The Turtle and its Totem

 

I learned from a friend to look around me on a daily/hourly basis and see what the world was communicating to me. To stop and really see what was around me. Was the world telling me something? Some would use the word Universe or even God. After all this is our planet in which we live and breathe so why not stop in our daily lives, whether it has become hectic or mundane, to see what is before us.

 

Today when I came back from lunch I noticed what I thought was yet another big mushroom sprouting in my soggy front yard. But on closer viewing, I noticed it was the turtle seen above. He was eating the moss in my front yard. I thought it significant since I rarely see this creature on my lawn. I have only seen one twice before and not close together in sighting. Years apart.

 

So what does it mean? Why did he show up in the open eating my moss in my front yard where I had to walk near him to get to my front door?

Today I was picked up for lunch so I did not drive into my garage, therefore having to walk up my driveway instead. If I had not gone to lunch nor had not been picked up at that time, then I would not have seen him. Unless, of course, it was meant to be, and I would have come out at that time anyway to see the plants out front. But I try not to go into all that and just enjoy the fact that I saw the turtle and stopped to consider why.

 

I had looked up 'turtle totem' before but wanted to refresh my memory. Here's a few words about the turtle:

 

"The turtle represents the way of peace – whether it’s external or internal. It is considered as the Peace-Maker in Native American traditions. This animal is also often associated with the feminine principle or feminine energy, which foster peace and harmony with all things. Being inspired by the wisdom of the turtle totem, you can slow down when you feel you are getting overwhelmed by a situation or emotions and rest to gain a more grounded perspective. This spirit guide can assist you in taking time for yourself to better integrate all the aspects of a given situation or issue."

This is taken from http://www.spiritanimal.info/turtle-spirit-animal/.

You can look up "turtle totem" on the internet and get more information. Even if you don't believe in animals showing up in your life or in your yard to show you something you may need to listen to or heed, it can still be fascinating to learn about and maybe help you to gain a wider perspective on what is going on around you. To notice that the world, the Universe, God is talking to you or reminding you of something. Maybe to stop and take care of yourself. Slow down. Be patient. Learn to be comfortable within your own shell. After all, the turtle carries his home on his back. He is comfortable wherever he goes.

What spoke to you today? What was in your path today that you saw? Did you miss something? Look and listen. You may be surprised for when you begin to look and see things that are out there for you specifically you will see more and more. It will become second nature to you which was supposed to be first nature in the first place.

Once three masked raccoons came to my screen door and peered in at me while I was watching TV. I looked them up and sure enough, it was what I needed to hear. Another time three geese showed up and that too was spot on for me.

So take care to take care of your surroundings and yourself and see what is speaking to you. You may be enlightened!

(c)nancy 8.13.2014

 



There are Good People in the World

 

Usually there is a picture included in my posts. I take every one of them myself if possible. It combines two things that I like which is photography and writing. And then a third thing . . . reading.

 

But this entry has no picture because I do not know who the good person was who did a good deed yesterday. Can you take a picture of an angel? Here's the story:

 

The night before, I called my Dad to see if he would like to "do lunch" with me the next day and we could also run his or my errands. He delightedly replied, "Yes!" So the plans were made.

 

I usually call him every day around noon to "check in" and it has become our thing. If I don't call then he gets worried. So I called him around noon that next day (which was yesterday) and let him know I was on my way. I picked him up at his condo and we were off to The Fresh Market in Cameron Village first for groceries. I was going to buy some goodies for my daughter and her fiance for their little trip this coming weekend. A picnic dinner. They have great stuff in the deli section there and when you've worked all day, then have to drive to a destination, you just don't want to have to think about "what are we going to eat?" At least I don't. So the treats were picked out and we were on to our next venture. The K&W close by for lunch.

 

We hit it at a great time in between lunches and had a very short line to go through with our trays. You always have a bit of grade-school cafeteria feelings as you slide your brown tray with your utensils on it wrapped in a black cloth napkin along the metal rods to the cashier. Dad always likes to get plenty of vegetables, and I usually get at least two and sometimes a dessert. But not this time. We like to see how low the cost per meal can be especially if you just get water for your drink, which we did this time. I won as I only got two veggies. Dad always insists on paying.

 

As we were eating, I got a text from my sister, so I grabbed my iPhone out of my pocketbook to see what was happening and then laid my white phone on the white tabletop. We continued eating and talking and enjoying the fact that there was not a crowd. That meant we could go to the cash register to pay and not have to stand in a line. That's something I really hate. Lines.

