You may have thought I didn't see,
Or that I hadn't heard,
Life lessons that you taught to me,
But I got every word.
Perhaps you thought I missed it all,
And that we'd grow apart,
But Dad, I picked up everything,
It's written on my heart.
Without you Dad, I wouldn't be
The person I am today;
You built a strong foundation
No one can take away
I've grown up with your values,
And I'm very glad I did;
So here's to you, dear father,
From your forever grateful kid.
By Joanna Fuchs
Dad is the youngster in the middle
Father’s Day is this weekend. I wanted to have a simple post to acknowledge my Dad – he knows what he means to me . Thanks for visiting today. – ♥
Welcome and Thanks for visiting my blog – Life and Random Thinking. – David
My first Random Thought today is about Fruit. Outside in my backyard is my cherry tree.
The leaves fall off in the fall so it looks bare but you can see the umbrella shape of the tree as it is pruned annually to allow air in the branches and keep the tree healthy plus not too tall.
In the winter, the tree is resting and that is when it is pruned. I have a wonderful expert pruner, Harry, he might have been at Woodstock and yet he is limber and climbs the tree with chainsaw in hand. I help by gathering the branches removed and carry everything to his pickup truck. We often have coffee after or before and we always have a wonderful chat.
cherry tree in blossom in my back yard
In the spring, the excitement and optimism builds as the leaves return, the daylight lengthens, and the cherry tree buds appear. Then come the white blossoms which are wonderful and the bees flitting from spot to spot. I love bees ! Sadly the blossoms depart shortly and fall to cover the ground like late spring snow.
The departing of the blossoms marks the beginning of the actual fruit. At first little green marbles, they grow and change colour. Now the tree is covered with heavy reddening cherries of different shades. The starlings peck and ruin a portion and I strain to refrain from wasted effort chasing them away. There will be lots of cherries left for my family and more besides to share.
It’s not a precise calculation but cherry picking is the first weeks of summer. It can be from late June to early July – Mother Nature won’t be pinned down.
Soon many cherry tree boughs will be heavy enough to pick from the ground or by a NBA player. Most will require my ladder. I always jury-rig a container to hang around my neck so my hands are free to hold on or pick – whichever seems the best idea at the moment.
Cherries are relatively quick to pick, even though I am not a fast picker. Everyone takes turns picking until we get as much as we want to eat and for canning. My wife cans cherries so we enjoy cherries from our tree 12 months of the year. Muchas gracias esposa ♥
Many cherries are looking ready now – it won’t be long now but you wait until they are primo ♥
Thinking about my fruit tree in relation to life- both have stages and at my age and perspective, it’s easier to see. In life and harvesting fruit there is work steps that effect, increase or decrease, the harvest.
I use this metaphor for myself – my mental and physical health takes time, commitment and planning so I can be healthy and lead a balanced life. We all enjoy the fruit, but as my one friend always says” we don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan”. In my case, I sometimes have the plan but need to make sure I am executing, and I love small steps in the right direction because easier to implement.
My suggestion has been small steps always, you can’t eat an elephant in a day – digestible chunks. 🙂 Link here
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My second thought today is Cowboy Sayings:
Inscription on John Wayne ‘s headstone:
“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learnt something from yesterday.”
It’s going to be hard to limit myself to only five Cowboy insights;
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing is to stop diggin’.
The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every morning.
Always drink upstream from the herd♥
safer here out of the waves – Cocoa Beach Florida
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My ThirdThought is about Lessons:
I remember the movie “To Sir With Love” – Sidney Poitier in this 1967 movie is an out of work engineer (Mark Thackeray) who takes up a job teaching in a London high school.
The opening scene in the classroom is mayhem, and disrespect at the teacher’s expense.
Patience and class wins the day. Mr Thackeray teaches them to behave with courtesy in the classroom – the young ladies as Miss, and the boys by their surname.
He teaches deportment, and answers their questions. One of his statements was “Toughness is a quality of the mind…. like bravery, honesty, and ambition.”
They asked him what will they talk about?
His answer:
“About life…. survival…love… death, sex, marriage…. rebellion, anything you want.”
I really recommend you watch the ending – Mark Thackeray tears up his letter of acceptance for work as an engineer and decides to stay at the school. – Incredibly (emotional) memorable scene. – watch HERE
I welcome your ideas, and feedback. I am very grateful for each comment and enjoy responding- David.
Thank you for visiting my blog today, I am continually surprised on what a supportive community the blogging community is.
Today I visited and was inspired by another blogger who writes ” Okanagan Valley View“. I read a few of her posts and one mentioned hand-holding and it sparked my blog post for today. I am going to talk about Holding Hands, Hugging, and the wonderful burrowing people together we call cuddling or snuggling. Who knew that something so healthy needed no prescription?
