Another Monday morning to count my blessings and enjoy nature.
Have a beautiful day💐
Wildflowers
Facing Reality
I know there is real struggle in the world today. Poverty, illness, violence, racial inequality, political incompetence – I know it is there and I know that there are families and individuals struggling to survive right now. My heart goes out to them.
I also believe in hope and faith, kindness, peace and positive energy. In my blog, I try to focus on the positive. I try to use bright, cheery or calming photos. I try to make it personal – I am a real person and I do care. If someone reads my blog, I hope that I have made a moment in their day better or easier.
Today, I am going off the rails. Today I cannot stick to the positive, feel good attitude that I prefer to put forth. If you are going through a tough time, you should not read this. I am so sorry. This will not help you feel better.
Today I awoke to the news of the lifeless bodies of two beautiful innocent little girls being found. Two little girls who’s lives were taken by the one man who should have done anything and everything to protect them.
In Canada, and most notably in Saskatchewan, when there is a domestic homicide in the news, the reaction is typical. It must be poverty related, it must be race related. If it is neither, people are shocked and the excuses pour forth. There was mental illness, there were drugs or alcohol involved, there was no warning, it was someone else’s fault.
The perpetrators of many, many domestic homicides in Canada are white, priviledged, educated and well employed. These stone sober, cold blooded domestic homicides (and much domestic violence) are a result of arrogance, contempt, lack of personal responsibility, selfishness and control.
We can once again feign shock and sorrow or we can get our heads out of our lily white butts and start dealing with these horrific homicides that are occurring more and more regularly.
We need to stop looking over there for the problem and start looking here for potential problems – at our families, and our friends, and our neighbours. Look for signs of contempt or control. Look for signs of fear and abuse. The signs are there – and they are obvious.
We need to start raising our children to take personal responsibility. We need to start teaching them that they are here to serve others – not to be served.
We need to start teaching our children real values – kindness, respect, humility, and dignity.
We need to stop making lame excuses for ourselves and our children – it was just a joke (some things are not funny), boys will be boys, well tempers will flare, it was just an accident …
We need to stop teaching our children to blame their victims. That does not teach them self control or personal responsibility.
We need to start training professionals – law enforcement, judges, lawyers, teachers, doctors, etc. to tell the difference between abusers and victims. Victims often sound irrational, irate, upset, dramatic. Violent, sadistic, cruel abusers and murderers often sound calm, cool, rational and responsible. Sometimes you have to look deeper.
Like many social issues of our time, domestic violence and homicide is not going to be eradicated overnight. In cultures and societies where this issue is not acknowledged and addressed it will never be eradicated.
How many more innocent lives need to be taken or destroyed before we realize we have a problem?
Saturday Morning
There is something special about Saturdays even if I am retired and even when Dan has to work weekends – although night shifts are never easy for him or me.
I have had my lunch so it is time to head outside to putter around the yard in my unflattering jumper. 🐿️🐦🌲🌻
Have a great rest of the weekend!
Patricia Park
Yesterday morning, Kat and I finally made it to and around PATRICIA Park (not Princess Park as I mentioned in an earlier post🤦).
I love this little park. It is not particularly noteworthy. It is just a couple of acres of greenspace – grass, trees, a meandering gravel path, a rustic little bridge and one ball diamond. I seem to be one of very few people who loves it, as I am typically alone there with my dog.
I was so excited to make it to, and around, our little park. When I stopped working at the end of March, I would walk to the end of our block and back. I would return home gasping for air, heart pounding and exhausted. Yesterday (and again today) we went for a brisk hour long walk and I am good to go yet. I can not believe the difference three months has made!
Wishing all a very good day and a special weekend! 🌳
Note to Self…
Regardless of how difficult life can be, I will always find peace and hope and beauty.
Have a good one! 🦋
Dominic
Keeping our grandson Dominic this afternoon. He’s a cute kid but the energy of a fifty pound pingong ball in motion.
Once he burns off another hour of energy, we are heading home to bake cookies.
Hope you all having a great (peaceful) day! (I remember those days 😉)
Summertime Gratitude
There is so much to appreciate about summer in Canada. Sunshine, rain, trees, green grass and flowers – summer is nature’s most glorious season. I just love a Canadian summer!
I love being able to walk out the door in the clothes I am in. No jacket, scarf, snow boots or gloves. I can just walk out the door. When I have young children in my care, it is even more of a blessing as I do not have to wrestle them into winter outdoor wear.
I love summer clothes in general – shorts, t-shirts and sandals versus bulky sweaters, heavy pants, socks and solid footwear. Life is so much easier.
