The above is all that would save Friday night when I normally write my SoCs post. The auto-save seemed to be circling, so I had a feeling…. This morning, I’m going back to try to re-create the second part but will try to stay in SoC mode.)

The other printed material nearby is from my medical folder and includes reports on previous bone density tests showing I have osteoporosis. This has not been addressed in a couple of years since my beloved gynecologist who was treating me went and retired. Like my beloved dentist retired. The nerve! Now all my doctors are clearly younger than me. Maybe it’s because I’m retired. (Yay!)

Anyway, I waited 18 months for an appointment with a rheumatologist. 18 months to get in! It gave me time to look up, rheumatologist. They deal with muscular-skeletal stuff and immune system issues, chronic pain, etc. Okay, good.

This rheumatologist said to me, “You’re pretty young to have osteoporosis.”

“Oh, really?”

“Did you ever smoke cigarettes?”

“Yes, in my twenties, for about ten years. A pack or two a day.” (Mostly a pack.)

“That could do it,” he said.

Sigh. “I thought I was over that. I thought my body had overcome that.” I don’t remember my exact words. I felt a bit deflated. He said something about smoking taking years from my bones or adding years. I looked it up. Smoking cigarettes decreases bone density. It just took a long time to catch up with me.

We can’t change the past, but we can do what we can now. (If anyone needs help quitting smoking, I have good experience.) I can look up exercise for bone density on YouTube as the doc suggested. I didn’t find anything that would be good to post here, but what I did find out (from multiple youtube sources) is that people with osteoporosis should NOT do crunches or forward bends. WT? We do forward bends regularly in my senior yoga class “Gentle Yoga for Back and Bones.” It’s not always gentle by the way. I’m good at forward bends. This needs more research and maybe I won’t push the forward bends. Maybe I’ll be more relaxed about them. This needs more research. Has anyone ever heard about this?

Maybe I’ll leave most (not all) of the trash picking up to the young conservation kids, or I’ll get one of those picking up sticks.

