A New Beginning

I am starting over. I considered changing my name to "Renata" which means "reborn" but I decided that a name change was a bit excessive. But that's how I am thinking of myself... reborn. I am going to change my body and my mind.

I grew up to be a "good girl" which at the time meant to be quiet, polite, and self-effacing. My parents were strict. I learned to follow orders and never talk back. When my mother took my sister and me to a store, we had to walk with our hands behind our backs and not touch anything. We were not allowed to ask for anything. We were not spoiled; quite the opposite. We ate what my mother cooked. No "picky eaters" in our household. There was no such thing as instant gratification. We waited and saved our allowance for things we wanted.

What a different world we live in now! American society is hyper-competitive. In many situations it is the individual who puts himself first who gets ahead. In order to be noticed, one must "blow his own horn". You know, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Don't get me wrong. I don't intend to be selfish or pushy. But I think I need to stop being quite such a door mat. I have to get a back bone. I have to start voicing my opinion.

As far as the body is concerned... where do I begin? I am out of shape. I get winded going up a flight of stairs. Too many parts of my body jiggle. I don't exercise. Well, that is going to change. I am going to get some form of exercise every day. I am going to go back to Weight Watchers principles of counting my points. I went to Weight Watchers some years ago, and I lost weight. That weight has gone back on in the years since. I've been eating too many sweets and too much ice cream. Those things are not going to come into my house anymore.

There are things in my life that I want to happen. Instead of wishing they would happen, I am going to do all I can to make them happen.

The Loon As A Totem... What It Means To Me

In my previous post I talked about listening for the call of the Loon during our visit to the lake in Michigan. I found this clip on YouTube, where you can listen to the Loon.



Did you listen? Isn't it a haunting sound? I remember the first time I heard it. Years ago, I was spending the summer at a cabin on a lake. I loved to sit on the screened porch watching the sunset. The lake was quiet as the sky grew darker by the minute. Then I heard the Loons calling. The sound was evocative of summer on the lake. Funny, but it was one of the strongest memories that stuck with me.

Susan, on her blog has talked about animal totems. Remembering this, I looked up what the Loon as a totem means. Here is what it says:

"The haunting call of the Loon tells you that the hopes, dreams and wishes
that you have tucked away will come to the surface."

This certainly speaks to me. I think it must speak to most people, because I think we all have hopes and dreams tucked away. I have recently realized that my hopes and dreams can't stay tucked away much longer. At my age, more of my life is behind me than ahead of me. I have to start realizing those hopes and dreams. I dream of living near the ocean. Any ocean. I feel most like myself when I can hear the roar of the ocean and feel the sea breezes and walk on sand in my bare feet. I love floating on my back and feeling the water living beneath me. I have visited the ocean, but have never lived there. So, the Loon totem is telling me to make it happen.

Sound crazy? Will you forgive me if I say "looney"? Some people have called me "mooney". As a moonchild (born under the sign of Cancer the Crab) I guess it's true. Hey! A crab lives near the ocean too, doesn't it? Sorry... rambling.

Bittersweet

A litter of four kittens has been living in our back yard for about two months. They are feral, so they run from us when we open to door to come outside to feed them.


One of them, however, never ran. Rather, she came toward us and acted friendly. To my surprise, she let me pick her up. I took her to the vet and had her treated for an eye infection and fleas. I was becoming attached to this sweet little kitten. Every time I went outside she came up to me and let me hold her. My husband said "no more cats" since we already have four in the house. I might have adopted her anyway, but my nextdoor neighbor found another cat lover who was looking for a kitten.


I agreed to let the cat lover's family adopt her. Today the cat lover came to pick her up. She had bought a nice little carrier for her, and some toys, and said her daughter was so excited looking forward to the kitten. I think she will be happy with her new family. They promised to keep me updated about her, and to send photos. Still, I cried a little after they left. I will miss that little kitten.

A Cool Vacation... Part II

Here are more photos from our vacation at the lake.


The lady in the middle is the friend who let us use her cottage by the lake. Here, we met her so she could give us the keys and directions on how to get there. On the left is my husband and on the right are his daughter and granddaughter, who went with us.

On the way up, we stopped at a different lake to see a log cabin that used to belong to my husband's family. His great grandfather built this cabin himself. It had no running water and no electricity. It had an outhouse and a pump. I stayed in it once when I first knew my husband, before his parents sold it. I still remember getting up in the middle of the night to go out to the outhouse. Not fun!


We stopped here for ice cream. This place has been there for 35 years. It has 60 kinds of ice cream and the scoops are giant-sized. Yum!! It's a must-stop for any trip to the lake.


On our first day, I took a walk. These are some of the photos I took:




As I said, I like trees.

And, I like houses surrounded by trees:





Doesn't this look like the perfect place to spend a summer day?


All the houses back up to the lake:


Here is the dock behind "our" cottage:


Some ducks came to visit:


Ashley caught a fish:


Mike caught a fish:


Fishermen on the lake:



I did a lot of reading, walking, and taking photos.

I took photos of fishermen fishing:


And birds flying at sunset:


And interesting mailboxes:


The sunroom... a very nice place to read:


We had a campfire and made s'mores. My husband says it was the first s'more he's ever had... where has he been?!


We played games:



My main wish was to hear the call of the loons on the lake. I saw a loon twice, but it dived under the water before I could get a photo of it. But, on our last night there, the loons were calling. I finally got to hear the loons! My vacation was complete.

A Cool Vacation... Part I

So, where have I been for the past week? Michigan! The area that Michiganders call "up north". We left the hot, hazy and humid mid-south to travel to the cool, clear, crisp air of northern Michigan.


I took this photo from the car. Look at the sky... it's a cool, clear blue without that hazy smog that comes with heat and humidity.


I took this photo as we got closer to the lake, where we were staying. Unpaved road, trees all around. The car windows are open now, the scent of crisp air and nature all around. I am beginning to relax for real as we drive down this road!



I love being surrounded by trees. Trees are my favorite companions.


We were staying at a friend's cottage, right on the lake. Open the back door and you are just steps from the water!


I have to go now, to a dentist appointment. I will write more and post more photos when I get back!

Have You Read This Book?

Three Cups of Tea came out in paperback quite a while ago. I had passed it by many times in the bookstore without taking particular note of it. Then I saw a feature about it on the news, and decided to pick it up and read it. Now I am hooked. It's a wonderful, amazing true story. If you haven't read it, I hope you will.


It's the true story of the man in the photo above, Greg Mortenson, an American mountain climber who became a humanitarian. He began as a mountain climber, traveling to central Asia to climb K2. His attempt at K2 failed, but he was rescued and taken to a remote village in Pakistan. He befriended the people in the village, and the rest of the story goes from there. As you read the book you can't help but fall in love with this man. It's a fascinating story.

New Kitten Update

This is the little feral kitten who isn't so feral. She's part of a litter of four, born in our back yard. When we come outside the others run away, but she runs toward us. I think she wants to be adopted! I haven't convinced my husband yet, but we will see. Today I took her for her second vet appointment. She was treated for fleas and got the first of her kitten shots.


She's still living outside with her mother (who was spayed this morning) and her littermates, but whenever we come outside she comes runs right up to us. Yesterday my husband was outside doing some weeding... he turned around and there she was, following him around. She's a sweetie!