This is the first of many posts from Huxley, a member of the family Sciuridae, who lives a long and abundant life. You’ll see more ‘squirrel-isms’ in the weeks ahead. Huxley’s backstory is included at the bottom of each post. Comments and acorns are appreciated!

Squirrels symbolize mindfulness, reminding us to focus on the present moment and let go of anxiety and worry.

One of my favorite people in all the world said this:

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

― Mother Theresa

Have you ever noticed how some folks seem to dwell on their past mistakes endlessly? Maybe it’s someone you’re close to, like when they’re staring at their reflection?

Or what about those who worry about things that haven’t happened yet? They seem to carry their sadness into the future, pushing their troubles onto tomorrow.

GAAAAHHHHH!

Life can be tough, isn’t it? Have...

What do you call your dogs? Do they have pet names? What is is about us humans, that we have to have special names for those we love? (Glenn calls me Babe - which has nothing to do with the pig - I think.)

We call Amy and Bernadette  "The Puppies" - they just turned 9, for crying out loud. But that's how we call them - "Puppies! Puppies!" The fact that when we do that they come running might have something to do with why we keep calling them Puppies.

8 weeks old. Bernadette on the left, Amy with the white spot on her forehead.

We got Amy and Bernadette from a friend who always liked to give her girl dogs one litter of puppies before being spayed. Momma was a Labradoodle. Poppa was an Australian Shepherd (as opposed to a Rolling Stone). The Puppies look like Poppa except more slender than your typical Aussie, and they're more mid-sized, about 35 lbs each.

When we first saw them we were deep into whatever season of Big Bang Theory (BBT) was on the air. We asked the puppies what the...

If we listen closely, our animal friends tell us what they need. But we have to be open to getting our ego out of the way and seeing what wants to happen. Good lesson for all parts of life!

A cat named George lived on the property of a rescue group. He had shelter, and someone who fed him, but was pretty much left to himself. He wasn't unfriendly, he was just there. He was outside for a reason.

NOT George, but as cute as....

Attempts to introduce him to the joys of indoor living were met with scorn by George. Unbeknownst to those taking care of him, he had other plans, and it wasn't being where he was. Whenever he was brought inside he would mark all the horizontal surfaces. This was primarily the middle of the caretaker's bed. So she did what a lot of people do. She decided he could live outside. Okay by George. Part 1 of the plan done and done! (Be a little difficult.)

A few years passed, and he got in a fight. He was hurt pretty badly, and the vet, after cleaning him up, decided...

Happy New Year, everyone! Are you ready for 2026? 

2025 was a heavy year. The energy was heavy. There was lots of worry. There were many endings (in numerology, 2025 is a “9” year, which is a year of endings). 

2026 starts a brand new cycle. In addition, it is the Chinese Zodiac year of the Fire Horse, which starts February 17. Things should feel lighter, and more enthusiastic. There is hope in the air.

If you want to know more about the Year of the Horse, go to this site: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/horse.htm

If you were born in the year of the Horse (which comes around every 12 years, but a Fire Horse only comes around every 60 years), you can find out more about what the Chinese Zodiac says about all the different elements (Fire, Water, Metal, Earth, Wood) here: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/horse/five-elements.htm

My brother was born in the year of the Horse. He is very much as described, and has always been a cha...

What's all the fuss about anyway?

With each passing year I'm more and more inclined to visit with my mom and sister (if she doesn't have plans) for Thanksgiving and then stay home during the December holidays. What's not to appreciate with a morning walk with the dogs, followed by breakfast, a nice toasty fire in the wood stove, good food in the oven, or Chinese take out (inside joke), holiday-themed movies, and of course, popcorn!

Over the years when I was raising two children with my first wife we would visit with her two sisters and their families throughout the year. Each sister hosted a holiday: Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas with a little Hannukah sprinkled in for me. Meals were an extravaganza with all the trimmings depending upon the holiday.

Now that I think about it, we ALWAYS HAD BLACK OLIVES with every holiday meal. Was it a family tradition or was there something special about those fleshy orbs of fruit?

Botanically speaking, olives are technically fruits because t...

