ABBEY ROAD & HER MAJESTY

POST # 300

TINA aka HER MAJESTY

As the song says, "Her majesty's a pretty nice girl, but she doesn't have a lot to say."  Tina fits the bill to perfection.  She spends her day sleeping, eating, more sleeping, more eating, and then rounds out the day with more sleeping.  It sounds like a pretty good life, and I do try to follow her example but not to the extent that she does, especially in the sleeping department.  But hey, I can grow, I can change, and with enough inspiration, I may one day be as relaxed as Her Majesty.

My friend Guy likes to call cats the ultimate libertarians***, and that might be true.  But as he also says, "just try and take away their food bowl and see what happens."  The libertarian furball will change completely.  Lucky for Tina that the cat food cupboard is overflowing at the moment, so I don't expect any problems for the remainder of this sit.

Of course, it would be easy to just hang out with Her Majesty all day long, however, now that the weather seems to be on the improve**, I've decided to venture out each day and get a decent walk completed before the sun goes down.  I do make sure to fit my exercise routine in between feeding times for Her Majesty.  After all, I know who runs the show here, and it isn't the house sitter.

Unbeknownst to Her Majesty, I bump into the occasional bonehead while I'm out walking and yesterday was one of those days.  Not far from here, there is a restaurant along the beach, and for the second time in as many days, I came across this lovely mutt.  Naturally I had to spend some time with him.  What a gentle giant.  He looks like a cross between a St. Bernard and maybe a golden retriever, but I have it on good advice, that he is probably a Leonberger.  It's the very first time I have come across this breed in all of my travels.

UPDATE- I ran into the owner yesterday (March 1st), and he filled me in on some details.  The bonehead's name is Maynard, he's just 16 months old, and weighs in at 125 pounds.  His parents are both 165 pounds, so he still has some growing ahead.  And yes, he is a Leonberger.

Of course, I couldn't leave without taking a photo of the two of us together, just for the record.

As I walked away and headed for home, I looked back and he was staring at me with that expression that said, "why are you leaving me?"  I almost went back for some additional bonehead time, but it was getting very close to feeding time for Her Majesty, and I certainly didn't want to keep her waiting.  Perhaps on tomorrow's walk, my bonehead buddy will be standing guard again at the beach side restaurant, and if he is, I'll make sure to spend more time with him.  Of course, I won't mention any of this to Her Majesty.

***Cats as libertarians.

https://guymcpherson.com/2018/02/tim-bob-boulevard-of-broken-dreams/#more-16182

**

The weather earlier in the week.

living a life of simple acceptance,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

HOW MANY DAYS SINCE...

POST # 299

As of today, I have been on the planet for a total of 23,001 days. Funny, I don't feel a day older than 23,000. :-)

My life has been one interesting journey, to be sure, and I am thankful everyday, that I have had the opportunity to spend all of those days.  Of course, like in most lives, some days have been shall we say, less than perfect, but for the most part, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.  So let's have a look at some of the changes over time, that LIFE has had on this wandering soul.

30 days old

Just out of the starting gate, and so far so good.  It's difficult to predict at this early stage, what will be in store as the days pass.

1,827 days

The above number is based on my date of birth, so I will make the assumption that this photo was taken on that date, but of course, after all this time, it's only a guess. At least the month and year are accurate.   With the lipstick and dress, it's hard to guess which direction my life will go from this point, although if one looks very closely, there is a little red devil t-shirt under the dress, so that might tell you something.

SUMMER OF 1976

Approximately 7,794 days, hanging out on a beach in the BC interior with girlfriend Lindsay, and work friend Wayne.

approximately 9,191 days

This photo was taken sometime during the month of May, in the year 1980, so I have used the first of the month as my estimated date.  It was  another very hot and humid day in the city of New Delhi, India.  My travelling companion at the time was Dick (he now goes by Richard) Wyman, another Calgarian that I had met some months earlier on the island of Bali, in Indonesia.  We're drinking a "fruit beer" in an effort to cool down.  This  roadside stall was just down the road from our bargain basement hotel, and this little ritual had become a daily event.

