Life

The Simple Things

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

HomesteadCoffee2Isn’t it good to have a few simple things in life that make you happy? I’ve found that one of the greatest joys in life can really come from simple things …. books, (often purchased at $1 – $2 at the library/sale), music, (streaming online while I work is wonderful), candles with scents that are just delicious, (and always available somewhere on sale or bestowed upon me as a gift), and … good coffee. OK, make that very good coffee.

Some people love wine, aged scotch, Coke … you can keep it all. My beverage of choice is coffee. And how lucky am I that excellent coffee is just on the other side of the river and a short drive away or is even available in a number of local shops? Homestead Coffee Roasters sells a variety of delicious brews, many of which are organic, Fair Trade coffee. They roast all coffee on the premises, buying all their beans green and sourced from a number of countries where the quality is outstanding. In addition to a caffeinated choice or two, I always have some decaf on hand and the last time there, I bought this Ethiopian water-processed decaf, full of flavor.

They do custom small batches and have their own signature blends like Ringing Rocks Roast, Peruvian Sunrise, Dead Man’s Brew, etc. They also make delicious seasonal flavored coffees such as Frosty Winter Morning, a blend of graham crackers, nuts and cinnamon. Yum. Pour that into one of my 4 new (different-colored) mugs, given as a gift to me from one of my animal-loving friends, and I am good to go.

So while some are out buying $300 shoes and the next and newest model classy car, I’ll curl up with my coffee and book, light a favorite candle and be perfectly content. Easy-peasy. And I have every confidence that many of you reading this post feel exactly the same way. It’s something simple that warms your heart, that speaks to you, and puts a smile on your face. Simple is good.

Namaste on TV

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

In following an unexpected trail of  webby bread crumbs recently, I came to a YouTube video of Joan of Arcadia.

256px-JoaI always loved this show and also the show’s theme song by Joan Osbourne, One of Us. I loved the premise of Joan Girardi, (Amber Tamblyn), finding God each week in everyday people – a fellow student, a mime, a homeless man, a club DJ, a girl on the color guard at school, a soccer mom and the list goes on.  The message is ultimately about the Divine in each of us, and the essence of the greeting Namaste. The song’s refrain is this:

What if God was one of us,
just a slob like one of us,
just a stranger on the bus
trying to make his way home.

Namaste is a greeting used by many Hindu, Taoist and Buddhists which literally means “I bow to you.” It is said with the hands together in prayer position over the heart chakra and with a bow of the head. It is the divine spark in one person acknowledging the divine spark in another. To me it is one and the same as to what Joan of Arcadia was all about … acknowledging the divine in each other – finding the divine in each other – sometimes in the most unexpected places. As said in Wikipedia, (where you can also read more about the show’s premise), “No specific mention of any “true” religion is ever made, and God quotes Bob Dylan, Emily Dickinson and the Beatles, rather than any scripture or verse”  and is always very human in his/her appearances. I suppose it may be easy to look at this TV show in the light of one religion, but  in the end … the message is the same, and enlightening from any angle.

The YouTube video I described is no longer available, but you can hear Joan Osbourne singing it plus the lyrics are also here.

 

A Few Things I’ve Learned

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

When we cease to learn, we truly cease to be alive. Along the way, here are a few things I’ve learned:
* If I leave my Sunday paper on the sidewalk where the delivery people toss it long enough, even though that’s all of 20′ from my front door, someone will definitely take it.
Claude-On-Sidechair3* If I don’t keep an eagle-eye on how much water Claude drinks while I’m making coffee/preparing their breakfast and meds – because who knows, maybe last evening was really his last meal EVER – he is sure to anxiously consume copious amounts and promptly throw it up in the only appropriate place, the w/w carpeting upstairs.
* If the barometric pressure changes overnight, I will wake up with a sinus/migraine headache and there is no way of heading it off the night before.
* Having a sufficient supply of eggs, milk and bread on hand is always comforting.
* No matter how nasty symptoms from a virus/cold/flu are, eventually they subside and move out. (The catch is trying to remember that while in the middle of it when all you want to do is sleep until it’s over.)
* The unconditional love of animals is a soothing balm to whatever ails the mind, body and soul.
CloudySunnySky2* Temperatures in the single digits eventually become double again.
* Behind the clouds, fog or overcast skies, the sun is always shining and will bathe us in warmth soon enough.
* Buried in the symptoms that make us feel like crap when we’re ill is always the opportunity to learn, (yet again), that we are always safe and loved no matter how we feel. A challenge, yes, but still an opportunity.

A Big Shout Out in the Big Chill

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

LineWorkers2Something I heard on the radio really jumped out at me this morning. A dockworker called in to the show I listen to, talking about the men who work all night long loading and unloading cargo containers, right next to the frigid waters, making it even colder. In this part of the world we are experiencing the coldest temperatures we’ve seen in three years, and while we sit warm at our desks or run errands in our heated cars, lots of folk are out there in this making their living.

I thought today to give a shout out to all those who work outside in these freezing temperatures, so here’s my thanks – and I’m sure I speak for all of us – to: line workers and those who keep our heat, electricity, phones and cell phones working; dockworkers and truckers who keep everything we need coming and going; police, fire and EMT personnel who are out whenever duty calls, school crossing guards, animal control officers who rescue animals from freezing to death; health care workers who make sure the elderly and incapacitated have heat and food; mail carriers; delivery people; construction crews; and anyone I may have missed.

Thanks for keeping our world safe and moving along.