Ah, the simplest of pleasures

I just took a deliciously, relaxingly hot bath! I had bought a new bubble bath today, just for the occasion, Vanilla Noir. I now smell like Madagascan vanilla, whiff, mmmmm.

I enjoy the simple pleasures in life. The smell of a forest. Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. To be kissed by the sun, and caressed by the wind. A bouquet of fresh picked dand-e-lions. A smile. Laughter. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry.

One time I was walking back to work from doing errands. I looked in the sky and saw three eagles soaring, and playing on the thermals. Two of the eagles must have been a pair, because they locked talons and began a free fall waltz of love toward the ground. After a few moments, they unlocked talons and began to fly back up, to play on the thermals again. I cried. I can't even count the number of times I have almost crashed my truck, looking up at the sky, watching eagles.

I am a bath person. I wasn't always. Then about a year and a half ago, I started to take baths again. There is something about the sound of running water, that is music to my ears. I have an awesome bathtub where I live. It is nice and deep. I can fill it enough so that only my face is out of the water. I'm not sure if being in the tub takes me back to the time I was in the womb, or not. I just know that I feel warm, safe and secure while I am in there. An hour long bath is not unusual.

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. Another pleasure is the sound of waves lapping up on the shore of Lake McDonald, in Galcier NP. When I was there a few weeks ago, I made a movie of just that very thing. I can look at it and smile. Sunshine almost always makes me high.

In search of biffle

Sounds simple enough, eh?

Precious pieces.

I have so few precious pieces left to give. I feel I must protect them, to keep me whole. Until I find someone I can trust with precious me again. But not protected with walls. Or, barbed wire. Or, coldness. Or, fear.

Perhaps they would be best protected with love, warmth, laughter, simplicity, kindness, gentleness, a sigh, a whisper?

Do I need to explain precious pieces? I think women will understand what I mean. I see and hear of women and girls giving away their precious pieces, to men and boys who have no intention of staying with them. Oh, some will stay for more than a night, or two. But, eventually, these women and girls will wish they had those pieces of themselves that were given without love. Some will become hardened by the giving of themselves. That is truly sad. When the pleasure wears off, and the pain sets in, we are left with ourselves, alone and wondering. We are worth so much more than that. We are all precious, you know.

Do ingnorance and mis-information bring on fear?

I think I already know the answer.

The other day I was going to go to Glacier NP, to participate in a program where you go snow shoeing with a ranger. I had never snow shoed, snow shod, well walked on snow shoes before. I was looking forward to an afternoon of being in nature. Maybe fall on my dupa a few times, make some more snow angels, be in the moment.

At work earlier in the day, my co-worker said she wanted to ask me something, (she sounded all serious). She wanted to know if I was going to go alone. I said yep, up to Glacier anyway. I told her I would be going on a ranger led hike. Oh good she says, she was worried. She was afraid I would be attacked by wolves if I went alone. (I guess it would have been okay for me to go alone and be attacked by say a bear, or a mountain lion!)

I told her I worried more about bears. She said, bears wouldn't be a problem, because they hibernate. I told her that only the week before, I had gotten a pamphlet about bears when I went to Glacier. I told her in the pamphlet they showed bear tracks in the snow. I've read some info on bears. Bears would come up on the back porch where I lived in Wisconsin. From what I have learned, bears don't always hibernate, especially if there is enough food.

I told her I was more worried about mountain lions. I've seen shows where they have attacked skiers. I've heard on the news where they attack hikers, bicyclists and anyone else that is fair game. She agreed mountain lions are a worry.

I told her wolves don't attack people. She said, "Oh yes they do!" I told her that in the research I have done on wolves, there has not been a case of a healthy wolf attacking a human. She said we wouldn't talk about it anymore.

I guess I should point out that my co-worker had participated in the anti-wolf protest I wrote about in an earlier post. When she told me she had participated, she apologized. I guess she was apologizing for having a different view. A different opinion. I don't know. I did tell her no apology was necessary. I told her it is a wonderful thing that people have differing opinions. The world would be kind of boring if we all thought alike. I told her I would not apologize for my views. I am never sorry when I believe in things, that others don't.

I spent most of my life living in Chicago and its suburbs. Some call me city girl. What are ya gonna do? It's just a label. Again, I make no apologies. I spent some of my life living in Northern Wisconsin. There were wolves in Northern Wisconsin, but I was never honored to have seen one. I like to think I am chuck-full-o-common-sense. I am not going to leave my instincts (survival or otherwise) at the trail head and go charging into an area that might be teaming with predators. I told my co-worker that.

I have a respect and awe of all nature, all living things. If I don't know about them, and they interest me, I learn about them. There are plenty of research studies out there on any animal or living thing I want to learn about. And, I never tire of learning.

There are predators I worry about more. The two legged kind. The ones that believe in mis-information, and ignorance. Those are the ones that seem to become fearful of things they don't know, or understand.

Oh, I didn't go to Glacier that day. Don't ya know winter finally arrived in the valley. I didn't want to chance driving in the blizzard like conditions.

If you think tonight is beautiful...

...wait until tomorrow night. It is a beautiful night here in my corner of the world. The sky is clear. The stars are bright. The moon is casting its brilliance on the snow (all blingy like). Tomorrow night is the full moon, and I'm sure it will be spectacular.

Do you ever look up at the moon and dream of, or wonder if that special someone is looking at the moon at that very same moment in time?