Skip to main content

Posts

The Ant

  I was gazing out at the garden, when suddenly something caught my eye. It was a bright little object moving amongst the wood chips. A closer look revealed it was a lady bug. A dead lady bug. Being hauled over hill and dale by a rather large ant. The ant would heave it up and forward over the rock. Then pull it behind for a short distance, before heaving it forward again. It was incredible. The speed at which this ant was carrying his prize gave me pause. I am not sure what a human equivalent would be. A 200 pound man carrying an object considerably larger than himself, rapidly and without concern for the geography, hurried and anxious to present his prize to his queen. Whatever the motivation may be, this ant was on a mission. He traversed what may have been the equivalent of several hundred kilometres in human terms. The terrain was of no consequence. He was bringing home this prize. Did he kill the lady bug or was it already dead? No matter. The
Read more
Recent posts

Small Talk Is Big Talk

  I used to be so embarrassed as a child when my parents would strike up a conversation with a total stranger. Just chit chat, about this and that. I remember wanting to disappear into the sidewalk whenever they would hail a stranger, "Nice weather today, eh?", or "Gorgeous baby you have there!" Little did I know at the time that several decades later, I would be doing exactly the same thing. Engaging a total stranger in chit chat. While waiting in line at the supermarket.   Or with the supermarket checkout person.   With the receptionist at the dentist. Just chit chat. About this and that. About nothing, really. Nothing that will change the world. Nothing that will upset anyone's political or religious views. Or discover any new planets.  Or life forms.  Or invent any new discoveries. Just chit chat. Small talk. Idle banter that engages another human being. I read a study once that essentially said that small talk can actuall
Read more

From Routines To Rituals

  Who knew cleaning out the cat litter could be so cathartic. Cleansing. For both the cats and me. Who would ever have thought that the seemingly mundane tasks of vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, could become something meditative, cerebral and revered. It's all perspective. I recently learned that by turning our so-called workaday routines into observed rituals, we can reinvent our entire beings. We can become wholly immersed in the moment of doing whatever it is we have to do, and be transformed. It is transformational indeed. And it's all perspective. How you look at things. Perceive them. Our entire attitude changes by how we look upon things. By changing the perception of our mundane routines and thinking upon them as privileged rituals. Rites of passage. A privilege to be able to carry out. Indeed. Instead of dreading the routines of our daily lives and existences: walking the dog, weeding the garden, making dinner; thinking of them instead a
Read more

The Day Before The Fray

  I love the early dawn. The light that slowly creeps its way through the curtains at 5 a.m. in the summer, a little later in the fall and winter. But it's there.  Letting everyone know that the day is arriving. My body clock always seems to wake me around that time. I imagine it has been the same for countless centuries, that man is awakened by the early dawn. The birds are already awake, as they sing out their daily greetings. I always enjoy that time of day.   The day before the fray. In a previous career as a morning news anchor I awoke at 3:30 every morning.   I had to be at work by 5 a.m., just as the dawn was breaking. It was a glorious time - driving through the sleepy streets which were surprisingly full of other drivers too. Commuters perhaps who were on their way to the big city to their jobs. I always noticed the lineups were long at the 24-hour drive-through coffee shops, even at that hour.   And I still sometimes awaken at 3:30.   It wa
Read more

The Blue Zone Test

 So I took the Blue Zone test the other day. When I punched in my year of birth, it estimated I would live to my late 70's. After I did the quiz, and, touch wood, all goes well, it postulated that I could survive until I am in my mid-90's, and to my mid-80's at the very least. It seems I am doing some things right that may garner me a few more years, according to the quiz:  getting my two servings per day of both fruits and veggies, dairy, whole grain, and protein; getting lots of sleep without sleep aids; not smoking; getting daily exercise (just yoga and walking these days); having regular weekly social interactions with people outside the household; having a purpose to get out of bed every day (caring for the cats, the house, my various jobs and volunteer duties, depending on the day); and having a positive attitude. I was even truthful about my meat intake (daily, but less would be better), and alcohol consumption (1 - 2 happy hour drinks per day), and it still
Read more

Why Did The Rat Cross The Road?

  He scurried out from under a bush to the edge of the road. I beeped my horn, not wanting to witness both a rat, and a rat becoming road kill, and he scurried back. Then, more determined than ever, he ran back to the edge of the road, knowing that's where he needed to be, and ran across. Four lanes of traffic. He ran as if his life depended upon it. He was flatlined as he raced across the asphalt, knowing, it seemed, that his life could end then and there. I was mortified. Firstly, that I had seen a rat, in Barrie. And secondly, that he had seemed to know exactly when to cross the street and not get hit by a car. It was broad daylight. Around 3:30 in the afternoon. Close to a strip mall plaza that included a drug store and restaurant, dollar store and others. What was a rat doing in Barrie? I thought that was a big city problem. Like Toronto. But no. It appears that Barrie has its own rodent problems too. According to a pest control company, O
Read more