Feb, 11, 2010

Been putting a lot of thought into Thankful Thursday and what I have to contribute today.  It has been hard to come up with new stuff to discuss.  Why?  Because I live a very simple life and I am equally grateful for the things I continuously speak of. My family, this town, my abode, my creature friends and plants.  Grateful for my clients and friends, for the snow, for the mountains, for the sunshine gleaming off the mountains. Grateful for the continued improvement of my health and healing.  This is my world, small yet huge!

Last week I discussed health benefits obtained from the act of being grateful. Every Thankful Thursday post discusses how gratitude is changing my life. So what cold really stand out today?

1) first and foremost – My daughter, Heather tells me that she and her husband Malcolm had sat down the other day to discuss how their parents would manage in our elder years.  They came up with a plan for me. I don’t have a retirement so they came up with a way that I’ll have a home for the rest of my life, and I kinda like their solution. I’m proud of my kids. Heather was worried that I’d be offended – I  told her I was proud, that her concern spoke of the the way my parents raised me and how I raised her. I’m so thankful for the lessons I learned from my parents and what I was able to pass on to Heather. I’m one PROUD and GRATEFUL mom!

2) my friend Krissy is always looking out for me. She listens to me and knows my heart. I told her awhile back that I wanted to get a guinea pig for a cuddly pet that I could keep in my apt in an orderly manner. So she went right out and began researching guinea pigs. I mean she researched them, then started searching for them, then got herself one, then found the exact piggy I had told her months ago that I would like to have. Check out Cookie.

Isn’t she just adorable?!!  I like guinea pigs (cavies) because you manage them much like horses, you even make corrals for them, feed them hay, groom them and more similar things.  They become friendly like horses and to some extent are even trainable like horses. So I have my own little horse like critter to care for without the hard work and huge space and cost.  Well actually Cookie will come up to Silverton with Krissy and her family when they come to visit in a few weeks.  I am so thankful to you Krissy!  I so appreciate you always going far and beyond to see my happiness flourish.  You are the best friend anyone could ever have.  I am so thankful that Cookie is coming to live with me.

I’m so happy!

We had a visitor here on THE PONY EXPRESSION recently who also  shares in Thankful Thursday’s – meet Gemini and check out their blog for another approach to being thankful.

For more gratitude/thankfulness please visit these sites: Akal Ranch – Tired Dog Ranch – Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch – From The Horses Back – Grateful For – Jonathan Lawson of mysnowpro.com and of course our guest blogger Zebrafinch,  and our newsest Heart of Gratitude Maryanne Garvin of the Silverton Movement Center… OUR CIRCLE IS GROWING

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Like so many of us  my very best friend Krissy has been struggling with a debt. She has always been focused on having good credit and doing right by her lenders.  But  the economy hit and her debts started growing.  We have all been there, if not we will be at some point in our lives.  For the past few months she has been researching how to settle her debt. After much thought, she was able to find a settlement that made her feel good about herself and she is free and clear.

I’m so proud of her!

Well I had a goal set, I had hopes it would happen and it did.  I’m happy I can come on my trip to see you and be free and clear of this headache of a debt. I will be happy when I get my next massage it will feel great and there will be little to no stress. Whatever is left of the stress will be washed out and taken away…those nasty toxins…gone!

Krissy: my Thankful Friday!

Let Krissy give you hope. Do right by others, do right by your debts – it will flow back to you.

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Dragon, who refers to himself as “King” Dragon scratches at the glass wanting out to go girl hunting.  I’ve told him repeatedly that there are no girl dragons in the house.  He doesn’t believe me.

I swear he is telling me that I have no idea what I’m talking about.

So out on the bed he hunts…

…and hunts…

He’s pretty positive that she’s behind those pillows.  I am always amazed at how stubborn Dragons can be. Once they get something in their heads their is no changing their minds until they have exhausted themselves trying.

