God Bless You, My Possum Friend...

I hate possums.  It's their looks!.  The long snout, narrow eyes, coarse fur, hairless long tail, clawy feet and the worst combination of colors white and gray and pink.  I also think they are very stupid, and I have very low tolerance for stupid creatures.  They come out at night, and they just love to cross the street at night times when visibility is poor.  What for? The other side of the street is the same like this side of the street.  Tress and shrubs and houses.  And they get run over by cars when crossing.  In the morning, when I walk Beau down the street, I would see the gruesome sight of their smashed body, except there is now more red than pink.  And they have this expression on their faces that says, "It all happened too fast!" because most of their eyes would still be open and their mouth half open, leaving me to see their crooked teeth.  They look even uglier!

This morning I saw a gray lump in the middle of the road, and told myself, "not another possum!" As I walked up more, I saw this possum was different from the others.  This on was still alive!! He was still moving!! He must have been hurt because only his head was bobbing up and down, in a frantic attempt to escape the coming  cars.  His face spelled horror.  His two short front feet were moving a little, but they seemed too weak to propel his body forward.  He looked at me.  I looked at him.  At that moment, I felt sympathy for him, and wondered what happened to my disgust for his kind.  I stood there for a while.  Several cars sped down and they swirled around to avoid smashing him.  I imagined his fear.  What do I do? What COULD I do!

I continued with my morning walk, trying to decide if I want to take the same road back because I wasn't sure I could manage to avert my eyes so I didn't have to see his dead body.  I figured an hour was more than it would take for some car to hit him.  Would I feel guilty? I would be the last one to see him alive.

To my surprise, I didn't see him! I looked up and down the road, using several landmarks to assure myself I was looking at the right spot.  Indeed he was not there.  And there was no sign of recent accident.  Beau was sniffing the nearby grass.  I looked around me, and didn't see any trail of life, or death.  He had evaporated! Poofed! Gone!

After a few minutes of disbelief, mixed with doubt and boy-was-he-lucky, I walked on, thanking God for his protection for all creatures, big and small, beautiful and ugly.

For that brief moment of exchanging eye contact, I felt that young possum was my friend.

How to Have a Great Morning

Go to bed when you feel sleepy the night before.  Don't try to be super(wo)man.  Just be a human being and gladly submit to your fleshy limitation.

Wake up naturally after eight hours of good uninterrupted sleep.  If you honor your body and consistently do so, your body will work with you and you both will be happy, and healthy of course, unless the Almighty has other plans for you, that is to say.

Go outside to take some fresh air in.  Look around you to appreciate His creation and what the night has done to restore the nature.  Pick up paper if your dog has not already done so for you.  No need to groom yourself just yet.  No one will notice that.  They are still asleep.

Turn on the radio and hope they will be playing Haydn's Creation.

Stand in front of your stove and slowly caramelize some onion. A beautiful cookware like Le Creuset  will certainly add joy to the process.  They say onions are good for you, and I say caramelized onions are better for you because it takes care of your soul too.  You need to stand there for about 20 minutes for this process but if you take delight in watching the onion pieces transform, you won't notice the time.  Manual labor, stirring in this case, is good for us.

Next you want to have a colorful omelette to set the tone for your day.  You scramble and add  three egg whites and one yolk to your caramelized onion so you feel good about staying low fat but getting your protein need met. You want to sprinkle some cilantro, freshly picked from your spring garden and not chopped, but snipped with your fingers before they land on your settling omelette.  This way, you eliminate having to wash the cutting board and knife, hence saving water and time and your day stays beautiful even after you eat.  Cleaning up needs to stay minimum.  Fringe benefit is that your fingers will smell cilantro after you feel the robust life in the seemingly fragile, willowy looking cilantro when you snip them.  Oh, if you want more colors, you add some diced red bell pepper, and green, and orange, if you can afford them. A dollop of double roasted salsa rojo (red) will be great if you need more perking, or simply want to be naughty.  

