more on observing

it was exciting to see how i am not alone in my thoughts on living in the present. i am always amazed at how much i have in common with the women (and men) who read my blog. maybe it is an age thing, that as we get older; we get wiser about what is truly important in life. i could easily live in my past and spend my time wallowing in pity over what happened to my child. but what good would that do? who would that benefit? certainly not Tucker, certainly not me, certainly not Dillon and definitely not my friends or family. so i don't do it. occasionally i'll have a sad day; but that is normal. but typically, i try to live day to day, do what i have to do and make art!

speaking of Tucker, he is sick today. i suspected it yesterday. he had a good night but then all of a sudden around 9:30am, it was like the "cold and flu" fairy flew over him and sprinkle some dust on him and BAM! coughing, sneezing, more coughing. the type of coughing that i stay right next to him with suction ready. the type of coughing where we put a call into our neighbor/doctor and say, guess what? antibotics and steroids are on reserve and i am in KECIA RN mode. i've sat with him in his bed all day taking care of him. my back is sore, i am exhausted, but that's ok. i know how to make him feel better because i am his mom.

so if i disappear for a few days, that is why. when he is sick, its is 4 times the work that he normally requires from us (and that is a lot). it is wearing and as i sit here, hard on my body! my back aches so bad.

So, now back to the topic of observing. tuck and i watched "kung fu panda" today. have you seen it? it's very cute and a lot can be learned from it. i was delighted to hear this quote in the movie where the panda felt inadequate and wanted to give up; so the wise turtle said to him; "yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That is why it is called the present". silly me, but i found that quite profound!

So in between my frantic caregiving, what did i observe today? i observed my sweet little Kirby, who is 14 now. I watched her as she made her rounds outside. I home cook for Kirby (after a nasty seizure a few years ago, we made some changes, dietary being one of them). she LOVES her home cooking and barks at me to hurry up and feed her. she jumps up and down like a puppy and then she enjoys her meal. as soon as she is done, like habit; she wants to go outside. she goes out and walks the perimeter of the backyard. she has a routine and today i observed her as she started on the right side of the yard and made her way over to the shed, where she goes behind it and disappears for a few minutes. she reappears under the hammock and makes her way to the left side of the yard. she is so cute and i wanted to imprint that on my brain as i know that her time with us is limited and of course, that makes me sad beyond belief. but i chose today to watch and enjoy her sweet little habits.

observing

there's been a lot of talk in the last year on the subject of "being in the present" instead of getting sidetracked by what has happened to us in the past or worrying about tomorrow. We are all guilty of this; as it is easy to get lost in our past. I just brought this up with someone recently as this person tends to reside in the past and when you reside in the past, you definitely aren't focused on what is going on around you. but i started thinking about it - how do we live in the present? how do we make ourselves participate on a daily level; what is the trick? after thinking about it for awhile, i decided one way to be present is to observe what is going on around you. take it in, notice, think about it, question it, learn from it and as you walk away take something positive from it. I thought i'd start posting some random observations from my walk through life and encourage you to share yours too.

So i'll start by sharing this observation with you. i looked out my kitchen window yesterday and was shocked to see this hawk sitting on one of my feeders. i ran upstairs as fast as i could and grabbed my camera. when i got back, i got to watch him through my zoom lens and was enchanted by the beauty of this bird. the colors of those feathers - oh how i wanted to pluck one from his tail! i watched him as he looked for food. his head turning in all directions as he searched. finally i could tell he was going to leave as he leaned forward and spread those amazing wings. quick as the shutter took its last picture, he was gone. then i called dillon to tell him what i saw.