Reflections on Life and Loss

“The process of living, for each of us, is pretty similar. For every gain there is a setback. For every success, a failure. For every moment of joy, a time of sadness. For every hope realized, one is dashed.”
—Sue Atchley Ebaugh

Today is Memorial Day and a time to reflect on those citizens who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our country. Too many of my generation did not return from Viet Nam and too many of the current generation of soldiers are returning in caskets, or with psychological wounds too deep to see.

It is my observation that “Thank you” needs to be accompanied by, “How can I help?” when addressing our Veterans. They/We are not alone in this Post-war world and together we can begin to move forward and heal the wounds, physical and mental, that affect us all.

A Thought For Today

“We shed as we pick up, like travelers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those left behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it.” — Tom Stoppard, Arcadia

The Liebster Award

“From nowhere, through a caravan
Around the campfire light
Lovely woman in motion
With hair as dark as night
Her eyes were like that of a cannon toy
That hypnotized me with love
She was a gypsy woman
She was a gypsy woman…”

—Gypsy Woman, lyrics by Major Lance

Over at the Charms of a Gypsy blog, Whitney has nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award and I gratefully accept her offer. As part of the acceptance process the nominees are asked to:

1. State 11 facts about themselves
2. Answer 11 questions posed by the person who nominated them
3. Nominate 11 other blogs for the award
4. Make a list of 11 questions for the bloggers to answer.
5. Proudly display the Liebster Award 

Daily Prompt: Menagerie

“Do you have animals in your life? If yes, what do they mean to you? If no, why have you opted not to?” —WordPress Daily Prompt

The Lioness and I have been blessed with the company of 4 dogs and 6 cats, in one combination or another, over the last 37 years. They have been, and still are, a wonderful addition to our lives and they have been a source of continuity in the greater tableau of life. Their presence and antics have been a way of marking time and defining events as life goes by.

It all started innocently enough after a night with friends at a German wine-tasting event. Our son was 7 years old and had asked us to get a dog, any dog. I was dragging my feet about the idea for no other reason than it was new and I was unsure if the dog would affect his allergies. I finally agreed to get a pup, but I had one stipulation: I always wanted a Weimaraner, if we could find one we would bring it home.

Daily Prompt: Call Me Ishmael

“Take the first sentence from your favorite book and make it the first sentence of your post.”

Catch-22 is my favorite book, so here goes:

It was love at first sight. The ball of multi-colored fur had bright eyes and white feet that were tracing circles in the air as she was lifted from the cage and placed on the floor. I stood in the adoption area of the Marin Humane Society and looked through the glass window at the Calico kitten that was scampering back and forth in front of the rack of cages. Her seven fellow-adoptees watched listlessly, or slept, while the black/white/butterscotch kitten ran the length of the walkway and slid into the wall at the end of the run.

Too Good Not to Share

I ran across this today and am throwing it out there:

Photo/Copyright credit unknown