Animal Totems and Spirit Guides

I’ve always been interested in animal totems and animal spirit guides. Many years ago, I was told by a Native American shaman that while I will have many animal guides in my life, my main animal guide is the manatee.

Since I’ve held a fondness and an affinity for that particular animal since I was a child, I found the shaman’s words very powerful. Of all of Mother Nature’s children, he named the one I’d loved since I first learned of them when I was three.

I collect manatee figurines and other manatee related items. They can be quite hard to find, since it’s not every day you can go into a gift shop and find manatees.

So I was happily surprised and thrilled when I received a box in the mail from good friend and fellow writer T. Sue VerSteeg, and it contained the most lovely carved stone agate manatee.

Being technically-challenged, I can’t get the picture I took of the stone manatee to upload for some reason, but hopefully I’ll plead with hubby, and see if he’ll take pity on me and help me out. LOL.

Anyway, I love manatees and if you love them too, you should know that manatees are still endangered and need our help.

If you want to learn more about manatees and what is being done to help them, and find out how you can help, please click on the link listed HERE.

Happy Father's Day...Missing My Dad

While people immediately acknowledge the importance of the father-son relationship, many forget that the father-daughter relationship is equally important.

Daddy is the very first man in our lives, and whether you realize it or not, you will secretly judge and compare every other man in your life to him.

Recently, my sister mentioned how strange it is for us to understand how some men absent themselves from their daughter’s lives, or because their child is a girl, they don’t teach them the same things they would a son.

Our Dad never once thought, “I won’t teach them ‘this or that’ because they are girls. Instead, he encouraged us to try out for “male-dominated” sports as well as the usual ones for girls. He also taught us to think for ourselves, to stand up for what we believe in, speak our minds, and to not take crap from anybody.

My sisters and I learned how to play golf, tennis, baseball, and basketball from my dad. We also learned how to prepare and paint drywall, hammer a nail, fix a clogged sink, catch, gut, and fillet our own fish.

He was this larger than life figure to me. Colorful stories about him running moonshine as a teenager in the back hills of Kentucky were spun at family reunions, which he'd deny, then wink at us and grin.

Dad was part of the greatest generation, having fought in WWII as a ball turret gunner. He raced NASCAR in the 50′s, owned thoroughbred racehorses, played poker (before it became a TV spectator sport) and dressed like a member of the original rat pack. He also sang off-key and liked to hold hands with mum in the moonlight.

Hard for any man to match up after all that. Poor Bear. Dad always called him “Meathead.” ::grins:: I still can recall my guy sitting in Dad’s favorite chair soon after they met the first time, and the house going very silent. LOL.

Sadly, Dad passed away almost a decade ago. And although we all miss him still, we know that the things he taught us helped us to become strong and independent women. To not be afraid to say what is on our minds or in our hearts.

To those who still have your fathers, give them a call today and tell them how much they meant to you. I promise it’s a much better present that a tie.

To those who, like me, have memories of their dad, spend a minute or two today and pick up an old photo album and smile. Because I know this to be true: whatsoever, and whomsoever we loved in life, lives forever.

If you are a father, cherish your daughters as well as your sons and let them know you care. Be their protector, but also show them how to protect themselves, pass on your knowledge and wisdom learned through trial and error, teach them what is important, but let them make their own decisions. Catch them when they fall, because they will from time to time, and most of all, tell them how much you love them, because we never know how long we have to live in this life and most of us don't get second chances.

Be Careful What You Wish For

These past few days have been interesting to say the least. My mum decided she needed new carpeting and tile in her little apartment at the senior complex. After a few months of pestering the management, she got her wish. Personally I wonder how they held out so long. The mumenator is seldom denied. That’s why she is the mumenator after all.

The problem with getting your wish is that sometimes we want things and we don’t always think through all of the repercussions our wishes may bring– to ourselves or to others.

For instance, mum never thought past the fact that all her little old lady friends in the senior building got new carpeting and why didn’t she? Dammit, she wasn’t about to be forgotten or left out!

If she had thought a little further, she’d have realized that meant at some point all her furniture would have to be moved out into the hallway. All her clothes boxes and bagged, all the food in the refrigerator boxed in coolers as well. All her pictures taken off the walls (the manager’s office insisted) and all the phones and the TV disconnected and moved also into the hall.

She didn’t think about that. Or the fact that this would disrupt everyone else on her end of the building, since they would be stuck in their apartments unable to access the hallway until all of mum’s stuff was returned to her apartment. Nor did anyone think about the fact that since all her belongings would be in the hallway overnight, then someone would need to stay with her items so nothing got stolen. Also no one gave a thought to where mum would be sleeping since her bed had to be moved into the same hallway.

As luck would have it, she recalled all of these things the day before the people came to install her new carpet and tile.

Oh, and I think I forgot to mention that the smell of the carpet glue is intense. The noxious stuff hangs in the air for like a week, burning your eyes, stealing your breath and making you dizzy.
I tried to impress on mum how much effort and work would be involved in getting her wish, but my comments were dismissed. ::sigh::

As you might expect, it was nothing short of a fiasco. LOL.

Of course, it’s hard to think through any consequences or possible problems when someone is giving you your wish, even one as simple as new carpeting and tile.

My Garden Is Calling Me

For what seems like the first day in ages, it is not raining. The sun is shining, the bees are busy buzzing, the birds are making it in mid-air, the squirrels are enjoying the peanuts I left for them, and my plants are blooming.

The scent of roses and hyacinth, sweet melissa and lavender floats on the breeze and in through my writing room window, tempting me to come outside and play. I want to be out there, the sun on my face, the wind gently blowing my hair, my bare feet cushioned by the soft waves of bluegrass.
In some ways, not much has changed since I was a kid in school. Those last few days of class drove me crazy. How could I concentrate on subordinate clauses, Sherman’s march, or algebra when Mother Nature sang to me?

I’ve made good progress on all of my current writing projects. And though I still have a few more thousand words until they’re finished, I deem this worthy of a respite.

I open the back door to make my way outside, and I am greeted by three wasps. Sentinels determined to keep me inside. So I spin back around, shut the door, and close the blinds. I don’t like feeling intimidated by three measly flying insects.  So I grab a smudge bundle I happen to have and light it. I smudge the porch with the sweet, burnt smell of sage. The wasps are now watching me.

“Yeah, and I got more where that came from!”

Just then Bear drives up and sees me alone on the porch.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Those thugs over there” I say, pointing to the wasps, who are by now faking interest in our pink dogwood tree.

“Why did I even ask?” He says and shakes his head.

“Hey, I didn’t start this! They did.”

He goes on inside the house and behind me I can hear the buzz of wasps..and what sounds like snide insect laughter.