Big Dog

My childhood dog Kona. Recently found this photo taken circa 1979.

The day was sunny, but it wasn’t sunny in my heart. Kona was excited. Big tongue hanging out of his mouth, tail wagging. For all he knew he was going off on another adventure.

Our family friend, Matt, always took Kona for rides on the back of his motorcycle. No motor cycle ride today. Matt hoisted Kona’s dog house to the back of his El Camino, Kona jumped in, no idea he was moving out to the country. For good.

City life wasn’t working for this St. Bernard – Collie mix. He needed space. He needed something else to chase besides cars.

Years before when my parents were still married my oldest sister came home one night with Kona.  She was walking the beach with a girlfriend. They told the owner walking Kona how cute the dog was and next thing you know my teenage sister had a new dog. She eventually moved out, so did my dad.

In the void of one less sister and a father no longer in the house, there was this big dog. Kona slept on my bed – I didn’t care that he took up most of the space.

His floppy ears and big smiling face fill the picture I am holding now. A 30 something year old picture that holds memories I’d forgotten.

After the snap shot was taken, I never saw Kona again. But the place he held in my heart has been rediscovered. Like finding a present under the tree, days after Christmas.

by J.G. McGlothern

Monday’s Random Thought: Fun

Fun is fundamental, says the quote by Doug Hall on my fridge.

On a rainy Monday this thought may seem far reaching. Come on, see how far you can stretch, I dare you.

by J.G. McGlothern

Acceleration

I pretty much have two speeds. On and off. I go, go, go until I hit the pillow at night. It’s how I operate.

The other morning in yoga, the instructor suggested starting off slow in a pose. Instead of going 100% from the start, he suggested starting at 50 or 75% then at the end of the pose give it your all, max out past 100% even.

I played with that. It worked. I had more energy, I went even further.

Hmmmm. Something to play with in real life perhaps?

by J.G. McGlothern

Friday’s Free Refill

For Friday’s Blog on my website please go to … www.mamaneedsarefill.com to read … http://www.mamaneedsarefill.com/2011/09/fridays-free-refill-sip/

Thanks and Happy Friday, Happy Reading!

 

Thanks

At the end of yoga class this morning a student hollered out, Happy International Gratitude Day.

The instructor didn’t miss a beat, Yes, thank you for that reminder, and with that we can take an extra moment here at the end of class, to be grateful.

I had a whole other blog I wrote in my head during class.

I am putting that thought on hold to say, Thank you for those who found their way to my blog by accident, on purpose or because you know me and so you choose to become a faithful reader. Thank you for this hot Italian sausage soup as it warms me inside and out. I am aware of how much I forget to be grateful and how appreciative I am for the subtle reminder from a stranger.

Thank you for the sky, the moon, the light of day, the sweetness of night. Thank you for friends, family and strangers who can lead us right to where we need to be.

I will include links to previous blogs I have written in the past about gratitude.

I may not know you, I may know you well, whomever you are, thank you for taking a moment of your day to read this post. Before there was a post, there was a blank page and for that I am truly grateful.

If you don’t do anything today but be grateful you have done more than many.

 

https://heartwriter.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/thank-you-gratitude-part-i/

https://heartwriter.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/salt-in-a-glass-instead-gratitude-part-ii/

https://heartwriter.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/in-the-cards-gratitude-part-iii/

by J.G. McGlothern

Monday’s Random Thought: Rearrange

It’s amazing the shift that can happen when you rearrange some furniture and pass on things you no longer use.

Yesterday we were given a couch we didn’t really need. We weren’t looking for a new couch. But this one fell in our laps. With the new couch moving into the living room other things had to move out. An honest examining of what do we really use had to take place.  Some things needed to move into another room or be passed on to someone else.

At first there was resistance, not everyone wanted this change initially. In the end all four of us, oh the dog, too welcomed the new living room arrangement.

The change allowed for new space to open up, a fresh outlook.

You should know me well enough by now, to know, I am not just talking about furniture.  When we make space for something, you may get a new piece of furniture, but you may discover something even more valuable.

by J.G. McGlothern

Queen to Risk

Kevin Kline, who is even sexier with his grey beard and French accent in the French sub-titled film, Queen to Play, than he is in The Big Chill, had me at “risk”.