 

Since my Dad is in his 90's I am very cognisant of objects in his path, and I usually walk with an arm entwined in his arm. He fell once and broke his hip and I don't want him or me to go through that again! Painful to the max. So I focus all my attention on him when we are together walking. Dad pays for our meal and we head outside to our Handicap Parking Space and get in my car. The sun is shining and we decide to drive by our old house, "1800" we call it, to see the flowers. Not a good show right now but we keep heading down St. Mary's Street to Glenwood Avenue and turn left, headed once again to his condo.

 

I walk him in, help him rearrange his porch furniture, water the plants there, and then take his trash and recyclables out to the bins at the end of the parking lot for him. I drive home thinking that a snack sounded pretty good once I would unload my groceries. With that idea in mind I do exactly that and then do what I normally do before I sit down . . . grab my phone and glasses out of my purse.

 

No phone.

 

What?!

 

I look again. No. I go out to my car and look all around. No phone. And then it hits me. In my mind's eye I can clearly see my white phone placed next to my white plate of food on the white table at the K&W.

 

Oh no!

 

I get back in my car and tell myself over and over again, "There are good people in the world, there are good people in the world" and if I had Dorothy's shoes and could click them as I drove, then I know I would have felt even better. I keep breathing and don't let myself get in a panic. Loosing a phone isn't all that bad but loosing my precious mother's last pictures of her that I took was about to make me cry. But I kept it together believing in the goodness of people. 

Breathe.

 

I arrived at the K&W and it was closed between lunch and dinner but I thank God there were four employees sitting on the outside concrete picnic benches eating their lunches. I asked them if they worked at the K&W and they said yes and I said I thought I had left my cell phone on one of the tables when I was just here for lunch. Could someone help me? Yes.

 

One of the persons got up from the table and went to the main door and knocked on it and made a come here motion with his index finger. The door was opened and I was able to go in and ask the folks at the cash register if anyone had found a cell phone and brought it up to them.

 

Why yes!

 

So there are good people in the world!

 

It reminded me of the time that I found someone's bank debit card in the parking lot of said bank, picked it up and brought it into the bank so that they could perhaps find the owner and get the card back to them.

 

Of course I had to call Dad and tell him about it and I said, "I guess what goes around DOES come around, Dad" and he said, "Well then you deserve everything you get, Sweetheart."

 

Because I was driving I corralled my tears and emotions so I could see out of the windshield and said, "Thanks, Dad."

 

He's a good one and there are good people in the world.

(c)nancy  6.27.2014

 

 

 



Hats Off!

 

Sometimes you just have to be silly and try on some vintage hats in an Antique store full of treasures and not so much good stuff. But the treasure today in the store for me was having fun.

 

If you need a pick me up, try taking a friend with you to a store and model hats.

Take posed pictures that bring the girly out in you. And you guys do the same. It'll be fun. Really! No kidding.

 

Or go swing on a swing in a playground. When was the last time you did that? Or take your shoes off and go stomp in a rain puddle while you get wet in your regular clothes. Pick a dandelion puff, make a wish and blow it to smithereens. Catch a few lightning bugs in a jar but let them go.

 

It's not too late to be young at heart and show it.

(c)nancy  6.20.2014

 

Antique Archaeology

 

Does it get any better than this?

 

I could watch Frank and Mike and Danielle all day. Really! The way they banter back and forth just makes me want to take the middle seat in their van and help them keep an eye out for treasures on the side of the road. Ok, so there isn't a middle seat, but I think between the three of us we could come up with a plan. If Frank and Mike can't come up with a solution then you bet your bottom dollar Danielle can. She's a smart cookie and she can put a phone to work.

 

But let me come on a day that isn't 95 degrees outside or 110 in an old building or in the shade.  I'm over it. That doesn't cut it with me. But I'll do it on a colder day where I can wear a sweater or a jacket. I'm a girl, but I can get my hands dirty climbing over stuff to get to the goods. I don't like snakes and spiders so I may have to be a girl and ask Frank or Mike to watch out for them for me. Maybe bring two sticks to bang together to scare them off before walking into high grass or tangled car pieces.

 

These Iowa boys have come on over to my neck of the United States, only a little higher. But hallelujah they are over this way and I know we are all glad about their new store!

 

Hey, Frank and Mike, if ya'll get near the state capital of North Carolina swing by and pick me up.

 

Have a good day pickin' guys and keep us wanting to ride into the sunset with you.

(c)nancy  3.26.2014

 





American Hustle

 

American Hustle

 



It's unbelievable that you can rent this movie at Redbox for only $1.28. That's almost a crime.

Am I right?