Dragon (Bubba as I sometimes call him) is out right now hunting girls while tasting mom’s clothes that should be put away.  It has taken him three years to feel safe outside of his cage and safe with me. Safe that he wont be dropped, and safe that he will be put back into his cage when “he” wants. He does this little head bob with a swallowing gesture when he is trying to  intimidate me. I do it right back. I get the funniest look from him when I do that.  What a character. The TUDE DUDE

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THANKFUL THURSDAY

I’ve done some pondering  on this particular Thankful Thursday post. I come to find that my every day is blessed with gratitude and so come Thursday I feel like I’m just going back over things I’ve already acknowledged all week long.  Like living in this sweet little town, being close to my daughter, having the best friends anyone could have. etc etc.  Not to downplay those very important things but I come to struggle with isolating that one thing that just jumps out at me.  What could it be?

I know!

This wonderful Circle of Gratitude that is growing leaps and bounds.  The kindness that it creates in everyone who participates.  My life has been blessed because one day a year ago my friend, Simrat decided to try out the idea of dedicating one day each week to gratitude. I followed suit – sounded like a good idea…  …she wasn’t the first to create a Thankful Thursday circle, but there is something spiritual about this particular Gratitude Circle.  Something joyful and fresh that I have not found elsewhere. I think its because we take this seriously and truly care how our experiences affects those around us.  And, we care about our own Spirit and strive to become good stewards of gratitude.

Who would ever know where this exercise would take us.  I feel a certain warmth and joy because of the kind and grateful words that are appearing everywhere by folks as a result. Gratitude is drawn to us and us to it through friends and strangers from all over the world. All showing their thankfulness in their own unique ways.  This I am thankful for and highly appreciate.

Something else to be grateful – my work is taking off. Been so busy that I need body work to continue. How much more could I ask for in a time of struggle for so many, that I have all my bills paid for the month of Jan and Feb’s rent paid for already.  This in a remote little mining town of 450 winter occupants who  may or may not become massage clients.  I was told today that people were talking about me, that I was the best MT in town. Well I don’t know about that!  But I do care about my clients and do my best for them every time I see them. I am so grateful that they trust me and appreciate the work I do for them.

And!!  I get my XBOX tomorrow YAY!  Heather and I are going to Durango tomorrow to shop and I pick it up. This means I get to play online games with my friends  and family, watch whatever movies I want, have whatever music I want and all for a smitten  $50.00 a year. No big Cable or satellite bills for me!! Heather and Malcolm gave me  a large sum toward the purchase for my Christmas present. and for this I am very VERY thankful!  I can tell you I’m in utter Glee!  Anybody up for some online Magic?

Please read on  to the next post for another Thankful Thursday by guest blogger ZEBRAFINCH.

For more gratitude/thankfulness please visit these sites: Akal Ranch – Tired Dog Ranch – Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch – From The Horses Back – Grateful For – Jonathan Lawson of mysnowpro.com and of course our guest blogger Zebrafinch, OUR CIRCLE IS GROWING

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Well after appreciating all the White Medicine around me, thought I show how I balance my life out in terms of color and texture to stimulate the senses.
Witness Connor…

hmmm…  thinking he’s pretty fat and sassy!  He is getting a 10 gallon planted aquarium soon.  No more bowls for Connor!

In the future I am thinking seriously about getting one of these…

…in fact I have already promised that in the next year I will order a baby male to raise up from Little Tweet.  The photos are from Little Tweet of their birds. I like the blue, yellow (dilute), and white (blue dilute) versions shown above. But I’m ordering the blue for its vibrancy against my Serengeti tan walls. These are Pacific Parrotlets – the smallest true parrot  in the world. They have big bird character in a little bird (about 4 inches long) body.  They are quiet enough for Apartment living too.

Color and living-ness from plant life to fish, dragon, and birds – living color. I understand why folks paint their homes rich vibrant colors inside and out. Mine is desert Serengeti  (earth tone tans and greens and Zebra print, bathroom is ocean blue and beach linens) but with a living tropical feel.  Just love it!

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THANKFUL THURSDAY

What I am most thankful for on this day…

Christmas Eve!

This will be my first Christmas with my daughter, Heather in eight years. The first with “MY” family since the passing of my mother.

It truly is a time to be grateful…

Merry Christmas Krissy – I miss you and love you and think of you often during this Holiday Season. There is only one thing that could make this holiday more perfect and that would be to have you here with us to share in it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERY ONE!

