HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

May Your Days Be Merry
&
Bright!
(especially if you live in the 
Pacific Northwest: YIKES!)
From all of us to all of you:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

HAPPY CHANU-KWANZAA-MAS!

 

WE WISH YOU 
THE HAPPIEST
HOLIDAYS
IN THE
WHOLE
WIDE
WORLD!

Prayer For Peace: Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School

 

TIBETAN BUDDHIST
PRAYER FOR PEACE

May you be at peace,
May your heart remain open.
May you awaken to the light
of your own true nature.
May you be healed,
May you be a source of healing
for all beings.

 

Thank you,
Bhindi.
We open the shades in the morning
and see the flag at half mast.
It make us hope for a better world.
And our hearts break.

Conn. school shooting: Bulldog and owner hope to heal Newtown one hug at a time - U.S. News

Healing hugs from an English bulldog to help the wounded...if even for a few minutes...our hearts go out to grieving families and their loved ones. So this bulldog is for you.

Conn. school shooting: Bulldog and owner hope to heal Newtown one hug at a time - U.S. News
^^^^ lovely hearts hoping to help others.

Giz Has Flown: In Memoriam

 

~December 9, 2012~
Linda J. Murray
our friend, Giz, has passed.
She will live on forever in our
loving memories of her.
She was a dear, close friend
of mine and all of the MODS
her friends, co-workers, everyone
who knew her: Giz's feisty spirit,
sense of humor, warmth, laughter, and
joie d'vivre were an inspiration to us all.

Giz, you fly now...your angel wings beckon.
(P.S. Can you send some Kleenex from Heaven?
We're running out. Thanks.)

God, Giz, We miss you SO! Our hearts go
out to your family...farewell, precious you.
~*~
{Photo of "Dinger" the hummingbird by Giz,
published on her blog "Gizmomma's World"
under "My Blog List."}

HAPPY CHANUKKAH!

 

THANKS to Marifan for making
our Holiday Joyous & Bright!
This is not one of our piggies,
alas! but no doubt he got into
the Dreidel box and has found
Chew Toys Infinite during our
Festival of Lights:
Happy Chanukkah!
~*~

RACE BENEATH THE SUN: TRAINING FOR THE FINISH LINE!

 

o.k. so here's the deal: my health
is getting flushed down the *&^%$!
while my friend Ron here is training
Barefoot in WINTER for his very first
half-marathon and he challenged me
and so I made sure he knew that was
a BIG MISTAKE by starting to train
for my OWN RACE which, since
i didn't exactly check the difference
between a 5k and a 5 Mile race, is 
a 5 Mile race (however it starts at
a decent time in the morning:
10 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. - WHO
IS AWAKE AT 8 a.m. - and in 
the mood to RUN? SERIOUSLY!)
So! In between days in bed and 
doctors' appointments and the inevitable
brain thingy's  - who
CARES AT THIS POINT?! - because 
it's always DARK, GREY, AND so COLD,
YOU'D BE DEPRESSED EVEN IF YOU 
WERE TOTALLY HEALTHY every time 
the radio station airs its ad for our little
airline that has now has flights directly to
HAWAII, LIKE ENOUGH ALREADY
WITH THE ALOHA, can't they see we
are ready to shoot ourselves?! So, Ron and
I are training. Not together. He lives up
north and does this "running thing" like
what is THAT ABOUT? but, hey, on days
when this carcass can drag its ass outta bed
it is sooooo Exerstriding (the name of the
special training poles, in case you are also
inspired, they are not only great for balance
but upper body strength, cardio, endurance,
and if you live in a place where people 
cross-country ski, they think you're
"dry land training" and a real, elite athlete!)
Badda BING - Badda BOOM!!!
So, doctors, don't bring me down.
I gotta race to run, walk, Exerstride
and Ron has also been warned: 
used sideways, these babies can take out a 
fancy, barefoot marathoner at the Start 
of a Race so fast...S.M.A.C.K.
(did I say that out loud?
'scuse me. uh, thoughts 
like that never enter
my brain, nevah!)
The name of the Race?
Truth:
"The Race Beneath the Sun."
well, HALLELUJAH, BABY!
 

 

 

 

 

HEY, BIG SHOUT OUT
to Mike & Dylan, my "brothers"
at Fairhaven Runners Store in
Fairhaven: You guys saw the
Competitor in me and gave me
the Courage and Inspiration to
really buckle down and train
BELIEVING that it actually is 
POSSIBLE TO CROSS THE
FINISH LINE!
(o.k. i MIGHT just draw one
in the dirt half-way through,
but still, it's all good!)
Props to Fairhaven Runners Store
and owner, Steve.
I love you guys.
Seriously, what an amazing
EXPERIENCE to come in with
the blues and leave with 
NEW SHOES,  filled with
Hope, Enthusiasm, Joy,
Fire, Determination, and all
the Good Stuff sick people rarely
receive...you rocked my world.
No words, man, no words,
so this smile's for YOU!

