"Often [being particular] is seen as having high standards when in actuality it is only a means of isolating ourselves from being touched by life...." - Mark Nepo "The Book of Awakening"
Nepo said this about people who are difficult to please--people who cannot find the joy in the ordinary.
This is the ordinary view from my bedroom window where my desk is....where I'm sitting right now writing this post. I should say it's ordinary for a winter day. The rest of the year you'd see a lot more green....
According to the dictionary ordinary means: "with no special or distinctive features; normal"
Come again? Looking at the view out my window how could anyone say it's "ordinary"?! Even though I look out this same window every day I will see something different. Why, just the other day I saw nine deer walk by! I've also seen a fox run past, rabbits hop along, and countless birds and squirrels.
I thought to further illustrate that there's no such thing as an ordinary day I would give you a compilation of the day in the life of Poetry and Gabriel, my two furbabies. Let me introduce them first. This is Gabriel asleep under my desk as I write....
And this Poetry doing the same on the bed behind me....
They both have their own rooms to sleep in at night, but once I'm up they join me back in my bed--I with my coffee as I read my devotionals and write in my journal and they as they check each other out and vie for my attention....
After breakfast they usually want to go outside. We have a fenced yard for Gabriel, but Poetry is only allowed out onto the screened-in porch. She sees this as grossly unfair....
She usually resigns herself to it and perches herself on her little pedestal where she can keep an eye on the bird feeder hanging above her head on the other side of the screen....
Or, she might prefer the higher table in the corner of the porch. From here she can see the birds out by the little pond....
Meanwhile, Gabriel's out nosing about in the garden....
Or over by the pond investigating the splash the frog made....
Sometimes Poetry is glad she doesn't get to go outside....like the time she safely viewed THIS bird from the bedroom window....
This bird, however, outside the basement window, is one I'm sure she'd like to give chase to....
Once a year they each have to visit the Vet....something neither of them like. Poetry would really like to get out of her crate....
And definitely wants off the Vet's examining table. Poor baby....
While Poetry's having her exam Gabriel is next door getting groomed. Boy is he glad to see us! I think he hates getting groomed worse than going to the doctor! He greets Poetry first in her crate. "Sniff, sniff...Yept, that's my cat," he says....
When we go out without them, Gabriel is always waiting for us at the top of the basement stairs. That's his head poking through the cat door....
This is what it looks like from upstairs. Notice the blur of his tail. It's going a mile a minute....
On any given day they will find ways to tease each other....
Their play can get a little rough....
Ouch! That hurt....
And other days they'll join forces in their pursuit....
Poetry can get into trouble by herself like with the Easter eggs hanging from this tree....
But it's not long before Gabriel has to come see what's going on....
Gabriel can get in trouble by himself, too, like sitting in my box of herbs....
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| Who me? |
As can Poetry when she hears the printer going and sticks her paw in the opening where the paper is exiting....
Once I brought home a mechanical cat. Gabriel did not like it at all. Poetry was rather indifferent. Perhaps she thought that if she had to live with a dog, then what would having another cat in the house matter....
Sometimes I take Gabriel out for a walk but it usually ends up more of a sniffing expedition or a chase....
Soon it's time for a nap. Where depends on the mood that strikes....
Gabriel likes to look out the front window. He gets a clear view of the deer when they cross our driveway....
Poetry likes to try her hand at playing the piano....
In the evening Poetry might stretch out on the sofa....
And Gabriel in front of the fire....
At the end of the day there's nothing ordinary about the fact that these two are buddies....
Nepo ends his essay concerning ordinariness this way:
"The further that I wake into this life, the more I realize that God is everywhere and the extraordinary is waiting quietly beneath the skin of all that is ordinary." To accomplish this he says we must be "willing to be where we are." He concludes by saying, "Give what you need." By this he means if you need attention, then give attention to whatever is near. If you need to be seen as special, then see things before you as special. If you need to be loved, then love whatever is in your path.
I don't think any day could be considered ordinary if we would live like this! And Poetry and Gabriel can attest to that!
