What trips your trigger?
What gets you out of bed each morning?
What puts the wonder in wonderful for you?
For me, it’s the moment when the cold Oklahoma winds blow out of the north. Around Tulsa, Mother Nature has been messin’ with us lately. It got cool a few weeks back, but then the heat decided it needed to stick around for just one more round…just like family when you can’t get them to leave. But it looks like, with November here, seasonable temps are finally FINALLY here! I look forward to walking down the sidewalk with my sweetie and our very codepend-ent dogs waving at the neighbors in our new Florence Park neighborhood. We’re still unpacking and not sleeping well because there’s so much to do. No sign yet of the end of the tunnel on that one! But once the evenings come – like magic – folks start walking their dogs.
Halloween night
Dogs were going up and down our street in costume. There were dogs in tutu’s, bear outfits, pirate dog (Arrrrr!), princess dog – you name it, our neighbors are dog lovers and they spend the mortgage money on their pets! Nothing but the best for Florence Park canines! I can’t wait for a leisurely stroll one evening or Saturday morning with Shadow (Heinz 57 mutt) and Rayne (Westie). I’ll be walking Shadow and Linda Michelle will have Rayne, her little darling doggie that she spoils rotten.
I love community.
I love neighbors being neighborly. I love watching folks get out and rake leaves, plant bulbs, sweep their porches, watch football on the patio. I love all of that. It connects us to the joy of life. In some unexplained way, it connects at the DNA level that we’re all family, really. There is no North Tulsa, South Tulsa, East Tulsa, or West Tulsa. Every citizen wants the same thing for our country – a decent job, a home to call our own, maybe kids, maybe pets, and the freedom to stroll our own streets, bike on the trails, slurp some Hot Joe, and dream about a better fu-ture ahead.
Autumn is one of the best times to watch Big Mama Nature undress and see the loveliness underneath. You’ve got to be Geek #1 not to notice the colors right now, smell the aroma of leaves on the lawn, feel the crispness of the air. Autumn is about to put a spell on you that lasts right up to December. Add to that a gentle rain and some frost and – HooWee – you’re talkin’ magic! In the middle of this symphony of color and aromas – plops Thanksgiving – my favorite holiday which brings together my family, my traditions, my family recipes, and rescues me from ever feeling sorry for myself because of what I don’t have.
We are rich – not so much in finances – but rich in every other way.
I have a family who loves me, a wife that still has a twinkle in her eye for me, parents who are still living in their 90’s. I have this beautiful city of Tulsa all around with enough hills and trees to make Arizona jealous! In other words, I am blessed…blessed by God’s goodness…blessed by a divine spark that lights up the world around me…and all I have to do is plug into its spirit and ride the wind of its holiness to a heaven on earth – because that’s where heaven is.
Oops! Gotta go…Shadow needs to pee. Grab the leash and out we go…for a stroll with my friends. Hey Gary and Patti – wait up!