Raggle Taggle Gypsy -Bluegrass meets Irish

"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."

~Alexander Graham Bell

"Peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue; a state of mind; a disposition for benevolence; confidence; and justice."

~Baruch de Spinoza

Dog story to greet the day; I love stories with happy endings

(Rommel,RIP, and Kitty lounging near the under-construction koi pond)


"Pooch saves Lost Boy in Wilderness"

(Sept. 8) - A stray pooch who got a helping hand from a Canadian family more than repaid the favor when he saved the family's 2-year-old son in the Yukon wilderness.

The British Columbia family, whose name was withheld at their request, took the yellow dog under their wing after encountering him on their trek through the bush. The scruffy-looking mongrel had porcupine quills sticking out of his snout, and the family tried to help him by pulling some out, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

Last Thursday, as the parents were setting up a trailer in the evening, their 2-year-old son, Kale, disappeared wearing only a T-shirt. News of a missing boy triggered a full-scale search involving rescue professionals and many local volunteers.

Rescue parties located Kale more than 24 hours after he vanished. With him was the stray dog, who had kept the little boy warm by cuddling with him during the damp, cool night and protected him in the bear-infested woods. "The night was cold and wet and the terrain in the area is rough ... Most adults wouldn't make it through the night before succumbing to hypothermia, let alone a 2-year-old child," Michael Pealow, a member of the Whitehorse District Search and Rescue Society team, wrote in a blog post, according to The Globe and Mail.

"A bear could have got him. Anything could have happened," Mike Bondarchuk, a volunteer who helped search for Kale, told the newspaper. "What we do know is the dog stuck with him, all night and all the next day."

The dog's owner heard the whole story and came forward. Kim Dolan instantly recognized the canine hero as her dog, Koda, who had been missing for about a week. She said she had adopted Koda several months earlier after the dog was abandoned in Ross River, British Columbia.

"He's a total mutt. A total kid dog … he just wants to be loved," Dolan told The Globe and Mail.

Although she said it was hard to do, Dolan decided to give Koda to Kale's family.

"He was meant to be there at that time," she said. "It was tough to give him away. I was in tears … but it was the right thing to do."
aol news

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

"Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the Virtues of Man, without his Vices. This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog."
~George Gordon, Lord Byron, "Inscription on the Monument of a Newfoundland Dog"

"My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am."
~Author Unknown

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands...

The pic below was taken in Washington State, but it reminds me a bit of the Pennsylvania woods where I endlessly explored as a child. Happy memories for the most part, yet bittersweet as there was always a hint of emptiness following my dad's death when I was 6. So, where am I going with this....?
Childhood stories always had happy endings, right? Well, come to find out, sometimes life isn't always easy or turns out as we thought it would, shock! It's easy to get down on yourself and/or the situation of things, to feel alone. Though, in reading out in blogland, and talking with friends, there's stories that one can relate to, and we're reminded we're not alone. And, as my friend reminds me, it's always good to remember your circle of influence as to what you can or can't control; and to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Which sometimes doesn't sink in right away because I'm feeling stroppy.

Still, sitting here tonight, letting my thoughts wander....I remembered some basic rules on life that I read and really enjoyed; and then wished others would follow as well....which brings me back to the circle of influence.... ;D

The following is from a site that I googled for the 'all I really need to know':
(site credit)

"ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN"

"(a guide for Global Leadership)"

"All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.
These are the things I learned:

* Share everything.
* Play fair.
* Don't hit people.
* Put things back where you found them.
* Clean up your own mess.
* Don't take things that aren't yours.
* Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
* Wash your hands before you eat.
* Flush.
* Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
* Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
* Take a nap every afternoon.
* When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
* Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
* Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
* And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK."

"Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living."
[Source: "ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" by Robert Fulghum. See his web site at http://www.robertfulghum.com/ ]


"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. "
Albert Camus

"Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character. "
Stephen Covey


Thoughts?

It's silly week, don't ya know...

The below vid is part of the call for Silly Week, though I wonder if the video is completely silly.

Thanks to James for putting me in this contemplative mood.

Vive le différence !

It has been said: "To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little."

"To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all."



Poor James, over at http://nourishingobscurity.blogspot.com/ . Long story short, he took it upon himself to add a voting poll to even out another voting poll he had done earlier. This post is for him. :D (forgive me ;D)


It has been said: "Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.
So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit."




WOMEN...