Below is one of the roosters at the sanctuary doing a forward bend in front a mirror.

~~~

For more about Stream of Consciousness Saturday, visit our wonderful host,

Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Handsome is Just Icing on the Cake

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

visit Linda Hill’s post by clicking HERE.

SoCS: A Sigh of Relief with a Side of Laughter

Today’s SoCS prompt is: “contains ‘igh.’” Find a word that contains the letters “igh” in that order and use it in your post. Enjoy!

The first thing that came to mind was, sigh. It’s a word that sometimes had a negative connotation, as in an expression of sadness, but it can be much more… healing even, as in a sigh of relief.

There was a sigh of relief when the house was quiet after my beloved grandchild was taken home by her parents. We had loads of fun going to the beach and the aquarium, watching the movie, Bumblebee, who is a VW Beatle who transforms into and autobot with a heart. Still, I am thankful that women have been designed, evolved, or whatever to not be able to have babies after a certain age. I can do a lot in bursts of energy, but my stamina is nothing like it used to be.

What else gives us a sigh of relief? I was writing in the family history about my dad retiring from 20 years in the corps. I bet there was a big sigh with that. And my own retirement after 30 years in the addiction/mental health field. How do I spell relief? RETIREMENT.

I will be relieved when the fire works are over. But how can you really be sure? Fireworks can be beautiful, and I love sparklers, but I worry about all the dogs who shiver in the corner or “escape” in terror and become lost. Then there are the veterans and others with PTSD. I’m sure some of them don’t mind fireworks, but I wonder how many? And people with autism being overstimulated. There is such a thing as silent/quiet fireworks. They’ve been used in other countries. If you an put a man on the moon, you can make quiet fireworks.

In yoga, we are sometimes encouraged to sigh with vocals, to take a deep breath and say, Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh on the exhale. The body hears that release and the relief is enhanced. That’s the theory anyway. I’m trying it now. Seems nice.

Sometimes a sigh is just a sigh, like a kiss is just a kiss. The fundamental things apply as time goes by.

But sometimes, a sigh is a good thing. I sigh when I get a massage. It helps me be mindful and really enjoy the release instead of thinking about my grocery list or some irrelevant imagining.

In most cases, a sigh is better than a scream. What might be even better is starting with a sigh and letting it turn into a laugh, then back into a sigh. Try it!

What brings you a sigh of relief?

There are all kinds of YouTube videos about yoga and sighing. Here’s a really short one by Laura Gentry who has a whole bunch of short videos on laughter yoga for commuters. They’re kinda silly and weird, but they’d keep me from falling asleep for sure. (Sigh.)

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

plus the ups, downs, ins, and outs of the SoCS rules, please visit out host, Linda Hill at:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS July 3, 2021 | (lindaghill.com)

If you like paranormal romance, check out Linda’s books!

SoCS: Choices Matter. Except When They Don’t.

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was: “choices.” Base your post on the subject of making small, uneventful choices. Enjoy!

Hmmm. Are there really uneventful choices? Maybe what I eat or decide to watch on TV is relatively uneventful. But they do effect how I feel, a little or a lot. Watching Captain Phillips about the real life pirates was intense. I’m sure my blood pressure was up.  The choice to go to yoga class has become a habit that always makes me feel better.

The choice to start dating when my divorce was final almost 20 years ago seemed relatively uneventful, but it was a mistake. I was still much more vulnerable than I thought. It led to an addictive and unhealthy relationship. Is addiction a choice? Nobody, well probably nobody, starts out saying, I want to become addicted to whatever. Seemingly uneventful choices can lead to big events. Who we go to dinner with, who we text or call, what street we walk down, can lead to a chain of events that make a huge difference over time.

In 1971, my friend Caroline invited this guy from her class to Terry’s party. His name was David, and he turned out to be my first boyfriend. But his family moved back up north at the end of tenth grade, and I thought I’d never see him again. In 2011, David sat down at his computer 700 miles away from where I lived. Did he know when he found Caroline after all those years that I’d be on the top of her Facebook friends list, that he’d find me and we’d end up getting married in 2012?

Certainly he didn’t know this consciously. When we met for our second first date in July of 2011, I didn’t consciously know that saying yes to that date, or yes to his request to call me, would lead to us getting married. But we were SO excited. It was like on some level, we knew this was important. Extremely. Eventful.

Back to the prompt. Small, uneventful choices. Surely there must be some. Maybe it’s hard to think about examples because I often overthink things. I’m sure there have been many times when I stressed about a decision, and it turned out to be uneventful. And unrememberable.

Maybe singing a song would be a small choice when I find myself humming a tune without realizing it. Was that a choice? Not really, until I realize what I’m doing, then I can sing it out loud, dance in the living room like no one’s watching but the dog, but she’s probably asleep and can’t see well anyway because she’s very geriatric. Getting a dog is a choice not to be taken lightly. It’s a lifelong responsibility for the life of that dog or cat. Eventful.

Mary Moo, last of the 5 pack.

 

I’m having a hard time trying to think of uneventful choices. Maybe what color clothes I wear. If they don’t match, I don’t much care anymore – not like I used to. I’m not working in an office anymore. I’m an artist and a writer. I get to wear whatever I want. Lately it’s yoga pants and a hoodie. Even when I don’t have yoga class.

(Except it’s usually green tea for me.)

 

I like wearing what I feel like. Yeah. Life is good. Simple. Even if you’re life isn’t good or simple, look for the moments when it is. That’s a choice. Like not watching the news, or being picky about what news you choose. But that’s another post for Tuesday. 🙂

…

For more choice streams of consciousness, visit Linda G. Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/31/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-1-2020/

