It takes two

For 16 years (in March), these two sisters have lightened our lives.  Contrary to their appearance, they are litter mates!  For years, we have made disparaging comments about their mother's loose sense of morality (we believe they had two separate fathers) but as we were enjoying our company this past weekend and explaining our philosophy, our guest quite simply said, "Maybe she was raped!"  Guess there really are two sides to every issue!  Whatever the real circumstance, we have been the lucky recipients of the result.  But that's an FYI.   The real purpose  of the photo was their proximity.  With one bed completely empty, the two nestle in the smaller of the two, sharing contact and warmth.  How much better for all of us to share!  Life is better.  Life is warmer.  Life is more comfortable.  Life is BETTER!  Let me share with you.  You are loved!

Word cloud

Amazing.  The tv is on.  The story?  Road to the Super Bowl.  Okay.  Okay.  I'm busted.  Those who know me will immediately realize I'm sitting in Cath's room upstairs, because sports channels are rarely accessed on my tv.  Anyhow.  The story shows the newest fad in images...a word cloud.  You know of what I speak.  They take descriptors of a person or an event and then create an image where the size of the word listed indicates how often the word was given.  Kind of a fun little mapping event.  In this case, the word(s) were Seattle Seahawks.  I don't recall what words were largest, most probably because I didn't care!  The concept, however, piqued my interest.  If someone were to create a word cloud about you, how would it differ if the target audience were your co-workers, your friends, your family, your community?  Are there any overarching words that would loom large on all of them?  More importantly, what word would you want largest on each of these clouds?  Who/what are you to these people?  Would the.cloud represent an image of which you are proud?  No answers!  Just questions.  Sort of like lying on your back on a summer day, looking at the clouds and finding all sorts of shapes.  I guarantee there will be a heart shaped one with a message underneath it...you are loved!

every face...

a smile.  Every hand, a wave.  Despite the fact that parts of my anatomy will not regain feeling for hours, this mornings jog heightened my belief that I live in the best place in the world.  I can't do a darn thing about the weather (well, I can hooch, moan, swear, and carry on, but to the best of my abilities, I don't believe I can change it!).  I can put on more layers.  Or I can just suffer.  The thing is, I choose my level of discomfort.  I also choose to live in a community where the people are friendly, the drivers move over for an idiot out in the cold, and this morning, every person behind the wheel smiled, waved, and in general made me feel like I belonged.  Now, I'm not sure they weren't laughing at how slowly I was progressing or how spastic I looked, but I choose to believe they were genuinely being friendly.  Why this would surprise me is the question.  I have written before how generous this community is.  I have written before how neighborly this community is.  Okay, we're not perfect.  We choose to disagree on issues.  We choose to go to different churches.  We choose to associate with different people.  But we respect each other.  We look out for each other.  And we believe that paying it forward just makes sense.  Watertown, as always, I salute and thank you.  I am proud and privileged to live among you.  Know that you are loved!

Let's get political

There are certain things that light up my "we have to do something about this right now" light.  One of hem is providing exceptional education for children.  The rewards of teaching continue to sustain me into my dotage.  The contact with former students is a blessing and a constant source of pride.  But I fear we are digging ourselves a hole out of which we will not be able to climb!  As I understand it, a majority of our legislature does not believe we are being impacted by a dearth of qualified educators.  They seemingly don't believe being last in the nation in teacher salaries has an Impact on keeping/enticing the best and brightest in our state.  We South Dakotans are an amazing people!  We work hard.  We endure extreme temperatures.  We embody grace under pressure.  We deserve to have our children educated by a qualified field of instructors.  It ain't gonna happen if we don't immediately recognize the lack as a problem and then do something about it!  The exceptional men and women who teach here now will not be here forever.  We need to find a way to continue our strong belief in education.  And it is economic, which makes it political.  But let's prioritize.  What could be more important than teaching our children?  Hence, the early nature of this post!  Cath and I will board a bus to Pierre today to attend lobby days--a chance for us to contact our legislators and attempt to convince them to identify the shortage as a problem and encourage them to see the need to address it.  Wish us luck.  And hey, while you're at it, why not contact them yourself?  Tell 'me bz said so!  Wish us luck, and know that you are loved!

Things I like about "feels like" -50

End of list.
You are loved!

Ballast

The wind howls.  The sun intermittently shines through the blowing snow.  The temperature plummets.  In light of these circumstances, I have decided to avoid blowing away by increasing my center of gravity!  That's the reason for the half bag of Dakota style salt and vinegar potato chips.  That's the reason for the two freshly baked scones.  That's the reason for the humongous hamburger and fries, not to mention the tasting of the Pringles that we're calling my name.  Or, it's my birthday and I'm enjoying every greasy salty sweet thing I can!  May your ballast be good and you know you are loved!

Company

It's amazing to me.  Retirement is supposed to allow time for the people you love.  I guess it does...just not enough!  This weekend we have the opportunity to spend some quality time with two of our favorite people.  We travel with them.  We play games with them.  We eat with them (one needs to find the most important events!). And due to their schedule and ours, this is the first time in over two years we have found time to host them!  Now that's just too busy!  To say we anticipate their arrival would be an understatement.  Of course, I'm not sure the weather will cooperate, but we keep our fingers crossed!  We will laugh.  We will play.  And we will be reminded why other people make life so desirable!  May you be likewise lucky and know always you are loved!