A department store opened in New York City that sold men and a woman decides to visit it in search of a husband.
At the store’s entrance, there’s a sign outlining the department store policy.
The first rule states that you can only enter the store once.
There are six floors and on each floor you can choose a husband or elect to move on to the next floor.
You cannot visit a floor more than once other than to leave the building.
The woman visits the first floor.
The sign reads:
· Men with jobs.
She moves on to the second floor:
· Men with jobs that adore children.
She moves on the the third floor where the sign reads:
· Wealthy men that adore children and are very handsome.
She thinks to herself, "that's a very good deal" yet moves on to the fourth floor:
WOMEN...

A department store opened in New York City that sold men and a woman decides to visit it in search of a husband.
At the store’s entrance, there’s a sign outlining the department store policy.
The first rule states that you can only enter the store once.
There are six floors and on each floor you can choose a husband or elect to move on to the next floor.
You cannot visit a floor more than once other than to leave the building.
The woman visits the first floor.
The sign reads:
· Men with jobs.
She moves on to the second floor:
· Men with jobs that adore children.
She moves on the the third floor where the sign reads:
· Wealthy men that adore children and are very handsome.
She thinks to herself, "that's a very good deal" yet moves on to the fourth floor:
· Wealthy men that adore children, are very handsome and help with the household chores.
She decides to move on as things are constantly improving:
· Wealthy men that adore childern, are very handsome, help with the household chores and are very romantic.
The woman is about to make her purchase but can't resist moving on to the sixth floor.
There the sign reads:
· You are visitor number 31,456,012 on this floor.
· There are no men here.
· This floor exists as proof that it is impossible to please women.


& MEN…

Opposite this department store, another department store opened that sold women. The sign on the first floor reads:
· Women that love sex.
On the second floor the sign reads:
· Women that love sex and are wealthy.
On the third20floor the sign reads:
· Women that love sex, are wealthy and have large breasts.
Not a single man has visited the fourth floor.



On a Trans-Atlantic flight, a plane passes through a severe storm. The turbulence is awful, and things go from bad to worse when one wing is struck by lightning.

One woman in particular loses it. Screaming,she stands up in the front of the plane. "I'm too young to die!" she wails. Then she yells, "Well, if I'm going to die, I want my last minutes on earth to be memorable! No one has ever made me really feel like a woman! Well I've had it! Is there ANYONE on this plane who can make me feel like a WOMAN??"

For a moment there is silence. everyone has forgotten their own peril, and they all stare, riveted, at the desperate woman in the front of the plane. Then, a man stands up in the rear of the plane. "I can make you feel like a woman," he says. This tall, tanned and built guy with jet black eyes starts to walk slowly up the aisle, unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time.

No one moves. As this man approaches, the woman begins to get excited. He removes his shirt. Muscles ripple across his chest as he reaches her, and extends the arm holding his shirt to the trembling woman, and whispers: "Iron this."

Small Acts of Kindness

Very soon a new man with be at the helm of the ship called the great experiment, America. A government formed with the idea of freedom and self-direction. A government of the people; a generous and hardworking people. We'll see what the tide will bring. Will hope be restored? To allow for self rule, a people must be of moral fiber, with conscience, as must be the leaders. Me thinks the image is tarnished, however.

The tapestry of time shows us the highs and the lows that mankind is capable of. We see the intrigue, corruption and cruelty today; just switch on the news. Yet, I know of so many people who are quietly going about doing their best to make a difference for the better, one small step at a time, each in their own unique way. My faith is not in governments, for absolute power corrupts absolutely; but there is a quiet strength in the small kindnesses that we give our fellow man. This is my hope. There are those who do not believe in God, or have quit their religion because of the faults of man, or their own heartache at how a God so powerful could allow such unspeakable atrocities happen to those He is supposed to care for. It is easy to become bitter, grow cold hearted, angry. But what good is this? It only grows the seeds of resentment and distrust; further deepening the wounds that humankind at its worst inflicts.

With each act of kindness, however small, we join the ranks of those who would fight the hatred that is unfortunately present in this world. We can be stronger and better than the evil that would overcome us. The goodness of God is written on our hearts, we only have to take a moment in our busy lives to listen and to act.

(...for a nice Scottish Air "MacDonald of Keppoch", fiddle and harp (youtube didn't want to post))

"Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!"
-Robert Burns

"Goodness, armed with power, is corrupted; and pure love without power is destroyed."
-Reinhold Niebuhr

"I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world."
-Charles Dickens