Birds / cats / Dogs / Growing

Evolution in Action

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Well, it’s been a pretty dull week. Lots of cold and a little snow here – we fared much better than my family in Texas.

An apricot standard poodle in a teal coat lays on the landing of our stairs. One stair down, our black miniature schnauzer mix sits in her light teal coat.
With sub-zero temps here, our pups have worn their coats. They keep the snow off their skin and give them a little insulation against the cold without getting hot in the house.

We worked far too much and played a few hands of cards. I won a few, lost a few; it’s a bit hard to care after a while. The pandemic has helped us learn how to lose gracefully with a laugh and a shrug. When you play so often, it truly becomes more about companionship and less about winning.

A Bengal cat wearing a red collar looks out of a cardboard box labeled "Fragile." Her green eyes are striking!
Nami found a look-out box for a little while.

Our companion animals do a lot to alleviate the tedium. Their affection and playfulness do much to lift our spirits and keep us emotionally balanced. They add so much to our lives!

A Goffin's cockatoo sits on the fronds of a green succulent that looks a lot like a a bunch of braids. In the background are some jade plants and a window into the neighborhood.
Sugar likes to check on me while I work. He landed on my plant an then quickly flew to my shoulder. He likes to “help” me on the computer. It just LOOKS like a nap!

Mostly, my husband and I are peaceful here. While most of the world is in some phase of chaos, we are in a comfortable, peaceful state of mind. We have meaningful work, our needs are met, and we know we are fortunate. We enjoy our time at home; it is our place of solace and tranquility. The whole world seems to be going downhill in a handbasket sometimes. We remain here, steady, focused on what is in our control, and keep working.

A black miniature schnauzer mix in a royal blue coat sits on her dog bed. She has a bunny toy in front of her and a white teddy bear in her mouth.
Garnet believes in packing a spare!

I know that some people are called to the chaos as spiritual warriors bringing change to our world. Regardless of the side they represent, their actions instigate change. I’m grateful for their sacrifice and their efforts to usher in new perspectives, compassion, and a way that accepts everyone at the table. I am busy too, but my work is unseen, and I like that. I’d rather not be in the spotlight, but I still want to do my part.

A gray cat hides behind shear curtains. She peeks her head out and looks directly into the camera. She seems very self-possessed.
Is it safe to come out?

Blessings to you all as you do your part to bring constructive, positive change – growth. Of course, growing pains can hurt, and we are seeing a bit of that now, but there is also hope. Our world is changing and must change, too. That is evolution in action, after all.

39 comments

  3. I live in San Antonio Texas and it is 84 today (March 15).
    Hard to believe that 4 weeks ago, from February 15 through the 18, this area was dealing with sub-freezing temps, ice storms, and snow storms that were totally out of the ‘norm.’ With the rolling blackouts on top of everything else, it was chaotic! Now I am busy cutting up and removing dead plants that did not survive. Some of the native plants in my yard are still OK —the prickly pear cactus seems to be able to withstand anything from outrageously hot to unbelievably cold, and the white and red yucca are standing strong. The Sago Palm is damaged but alive, with odd multi-colored leaves (fronds) of burnt brown and green. Sadly, the 16 Little John bottlebrush bushes are completely dead (Zone 9 plants), because they were unable to withstand the three 9, 12, and 18 degree nights. The hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies are going to be heartbroken, because they loved all of the bright red bottlebrush flowers. I am not going to replace the dwarf bottlebrush because, although they do great in the hot summer sun, it obviously gets too cold from them around here. I don’t know what I am going to put in their place!

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    1. It will be tough to find the right plants. I live where it is below zero each winter for a few days, and my cactus never survived. I’m glad yours did. We just got over 2 feet of snow and it hasn’t melted yet. It’s like getting all of winter in one weekend. It’s a wacky weather year. Take care.