9,254 days

I know the exact date that the above photo was taken. This was the day after I had arrived back home in Calgary, after being gone for the better part of three years, having travelled once around the world, in a westerly direction. The date is July, 3rd, 1980.  I decided to shave off my beard, one half at a time, just for a laugh.  I had departed India on Friday, June 13th, so it's just over two weeks later, and my culture shock was profound at this early stage.

Approximately 21,647 days, on Cannon Beach, Oregon with my friend, Guy. A great day to be alive.

22,519 days, house sitting in Sudden Valley, Washington for my friend Mary.

22,839 days

Enjoying some late afternoon sun at English Bay, in Vancouver on day number 22,839. It's nice to still have some hair this late in the journey, but the colour of the beard better reflects the passage of time.

And finally, earlier this morning, after arriving at my next house sit, in Cordova Bay, BC prior to taking the owner to the airport.

*23,001 days

  I guess the next big milestone is 24,000 and it would be grand to get there, but these days, my time horizon is day to day. By the way, that 24,000th day will occur on November 16th, 2020.  Whatever day will be my final one, I can say with all sincerity, that it has been a wonderful journey so far, with great memories too numerous to measure.

OK, that's enough narcissism for one day.  Time to focus on Tina, the resident furball in charge.

living a life of simple acceptance,

Paul  

The Thoughtful Wanderer

*

Alternative time units

23,001 days can be converted to one of these units:

• 1,987,286,400 seconds
• 33,121,440 minutes
• 552,024 hours
• 23,001 days
• 3285 weeks and 6 days

HOLMESDALE HOUSE & RESIDENTS

POST # 298


I am currently spending time at the oldest house in the city of Duncan, here on Vancouver Island.  It was built in 1881.

http://holmesdalehouse.ca/history/

Three of the full-time residents at Holmesdale House.

BOZO DOG- aka ESSEX

JEANETTE, THE PURR MACHINE

JASMINE, THE MOOD QUEEN

living a life of simple acceptance, (which includes bipolar  furballs),

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE SHORT AND THE LONG OF IT

POST # 297

 HAPPINESS

noun

1.

the quality or state of being happy.

2.

good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

So where is the Thoughtful Wanderer going with this essay?  First of all, isn't that old saying, "The long and the short of it?"  That's correct, but for the purpose of today's blog, I've turned that around, and hopefully I can explain why.

Part of what prompted me to write about this, was a line in an email from a friend in Australia.  During a recent conversation he was having with mutual friends back here in Canada, my name came up.  Apparently the friends in Canada said to the friend in Australia that Paul had, "fallen off the face of the planet."  Now as far as I can tell, at least at the moment, my feet are well and truly still planted on the ground, so in a literal sense, no, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet, but in another way, I most certainly have done so.  But why?

The why is tied in directly with the title of today's blog post, and it also explains why I've switched that old saying around.  These days, and for quite some time now, I've had a very short view of my future, and believe it or not, I think that that is a good thing, and is directly related to my current happiness.  I, like everyone else "on the face of the planet" have no idea what day will be my final day, but I do know that it will come.  I accept that.  Three little words.  But I really do, and as a result, it helps me to get the maximum amount of life out of each moment.  That is the goal.  This mindset, at least for me, and I can only speak for me, has had the effect of increasing my happiness.  It seems to be a paradox, but so it goes.

In addition, because this is my view of life now, it helps to put a very sharp focus on how I spend whatever time I do have left.  Unfortunately, this has probably had a negative impact on others, and if that is so, then I apologize.   However in my defense, I wouldn't expect to try and tell anyone else how to spend their precious time.  

For whatever reason, this rather abbreviated view of the future, has, at least in my experience, a very negative impact on most people, and I guess that I am now well past the time of trying to share this point of view with others.  It seems to make them either sad, or at the very least, they want to change the subject.   I certainly don't want to intentionally make anyone sad, so it seems best to not mention this view of life in "polite company" as it were, and perhaps that explains why Paul has "fallen off the face of the planet."  Instead, I continue to focus on the moments I have, however many more they will be.  It may be difficult for others to get to this mental state of mind, but I can highly recommend it.  You too, can end up looking like my new furball friend, Silken in the above photo.  Blissed-out and content.

living a life of simple acceptance,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS:  I may not be able to post on February 14th and 21st due to either computer issues and/or my travel itinerary, but I will endeavor to do so if at all possible.