Regardless of how difficult life can be, I will always find peace and hope and beauty.
Have a good one! 🦋
Note to Self…
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.Â
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!
Happy Birthday, Gabby!
Happy Fifteenth Birthday to our dancing, world traveling, academically achieving, basketball playing granddaughter!
Life isn’t always simple or easy for young people – but no matter how great life is, or how challenging it can be, Gabby shines through. 🌞
Wishing you a Happy Birthday and your best year ever (so far). Love Grandma & Grandpa D. 🎂
Random Moments
Dan had the day off to celebrate Canada Day yesterday. We did not do anything too earth shaking but we (mostly he) got a few things accomplished and we got caught up on a few holidays.
Wishing everyone a particularly special day today🌞
Canada Day 2020
Happy Canada Day!
Good Enough
Why do so many people waste their lives trying to convince others that they themselves are ‘better’ ? Or that others are ‘not good enough‘ ? Better than what – or not good enough for what? Why is life a contest and who made the rules? And why does our society seem to be getting so much worse and less tolerant?
I grew up in small town Saskatchewan. People were not judged by race or sexuality. We were rather oblivious to the major global issues in those days before internet access.
That is not to say that there was no bigotry and ignorance. People were judged by different criteria. From my earliest days, I was well aware of the judgemental nature of small town Saskatchewan. I was French Catholic and to make matters worse, my family lived on the lower end of the economic scale of things.
I grew up knowing that I was not good enough. From my earliest days, I did not understand why. I was kind – certainly kinder than those who dismissed me or taunted me for being ‘not good enough’. I was honest. I was as smart as any child in our school. I was always close to, or top of, my class academically. I was as attractive as any of the other children in my school (at least in my mind). I was physically challenged (I still am) – but who cares? It was not like my goals in life ever revolved around how far I could throw a ball, how fast I could run or how high I could jump. I did not understand why, but I was made very much aware that I was ‘not good enough’.
When I grew up I was often reminded that I was ‘not good enough’. I married into an Anglo-Saxon family who felt they were very much ‘better’ than anyone and certainly better than my family and I. I was constantly reminded that I was not good enough for them. My mother-in-law felt badly for the way they ‘had’ to treat me but she did once tell me that I would understand one day when my sons grew up and married cheap tramps. (Jokes on her – I have two daughters in law and both are amazing women – each in their own way!).
While there have been many good, kind people in my life, there has always been enough ignorant and judgemental neighbours, co-workers, employers, etc. around to remind me that I was ‘not good enough’. I do not know why I ever let them bother me, but I did.
It has taken me to retirement to realize I truly am done with people and their games and attitudes. I am happy living my little life of secluded retirement. I do not care who I am good enough for. I do not care about trying to be ‘better’ to meet their criteria for ‘good enough’.
I am good enough for my husband, my dog, and most of my family (depends on the day🙄). I am good enough for my current neighbours. I am good enough to enjoy the sun, clouds, rain, trees, flowers and rocks. I am good enough to enjoy the life that I am living. I am good enough to face myself in any mirror and know that I am a good person. I continue to learn and change as life goes on but I am now and I always will be, good enough for me!
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 