I love the game of chess and play it because I am not that good at it.  Yes, you heard me correctly. Not that good. I want to get good at it. So I show up online and play three people in my life, my brother-in-law, my mother and my girlfriend who is new to the game, but good. And through this practice I am getting better, indeed. Chess is all about thinking a few moves ahead of the game. I am more of a move by the seat of my pants gal, so I play because I want to posses this kind of thinking. I want to grasp the knowledge of thinking beyond what is in front of me.

The queen is the most powerful piece in the game, she can move and capture in all directions. It is rare that one can win a game without her on the board.

In this delightful film, Kevin’s character says to the woman wanting to learn how to play chess, “By taking risks you might lose, but if you don’t, you always lose.”

We forget that part in life. We play it safe shielding our queen with pawns and knights fearful to bring her out in the open, playing it safe. In chess, like in life, if we take risks with her, try new angles, sample different moves we just may discover a new way to win and that may have nothing to do with putting your opponent in check-mate.

by J.G. McGlothern

Monday’s Random Thought: Home

They say home is where the heart is. For me that is true, indeed. I feel at home on a beach with sand in my toes, on my yoga mat in a sweaty room, watching an old movie on my couch, in the kitchen making soup, holding hands with my children, in my husband’s arms, sitting around a big table with friends, laughing and sharing stories, having coffee with a friend just being myself.

Home is where I feel grounded body, mind and soul. Connection to myself, connection to someone else, this is home for me.

Standing in church yesterday for the first time in a long while, the slowly sung lyrics moved me to the core only like music can. I was home, in a place I have grown up, in a place where people know me. Singing the words we couldn’t help but think of that day, ten years ago. I wasn’t really sure if I was crying for the lives lost in 9/11 and all the pain of many or if I was crying for the hope I was feeling in my heart. The hope for healing. The hope for possibility. How feeling hope in my heart is also my home.

The line from This is My Song that started the stream of tears down my cheeks was simple but heavy with meaning. “This is my home, the county where my heart is; Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine; But other hearts in other lands are beating With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.”

We all have our own place we call home. Your home and my home may be different but they are a place that no one can take from us because it dwells deep within.

by J.G. McGlothern

Transport

I went to Siena, Italy this morning. It was a quick trip. I was there for less than a minute, but it was worth it. It was beautiful. It gave me what I needed to get the kids off to school.

My mom and I took a trip to Europe three years ago, and one of the highlights for me was Italian coffee.  In Siena we stayed in a converted convent and were awakened every morning by church bells and pigeons. We would walk sleepily down the hall to breakfast. A stone faced Italian woman would come out of the kitchen with two kettles in her hand. One coffee, one hot milk. She poured the kettles of hot liquid into my cup and transformed me into a new woman.

So this morning, I heated my half n’ half and poured the hot cream into my cup of hot coffee.  I was transported right back to Siena and the stone faced woman was smiling at me this morning in my kitchen.

I paused, breathed in the aroma, savored the flavor, was grateful for the hotness on my tongue.

Heating the cream was all the coffee needed to transform from something ordinary into something delizioso. Taking me away from the moment into a great memory. 

I was transported from the moment of packing lunches, frying eggs, and filling water bottles into a moment of joy, not just a past memory. But right in front of me I found joy in the routine, all from taking a second to heat the milk.

by J.G. McGlothern

Easy Does It

There is no hurry.

On the first day of elementary school the teachers take it slow. They don’t bombard the kids, at least the younger grades, with too much. They show them around the room, maybe take the hand of the teary eyed ones, talk softly, smile a lot, ease them into their new grade, new class room.

Today on the first day of my kids being back at school I am being gentle with myself. I am tasting the food I eat, sipping my coffee slowly, watching the sky, feeling the coat of my dog, all soft.

There is no hurry.

I walked the dog at an easy pace and later in the shower I shaved my legs twice.

There is no hurry.

The school bell will ring soon and I’ll be picking them up taking them to piano and soccer. We will eat dinner later than I like but we will eat it slowly, together.

There is no hurry.

On this day of big change for many I am practicing being gentle with myself, so I can be gentle later with my children. For there is no hurry. Everything will get done, the transition will be over soon. So in the mean time I am reminding myself to hear the laughter, walk slowly, and to notice the sky, for it is bright, it is lovely and you don’t see any clouds racing by.

by J.G. McGlothern