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  7. A lot is changing, but I fear most of the changes will in the end be temporary. The changes have not been positive for me, as my job as realtor has suffered quite a bit, and also, I don’t have many friends, and since I couldn’t see them, I’ve been feeling quite isolated. But hopefully that will change soon…

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    1. The real estate market in my town has been very active. I’m sorry yours is not as hot. 😕 And yes, loneliness is a drawback, to be sure. Thank goodness my husband and son are here, otherwise I’d be feeling quite a bit differently. And my pets are a huge help. I am sorry that it’s harder to find for you. I still hope you can find some peace in the moment, knowing that a shift is on the horizon. My side hustle has been in a slump for several months, and the financial squeeze is there since my expenses c to us nonetheless, but I’m trying to focus on the good parts. When we exit this current time, it will all be different.

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      1. The pets definitely help, although they’re not really that good with keeping a conversation flowing! 😁 Once again, I’m hoping that the end of this chaos is near. Thanks for your reply. 🌷

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  8. Good to hear you and your husband (and pets) are doing well and accepting what is. The sooner the whole world comes to terms with the rapidly changing lifestyle and restrictions/limits, the better everyone will feel.

    Those who rebel against the Government’s new rules are only making it harder and less safe for the rest of us. Rebellious protesters also draw resources from already over-stretched community law-enforcement and healthcare workers.

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    1. Some things are worth protesting. Some race protests looked destructive, but have resulted in positive change downstream. Protesting having to wear a mask? Not so much.

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    1. I suppose to what is considered positive change is pretty subjective. Some things are worth fighting for. Some are not. Sometimes fighting someone else’s war instead of taking care of our own people doesn’t seem right at all. And as a parrot, aren’t you concerned about an environment that sustains life? These things seem important to me.

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  11. I’ve enjoyed the peacefulness of our home this last year, too. I know that there is chaos outside in the big bad world, but we’ve found our groove– playing cards with each other just for the heck of it. Doing our work quietly without fanfare. Strange year, but one that I’ll never forget.

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    1. I’ve had a chance to read more, and have turned the TV off for almost a year. I find reading the news so much more tolerable. No commercials and I can stop a few paragraphs in or research even more if I want to. No witty banter among beautiful people. It has been a wonderful reset! I finally know what it feels like to sleep sufficiently. Never before! So working remotely has been a good thing.

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  13. I find a time of quiet where I can sit and absorb your posts. They are always peaceful and beautiful. We often play perquacky and boggle in the evening before bed, when we don’t want screen time. He always wins at boggle, and I often win at perquacky. And you’re right, it’s about the time together and both of us trying to do our best, and laughing when we don’t.
    I love the handles on your cabinets. Even THEY seem peaceful!

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    1. I’m going to have look up Perquacky – it sounds fun! As for the cabinet handles, they were the first thing we bought for our home after we bought it. I love the leaf 🍃 theme, but if you aren’t careful, they’ll reach out and get you! I think our life sounds boring, but even my college-aged son is quick to point out that peaceful is underrated.

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      1. I’ve been playing perquacky since I was a kid. It was created in the 50’s. We’ve already bought one set of new dice for this newer perquacky game we bought, but now we need another set and I’m having trouble finding them. When used so much, the letters start to rub off the dice!

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          1. Boggle cubes stay in their plastic case, you shake them up and they settle in their little squares. They don’t get moved around.
            With perquacky, you throw the dice and rearrange them however you want to make words. A limit to 5 of each group (3 letter words, 4 letters, etc.) You get bonus points for completing two sequential groups (3’s and 4’s, 4’s and 5’s, etc.) Can’t do singles and plurals of same word. Play is to 5,000 points. As with Boggle, the other person writes down the words as you create and call them out. We tell each other when we completed a group, or perhaps need one more to get that bonus. (We play friendly, even looking some words up in the dictionary so the other one doesn’t lose their bonus…that’s not in the official rules, LOL)
            Hope that helps. Get a game and we can play on Zoom!

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          2. That does sound more interesting than boggle, and easier to play than scrabble in a house with cats. We play a dice Game that’s pretty exciting when Gracie joins in! I’m going to pitch it to my husband and see if he’ll play it with me!

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          3. We found if we thought something might be a word, we’d look it up and it was usually derived from the Scots, LOL. It’s become a standing joke around here. Lucy used to bark and jump at the plastic container used to shake the cubes. Jeff would play with her like that in the middle of a game until Xena came along and wanted to jump at it too. That ruined it for Lucy.

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