As I sat down to write this post my fingers typed the title before I could think about what I wanted to write about.

Magic.

Since I was raised on rock-n-roll starting in the late 50's, yes that's the 1950's, I was wondering how many songs were written with the same title. I knew a couple of versions, firstly thinking of the Alan Parson's Project, and then to my surprise after searching on the web of the digital domain, I saw a long list of music with the same title and by a variety of artists. 

Wow, this old music aficionado learned something new toady! The first song was actually written in 1917 by Written by Percy Wenrich and Howard Johnson shortly after WWI. Even more surprising are the number of songs that I saw: 30 or more. I'm willing to bet some share the same lyrics and music with different styles based on the artist. Didn't stop to listen to any of them though. I leave that up to you.

This post is actually about how we live our lives going forward. There seems to be a 'bef...

I'm writing this post on Wednesday morning Nov 6 long after reading about the election results from the previous night and early morning.

First, let's back up to the night of Nov 5. Ashara and I stayed away from all news sources and social media. Instead we watched an episode of The Lincoln Lawyer with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo playing Mickey Haller who is a defense lawyer based in Los Angeles. Really good writing, acting, and producing! Next we watched an episode of Monk played by Tony Shalhoub, a former San Francisco police detective who helps his former partner and police captain in each episode. It's quirky, funny, and has the right amount of pathos to keep us engaged with the show.

We basically didn't want to know what was happening with THE ELECTION. We were already feeling stressed, our own, and from half the population of the world.

It ain't easy being an EMPATH!

I avoided looking at email before meditating this morning (Nov 6) even though intuitively I knew who won. Hell, we all...

Do you crave knowledge?

Are you fascinated by the latest article about anything new?

Can't get enough of Merriam-Webster online dictionary?

Maybe you're a lifelong learner like me!

Recently I had a fun and engaging session with Daelyn Larche-Sigman who is a coaching colleague and a friend of ours. She helped me review and understand my strengths based on the CliftonStrengths assessment I took earlier this year. The report is known as "Your CliftonStrengths® 34 Results".

Extremely informative!

My #9 strength is 'Learner' which is part of the Strategic Thinker category. These are some of the qualities of the Learner:

• You have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites you.
• You love to learn, and you intuitively know how you learn best. Your natural ability to pick up
  and absorb information quickly and to challenge yourself to continually learn more keeps
  you on the cutting edge.
• Respect your desire to learn
...

Oh my, what a subject!

We could go many places with this post.

Like, why were they so ______________? [You get to fill in the blank]

ZaZ! (Don't ask)

Today we're gonna explore the meaning of your family of origin surname. Could be your father's surname or your mother's maiden name or both.

Wondering why or how I decided on the subject?

A short story to explain: on my way into the garage of the office building this morning one of my colleagues drove in just ahead of me. Let's call him Aaron because that's his name. I'll withhold his surname as a courtesy and out of respect for his privacy. As I nodded 'hello' I wondered what his family's origin was, like, where in Europe did his family originate?

So, after getting setup at my desk (work station) I asked the oracle, otherwise known as Google, this question: what is the origin of the name ____________ [Aaron's surname).

The bots went to work and in a nanosecond the information was returned. OK, that was fascinating and fun to lear...

Hello from Colorful Colorado.

It's really a thing! Google 'welcome to colorful Colorado sign pictures' and you'll see lots of pictures of signs along the highways and byways at the borders of Colorado. I added one below as an example.

What's all the hubbub, Jed?

Well, this time of year many flat landers, a dubious term for people who don't live in the Rocky Mountains, us included, spend every weekend driving up to the mountains to see the aspen change color from green to shades of red, orange, and gold. From late September to late October the colors are CRAZY BEAUTIFUL.

Ashara, our three dogs and I went to southwest Colorado last Wednesday. We drove close to eight hours to Cortez where we stayed through Friday. On Thursday we drove northeast to catch the colors between Cortez and Telluride. We were greeted with breath-taking, eye-popping, and soul-satisfying COLORADO in all it's glory. The artist in me embraced the heart throbbing scenery. 

We stopped in the small town of Rico. ...