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!

 

One-Liner Wednesday: It’s a Gray Area

My daughter just turned 26. Sometimes she’s more available by text. I texted her about my yoga class at the senior center.

Daughter: Lol why do you go the the senior center? Are you ACTUALLY considered a senior now?

Me: (My friend from high school) got me to sign up with her. The senior center is for people 55 and older. I’m 63.

Daughter: At what age are people considered seniors?

Me: It’s a gray area. Lol.

Daughter: LOL that’s a good one.

We have some good conversations via text. But I still prefer to see her in person so I can kiss her cheek.

…

For more info on One Liner Wednesday, (and more one-liners) visit:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/06/05/one-liner-wednesday-coffee/

 

A Conversation with Worry

“This worrying is not helping anything!”

“We’re not worrying, we’re planning. We have to be prepared!”

“Speak for yourself. You want to prepare for the worst. You seem to like to imagine the worst. What a waste of time! How many times have I prepared for the worst, got all stressed about it, and the worst didn’t happen. I’d rather prepare for the best! The best has happened, you know: a good husband, retirement, financial stability…. Good things do happen!”

“But what if  something bad happens? What about natural disasters? What about evil aliens? Zombies? Go ahead and roll your eyes. You took First Aid and CPR classes didn’t you?’

“Yes. It was required for my job.”

“You took those classes so you’d be prepared in case of an emergency. That’s just being smart.”

“Oh, Worry. That’s different. You’re trying to get me to imagine all sorts of bad things happening. I don’t even want to go there. Just stop it!”

“The truth is, I’m scared. Imagining how to handle a crisis makes me feel….stronger. Prepared!”

“I’m sorry you’re scared. But imagining the worst is bad for my nerves. And my heart. Stress is not good for the body you know, unless you can run it out – release it somehow. Hey! How about we go for a walk?”

“I don’t know. It might rain. And there are crazy people out there in the world…”

“Well, let’s just go out in the backyard and do some yoga.”

“Okay, but watch out for the dog poop.”

“A little dog poop never hurt anybody. But I will watch out for it.”

“You could pick it up, too.”

“Right. Maybe after the yoga.”

“If you pick it up first —”

“INHALE…………… EXHALE into forward bend.”

“Don’t throw your back out.”

“I’m being careful.”

“Thank you.”

…

This stream-of-consciousness conversation with my old friend, Worry, was inspired by Harlon at “A Patient Voice” and his post about worry.

Program Nurtures Young Men in Baltimore #WATWB

Project Pneuma strives to teach young men and boys “the art of forgiveness, self-control and discipline while giving them exposure to a new world of endless possibilities.” I was intrigued and encouraged by this program’s holistic approach incorporating martial arts, yoga, meditation, and love.

“The Mission of Project Pneuma is to Breathe New Life holistically into the young men we serve by challenging them intellectually, strengthening them physically, nurturing them emotionally and uplifting them spiritually.”

For more information, visit: http://www.projectpneuma.org/

This post is part of the We Are the World Blog Fest which takes place on the forth Friday of each month. #WATWB is hosted by  Andrea Michaels, Damyanti Biswas, Inderpreet Uppal, Shilpa Garg, Susan Scott and Sylvia Stein.

SoCS: Panting in Yoga Class

Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt is the word, “pant,” brought to you by Linda Hill at:  https://lindaghill.com/2017/08/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-1917/

I’ve been getting back into yoga lately, going to a class about once a week. Usually I go to a “gentle” class or something called “flow.” But last week I decided to try something different: kundalini yoga. WP says I didn’t spell it right. Who cares. The class theme for that day was letting go of anger. At one point we were pounding our  fists on blankets and I almost started crying, because that’s what I often do when I’m angry, cry. There was a lot of breath work, too. At another point, the instructor had us panting like dogs with our tongues sticking out.

A photo by my daughter, Ayla, who loves dogs.

I like dogs. No, I love dogs. But I’m not that good at panting. It reminded me of natural childbirth all those eons ago. The childbirth panting helped for a while, but eventually I gave in and had a shot of stadol. With both births. Oh, well. The kundalini panting wasn’t so bad, but for the rest of the day and night, my throat was dry and scratchy. I hope I released lots of anger that I didn’t know I had all bottled up inside me.

The best thing I got out of this class was a chant that went,

“From now on, I send you only love.”

That’s for ourselves and anyone we had the anger at since I guess it’s gone now, right?  I was thinking I’d say that to myself in the mirror. “From now on, I send you only love.” And then maybe I’ll stick my tongue out and pant and laugh at myself. Laughter is the best medicine after all.

This morning I’m going to that same yoga studio (where I plan to stick with gentle and flow classes that my body has come to crave – but not to the point of panting) and I’m facilitating a workshop called, “Finding Your Soulmate While Loving Yourself.” It’s based on what I learned in my life about that, which is all in my book, Trust the Timing. One thing that I’ve clarified as I’ve thought about the workshop is I moved from being cynical to being accepting of whatever God had planned for me as far as a soulmate was concerned. I found a place balanced between cynical and desperate. Because I really did NOT want to be desperate. That gets you in all kinds of trouble, panting after some guy…nope, not for me, not anymore. Never again.

If you’d like me to come to your town and do a workshop on soulmates or loving yourself, I’d be happy to consider it, especially if there is a beach or some mountains near where you live. We can do some guided imagery about loving yourself and/or being happy and cozy with your soulmate, but we will NOT do any panting. I promise.

From now on, I send you only love. Pant, Pant.

Congratulations to J-Dub for our new SoCS Badge!

Here are the rules for the Saturday Stream of Consciousness:

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. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on 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 simply a single word to get your 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 everyone’s! 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 right 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!