March 1, 2013 Traditions, old and new

Today, my daughter and I, accompanied by her hubby, reinstated a tradition from her childhood.  We picked a place reasonably close by (and reasonably means within about 2 miles) for dinner and walked.  The beauty of walking to dinner and back is that, not only do you get some exercise, but you have a chance to actually talk to your companions about anything and everything, share jokes, make new ones and generally, unwind from the week.  By the time you get to the restaurant, everyone is pretty relaxed and loose so you can have an equally relaxing dinner when everyone is paying attention to each other instead of withdrawing into their own minds or cell phones!  It also serves to help put a crazy, frustrating, challenging work week back into perspective. 

Although we didn't take my grandpuppy, Gwennie, this time, we scouted out a couple of places which are puppy friendly so she can join us at least some of the time.  She has shown that she especially enjoys grandma time and I'm happy to accommodate her.  (had to type that word three times before spell check determined that I'd spelled it correctly!) 

On the way home, as we continued to laugh and create still more inside jokes, we started hearing a lot of honking.  We looked around, but there didn't seem to be any particular reason for the cacophony, other than drivers feeling the need to announce their presence.  One particularly discordant fellow was driving a jacked up pickup with a diesel horn.  We determined that the poor fellow, along with having serious self-esteem issues, had apparently never seen anyone walking down the street before.  He became quite agitated, repeatedly honking his horn and finally pulling into an El Torito, in the vague hope of assuaging his feelings of impaired self-worth with ample quantities of cerveza and tequila.  I can only hope that he finds the answers he needs so that seeing someone walking down the street in the future will not drive him to wallow in self-pity and engage in frustrated efforts to get himself  noticed by remarkably oblivious strangers.  My apologies to the horny honker but really, we were too busy amusing ourselves and each other with more intelligent examples of silliness.  ( I did warn my son-in-law that entering into a battle of puns with me would hurt him more than it would me!  He showed remarkable foresight and self-restraint by taking my advice.) 

My post dinner coughing spasm was abruptly interrupted when a couple passed by our table with, hands down, the homeliest baby I had ever seen.  Honestly, the phrase that popped into my head is normally used in connection with puppies, but he really was so ugly he was cute!  His parents were not particularly remarkable in either direction so it could just be something he'll outgrow, but I was admittedly rude as I stopped, mid cough, and just stared.  I must have been extremely obvious about it because a man walking behind them asked if I was ok.  I can only imagine the look on my face!  The child was obviously cherished as his father carried him carefully in his arms and when we passed their table, their attention was focused on seeing to his needs before their own.  Who knows?  If he doesn't have swarms of teenage girls chasing him through his formative years, he could end up the next Einstein or Asimov or even a completely unique creative or intellectual talent!  We are certainly given gifts which may appear to be otherwise, but can be blessings in disguise.  Just think, if I hadn't been such a klutz when I was young (so I never outgrew it! I am proud of my klutziness.  It makes me uniquely myself!), my mother might not have given me dance lessons to try to make me graceful.  It might have taken me years to discover that it was one of my passions!  This child may be meeskite on the outside, but inside, he could well be a savant. 

Meditations continue to focus on "I am Source" and may be followed by a generally wandering mind or specific visualizations, but nothing spectacular to report today.  Maybe I'm just winding down from my aha moment yesterday.  Or my mind was too busy looking ahead to the cleaning I plan to do this weekend!

My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful for the rebirth of old traditions.
2. I am grateful for a healthy, fit body which thinks nothing of taking a mile or two walk.
3. I am grateful for mild evenings.
4. I am grateful for an abundance of kitty love.
5. I am grateful for those who seek to minimize the euthanazation of animals whose only crime was to be born.

Love and light.