Another night comes and goes and here I sit looking at my toes.
How many miles have I walked in this life of mine? How many more do I have to go? Where will these toes take me? Will they all make it or will there be casualties along the way?
Toes are to our feet what our friends and family are to our soul, those little lifelines that keep you grounded and stable (or at least as stable as one can be in a world as tumultous as this one) without which life would be a wobbly mess.
I've never really thought about how important my toes really are until tonight. Yet another thing taken for granted because they've always been there. I've looked at them and thought "hey that nail polish looks crack-a-lackin" or "not too shabby" but I've never looked at them for the important appendages that they are.
Whether your a foot conesseiur or you want to retch at the sight of them, toes are pretty damned important.
Do something nice for your toes today, because without them you'd be screwed.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are being treated". - Mahatma Ghandi
I have been an animal fanatic for about as long as I can remember. Actually, one of my first memories is of my Dad placing me on a Shetland pony he had given to my sister and I as a gift (seeing as how my Dad is also an animal lover, it was a gift for him just about as much as it was for us) and feeling as if everything in the universe had just fallen into place. We all have those moments of clarity, those times when you just know that you are in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. For me, that moment was when I was 3 years old. I would not say it was my calling or that I'm sort of proverbial Dr. Dolittle who goes about carrying on philosophic conversations with chickens and rabbits (which we also raised along with a plethora of other horses, goats, doves, a couple of cows, ducks, several dogs and cats, pigs and even a llama for a short period of time) but I did know that, generally speaking, I just felt more at ease when I was hanging out with the animals than I did with most people. In some ways, this still applies to me today. I'm not saying I don't like people, I'm just saying that if you asked me who it was easier to spend time with 90% of the time I'm going to prefer hanging out with those of the furry persuasion. I'm not a hermit, I'm not a crazy cat lady, I'm just more at ease with something with a cold nose and warm heart. I wasn't one of those kids who just wanted 15 minutes of cuddle time a day with whatever animal phase I was going through at the moment ( you know the types, kids who just HAVE to have a duck or a puppy, love it for maybe 2 days and then the responsibility falls on Mom and Dad to clean the poop, provide food, water and shelter and ultimately find it an appropriate home) I enjoyed helping my dad at feeding time. At least 2 hours of every evening was spent mucking (shoveling for laymen) out the barn, providing food and water, brushing manes and tails, clipping hooves, and various other activities that were dependent on whatever animal we were currently taking care of. My parents house became known as a sort of "shelter" or "go-between" for animals that just didn't "work out" (like the 15 minute pets mentioned earlier) for families that thought it seemed "like a good idea at the time" to get that bunny, those ducks, that pony, or that puppy. My Dad never turned anyone away. We provided a safe haven, sometimes for months at a time, until a proper home surfaced for the abandoned furry (feathery) friend. I miss those days of getting up early and staying up late, walking along side my dad in rubber boots that were at least 3 sizes too big, learning what a immense responsibility it was to care for such a variety and multitude of animals. I miss the smell of horses and sweet feed laced with molasses ( a favorite for any horse with any taste buds), of hearing my Dad laugh as I tried to catch the wily rabbit that wiggled it's way out of it's cage,and riding horses with my sister as fast as we dared to go.
I haven't abandoned my animal loving ways. I currently have 3 dogs and 1 cat that I share my home with. I still get that feeling that all is right with the world when I get nuzzled with a cold nose at the end of a long day. As I'm typing this I have two dogs sleeping peacefully beside me bidding their time until I finish up and take them to the park to romp around with their neighborhood amigos. I look forward to the day when I have a home on a piece of land large enough for me to have horses again and maybe build my own no-kill animal shelter. Until then, I'll keep my memories close and my heart open. Ciao.
I would not consider myself a couch potato by any means but I have to admit there are a couple of shows that are being premiered or returning for this summer that I anticipate greatly. That being said, I thought I'd share the objects of my desire via this new fangled blog. So, on the nights when I'm not out livin' la vida loca this is what I'll be doing.
First and foremost there's the return of Trueblood on HBO. I specifically added HBO to my current cable package JUST so I could watch the debut of this series based on the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire novels (also referred to as the Sookie Stackhouse novels). I've been a fan of Charlaine's writing for about 5 years now and was super excited to hear that one of my favorite herroines was being brough to life by the wonderful Alan Ball (for those of you not familar with the name, he is the creator of the phenomonal HBO series Six Feet Under). This is NOT Twilight. This is a show for adults and deals with adult themes (i.e. lots of hot, freaky deaky sex). I really suggest those of you that follow the show and haven't read the books to do so. They are fun, interesting and creative. The second season commences on Sunday, June 14th. Be there or be square. *=-P
I don't know if it's the choice of song (Journey's "Don't Stop Believing") or if I'm just slipping, but I'm anxious to see if the new Fox series "Glee" is as hilarious as the commercials would lead us to believe. Maybe it's the fact that my ten year highschool reunion is coming up (which I'm passing on since I procrastinated too long about RSVP'ing thanks to being so insanely busy with classes) and I'm feeling nostalgic, but this quirky highschool dramedy looks promising. I misses the series premiere thanks to work, but will be Huluing it (gotta' love that site!) to see if it met my high expectations.
Well, that really sums up what I'm looking forward to in terms of T.V. viewing for the summer. Sorry if I made it sound like I had a long, winding list. I really prefer reading, but thats for another blog.
Before it gets insanely hot, I'd like to spend some time getting in touch with my inner woods-woman. I've only been camping once in my life and that was over 5 years ago. It's one of my favorite (and more foggy) memories thanks to drinking insane amounts of tequila, being with some of my closest friends, and being blissfully free of cell phones/the internet/TV. I've always wanted to go camping at Red River Gorge but am leery after my Dad informed me that it's a snake haven during the warm months. I might want to get in touch with nature but do not claim to be one with all of the creatures found there. In no way, shape or form do I want to share close quarters with an animal of the slithering persuasion. Cumberland Gap seems like a pretty ideal place to camp and being a Cancer I'm naturally drawn to water so it seems pretty perfect to camp out there. The next obstacle to overcome is finding people to go camping with me. Daniel despises the outdoors, Heather Jo is pregnant and not really able to go traipsing out into the woods with me, Cassie prefers luxury hotels with swimming pools and everyone else is sort of up in the air when it comes to the weekend. So, I need volunteers.
This coming weekend is the Hell City Tattoo festival in Columbus, OH. Jason gave an open invitation for tag alongs and I decided to take him up on the offer seeing as how I really enjoy tattoo artistry. We'll get there Saturday May 31st and will be heading back down to KY the following morning. Daniel is a no go, so KC will be hitching a ride as well. It'll be nice to get out of a town for a bit, see some killer artwork and meet some cool artsy peeps.
I'm hoping to catch a few live music shows this summer. Nothing charges me quite like hearing great music live. There's something to be said about being in a really good crowd that really connects with whats being played. I can easily see why so many people strive for rock stardom and why they have so many people tagging along to roady.
Spending time with my family is something that I definitely look forward to doing with the extra free time I have being out of school for the summer. Time waits for no one, and my niece and nephew are growing far too fast for me not to make time to enjoy the time they have left as kids.
In short I'm hoping for a fantastic summer. Your invited to tag along...
I've decided that I have entirely too much free time this summer, so I took it upon myself to document my shennanigans via my own personal blog. This is probably the 9th blog I've hosted and I'll hopefully be able to resist the uncontrollable urge to move on to "bigger and better" things.