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Oh this is a goodie today. Not sure if it will be a long one or a short one. But I am excited about todays Thankful Thursday.

First off let me introduce to you, Zebrafinch, our latest guest blogger who will be featured here often on Thankful Thursday.  Be sure to read below this post to have the process of becoming Grateful eloquently penned.   I am looking forward to each and every one of Zebrafinch’s posts. Not only does it help Zebrafinch find her own sense of gratitude, it also touches me and helps me deepen my own sense of gratefulness.

Thank you Zebrafinch for sharing your thoughts on THE PONY EXPRESSION and for being part of the healing process.

Next Chris a friend from England, commented on one of my posts today.  He was saying how I had shared with all of you that I really had an issue with snow and was struggling moving to Colorado much less Silverton, Colorado.  He was dead right – I struggled for several years with the idea.  However, I have found the snow to be healing.  Someone else came to my home one day and said you surround yourself with nurturing things, everything you do seems to be aimed at nurturing yourself.  That is exactly what I have set out to do ever since 1997 and having spent that year reading the book I mention on an early Thankful Thursday, Sarah Breathnaucht’s “Simple Abundance”.  I suggest you check it out again, and come to think of it I will join you. Refreshing that process can only be…

…well…

 …nurturing. 

It has shocked me just how nurturing the cold, icy, wet, sticky, colorless stuff they call snow can be.  Having been an advocate of color and having the eye of an artist, color has always effected me in curious ways.  Thus, I have avoided the color white most of my life. It was cold, barren, lifeless to me. Instead I surrounded myself with deep earth tones and rich spiritual colors. Now finding myself surrounded by white I am feeling regenerated, cleansed and reborn into a new way of life.  Its exhilarating.  White, icy, cold= exhilarating… yes I get it!  Hello!!  I have found a new appreciation for SNOW.  Will I remain in it for the rest of my life? Probably not, or… maybe I will.  That will depend on the next chapters of my life.  But for now I am embracing it with a sense of adventure and appreciation for the healing effects it has had on my soul.

I was talking with one of my clients yesterday when he suggested that my move to Silverton maybe was a product of intervention guiding me to a place where I would naturally regain my fitness.  Well Creator if that is so. THANK YOU, THANK YOU and THANK YOU!!  I will never be able to show my gratitude strongly or purely enough. I believe it to be true, and I WILL be mindful of the gift. AHO    …I was given a vision years ago of what I might be called to do. Help others find their own brand of nurturing to empower themselves. I saw myself in a high desert  boulder ridden remote location. People coming to sit with me. Just a sharing experience.  Heck I don’t know if it was my imagination running away with me or truly a calling.  I don’t really care. I know that some times people do come for help. Other times I feel the urge to offer an open ended something to someone.  Some jump to fill the void and others walk away.  I am thankful that whatever I have to share is useful to some, and still feel that someday I’ll be sitting on a porch of some simple abode in the high desert. In the meantime I am still walking down a path of preparation in mind, spirit and body.  For this path I am thankful.

Today I am thankful for:

1) the sweet hiss of steam coming from the boiler in my room.

2) the claw foot tub where I take my nightly soaks in a mixture of lavender, frankincense, tea tree, and lemon oils to candlelight dancing upon the walls around me.

3) my chest freezer full of good foods for the winter

4) all the green plants…

and Dragon…

and Connor the betta fish who surround me with livingness.

5) the wonderful people who have surrounded me with friendship since moving to Silverton. They include but are not limited to. Pam, Maryanne, Patty, Karen, Cindy, Matt, Alan, Tim, the Gillan boys, and of course my daughter and son-in-law, Heather and Malcolm and their entire family. For all of you mentioned and not, I am so very thankful.  Love you!

6) the glorious sun reflecting itself off the snow-bright mountains  into my room from outside my window. The glow as it travels through the leaves of my plants is heavenly.

Happy Thankful Thursday everyone. Don’t forget to keep reading below for more thankfulness from guest blogger, ZEBRAFINCH.

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Short but not forgotten.

Check it here.  Then visit Akal Ranch, Tired Dog Ranch and Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch blogs for more Gratitude.