This Sunday morning the forecast for the afternoon was rain. So I thought . . . why not rent a movie from Redbox? Can't work in the yard. Well, I could if I wanted to get wet and cold. But the idea of being warm and cozy inside with a good movie to watch sounded much better. Fortunately, American Hustle was in one of the boxes at my nearby Walgreens.

Do I think Christian Bale is the best?

Yes. Ever since I saw him in "Newsies". I told my girls and anyone who would listen that I thought the young boy would go somewhere in film. Does that make me famous? Psychic? No. It did make me aware of what I said when I began to see him in so many character roles later that he pulled off with panache. Not every actor or actress can be a great character actor. I won't name the ones that never seem to be able to pull that off and just don't have the ability to do so, but Christian is a genius.

How about all that hair?

After watching the movie I wanted to go back to Walgreens and buy some mega hairspray, come back home, wash and roll my hair in big purple rollers or try to find some hot curlers somewhere. Then tease the life out of my hair in an up doo, go up in the attic and find an old dress that would announce my hair's arrival as I walked into any room. Afraid I don't smoke or drink but I could fake it. I began to think of a party I could give, what the invitation would look like and the last line  . . .

"Don't come unless you have a comb over or teased hair. Red fingernails mandatory. Go big hair or stay home."

Everything edible at the party would be microwaved. The music would set the tone and it would have to be vinyl, scratches and all. Lots of ice for glasses. Clink!

Anyway, it's about time I saw this fabulous movie and can I say that Christian is sexy no matter how he fills out his clothes?

Like my mother said of Sean Connery when she said she thought he was sexy . . .  "He can't help it."

(c)nancy  3.23.2014



 

Winter

 

 

This winter has been a true winter here in my hometown. It made me think of all the winters when I was a child. It seemed that the snows were deeper. I thought that it was guaranteed to snow every single winter and I could look forward to putting my sodden, snow-encrusted socks and frozen gloves on top of a radiator at home to dry out and get warm so I could put them back on and go outside for some more sledding down a small hill on a cookie sheet before the sun set.

 

I grew up near two creeks. Looking back I feel so lucky to have been a kid when you could go outside all day long on your bicycle, riding to your friend's houses where no doors were locked, and if you were hungry, the mom would fix you a PB&J or give you hot cocoa. I could play all day and never once would my mother come and find me in the car and holler, "Where have you been all day? I was worried." No, she knew I was just around the corner at the creek playing with my sister. We had our imaginations and that could keep us going until we were hungry for dinner or until it started getting dark. We didn't have watches but we had the sun. It let us know when it was time to walk back home on a sidewalk, up hill all the way until we got to our driveway and the dirt back yard, then through a screen door.

 

It was cooler outside under some huge oak trees than it was inside where there was no air conditioning, but an occasional fan stuck in the window to circulate the hot, humid air giving slight relief. But then the thunder was heard in the far distance and the approaching rain could be smelled on the breeze. You knew that it would change the air into something cool that was worth breathing deeply into your hot little lungs. I would go to the window and sit there smelling it and would wait to see if the thunder  would follow the loud clap in the sky. I was never afraid. My grandmother had taught me to enjoy it. I thank her for that all the time.

 

If it wasn't lightning, then outside I'd run. It felt so good on my sun-warmed skin.  My wet clothes would cool me off and my face, lifted up to the drops, felt refreshed. Almost better than running around under a sprinkler!

 

But the snow.

 

It came quietly during the night sometimes and made everything stop. No Doppler Radar back then to forecast its coming to let us know we needed to go out and stock up on milk and bread. No advance warning that schools would be closed. But you knew something was different when because your mom didn't wake you up and tell you to get ready for breakfast, then school. Bliss! 

 

I could wake up gracefully and realize that it was really quiet because all I heard was the radiator clicking up telling me it was warming my room. In my pajamas, I would go to the window where it was so bright it almost hurt to keep my eyes open. There it was like magic. Snow. All was a wonderland of blinding white and if it had also been sleeting, then the trees and lawn were suddenly transformed into crunchy ice sculptures. Stepping on the surface gingerly was a treat to see if I could take more steps than someone else before my foot went through the crust. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Over to a naturally made icicle that was clear as glass. Pick it off the bush and try to lick it without it sticking to my tongue. It tasted clean.

 

All those feelings come back to me when I see the snow falling now. I'm older but the child in me remembers the fascination, the mystery, the magic. It was when time was suspended in a chilly embrace and Dad got to stay home. 

I still love to sit at the window and watch the flakes come down like tiny, fluffy angels.

Family. Together. Warm. Cold. Hot chocolate. Hot baths before putting on warmed-up pj's off the radiator.

 

Good memories.



(c)nancy  2.24.2014