cheerfulmonk.com

Beate told Andy about a place in Santa Fe that sold small Ponderosa pines, so he drove down yesterday morning to buy two.

They look a bit anemic, but they do have good roots and hopefully they will like it up on the land.

He planted one in the afternoon (it still needs a mouse guard) and hopefully it will eventually be bigger than the grass.

As usual, fingers crossed!

gocomics.com/moderately-confused

The Princess would be insulted by this cartoon. Her, do menial work? Get real.

They’ve been having a lot of rain lately, and their backyard was flooded.

So Kaitlin and Torben spent part of Labor Day draining the water. It was hot (in the high 80’s F, over 30 C) and humid, so as the humans worked and sweltered the pups snoozed in the air-conditioned house.

Let us know when you’re done, Mom and Dad.

Update: Kaitlin wrote to say the picture was of Zoe in a flooded fountain when they took a walk so the pups could do their business. The pups wouldn’t go out into the backyard because it had about four inches of water. They got off easy, some people had flooded basements, some roads were closed, etc.

gocomics.com/ziggy

This reminds me of an office mate I had once. His favorite saying was,

Cheer up, things are bound to get worse.

It was supposed to be a joke.

The cartoon also reminds me of an article I read about 50 years ago. The woman had just moved and was feeling nostalgic for her former home. Then she realized that feeling always happened when she left a place, and it would no doubt happen again. After she left she remembered only the good parts and forgot about the things she didn’t like. So she decided she would be happier if from then on she was “nostalgic for the present” and focus on the things she liked and appreciate them in the moment. It struck me as a good way to go through life.

The idea isn’t new of course. One of my favorite poems is this ancient Sanskrit one:

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the truths and realities of existence:

The joy of growth,
The splendor of action,
The glory of power.

For yesterday is but a memory,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday
a memory of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!

There are no guarantees in life, but this strikes me as a sensible strategy.

giveitlove.com

If you are going to leave dad alone with the kid, there is a really good chance you’ll end up receiving a photo like this in a text message. This is the type of view dads have on the world. Although, we have to admit that this cute little baby head does look exactly like a kiwi.

This is one of the tamer “dad fails” we managed to dig up. At the end of the day, there is a good reason to NOT leave dad alone with the kids, especially when the father is a big child themselves and will likely have this type of day with the kiddo.
—These Dads Have Failed Gloriously at Parenting, and That’s Okay

Here are a couple of other pictures from the article:

giveitlove.com

giveitlove.com

I can’t imagine this happening in the U.S.:

What was the reaction where you are, Catherine?

I came across this idea yesterday:

I like to see the good in people, I really, really try.
But sometimes all the good I find
Is the good in saying goodbye.

It reminds me of this one I heard years ago:

Everyone brings some joy in life,
Some when they come.
Others when they leave.

gocomics.com/the-born-loser

I had my annual wellness visit with my doctor last week, and I asked her why some doctors don’t like patients using the internet to keep themselves informed. I thought that could be a plus for doctors. She said that’s because my thinking was fact-based. A lot of her patients are, but a lot are faith-based. For instance one of her patient’s had a brain cancer but her husband searched the internet and was convinced that was the wrong diagnosis. He was convinced it was a tape worm in her brain. My doctor said she understood where he was coming from, but the tests and scans showed that wasn’t true.

The thing I liked best about the doctor was she wasn’t scornful like the doctor in the cartoon, she understood why the fellow was thinking the way he was. I liked her before, but I like her even better now.

Some people see the glass as half full,
Others see it as half empty.
And some of us just take the glass and drink.