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Thankful Thursday is here again, and again I find many things to be thankful for.  We tend to go through life missing the small things that surround us everyday that without our lives would be empty or less interesting.  I love Thankful Thursday because it causes me to pause and really consider what I have to be thankful for in this world.  The mountains of things however small or large never cease to amaze me.

For more thankfulness try out Akal Ranch or Tired Dog Ranch or Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch

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Been thinking…
There are so many topics that I would love to explore on this blog.  So I made a list.

• Unique Restaurantettes – little hole in the walls that incorporate their local farmers markets and cook their foods from scratch.  Such as The Deli.  I drop in at The Deli often for lunch when I’m over on that side of town.  Their food is absolutely to die for! It’s always ample in portion. For example, I bought a salad yesterday it came in a bowl as large as a dinner plate. I ate almost half and was stuffed to the gills.  The owner/chef came over to the table, always friendly, sat himself down to visit telling me the yellow pear tomatoes in my salad he and his son picked fresh that morning.  I brought the rest of the salad home which had ample portions of turkey in it and made a turkey salad sandwich on sprouted flaxseed bread for dinner. There is enough left over for two more sandwiches.  The Deli has been getting quite a bit of attention lately with business growing at a constant pace as folks learn about its existence.  Check them out at the Arizona Republic for a grand slam review.
• I’m considering beginning a category for Cowboy and Cowgirl Life.  Write about real people past and present.  Mostly though I want to explore things like  cowboy code and cowboy character.  I’m going to add a picture of my Great Uncle Fred to my banner.  He was an ultimate cowboy who made a living wherever he laid his hat.  He worked as a fire watchman up on the Mogollon Rim on mule back for years.  My aunt told stories of waiting for him to return knowing his mule would get him home if he could mount up.  If the mule came back alone she would set out to retireve my uncle. He use to walk down wild horses in the desert, riding them back to the ranch fully broke and ready to be used for ranch stock.   He was my favorite person in the whole wide world, and was my original mentor  in training horses.  To this day I still use some of what he taught me about wild horses.  My first experience in Arizona was at age twelve when my parents brought me to visit my great aunt and uncle. Uncle Fred took me out calling in coyotes using a rabbit in distress whistle.  It was a major day in my life.  When I returned to Arizona some 27 years later I wanted to go back to the old Preston Ranch where my Uncle had worked, but of course it was already under a subdivision.
• Outdoorsmen and Women .  Recently I have ran across some Outdoorsmen who write and are quite good at it. I’m thinking of guest writers who would like to spread the love so to speak and have more folks have access to their work.  It will be on a submission basis and I’ll have to read the piece and post it for them.  I want to be sure anything I post is appropriate for all my readers.  My love of outdoorsmen and women comes from being raised by them. My father and mother were bigger than life types who are hard to find these days.  They are out there, I have ran across a few, and I am drawn to them like bees to honey as it reminds me that really solid, quality, tough and capable people are still sharing this world with us. People I would feel safe with in any situation, like when my dad saved a river boat full of people from capsizing by jumping into a raging river grabbing a nearby limb and pulling the boat to safety with his brute strength.  I was in the boat and wasn’t a bit afraid for my dads safety or mine. It wasn’t just his fearless act that saved us, it was his knowledge of the boat and in particular the water and how to read it and how to maneuver the boat correctly.  As the women wearing their fear tears  and the men with their red faces crawled from the boat to the bank, my dad stood in chest high raging water holding onto a limb with one hand and the boat with another with a big smile on his face. He was liviing life to its fullest right at that very moment.  Or when he helped his best friend stay alive when they both were stranded in the Alaskan wilderness, eventually making it to a remote lodge.  Or when he faced down a cow moose charging him. All he had with him was his shot gun, he was rabbit hunting with a cane having had a double total hip surgery. When he shot the cow square between the eyes the shotgun spread was less than 2 inches in size.  She bowled him over but landed dead about 10 paces behind him. These are the kind of people I want to feature here.

I’m thinking adding these categories will open this blog up to a broader audience and keep it fresh and interesting.  Well it will be interesting for me at least, and since it’s my blog… well hey anyone for catfish tarragon soup?

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