Make coffee and let the aroma fill your house.  Remember to time the coffee with your omelette, so you can have your first sip piping hot! Nothing is sadder than luke warm coffee.

Sit down.  Say your grace.  Offer praises and thanksgiving.  And enjoy.

One reminder.  Chew slowly.  Train yourself to be not only more ladylike, but let your senses help you appreciate His creation.  You will not only be full, but satisfied soulfully. 

都是小事

生活中的大事其實都是小事拼起來的.

昨晚下大雨. 我坐在後院棚子底下看狗吃飯. 一樁小事.  但是帶給我心靈無比的平靜和滿足.

早上蹓狗回來聞到咖啡的餘香, 不敢相信自己的房子會這麼好聞. 駐足幾秒鐘再吸一口以確定我沒有搞錯. 好開心住在有咖啡香味的屋子裡.  外面還在下雨...

那天在外面曬衣服, 忽然覺得自己是個很幸福的人.  也再一次肯定自己在有些事上不信邪是我仍要堅持的生活理念,  比如說曬衣服.  我一向都曬衣服,  烘乾機只是備用.  曬大了兩個小孩, 也把曬衣服的嗜好傳給了他們.  把衣服一件一件掛在曬衣繩上面,  把他們拉直, 順便看他們一眼, 香香的衣服和暖暖的太陽加上可以聞到東西的鼻子, 都是小事.  但是帶給我無比的感恩. 日落之前收衣服也是一大享受. 日照之後的衣服有一股特別的香味, 對講究環保的現代人來說, 那一刻我也可以算盡上一份力,  節約了能源. 我慶幸孩子們能有親身的體會, 好像我這做母親的在他們的生活百寶箱中又添了一樣寶物, 是很多現代人所失去的. 這是一件小事,  但是將是我的傳家寶之一.

昨晚入睡前聽到雨滴打在屋頂上的聲音. 我想我是帶著微笑入睡的. 躲在軟軟的被窩裡, 貓狗都在身邊, 大家相安無事, 聽雨入眠. 這是一件小事,  可是它帶給我一夜好眠. 無夢.

蹓狗的時候聽到急迫的吠聲,  一聽就知道是隻有 "小狗情結" 的小狗! 順著聲音看過去,  果然是隻修剪的好漂亮的小白狗. 我這隻大黑狗看看牠 , 搖搖尾巴, 一點不以為忤, 也不太當回事兒,  悶著頭繼續往前走. 我覺得挺好笑的.  大吵大鬧的人是否以為這樣人就怕他, 因而聽他讓他? 看樣子不見得. 這是一件小事,  但是幽了我一默.

有時人讓我們不開心, 我們自己勸自己, 那不過是一件小事,   但是幾百件這種小事加在一起就變成了大事.  到那時我們也許還納悶, 我是怎麼一回事, 為了一樁小事生這麼大氣,  流這麼多眼淚. 

有時我們得罪人,  但告訴自己,   那不過是件小事, 結果過了一陣子 , 人家不理我們, 我們還納悶為甚麼遭如此待遇.  

有時我們在睡覺的時候仍處在超壓狀態,  但我們認為那是一件小事. 幾年之後醫生說我們有高血壓,  我們可能還覺得冤枉. 又沒有家族史, 又注意吃得健康, 甚至還比一般人多運動, 為甚麼是我?

我們該吃的時候不吃,  該睡得時候不睡,  該哭得時候不哭, 該笑的時候不笑,  該生氣的時候不生氣, 該講的時候不講, 該聽的時候不聽....   我們說,  那是一件小事.  可是就是這些小事讓我們身體不好, 讓我們與人有嫌隙, 讓我們不開心, 讓我們發脾氣,  讓孩子學習不專心,  讓年輕人生活無動力,  讓大人灰心失望. 

因為大事可能都是由小事拼起來的.