I envy her dim-wittedness.

“I am NOT what happened to me.  

I am what I CHOOSE to become.” 

~ Carl Gustav Jung

There are times when everyone feels defeated.  

Let down.  

Crushed.

We look into ourselves and can’t always see a way out.

It’s easy to stay there.

To abdicate responsibility for this gift that is life.

Then I happen upon a quotation like that.

I read and digest a blog written in 2010 about rocking your way forward, 

no matter the boulders in your path.

... and it reminds me that EVERYTHING in life is a CHOICE.

Even FREEDOM is a choice.

All of us get to consciously decide what has meaning in our life and what doesn’t.

I choose to focus on the positive.

I choose to focus on the issues I can control.

I choose to be flexible with those I can’t.

I choose to ramble too.  

Often.

It’s a choice that guarantees that ‘feel-good’ feeling.

It’s a choice that allows me to BE in-the-moment.

This state of being-in-the-moment is what’s so compelling about the hound. 

It’s hard for us humans to get that. 

Even in the most difficult of times, 

she’s cheerful and ready for any action or new experience.

Despite her intelligence though, there’s a dim-wittedness 

to this happiness and carefree state that I can only envy.

She doesn’t DO despair.

She doesn’t DO defeat.

If she was human, her mantra in life would probably read something like this.

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; 

and to do so with passion, compassion, some humour and style.” 

~ Maya Angelou

Is it any wonder I have need of her in my life.

WHY do I love where I live?

If ever I needed a reminder of why I love where I live, this weekend  HAS been it.

It’s so easy to miss the obvious because our eyes don’t always see what’s right beneath our noses!  

I love my little bay ... it’s gloriously beautiful ... both in the sunshine and in the rain.  

This little spot in the world makes my pulse race every morning as I head down to the waves.  I have no idea who or what I’m going to be exposed to each day but I know it’ll touch my soul and ignite my fire.

This little village has it all.

It’s not JUST a beautiful spot to live in but it’s filled with beautiful people too.  

Beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.  

Sure, we have GOM and his cronies in our village but every village in the world has it’s fair share of sour-minded individuals.  

It’s  the non-GOMs though that make this village such a special place to live.

It’s a community that cares.  

It’s a community that knows WHO you are.

That can have it's downside too!

They also know what time you usually ramble and are quick to notice when a Saturday morning ramble is later than usual!

The significant other remarked on our way home from rambling that it’s becoming difficult to ramble or even walk through the village WITHOUT one pause or another to pass the time of day with a familiar face. 

That’s what belonging is all about!

I love that so many faces are now recognisable.  

I love that I FEEL this sense of belonging.

For this moment in time, for however long it might last, THIS is my home.

No matter the difficulties we still face, the mountains still to clime ... they’re all made more manageable, more tolerable by the very essence of our surroundings and those that inhabit them.

Let me NEVER take it forgranted.

Whilst throwing the hound’s ball off the rocks at the end of the beach, we were approached by an Asian gentleman.  He told us that he and his wife video their rambles and post them on Vimmeo.  His latest one called “Morning in St. Heliers Bay – Auckland Summer, 2013" includes footage of the hounds retrieving their log.  The video is 11 minutes long but it’s an awesome capture of everything we see on our daily rambles.

If you have the time to watch it you’ll understand why I love this little spot in the world so much!

Maybe we ALL need to cry more.

At least this kind of weather makes some people happy ... kite surfers out in abundance!

When life drags a girl down as it sometimes does ... what’s she to do?

Browns Bay Market on Saturday .... dismal weather but as always, awesome stallholders and customers

She’s to think of her memories .... and she’s to cry

.... not for what she’s lost, but for the joy that it bought her.

“Sometimes memories sneak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks.” 

~ anon

The work of Deni, who burns images onto leather.  She used my pic of Stella as a sample to show me what
she does.  You can just see the finished product at the back on the 

Tears are therapeutic.  In the words of an old Jewish saying

“What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.” 

Tears are the body’s way of flushing out excess stress hormones. 

Maybe we all need to cry more.

Sharon, making sure we don't miss her.