I still remember a girl in high school telling me I was a “hugger”, and I suppose I still amand so was my Mom.
Who else remembers the excitement first holding hands with someone?
I sure do, my heart beat so quickly and I probably wouldn’t have been brave enough if not for the darkness of the movie theatre.
LOL, I was not the most intrepid high school male but maybe if I had known then about the health benefits I might have been more brave. Nah, probably not.
According to one internet link there is actual science behind the health benefits of hand-holding. See here.
Hand-holding improves our quality of life.
It can stimulate feelings of love. (support, and caring)
Hand-holding decreases the stress hormone – cortisol.
It increases oxytocin which increases empathy and communication.
Now hugging is something I enjoy doing, I enjoy hugging people, family, good friends, people I appreciate and it has always felt natural. Even if I was too shy to express myself verbally, then a hug I hoped spoke how I valued that person.
This time my internet source is the Cleveland Clinic and they had a few things to say about the health benefits of hugging.
Like hand-holding, hugging releases the stress hormone cortisol,
Hugging may also decrease high blood pressure and lower your heart rate (and better for your liver than drugs ♥),
Hugging can strengthen your immune system,
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Snuggle – Cuddle For your health
Nothing beats a nice snuggle/cuddle. There are many forms of the snuggle/cuddle.
The head on the shoulder while looking outward together,
The burrowing head under the chin snuggle which can be enjoyed for feels like an eternity.
The spoon to warm up cuddle (where did those cold feet come from?)
The snuggle / hug that says you are special,
Whether you “cuddle” or “snuggle” – you are talking about the same action; the drawing close together and pressing against one another.
The health benefits are the same as hand-holding, and hugging which is that Snuggling/Cuddling causes the pituitary gland to produce oxytocin which displaces cortisol.
Thanks for visiting today. Here in Penticton it is green outside because of the rain – the fruit trees and the grapes would dance if they could. Today my post is about reading books to exercise brain cells and two books I just read recently; they are connected. – David
Exercise is not just for the biceps
Netflix, Facebook, text messages, Instagram, tv series etc are all fine entertainment but I am also a believer that our brains need more.
When I was taking courses at university or technical college I was exercising my gray cells. Then during my career I was also learning new ideas and policies (very taxing it was!) as I was always testing and improving my knowledge.
Now that I spend so much time using a computer, and my smart phone is used more for it’s computer capacity than it’s ability to make phone calls I feel that an extra effort is needed to ensure my brain is not “coasting”, which is a downhill action !
Fortunately I had parents who instilled into me the love of reading. I began when I was young and cute reading comic books. Now I buy books and borrow books from the Public Library (which I encourage everyone to do). Thanks to computer access I can pick my books in advance, reserve them and the library emails me when my books are ready to pick up; and reminds me also when they are due back!
Another way to keep your brain fresh is by studying a different language every day for 30 minutes or so. A few years ago I studied Turkish for awhile, switched to German and now I am on a 280 day streak of studying Spanish (Espanol) ♥ Me gusta estudio espanol y a veces yo hablo espanol.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Today I would like to share feedback of two of my recent reads.
the Book Shop
I hope you can find this book “The Bookshop” – quick read, only 123 pages, and charming engaging characters. It was printed back in 1997 and I found and borrowed it from my library. The story takes place in 1959 in a seaside town in England named Hardborough. Florence Green, a widow, decides to use her small inheritance to open a bookshop because there isn’t one. She buys the “old house” which has a leaking roof, a flooding cellar and possibly a ghost.
In 1959 Florence Green occasionally passed a night when she was not absolutely sure whether she had slept or not. This was because of her worries as to whether to purchase a small property, the Old House, with its own warehouse on the foreshore, and to open the only bookshop in Hardborough. The uncertainty probably kept her awake. She had once seen a heron flying across the estuary and trying, while it was on the wing, to swallow an eel which it had caught. The eel, in turn, was struggling to escape from the gullet of the heron and appeared a quarter, a half, or occasionally three-quarters of the way out. The indecision expressed by both creatures was pitiable. They had taken on too much. Florence felt that if she hadn’t slept at all – and people often say this when they mean nothing of the kind – she must have kept awake by thinking of the heron.
I read “The Bookshop” because I read “Paris Never Leaves You” and that story takes place in a bookshop in Paris bookstore during the occupation of Paris during World War II. Also an interesting book fights for her life to survive but can she survive the next chapter of her life?
An interview of the author Ellen Feldman is at the end of “Paris Never Leaves You” and she mentioned and recommended “The Bookshop” hence my reading that book byPenelope Fitzgerald.