I love being able to jump in a vehicle and go wherever I want to be, whenever I want to go there. No heating the Jeep for fifteen minutes, no scraping the windows, no climbing over snowbanks to get into the Jeep and NO icy roads.
I love the hours and hours of daylight. I get up in the sunlight and it is practically light until I go to bed. Darkness is highly over rated in my mind. A bit of time to admire the stars and the moon is fine – but I do not need to see them at nine o’clock in the morning or five o’clock in the afternoon.
I love the wildlife. I love watching and hearing the birds and the bees, the squirrels and the occasional moose or deer by the side of the highway. There is very little wildlife to be seen in Saskatchewan during the winter months.
Everything is easier in the summer. Our cost of living is lower. Our meals are simpler. Recreation and exercise, as basic as taking a walk, is easier. Living is just easier!
I wouldn’t want to live in any country other than Canada, but summer is definitely the best season to be Canadian.
Dreams
For as long as I can remember, I have been a deep sleeper and a rediculously vivid dreamer. Naturally, I find dreams fascinating.
Long ago, I found a dictionary of dreams and what they mean – Dream Moods Dictionary. I still refer to it from time to time and it is so amazing how much sense it makes at times, especially with recurring dreams.
There was a time in my life when I had three recurring dreams. In my first dream, I started off in my actual house at that time – except the room I was in led to one strange room after another with no end of rooms until I woke up. My second dream varied but I would dream that I had awoken only to realize I had still been asleep and had only dreamt I had awoken. This dream would play out over and over and over! My third dream was about my death. I would see my dead body in strange places. People would just ignore my body like it was normal to see a corpse sitting in a sandbox, surrounded by little children. That was deeply disturbing! All of these dreams were during the last few years of my first marriage when I was feeling very much trapped. The closer I got to the end of my marriage, the more frequently I had the death dream. I was amazed when I eventually read that the first two dreams were relative to feeling trapped in a bad situation and that dreams of death signify the end of a difficult situation. (Dreams of infants signify new beginnings). It made so much sense!
There is another recurring dream that I have had throughout my adult life. I dream I am back in school and cannot remember my locker combination or find where my classroom is. A few months ago my sister was here and I had this dream. After she left, I looked for a meaning for this dream and I found one that made perfect sense. This dream signifies feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. That sums up my feelings about all of my siblings – all four sisters and one brother – all my senior. I grew up never being as fast as them, as smart as them, as graceful as them, as strong as them – I could never catch up to them when I was growing up! It is funny that subconsciously, I still feel that way when we get together.
Does anyone else have similar dreams? Do you have strange recurring dreams that you would like some insight into? Check out ‘Dream Moods Dictionary’. You just have to Google it – it is online and totally free.
Now if I could just figure out how to control which dreams I have – like going to the channel guide on our television remote. I could have a super sweet night life if I figured that one out!
Have a great day – and night🌞🌙
Garden Update
We finally got a couple of decent rains this week and plenty of sunshine. The garden and flower beds are taking off now. Dan finished a couple of his little projects and we have a new regular visitor.
Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Stay safe and have a good week. 😉
4th of July
Happy 4th of July to my sister Jeanne, her family, and all of our neighbours to the south of us in the USA.
I used to visit the USA quite regularly, years ago. We lived so close to the American border that it was never a big deal to spend a couple of days in Minot, North Dakota just for the heck of it. After my sister Jeanne and her husband Paul moved to Gillette, Wyoming I made a number of trips down to visit them – at first with my parents and then with my own family.
Wyoming was always a great place to visit. I remember an abundance of steakhouses, country bars and friendly neighbours. There was always a visit to the Black Hills – Flintstone Village, Devil’s Tower, Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Every curve in the road was another tourist attraction and another fascinating little gift shop. I still have pretty little vases and stone bracelets to remind me of those days.
Jeanne and Paul moved to Chadron, Nebraska when Paul left the oil rigs to run an apiary. We were down there a couple of times. As always, it was good times and friendly people. Unfortunately, a few years after the move, Paul died in a tragic accident. Jeanne stayed on, running the apiary with an American friend of theirs. They eventually married and still make their home in Nebraska. Jeanne’s son is raising his family in Wyoming and her daughter is in Washington State with her family.
It is so sad how times have changed between Canada and the USA over the years – with border control, tariffs, and of course now with Covid 19 closing borders. I would love to travel back down through the States. There are so many places that I would love to visit and of course it is always an easy drive to better weather during our frigid winters!
I just want to say, I really appreciate the photos and stories that our American neighbours post on WordPress – it is an inside look at a country that I would love to see more of.
From this side of the border, have a great USA Independence Day!
