Category Archives: Animalia

Dog’s Best Friend

Posted on by
14

partners3
“Are you sure, brown dog? Bark if I see ANYTHING at all on the street, and twice as loud if I see NOTHING at all?”

partners2
“Hmmm. Fruity, black currant, vanilla, buttery… I’d say cab-sauvignon aged in oak.”
“I’d say cherry Pop Tart.”

 

partners4
Synchronized Sleeping

The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Partners

 

International Day of Yoga

Posted on by
8

yoga1

June 21st is the United Nations-sanctioned International Day of Yoga (International Yoga Day). United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his Message on the 2016 International Day of Yoga, tells us, “Yoga balances body and soul, physical health and mental well-being.”

Pertinent to this year’s observance of #YogaDay, Ban Ki-moon states:

“Practicing yoga can also help raise awareness of our role as consumers of the planet’s resources and as individuals with a duty to respect and live in peace with our neighbours. All these elements are essential to building a sustainable future of dignity and opportunity for all.”

http://www.un.org/en/events/yogaday/message.shtml

Here are some poses that have definitely improved my mental well-being:

yoga legupwall
legs up the wall pose (Viparita Karani)

 

yoga downward dog
downward-facing dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana.)

 

yoga cow
cow pose (bitilasana)

 

yoga corpse
corpse pose (Shavasana)

 

yoga child
child pose (Balasana)

 

yoga treed pose
treed pose (Squirrelasana)

 

How will you observe International Yoga Day?

Pure White

Posted on by
5

Pure –
1. free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind;
free from extraneous matter.

Free from difference, inferiority, contamination…

Perhaps, just perhaps,
purity is in the eye
of the beholder.

 

pure2
Pure white flowers, tinged in purple.

 

pure3
Pure innocence surrounded by pure white light.

 

pure1
Pure white flame reflected in purely smooth melted wax.

 

pure4
Pure delight and wonder wrapped in pure white fur.

The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Pure

Weekend Coffee Share 6/4/16

Posted on by
21

160604

 

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I am worried about my dog. He hasn’t been well the past few days; lethargic, eating grass (to ease his tummy, I think), and vomiting his food on a few occasions.

Okay, maybe that’s not suitable conversation over coffee. But it’s what’s on my mind.

I grew up in an environment where cats and dogs were primarily consigned to the outdoors. Cats were mousers and dogs were watchdogs. I didn’t understand people’s close relationships with their pets. Something happens to your dog or cat? Okay, feel bad, but then get over it. It’s not like it’s your child or something.

Now I realize that any relationship we hold is a valuable part of who we are. Of course I care more about my children than I do my pets – and I certainly hope all parents would feel that way – but that doesn’t alter the relationship I have with my pets.

You know that phrase “it’s all relative”… not true, in my opinion. If something happens to your pet, if a baby bird falls out of its nest, if the centuries-old tree down the block is cut down… it can all matter to you, if you are in relationship with it.

So baby birds fall out of nests all the time. It’s part of nature. And it’s not like an endangered silverback gorilla being shot and killed in a zoo (which happened in Cincinnati this week). No, it’s not the same. But it’s also not relative. I can care about both.

I can care a heck of a lot more about the gorilla than the bird. And I can care a heck of a lot more about the safety of the boy who was believed to be in danger in the gorilla enclosure. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t care about a bird.

Caring about a bird or a pet does not take away from caring about any other living being. I can hug a tree and still care very, very much about world hunger and poverty and child abuse and war.

We obviously have priorities, and appropriately so. It’s all interrelated, but it’s not all relative.

Dang, here I go off on another rant during our coffee date. You’re going to dread coming over. I’ll stop now.

It’s supposed to get up to 100 degrees (F) today, something we’re not accustomed to here in the Pacific Northwest. I’m going to keep an eye on my listless little guy, and try to keep us both cool. I’ve got lots of yard work to do, but I’ll work on indoor projects and stay out of the heat as best I can.

I hope your weekend goes well. Thanks for stopping by.

Thank you Diana at PartTimeMonster.com for hosting the #WeekendCoffeeShare.