Monthly Archives: May 2024

give me time.

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my favorite kinder shirt of the week

 

“give me time and I’ll give you a revolution.”

-alexander mcqueen

you don’t have to win, just tri.

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we had our first ever

kinder triathlon

what a blast

running,

tricycling,

‘swimming’ in a pool of plastic bubbles with goggles on

everyone did all three events

*no kinder injuries or tears

*(full disclosure: i did fly off of my tricycle at one point

but my boss was kind enough to push

me all the way around the track on it to the finish line)

everyone had so much fun

and that is a win.

“pump your arms and your legs will follow”

– *karen parnell

(this method did not work for me.)

*Karen Parnell is a Personal Trainer, Triathlon Coach and has a degree in Cancer Prevention & Longevity from the Health Sciences Academy. She has been coaching and motivating people to meet their health and fitness goals for for years. Karen is also a Tutor for the British Triathlon Federation and runs a health and fitness centre in  Spain. Prior to pursuing a career in health and fitness Karen held a number of senior roles in global high technology companies and has a honours degree in electronic engineering and an MBA from Aston Business School.

 

go and dig.

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it began

with a look around the science room

taking a closer glance

at amazing natural treasures

honeycombs, footprints, nests

when suddenly

someone discovered

a hidden hole in the rug

everyone rushed to see  this

very rare and incredible curiosity!

‘the biggest quest to learn anything is curiosity. if you are curious about something, you will go and dig.’

-rakesh jhunjhunwala

tchau.

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it’s official

before the summer is over

i’ll be traveling

on my first trip as a retired person

 to visit portugal, the oldest nation-state in europe.

tchau.

‘if there is one portion of europe which was made by the sea more than another,

portugal is that slice, that portion, that belt. portugal was made by the atlantic.”

hilaire belloc, french/english historian and writer.

 

 

*And the award for oldest nation-state in Europe goes to… Portugal. In 1139, Portugal appointed King Afonso Henriques as its king. Lisbon is said to be four centuries older than Rome. Due to its excellent trading location, the Phoenicians settled in Lisbon around 1200 BC.

 

 

photo credit: planetware, the perched village of azenhas do mar at sunset, sintra, portugal

lest we forget.

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    “heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory.

    sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history.”

    –mary roach

    there are very few families in this country who have not been touched in some way by the military conflicts, both current and past. thank you for your sacrifice. “LEST WE FORGET” is so very important for a reason. it implores us to be wary as a nation, because a nation that forgets runs the risk of losing freedom or repeating mistakes of the past.

    just his luck.

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    while ringing up my groceries at a self-checkout machine

    another register finally opened up

     a friendly store employee waved over

    the gentleman who had been waiting behind me in line

    directing him to the machine

    but at the last second

    he balked

    saying that he wanted to wait for register #2

    to become open

    as that was his lucky register.

    he turned with his cart

    went back in line

    and waited.

    once again

    i have questions.

    why does he feel that one is lucky?

    is he thinking that he is in a casino?

    what kind of luck can one have at a check out register?

    did he get cash back, a deal, freebies, extra coupons, better bags, spend less?

    why don’t i have a lucky register?

     

    “luck is believing you’re lucky.”

    -tennessee williams

     

     

     

    photo credit: google images

     

     

    don’t dis my gruntled.

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     gruntled on this long weekend.

     

    ‘gruntled’

    adjective: pleased, satisfied, and contented

    examples:

    1. after a long walk and a few treats, the dog was gruntled.

    2. despite tom sawyer annoying those around him,

    he always managed to keep his guardians gruntled.

     

     

     

    art credit: ‘roaming cat” – etsy

    ‘imagine sisyphus happy.’ – albert camus

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    one
    digs out the sand with his shovel
    as the other
    fills in the sand with her feet.
    both are happy
    both work hard
     continue on endlessly
    until it is time to go home.
    The Myth of Sisyphus ends with the sentence, “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Why must one imagine Sisyphus happy? Because he accepts that there is no point in pushing up the boulder up the hill forever and yet he chooses to do it anyway.

    where the world begins.

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    so pure is the blue

    it’s hard to tell

    where the sky ends

    and the sea begins.

     

    ‘meet me where the sky touches the sea. wait for me where the world begins.’

    -jennifer donnelly

     

     

    holland state park beach, may 2023

    cuckoo.

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    when we walked into a store

    filled with nothing but cuckoo clocks

    i really had to wonder

    how long would it take before this made the workers a bit cuckoo?

    who has to reset them all and keep them running?

    do they dream of the little birds popping out, and little people dancing in a circle?

    do they hear the sounds every 15 minutes even when not working?

    do they use their employee discount to buy clocks for their homes?

    do they have any long term employees?

    do they give you a cuckoo clock when you retire?

     

    ‘since both of its  national products, snow and chocolate, melt,

    the cuckoo clock was invented

    solely in order to give tourists something solid to remember it by.’

    -alan coren