Dogs Just Want to Have Fun

At Spanish Beach in August - in nice weather.

This post is the assigned topic  for today's Writer's Ink group - write a story from an animals perspective. I chose dogs because I was following the directive - write what you know. I only wrote this about an hour before group time so it's pretty loose. Stream of consciousness, it has only been edited a bit.  

Dogs Just Want to Have Fun

"Hello. My name is Misty. I’ve been quite nervous about this presentation so please forgive me if I break out in canine secret language of bark, bark - woof, woof. If I get too nervous, it will only be a whine and my big brown eyes will look beseechingly for some sympathy.

Did you know that we dogs can’t carry umbrellas? Unless we’ve been dressed in a rain cape, we get absolutely soaked in weather like this when we’re outside. The little dogs have the advantage. They just get popped in a purse out of the rain. By the way, my vocabulary is quite good. Now we dogs do love going for walks. After all we were built for fun, travelling through the scents that you humans leave behind, swimming in any depth of water or visiting with the other dogs in the neighbourhood. But the most fun I have is when I’m soaking wet. So the rain is an extra treat. Especially when I don’t have a rain cape on. After a good swim, we shake off and fling water all over and watch in absolute glee as you humans dash out of the line of spray. In these Victoria winters, when beach walks have been banned, a good rain, like the downpour today, makes me quiver all over. In my determination to go for a lovely soaking walk and to get my owner outside in the rain, I whined just so and dragged my leash down off the door handle just so we could get wet together. And that’s why I accepted this invitaton to speak to you in your language.

Thank you for your attention."

“Dogs are often happier than men simply because 

the simplest of things are the greatest things for them.”

~ Mehmet Murat ildan

Weathering Change

Intimidation of circumstance
is a tough one.
Circumstance can overpower
change the flow of life’s direction.
stagnate or 
run roughshod 
over carefully laid plans of mice, men and me

Intimidaton of sudden, unplanned circumstacnce means 
confront or
lie low
fly low
if flying is even in the cards

Coast along with changing circumstance
fold in what can be folded
so best laid plans are 
not forgotten 
or swept away in
the rushing tide of circumstance

Intimidation of circumstance is passive resistance
permitting rest
regrouping
recovery and
determination

“Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances that we know to be desperate.”

~ G.K.Chesterton

Thoughts of Kindness and Respect

Thoughts of kindness and respect

do not come easily

when any person 

is hidden within a disguise of

an image

a stereotype

a demographic

Thoughts of kindness and respect

come slowly 

when the person within

is recognized as

a partner in the human race

a neighbour that made different choices

a sibling that took an alternate path

Thoughts of kindness and respect

often need determinaton to allow 

thoughts to turn to actions

that ease tensions

that calm fears

that create safety and rest.

“The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.”

~ Marcus Aurelius,  Meditation

Book Review - My Grandmother Sends Her Regards & apologizes by Fredrik Backman

This delightful, fanciful story, first written in Swedish, had me laughing out loud, eyes filling with tears, and returning to magical thinking. If this story tended to plod, that drag would only have been through the grief of a child trying to make sense of all she has lived and lost in her seven almost eight years of age. Elsa has lost her beloved Granny to cancer, and this Granny was a wildly eccentric Granny! But Elsa’s was not the only grief. Told in the third person, this story is from Elsa’s perspective. Elsa, a precocious child relies on Wikipedia, computers and cell phones and is partial to her Gryffindor scarf and Harry Potter. She lives in a world of adults, superheroes and all of their problems and superpowers. Her only friend is a wurse who could be a real dog, or may only be Elsa’s imaginary friend. In discussion today at book group, there was no consensus about the reality of this wurse. This writer believes the wurse was a little of both!

Living in a small apartment building - also known as the castle, there is a fascinating cast of characters living in their own suites. Each, including Elsa’s mum, has experienced their own life struggles that created very different personalities. Some of the life struggles are pretty intense. Swedish author, Frederik Backman has very successfully described each character showing us their quirks and eccentricities, while also showing us their hearts. Elsa is the central character, but her Granny is with her throughout the story because of the strong relationship they had enjoyed. Granny told Elsa of the five kingdoms of Miamas in the Land-of-Almost-Awake. Each kingdom was peopled by and run opposite to the real world. Elsa learns more about the truths of these kingdoms as the story develops. This Land-of-Almost-Awake is really based on the people of Elsa’s world and, as Elsa says ‘Granny nicked that from…..’ other well known stories. Before Granny dies, she gives Elsa a mission: “tomorrow I’m going to send you on the biggest treasure hunt you’ve ever seen, my brave little knight.” This treasure hunt is a series of letters to be delivered that will reveal the many secrets of Granny and residents of the castle. Elsa will learn who and where her safety lies now that Granny is gone. Elsa’s stubborn determination is her journey - the treasure hunt - that Granny has sent her on.

“the best stories are never completely realistic and never entirely made-up”

~ Frederik Backman, Grandmother Sends Her Regards & apologizes

Title:  My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and apologizes
Author:  Frederik Backman
Publisher: Sceptre
Copyright 2015
Translation by Henning Koch 2015
Publication Date: 2016
Format:  Soft Cover
ISBN: 978 1 473 62684 3 Paperback
ISBN: 978 1 444 77586 0 eBook
Type:  Fiction

Anticipation of Success

Anticipation of success 

is often greater than reality,
yet the final reality has a glow that determination has promised.

Anticipation of success 

sparkles with hope ~
shadowed by wandering clouds of self-doubt.

Anticipation of success leads the way

mapping each small successful step.

“And I will never again underestimate the power of anticipation.

There is no better boost in the present than an invitation into the future.”

~ Caroline Kepnes, You

Author's note: Edited January 27, 2024

Natural Gratitude

Natural next steps on Thanksgiving Day:
Eat a delicious meal
Be grateful for life and living
Share time with family and frequently friends.  

Whether traditional or non-traditional cuisine

Gratitude crosses all boundaries of distance or time

Determination for even one day of gratitude makes a difference in the world.
Our memories and that gratitude bring us together again.

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether 

you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

~ C. K. Chesterton