WHO are we?

We never really FINISH getting to know ourselves .... getting to know WHO we really are. We’re continual “works-in-progress”, always evolving, always growing  and I think it’s good that we are.

Early morning mist!

 Imagine if who I am now is all I’m ever going to be ..... nope .... my family couldn’t live with that. They’re hoping that as I ‘discover’ more about ME I’ll become more “normal” ... more ‘sane’. I think they might have a long time to wait for that .... sanity doesn’t become me.

We only get one chance at this thing called life and I DON’T want to miss a moment.

Escaping with her log

Especially early mornings! So many people miss out on the best part of the day .... early morning!! I love the freshness of the air, the early morning light, the dew drops on the grass .... and yes, even the frost on the ground during winter and the smoke I exhale as I walk.

The city was shrouded in fog this morning. The soulful sound of the fog-horn could be heard in the distance as we headed down to the beach. Staying dry when the weather’s icy isn’t an option when you have a hound like mine. She believes EVERY day is a swimming in the waves day and she’s fast teaching Sam the same thing .... not that he’s quite got the hang of the ‘swimming’ lark yet.

Can't even see my city or the Harbour Bridge

He’s sure got the hang of the rugby ball though and dribbles it around the beach with his nose and then back through his legs with his front paws .... he’s so funny to watch! When my hound thinks he’s getting too much attention she charges over, grabs the ball off him and races along the beach with it .... until a log beckons .... then the attention Sam’s getting is forgotten!

Sam WAS a tad naughty today and gave Carol quite a fright. Something on the path must have distracted him and he ambled up there, quite ignoring Carol's calls to come back down to the waves. He ended up on the road but fortunately the cars were going slowly and stopped for him.  Carol hauled him back down to the beach and gave him a stern telling-off. It seemed to work as he didn't venture up to the path again.

I had to chuckle when I spoke to Carol on the phone yesterday. She'd mentioned how Sam had all his toys strewn all over the floor and that it was like having a child in the house. I know the feeling ... my hound does exactly the same thing and I know Indy does too.

 This morning’s ramble was one of those special ones when I feel at one with the world, at one with myself .... and definitely at one with the hound. I return home satisfied, my soul sated, ready to tackle whatever else the day might have in store .... like laundry!!

The definition of INSANITY is repeating the same behaviour over and over again ..

I found it ... I found it ... the perfect quotation to describe my blog!!!

“The definition of insanity is repeating the same behaviour over and over again and expecting a different outcome!”  

The view site at 6.45 this morning

There’s no consensus on-line as to who originally penned this quotation ... it’s been variously attributed to Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and even Confucious ... but even Google, that purveyor of all things inane, couldn’t provide me with clarity as to its origins.

Its irrelevant though ... I like the quotation and I think it’s pertinent to what my blog is all about .... my DAILY rambles with the hound and musings on the world in general from my sometimes irrational perspective. Going beyond the realms of insanity in my musings on the world is a wicked thought!

A ghostly hound!

Trying to find the author of it bought up more quotes from Albert Einstein ... even one about first love!

“Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological 

phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity”

I love it ... I think he had relativity sussed .... in more ways than one!!!

The tide's way out this morning and the beach is huge!

I’ve been learning so much about my little village alately ... whenever I meet someone new and they discover I’ve only been here 2 years they feel compelled to fill me in on the history of the area ... I love it and I love that they want to share their memories with me.

I had a lovely chat to a chap

hmmmmm ..... sand everywhere!

at the view site this morning ... I bumped into him yesterday too and he admitted he’d felt a bit naff standing chatting to me yesterday because he had an umbrella as it was raining ..... I got the feeling he thought REAL men shouldn’t use umbrellas!  

He told me that the original viewing platform had been longer than what it is now ... and had the WOW factor as it jutted out over the cliff. As far as he could recall Cliff Road started subsiding in 2008 and Council provided funds for extensive roadworks and for the viewsite to be upgraded. 

The original platform at the viewsite had been longer and

much more flimsy ... the existing one is bedded in tons and tons of concrete. The cost of these roadworks and the extensive upgrade to the viewing platform and site were in the region of $8000000!! I can remember when I arrived here in 2009 that Cliff Road had still been closed to all, except residents ... I hadn’t realised the existing viewing platform and site were constructed so recently.

Normally the tide is washing over all those rocks ... it's so far out today.

Fortunately we only bumped into him towards the end of our walk and the hound was tired ... she doesn’t do “sitting still whilst I chat" very well.  I can remember Carol telling me what Sebastian would do when he was younger and they were out walking ... if he felt she’d been standing too long chatting to someone he’d plant himself in front of her and bark ... until she got the message! They’re clever, these hounds of ours.

I’ve just had a phone call from Carol to say Sebastian had a stroke this morning .... a mild one ... but nevertheless a stroke. Our vet has said he should recover fully from it but it sure gave Pete and Carol a fright! Why do we do this to ourselves ... why do we allow these furry 4-legged friends to infiltrate our hearts to the extent that we’d be lost without them?  I’ve just read a post on a friends wall on FB and it says it all ... this is why and apologies to the author (a vet) for condensing it ... it’s called “A Dog’s Purpose (from a 6 year old)” .... the comments in red are mine!

