Sharon's Blurb

 There's a new catchword in town: toxic positivity. Who knew that anything positive could be toxic. Well, it turns out, it can. It turns out that there can be so much positivity that it fails to recognize other people's true negative feelings. And that, as it also turns out, can be a bad thing. Trust it to the negative Nancys and the Debbie downers and the gloomy Gusses to find a way to ruin positivity for us all. They would prefer to wallow. To have their expectations of true negativity not negated by an ounce of positivity, thank you very much! And I get it. Not everyone wants to have sunny ways foisted upon them all the time. There needs to be time and space for all emotions and feelings, for sure. The bad ones have to be dwelled upon and sat in for some time in order to healthily clear the way for positivity. Optimism. And I have been accused of being far too positive at times. My roommate at the hospital where I was having my hip replaced some y...

  They had to shoot ol' Floyd awhile back. Black Floyd, as I called him, the huge tom turkey that protected his hens to the very end. A.K.A. Pretty Boy Floyd, but who was anything but. When he could no longer walk, or stand, or eat, or drink, the decision was made to end his perceived suffering, to speed up the natural eventuality of his death, by shooting him. The kindest, most humane thing to do. Hopefully it was quick, he didn't see it coming, didn't feel a thing. That is always the hope, isn't it? I, for one, am not missing him that much. I was afraid of him.  And with good reason.   He was ready for a sharp peck of anything that got too close - including my horse Pumpkin's nose once when he went in for a closer look at Floyd. Floyd was so protective, I am sure he stressed himself out in a big way with all that puffery and showery that tom turkeys are famous for.   Always the full-on tail fan - beautiful yes - but energy consumin...

  My dad used to have these words on his outgoing voicemail message:  "Please speak clearly and slowly..." I used to think it was annoying, redundant, unnecessary. But now I think the whole world needs to speak clearer and slower. Is it just me, or has everybody just started speaking faster?   It seems to me that while watching some tv shows the characters just have to get their lines in no matter what the cost. And they often seem jumbled and garbled and I cannot always understand what they are saying. Thank goodness for pause and rewind features which allow me to stop and replay what they said. Sometimes even then I am at a loss. And a good joke gets missed. A poignant thought gets unheard. Granted, I do believe I have some degree of hearing loss. A hearing specialist told me so some years ago. And yes, I do believe I have a mild form of tinnitus. A constant ringing in my ears tells me that. But they are not enough for me to not hear t...

 I now officially own Winston the mini-horse. Not that he knows or cares. It really may not matter one lick to him. He will go on about his days as is usual; heading out into the paddock in the morning to spend the day with his buddies. He and my old horse Pumpkin have already struck quite a bond it seems to me. Pumpkin will playfully nip him in the leg, and Winston will oblige by moving to the side to allow Pumpkin to graze at that particular patch of grass. Pumpkin tolerates Winston as he brushes up against him in a very familiar way. A way that would not be tolerated if their relationship was anything other than the elder/yearling, senior/junior, brotherly-love type bro-mance that it appears to be to me. A familiar way that he never let Charlie, the regular sized quarter horse, be around him. Oh sure, he tolerated Charlie when he needed him, such as when the flies were so bad they stood head to tail under the shade of the trees, flicking each other's face free ...

 Hi, I'm Sharon, and I am a multi-tasker. And I am proud of it. I am proud of the fact that I think my brain can handle two or more tasks at the same time. I can be making my coffee in the morning, then part way through go and clean out the cat litter, then in the middle of doing that I can put the recycling out into the garage. I am amazed at how my brain can happily tangent to another thought and chore and carry on as though it hadn't missed a beat. I am enthralled by the way I can have a thought, then put that on pause, then entertain another thought, and then another. I must be getting smarter as I get older. More intelligent in my years. More wise in my aging. How can this be? Am I a medical miracle? Perhaps I should enroll in a study of some sort. Surely this will stave off dementia and age related memory loss, no? As I marvel at the medical miracle that I appear to be becoming, I notice my reading glasses are on the dining room table. When did...

  Forget about bats in the belfry. We have raccoons in our window well. A sunken hole that opens out from our basement window, to a dark, bleak space under the deck. A bad design on the part of the builder. Indeed, the window well is adjacent to, if not very nearly directly under, the sliding glass door that opens out to the back yard from the dining room. A very bad design on the part of the builder. No matter. A very large, very nice deck was built overtop, so one walks out those sliding glass doors to a humungous wooden area, complete with lovely pergola. There are two sets of steps down to the garden. And several areas where various animals are able to make their way under the deck to shelter from the weather. We have seen bunnies go under there. And now raccoons. And somehow, the raccoons have seen fit to occupy our window well, leaning their massive furry bodies up against the glass, muddying it with their huge paws. They have already made light ...

  If anyone has ever watched a cat for more than three seconds, you will know they are experts, nay, masters, at self care. A term that has become a watchword for humans lately in that we all need more of it. Well, I say, just watch a cat for awhile. They nap when they need to nap - and there is no explanation or excuse. Where there is a sunbeam - there is a perfect spot for a cat nap. If there is a soft throw on the sofa or bed, thank you very much!  They do seem to need a lot of sleep. I read somewhere about 18 hours a day is needed in order that they can expend the energy to capture their dinner. Not that they have to do that in these days of high domestication. No, dinner is served - as is breakfast, lunch and snacks in between. Only the highest quality of deliciously crafted meaty bits in a savoury gravy sauce. And the most delicious dry bits offered as a constant throughout the day so they can eat when they wish. Grooming is another area where c...