Just because I had a dismal weekend doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be a dismal week

 ... not when your Monday morning starts bright and early with a ramble with a hound.

Maybe that’s what I missed this weekend.  Markets on both days of the weekend are exhausting and mean NO rambling with the hound.  She comes with me to the markets but I don’t get that physical exertion that rambling brings.  I’m beginning to sound like my mate Carol.  She has serious withdrawal symptoms when denied the opportunity to exercise.

She was supposed to participate in a half-marathon this weekend but has injured her back and withdrew at the last minute.  After collecting Sam from the kennels this morning she popped into the shop.  Both her AND Sam were a tad ADD!

I guess it didn’t help when I gave Sam the dregs of my coffee.

Matakana Country Fair ... gorgeous day and gorgeous venue.

He had an energy overload.  He bounded round the shop like a playful puppy.  The poor customer in the change-room, who was trying on swimwear,  nearly had her space ... and her modesty ... invaded several times.  Fortunately Sam’s an obedient chap and a sharp ‘no’ from me was enough to stop him.  Thankfully.

This, remember, is the feet seeking missile monster

... he’s not easily stopped once started.

The mad frenzied dash around the clothing racks and us ended as quickly as it’d begun and he collapsed on the floor for a snooze .... in the OTHER change-room.  

I’m sure he thinks he’s human.

It’s moments like this that provide me with the impetus to keep moving forward.  Yes ... life is tough at the moment, VERY tough ... but nothing remains the same.  Time isn’t static, neither is life.  It’s not going to remain like this forever and I need to hold fast onto that.

One thing about it ..... it’s certainly NOT boring.

It can't POSSIBLY be Monday morning already!

“What day is it?” asked Pooh.

“It’s today!”  squeaked Piglet.

“My favourite day," said Pooh.

~ A.A. Milne

Mine too ... everyday is my FAVORITE day!

.... and this is my FAVORITE hound!

Ok .... so how does it happen that a bus tries to do a u-turn on the Harbour Bridge.

Yep ... that's a bus in the picture and it's trying to do a u-turn .... ON the Harbour Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Google)

Only in Auckland!

I would have understood the driver going the wrong way onto the bridge if it had happened this morning in the mist, but this happened at 1pm this afternoon.  NO mist, NO poor visibility, NO explanation .... just dumb-founded passengers.

This evening's sunset.

Fortunately our on-the-ball traffic police resolved it without injury to anyone.

Browns Bay Market this weekend

It’s been ANOTHER hectically busy weekend and Monday morning comes round way too soon. I’m still trying to catch my breath from the weekend’s activities when the hound puts a wet nose in my face to tell me it’s ramble time.

It CAN’T possibly be Monday morning ALREADY.

But it is.  A murky misty Monday morning. 

Foghorns wailing in the distance.

An obfuscatory morning! 

I love Google.  

It arms me with a wealth of unnecessary descriptive words that boggle the brain.  This morning’s one is “ofbuscatory” and it means ‘to render indistinct or dim'!  It has other meanings too but this particular one is so pertinent for today.

That’s exactly what the mist does on these murky misty mornings.  

EVERYTHING is rendered indistinct.  

Nothing has form or substance.  

Rangitoto is completely obliterated ... so is Browns Island .... and so are the gulls. 

So was my hound!

I wasn’t expecting ANYONE to be at the lookout point when we got there but Julia and Indy were.  They’d driven up.  I think the mist had confused even Indy as he wasn’t as vocal as what he can usually be.  Julia and I made up for his silence.

The mist didn’t lift even as the hound and I made our way back down to the beach.  We bumped, quite literally, into another of our favorite hounds ... Panda, he of the big brown spot round his eye.  

Panda’s gorgeous.  

He’s large and strong and loves to give me a kiss hello! 

He ALSO loves rugby balls but NOT for the same reason our hounds love them. 

Ramble time is over way too soon from the hound’s point of view. 

Despite the mist, despite the dearth of hounds on the beach she’d still rather be in the waves and on the sand than heading home.

I would too.

Her "other" mother when we're at the markets!