Thank you for visiting “Life and Random Thinking” today – I hope where you live the sky is blue and a breeze is making the leaves wave. I have a few thoughts today I want to share and hopefully receive your response to. 🙂
First Thought – Hope
TheHOPEI am referring to is the celebrity, Bob Hope. Not everyone enjoys his comedy, or humour but I confess I do. I started watching again his 1947 romantic comedy (on Youtube) called “My Favorite Brunette”. Almost immediately after the movie began, I was struck by the comedy timing of Bob Hopeas the warden approaches his San Quentin cell on death row and Hope quips “No ketchup ! This is the worst last meal I’ve ever had!”
(From Wikipedia) The story is told in flashback from Death Row as Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope) relates to a group of reporters the events that lead to his murder conviction. Ronnie’s a San Francisco baby photographer who dreams about being a real private detective like his office neighbor Sam McCloud (Alan Ladd). One day, he is mistaken for a detective by mysterious lady in distress Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour), who claims that her wheelchair-bound husband was kidnapped at the pier as they arrived from overseas. A sinister figure (Lorre) listens at the office door. Carlotta gives Ronnie her address, a coded map, and a $5,000 ring as payment, telling him that no one must know he’s a detective.
Need some smiles and chuckles? – Try Hope !
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Second Thought – Resilience
RESILIENCE is defined as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress—such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors.”
I learned there are three categories of resilience; physical, emotional and circumstantial – and sometimes people must adapt to all three categories.
Four Resilience “Builders” I have read about are:
There are two types of days; great days and learning days.
Persistence not Perfection.
Be OK that sometimes we are not at our best or can be triggered to be at our worst. Be all right with that, let go and move on.
Define what success means to you; what really matters.
I was recently informed by a health professional I had not seen since I was on dialysis. The professional commented I was in better mental as well as physical health. Not a clear explanation but I gather I was less “easygoing” in my manner when I last visited but that it was normal considering what I was dealing with.
This lead me to think about Resilience, and realize that the stresses I thought I had hidden, were still noticeable. In the past, so I move forward.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Third Thought – Hummingbirds
I have three hummingbird feeders now, in the hopes of having more visiting hummingbirds. When they arrive, they arrive solo, and if another one was to arrive right away, they would likely try to force the other to retreat.
Hummingbirds are not that social, they like to do their own thing I realized.
Quail I spotted on a hike this week
They are certainly different from the quail who are seldom found alone, and their feet ablur run and hide beneath the Oregon grape bushes.
I realized I am more quail than hummingbird and that leads to my standby joke:
What happens when a duck flies upside down? It quacks up ! LOL
Thank you for visiting today. The last few days I have been riding my ebike and taking pictures. Often as I took these pictures I thought of how I would share them with you via this blog. I hope you like them. – David
My son who rides with me, yay. That vest is one I bought in Malmo and has a moose on the back, wish I had bought more.
Looking northwest from Munson Mountain – the lake was so calm on this day.
I am giving a profile here because I really don’t like myself in pictures.
Looking down from Munson Mountain, the south end of Okanagan lake which ends in Penticton.
A 22 kilometre / 2 hour ride on Monday
I suppose every topic has been discussed on blogs. Here is one of my pet peeves – cigarette butts on beaches.
I totally get that sitting and looking at the view is relaxing and enjoyable. Perhaps even more so with a pipe, or cigarette regardless of the signs saying not to do it. If there are no other people around to be exposed to side-smoke then there would be no harm or little.
However, and this the peeve part, why leave all the butts behind? Do they think they are going to magically disappear or compost? I think I read that butts take 15 years to decompose because they are so processed.
Ignore the sign and have a smoke by yourself but pick up after yourself please smokers !
While we continue the battle on plastics, reports indicate that cigarette butts are the single most littered item in the world, surpassing plastics with 2 billion pounds of butts tossed aside annually.
It’s like someone who has a bottle of something, don’t leave your garbage or worse broken glass behind.
That’s it – peeve expressed but it won’t change anything. Oy vey.
Not all paths are paved, but many are still worth visiting.
One TV series I have enjoyed both on TV and on Netflix is Murdock Mysteries. This series along with “Still Standing” are ones I often recommend.
One character from Murdock’s Mysteries inspired today’s word of the day which is ” Bollocks “. – In the right circumstances you would use the term “bollocks” to express: contempt, annoyance or defiance.
Your assignment: Use today’s Word of the Day ! and don’t explain what it means, let them look it up.
I can only wish my feeder would have so many visitors.
It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you are ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good as time as any.
Hugh Laurie
Once again, thanks for stopping by – your ideas and feedback are welcome. ♥ – David
Life and Random Thinking 