Another new year and already a week gone.   Our 2011 is off to a great start. The holidays may be over, but the celebrations continue.   We’ve already had two birthday parties this year.  My oldest grandchild got married.  My youngest grandchild just took her first steps.   I intend to keep on celebrating— my life, the people in it—every day.   Any day that I can’t find something to celebrate, I’m just not paying attention.

Anyway, I hope all of you on the Stream had wonderful, safe holidays.  I’m wishing you your best year ever.

 

May what you see in the mirror delight you,

and what others see in you delight them. May someone love you

enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your blemishes, and tell

the world about your virtues.

 

 

Love always,  Bupu

This year when Summer breathed its last warm breath, so did my beloved Old Dog, Daisy.  She wandered away quietly in her sleep.  We buried her body at dawn.   She was 16.

I’ve learned that I don’t know how to function without a dog, not even for a short while. 

I declined the “decent interval” of suffering and headed immediately for the local animal shelter. I figured there must be a dog needing a human as much as I needed a friend.  I must have been in the right place at the right time.  There she was, being walked by one of the volunteers.   It was love at first sight. 

And so a new chapter in my life has begun.  Melanie, just 18 months old, is both BFF and personal trainer.  The days are all about walks in the park, bicycle rides (I can almost keep up with her), and keeping the ground clear of squirrels.

So here’s to

Daisy who saw me through the good, the bad and the ugly and who taught me that a life without a dog is not life at all;

To Melanie who put the color back in the world;

To all my human friends out there who have ever loved a pet…

May your roads be easy and your walks be long and happy.

Love,

Bupu

I love the fog and the rain.  I just hate cold. 

 I can't really  complain a lot about the winters here.  It's Camelot most of the time.  Still, when we got a peek at the sun between storms, Old Dog and I wandered down by the river in search of spring.  Sometimes, a soul just needs a moment of sunlight.

;                       We were not disappointed. We wanted to share with you.

Everywhere, there are wildflowers...

             

               

Little ones practicing their running skills and sampling fresh vegetation..

           

 

I hope wherever you are, you can find a bit of spring in your day.  

 

 I have it on good authority that spring is just around the corner.

Love, Bupu

I  stayed up past midnight  on New Year's Eve this year as much to make sure the old year was finally gone as to welcome in the new one.  In some years, New Year’s Eve has marked no more than a change of a calendar to me.  But 2009 was an especially crappy year.  My Old Love found a hot young love.  My best friend took his own life.  And I wasted more than enough time in resentment and self-pity. 

     So this New Year’s Eve in particular symbolized for me the beginning of a better tomorrow.    I’m  looking forward to a good year ahead, and hopefully, the opportunity to spread some happiness.  So far, the New Year  is unfolding with gusto. I find myself with a basketful of hopes, dreams, and aspirations.  I  feel the positive energy flowing in my veins. I have renewed vitality and optimism.  I am grateful for another New Year and another chance to get it right.

Every new year I have made resolutions to change aspects of myself I thought would make me more acceptable to other people.  More often than not, I’ve reverted back to how I was before-- feeling like a failure.

  

 

  My only Resolution for 2010 is, in the words of our dear and talented Captain Morgan of Living and Dying in 5/4 Time, to “love much, laugh often and live life as it was meant to be . . . . for [me]. Not for others, but for [ME]”. 

For the year 2010, I hereby reclaim my life and my joy.

  

There are a few things I came to know as “TRUE” in 2009:  (1) I recognize that My life is MINE;  (2) It’s alright to be me. God didn’t make no junk.  I’m ok just the way I was made; (3) I have a set of attributes that I am responsible to use to the best of my ability, and for my purpose, not someone else’s;  (4) How I feel will no longer be determined by what’s in someone else’s head; and (5) Happiness is where I am at the moment, not a place I’m trying to go.

I have, instead of the dread resolutions, made some Promises to myself to help me enjoy 2010:

• I promise to connect with friends and family - I am working on this one. I can tend to be someone who can get absorbed in what I am involved in and forget about everyone around me. Some days all I want to do is socialize and on others I need to make a more conscious effort. It may just be a quick message or call to a friend. With those in my immediate surroundings I make an effort to really listen when they are speaking to me.
• I promise to be creative - I promise to find the beauty in my days and claim it in my photographs and my paintings. 
• I promise to read every day - I do love to read so this one I find easy. I read some things for pleasure and I also read some things every day as self education. This is something I have always done.
• I promise to exercise every day - I am not great at this one, writing and reading are much more interesting!!! I am getting better though. And i am not talking about the bootcamp type exercise that seems to be so popular at the moment. I want exercise to be fun. So  yoga and walking are my favorites.  I have been doing some yoga in the morning lately. This stills the mind and stretches the body. I love it!

It’s so good to be back at the Stream.  There’s always healing here.  Peace, Love and Laughter to each of you.