The Loving-Kindness Meditation

I am halfway through an interactive online wellness course hosted by Deborah Maragopoulos FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner). As a member of a small pilot group for this new course, and am being introduced to a whole new world of information that I was previously unaware of. Ideas about hormones, exercise, diet, mindset, and more…

So, when Deborah touched on the Loving-Kindness Meditation (also called Metta Meditation) during this week’s class, I made a note and went off to consult the Oracle Google once the class was over. It was a productive search and I found more than enough information to help me learn more.

Feeling overwhelmed? How to be happy anyway.

“I only clean up after my horse” artwork by Lesley Bruce, available on a T-shirt here

According to author Martha Beck, PhD, society these days has evolved in such a manner that folks think they’ve got to be prancing around gleefully (think: Swiffer commercial) in order to be truly happy. On the contrary, Martha says “True happiness is sustainable delight in the beautiful moments of everyday life.”

Martha’s article in Oprah Magazine How to Find the Kind of Joy that Lasts also says;

The Best Place to Bury A Dog

German Shepherd Dog Zack joined our family in the summer of 1999

Most people don’t realize purebred German Shepherds can be all black, but it is not uncommon; baby Zack looked like a little bear.

He was a cute little bundle of fur at first, but quickly became “legendary” among mail carriers, delivery people and bicyclists in the area. His thunderous bark and menacing presence was enough to make anyone who didn’t know him more than a little nervous. Just to make sure everyone knew he was serious about his position as “Chief of Security” here at HoofPrints and on the Keesling farm, he often escorted (read: chased) visitors off the premises whenever they left.

Remembering Puppy-Girl

REMEMBERING PUPPY-GIRL after a tearful goodbye in 2015…

Puppy came to live with us 11 years ago. Like almost all of our dogs, she was unwanted by someone else – dumped here at our “house in the country”. Most disturbing about Puppy’s start here with us – was the fact that she was just a young puppy – not much past weaning age – and she ended up in the bushes in front of our house on a sub-zero January night. The struggle with frigid temps would later prove to challenge her throughout her entire life.

Part 2 – Rob and the Emergency Media Stand

Here’s my husband Rob doing his best impression of the alien face in this rough sawn board.

Fall of 2015 saw us in a bit of a mess; figuratively and literally. In sharing some pictures of our house remodeling project, I’d piqued the interest of Angie’s List Magazine photographer Mike Fender.

Happy New Year!

New Year’s morning of 2017 saw us leaping from the bed to relocate a puking dog to a cleanup-friendly location. As my shivering self climbed back into bed to warm up, my brain remembered a cartoon that I drew some 30 years ago, commemorating this same event.

Somebody should DO something!

We found this Red-Bellied Woodpecker flat on his back on the driveway beside the garage. He was still alive, quite warm, though stunned and/or gravely injured. My husband Rob and I were both heartbroken; I was nearly in tears and I suspect he was, too (more about why, later). Because I spend so much time on the internet “for my job” Rob is somewhat skeptical of the actual productivity of all those hours spent staring at a monitor. In my efforts to justify said usefulness of all that time spent, I am continually cherry-picking and pointing out to him – interesting and useful information I have gleaned from my hours spent online. Birds are one of my favorite topics.