Isabella Bird Miscellany

do you see a weed or a wish? Let’s just say, I’m not an early morning girl.  Those who know me appreciate this and quietly leave me alone until I’ve had a chance to emerge from my pre-coffee zombie state.  However, there is a bird glee club that begins at about 3:30, yes in the morning.  It’s lovely and melodic; leaving me no choice but to listen.  Translated, this means I’ve been up before my norm.  The youthful hours are warm, but fresh; they beg for a walk, and so does Isabella. Yesterday was a little cooler so our pace was speedy, at least for my little legs.  We passed cars and bushes and bugs zipping around … and the rejected weed. pulled up by its roots discarded wishing flower tossed aside left at the edge of the sidewalk the sun beat down life ebbing from the slender stalk, leaves drying, privately curling desperate to hold onto being funny , how I noticed the thrown-away on a morning walk my thought to stop and pick up the mopped, fluffy he

is it really? Have you noticed how many advertisements, Facebook posts and magazine articles start out with all of the “musts” that we need to be happier, well fed and read, dressed or up-to-date?  As I was reading through some headlines last week, I noticed all of the imperatives; things that if I didn’t know about and implement into my ordinary life, well I’d be missing the proverbial boat. Imperatives are known as bossy verbs, which is appropriate since they give us commands.  Commands and to-do’s are not bad in and of themselves.  In fact they are important and even necessary.  The ones I’m speaking to are the ones that purport themselves as urgent and unavoidable for our ultimate well-being as designed by someone else – the “they say” factor. Do these sound familiar? this is a must read!   gotta have this… not to be missed! Well what happens if I don’t read, get or...oops, miss?  I’m not blaming anyone.  I’ve used these phrases, so I’m as guilty as the next

my day filled with gray Not all will share my opinion, but I find rainy days to be peaceful.  It makes me want to roast everything in sight, fix an extra cup of coffee and curl up in front of the fire with one of my latest magazine fixes.  Maybe this comes from living in clean, green Oregon.  Mind you, this only applies to the west side of the mountains. I now find myself on the opposite side of the Cascade range…it is much drier here; bragging a whopping 300 plus days of sunshine a year.  I do like sunshine.  I don’t like to be cold and I do love to spend as much time as possible outside.  Those disclaimers put out there, I get all misty for gray, cloud-infused days. I remember living in southern Nevada where the color of the sky seemed to be continually blue, and saying “won’t there ever be even a small puffy cloud floating by?”  Say that to a Portlander in the middle of February and they just might knock you down into a mud puddle.  But really, clouds