Evening Stroll

A vinegaroon enjoys a late perambulation in the neighborhood. 

Suffer the Creatures

Today while roaming the interwebs after work, I came across a link that contained a video of an orphaned baby skunk who would lovingly follow a Roomba vacuum cleaner. Then, my Facebook feed contained its usual panoply of discarded and abused puppies and kitties, needing homes and funds for medical expenses. Orphaned bats, koalas struck by cars; articles about endangered beasts both large and small. The last straw was a link (which I did not click) proclaiming that it contained pictures and/or video of a snake that, when decapitated, bit its own body.

I just cannot read any more.

The creatures. They suffer.  And so often, at the hands of Man.

People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel. 
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

We do our very best to make sure the creatures under our care do not suffer.

Dalai Birthday

Today is the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday.  Happy day to you, venerable sir, and I hope for many more.

I am just one human being. We are all part of humanity. We are all the same and our future depends on others. Each day I dedicate my body, speech and mind to the welfare of all mother sentient beings. I say my favourite prayer:

        For as long as space endures
        And for as long as living beings remain,
        Until then may I too abide
        To dispel the misery of the world.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, July 6, 2015 (quote found here: http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/1294-awakening-compassion-celebrations-of-his-holiness-the-dalai-lamas-80th-birthday)

This festive cake-and-candle picture was found here: http://www.dalailama.com/

Angel on my Shoulder

After several days of melancholia and rumination, Herself's present internal storm appears to have passed. Yesterday she spent several hours on a thorough cleaning of the house, including the tidying and reorganization of the cupboard under the stairs, the cabinet under the kitchen sink, and the pantry shelves.  Because all of the others were out of the house, she listened to her own choices of music and sang along without concern about irritating anyone. (The dogs do not seem to mind the noise.)  She rounded out the chores today by restocking the pantry and weeding several containers of miscellany that were cluttering the garage. She picked out a few new recipes to try in the upcoming week.  She caught up on some Science magazines while lying on the couch with the dogs.  Aah. Much better.

As she drove to and from the grocery store today, she had a most unusual feeling; it was a particular mindfulness -- not something even as concrete as a thought or a physical sensation -- that carried with it a molecule of contentment and peace.

If she had to describe it, she would say: it was as though someone was thinking of her, with love.

We wish this for you, too.

She shall keep this molecule of comfort in her heart, where it has quietly taken root. Perhaps it will grow.  And if she is very lucky, perhaps one day she shall learn what it is.

Library

"Every one of us is losing something precious to us.... Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That's part of what it means to be alive.  But inside our heads -- at least that's where I imagine it -- there's a little room where we store those memories.  A room like the stacks in this library.  And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards.  We have to dust things off every once in a while, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases.  In other words, you'll live forever in your own private library."

-- Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

This screencap from Doctor Who, in the particularly magnificent library, was found here: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/doctor-who/images/21243289/title/4x08-silence-library-screencap 

Fish Wishes II

The first Fish Wishes is here.
-----

If wishes were fishes
The shoals would be great 

With silvery flashing
Part hope and part fate

Beneath the grey ocean

In water twilight,

A unified swimming

Or could it be flight?

Both hopeful and fearful

Of landing a wish --

The sharp rays of daylight

Would injure the fish

These wishes are wild

And cannot be tamed

So I shall but watch them

And leave them unclaimed. 

Swim free, silver fishes

My heart goes with you

And someday I'll join you

In ocean deep blue. 

Picture copyright 2014, 2015, Mediocria Firma. Used with gratitude.

Yikes

Family medical emergency yesterday -- not life-threatening, but serious enough to warrant immediate medical attention.  The involved person is fine, thank goodness. Herself has not had more than a few breaths to herself; posting may be a wee bit scarce for another day or so until a equilibrium is reestablished. We'll be back as soon as we can.