I was performing euthanasia on a 10 year old Irish Wolfhound for it’s owners who wanted their young son to be present when they bade farewell to the dog. We sat quietly together for a while after the dog’s death discussing aloud why animals lives are so much

shorter than humans. Their 6 year old son, who’d taken the dog’s death so calmly, and had been sitting quietly listening,  piped up “I know why”.  What came out of his mouth stunned me - I’ve never heard a more comforting explanation. He said “People are born so they can learn how to live a good life ... like loving everybody all the time and being nice - right? Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”  

The tidés coming in and she's surrounded by water .... so funny ... quite happy to stay there.

Our hounds can teach us so many things ..... there’s a list of lessons we’d learn from hounds on this post too, but I’ve picked out a few pertinent ones that I know my hound has taught me!

When loved ones come home, always run and greet them .... enthusiasm counts! 

Run, romp, and play daily ... it’s vital for both my hound's and my well-being.  

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass ... oh yeah ... I LOVE this one!

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body ... my hound has this down pat, I’m still learning!

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk ... my very favourite ... life would simply not be the same without my daily rambles.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it .... yep .... all those logs on the beach!

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

I’ve seen something similar before but it just seemed so pertinent today in light of what’s happened with Sebastian. I love my furry 4-legged friend to pieces ... I couldn’t envisage not having her in my life. 

Question: What makes you smile?

In life you get what you put in.  When you make a positive impact on someone’s life, it has a rebound effect on your own .... this I KNOW to be true.  I guess the reverse is also true .... my run in with the dog warden on Saturday morning had a negative impact on me ... it left me feeling miffed!

Early morning sun trying to shed some light on my world

I struggle to understand why they target the beaches during the times we’re allowed on with our hounds .... surely the time to enforce the law is during the hours when our access is restricted.  There are seldom any bodies on the beach before 9 in the morning apart from my fellow ‘humans with hounds’ so his excuse of  “complaints from the general public” doesn’t wash with me .... certainly not during the hours we’re allowed on with our hounds.  If members of the general public don’t like hounds, then don’t walk on the beaches when we’re allowed access ..... it’s so simple!!  

My hound spends most of her time on the beach in the waves ... but, according to the warden, the minute she’s out of the waves I have to put her back on lead ... yeah right!  I’ve now bought a 20m length of rope which I’ll fasten on when we’re on St. Heliers Beach ... now let them come and try and tell me she’s not on a leash.

 

I’m not sure if I’ll get a warning or a fine ... but regardless ... I’m miffed.  

Rant over .... onto other, more positive and uplifting thoughts! I’ve read some interesting articles this weekend ... articles that are both inspirational and thought provoking ..... not just at the moment when I first read them but often later, when I find myself reflecting on them sub-consciously.  “50 questions that will free your mind” was one of the articles I read .... it was written a couple of years ago but I guess the questions are still pertinent.

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Question no. 1 was “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”  

Absurd ... no, not at all!!  

So many of us go through life not feeling as old as we really are ... looking in the mirror sometimes comes as a bit of a shock ... where did all those wrinkles come from!!  

My mind, whilst absorbing new experiences, doesn’t always feel like its ageing, but the body certainly is.  I do enjoy the wisdom that comes with age .... and I can hear myself saying “Yeah right”.... Tui moment.  Would that I could have the body I had when I was 30 but the wisdom and knowledge I have now! 

Very low tides this morning 

Age does bring some advantages ... I’m far less judgemental than what I was when I was younger and, surprisingly, far more flexible .... both body and mind though I'm meaning mind flexibility ... I’m inclined to “go with the flow” more nowadays and adapt the way I do something, rather than fight the current upstream.

This one, Question no. 20, made me chuckle “Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?” ... I’m sure it’s a certain personality type that stands there furiously prodding the button ... I have to suppress a smile when I’m in the elevator with someone doing that!

Indy ... on Sunday

What about this one - “What activities do you do that make you lose track of time” .... I can answer that one in an instant! There are so many things that make me lose track of time but rambling with the hound in the waves has to be right up there at the top of the list!

Saturday's rainbow .... very faint

“What makes you smile”.... oh wow .... where do I begin!!  Sunshine and rainbows and raindrops on roses ..... butterflies and leaves as they flit in the breeze .... sand between my toes and doggie art on my lens .... friendships and love and caffeine!  There are so many opportunities in life to smile ... I often spend most of my day smiling without even being aware of it! 

I think that if I had to choose 5 to 10 questions that were most pertinent to me they would say an awful lot about me and the stage of my life that I’m at.  A good question is sometimes more important than the answer.

And a last question before I end .... I really like this one!  “Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?”  Oh yes ... and yes .... and yes again .... depending on your perception of insanity that is, but from my perspective, nothing can be created without there having been, at the very least, a small spark of insanity in the beginning!

“Most of us think that perception works a lot like a flashlight in the dark, illuminating whatever it's aimed at. The truth however is, that instead of revealing what’s there, perception often creates it.” ~Anonymous