~*~********~*~
Meanwhile, back home at the
Piggie Palace:

 Squirrel:
"I not only approve this message,
I'm the one giving her tips called

"Nutrition for Elite Athletes" like me!
so
Be Like Squirrel &
Run with the wind...

Squirrel!

 

Sometimes When We Are Blessed With Someone Special...

 

If you were ever a MOD you knew Giz!
(Molly Obsessive Disorder, Molly the 
Owl? Remember? You either a MOD 
or you have to GOOGLE IT!)
Once there was a barn owl, and she
introduced lots of people to each other...

 

Meet Dinger, Giz's hummingbird.
Well, turned out Giz had a secret 
talent hidden even from herself!
She was an extraordinary 
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER!
Who knew?!

 

Giz had a magnificent Garden:
The Raccoons would make off
with her expensive new birdfeeders,
and you can read all about their
adventures on her blog (to the right
under "My Blog List") named
"Gizmomma World."

 

This here is Gizmo, The Giz!
Well, Giz was an itchy little guy
and Giz and I became friends
trying to cure him with herbal
and homeopathic remedies from
the Pacific Northwest...and an
enduring friendship was forged.

 

On my first birthday as a MOD, Giz sent
us all a package of Birthday Goodies that
even (especially!) YumYum loved to cuddle!

 

It was one of the best Birthdays of
my life! My first MOD Birthday!
Today I received a holiday card 
from Giz. We all know she has been
battling brain cancer and has far
outlived the doctors' dire predictions...
Tonight I called her and she answered.
She made it to Upstate New York for
Thanksgiving and home again: yet
another Miraculous Milestone in
beating the odds! She is home.
I must have woken her up...there
were voices in the background but
she was so tired I kept it to
"Thank you so much for the card: 
I love you."
~ Giz, everyone who knows you loves you
and anyone who met you would love you
crazy like your MODS, friends, co-workers,
and family all do.
On behalf of your devoted MODS,
"We Love You."
God Bless You, dear friend,
you are in our hearts and prayers.
Lil'Giz is, too.
Holding your hand from the place
where miles cannot keep friends apart.
Holding you. Loving you.
Feeling your love too...
Happy Holidays, friend,
Happy Holidays.

Shelter From The Storm...

 

It was the best of days (not raining.)
It was the worst of days: predicted
rain, wind gusts exceeding 60 mph,
floods, snow at low elevations, typical
Pacific Northwest "fall weather" when
ANYTHING can happen within 60 seconds.
Still, the stout and hardy amongst us
shall not be THWARTED: OFF WE GO!


 

Shall we go Up or Down to the Sea?

 

To the sea it is, then! And a tide rushing
in as winds pick up...what will happen?

 

Ask the wise remnants of a once-mighty
tree, blown down by the Gusts of Fall...
weathered, yet stories to tell,
of how it fell. And how we might, too,
in the Winds of Autumn on Bellingham Bay.

 

So far, so good, but winds picking up.

 

And tides rushing in over weathered
sandstone boulders whose natural fingerholds
make our coast totally rad for rock-climbing!
Once, though, while bouldering
(ropeless climbing) and traversing 
(climbing ropeless/sideways like spider) along 
a gentle beach cliff miles north of here...
~
 It was so exhilarating!
 ~ sorta didn't notice: (DEATH?) the tide
coming IN while I'still climbing OUT, and UP
came the water towards me: beach and rocks 
rapidly covered in roiling surf below.
Moral of Story: don't boulder stupid!
Know the tide tables...

Still, these smooth, natural holds invite 
human hands to become One with 
-Rock-Earth-Sea-Sky-Islands-Clouds-
This I know for sure.

(KNOW THE TIDE TABLES.)


 

So up and onto the Trail over
Bellingham Bay go the cyclists,
the joggers, the walkers, well, HEY!

 

 

Until gusts of wind and rain reduce
us to shivering timbers ~

 

And dripping wet-cold-FREEZING,
we wander Home Again...

 

Into the welcome, warm "Wheeks!" 
of lil'Squirrel: my Shelter from the Storm.

 YO!-Pig-on-my-tummy...
i find You SO Yummy!

 

"She's full of it!  Don't heed a word!
Once that Gore-Tex dries out
She'll be gone like a bird."
I am Vinny and I approve this 
WHEATGRASS!