Happy Halloween

Samhain Blessing:

The Wheel of the Year prepares to turn once more.

Now is the celebration of Samhain, the Final Harvest.

A time to do final preparations for winter,

Remember loved ones who have passed,

And celebrate the Witches' New Year.

All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.

We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,
Along the passages they come and go,
Impalpable impressions on the air,
A sense of something moving to and fro.

There are more guests at table than the hosts
Invited; the illuminated hall
Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,
As silent as the pictures on the wall.

                     Haunted Houses, H,W. Longfellow

(daily ex., morning dog walk only 0.3 miles, pm jog 4.8 miles)

Remember folks, Christians didn't burn WITCHES at the stake, they lit women they couldn't control on fire. -unknown

 (daily ex.,morning slow dog walk 1.5 miles, pm slow jog 2.5 miles)

"Life is not just about peaks and valleys, about wins and losses. Life is about the journey. You hear that all the time. You’ve got to absorb that. You’ve got to know that. The journey has to become the destination because there is no true destination. There is no endpoint. There is no goal. All rivers run to the sea and yet the sea is not full. Life goes on; accept what life gives you. The sun rises the morning after you win the championship or lose in the first round." — Paul Assaiante, Run to the Roar

 (10+ inches of snow, morning dog walk 1.1 mi, pm slow jog 1.4 miles, 15 min shoveling heavy wet snow)

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

 Good Night! Tomorrow is a new day.

(Cold and snowy today, walked dog 1 mile over 2 walks, pm slow jog 2.2 miles)

Oscar Wilde / . "If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."

 (daily ex., morning slow dog walk 1.5 miles, pm slow jog 3.5 miles, winter cold and snow arrive tomorrow)

It's good to do uncomfortable things. It's weight training for life. ~Anne Lamott

And perhaps the most beautiful paradox of all is how a human soul is heartbreakingly fragile and unbreakably strong at the same time ~

 (daily ex. update, morning very slow walk with dog 1.7 miles, pm slow jog 2.3 miles)

“When a Clown moves into a Palace, he doesn't become a King. The Palace instead becomes a Circus.” A Turkish proverb.

 (daily ex. update, morning dog walk 1.5 very slow miles, my dog did better today; pm slow jog 4.5 miles,  autumn has arrived, it seemed the beautifully colored trees decided to drop their leaves overnight)

If animals spoke, humanity would cry.

 (morning dog walk 0.8 miles, my dog was just not able to walk far today, later I walked 2.2 miles, pm slow jog 2 miles)

“Confidence is silent. Insecurities are loud.” —Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather

 (daily ex., morning very slow dog walk 1.7 miles, pm slow jog 3.3 miles)

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” ― Plato

 Another beautiful autumn day.  Morning walk 4 miles including dog walk, and fleet feet group walk.  Also a small walk at a fall festival where I scored a free pumpkin.

Always lead with love. But still master the throat punch. - Golden Hawk.

 (daily ex., morning dog walk very slow 1.2 miles, pm slow jog 2.8 miles)

At 70 years old if I could give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be to use the words 'fuck off' much more frequently. — Helen Mirren.

 (daily ex., 2 walks with dog = 1.7 miles,  2 slow jogs = 4.3 miles,  trying to get back to exercise after a week off)

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

"Build a man a fire 🔥, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchett

 This always makes me smile.

Rena Priest--I have seen a tree split in two from the weight of its opposing branches. It can survive, though its heart is exposed. I have seen a country do this too.

 (daily ex, morning dog walk 1 mi., pm slow jog 1 mi)

Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul be just another human soul.--C.G. Jung

 (daily ex., walks = 3 very slow miles, pm slow jog 3.1 mi)

But the thing is, even if I could go back, I wouldn't belong there anymore.

 (daily ex., 2 very slow dog walks = 2.1 miles, slow pm jog 2.1 miles)

“Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World.” ― Christopher Columbus

 A really nice quote from a really bad man. 

(daily ex., morning really slow dog walk 1.3 miles, pm slow jog 4.3 miles)

 

“Growing up, I never knew a relaxed woman. Successful women? Yes. Productive women? Plenty. Anxious and afraid and apologetic women? Heaps of them. But relaxed women? At-ease women? Women who don't dissect their days into half hour slots of productivity? Women who prioritize rest and pleasure and play? Women who aren't afraid to take up space in the world? Women who give themselves unconditional permission to relax? Without guilt? Without apology? Without feeling like they need to earn it? I'm not sure I've ever met a woman like that. But I would like to become one.”

― Nicola Jane Hobbs

(dailyex. several short dog walks = 2 miles, 2 slow jogs = 6 miles)

Life is like arriving late for a movie, having to figure out what was going on without bothering everybody with a lot of questions, and then being unexpectedly called away before you find out how it ends. ~Joseph Campbell

 (daily ex. update, walk 4.2 miles over 3 walks, pm jog 2.1 miles)

“I am out with lanterns, looking for myself.” ― Emily Dickinson

 (daily ex., morning slow dog walk 1.2 miles, pm slow jog 4.3 miles)

 

Luke and the Frog: An American Fairytale OR What It Feels Like to Be a Parent in America

Jasminne Mendez

On the Monday after Mother’s Day,  after another mass shooting,  I pick up my daughter from school  and on the ride home while she munches  on veggie chips and looks out the window,  she tells me a modern day fairytale: “Luke killed a frog today  at the playground during recess the frog was small not a baby frog a teenage frog because he had a medium-sized body  not a small body a green & blue medium-sized spotted body  Luke stepped on it & stepped on it until there was blood & the teacher had to call the frog ambulance & Luke was put on the naughty list & I was the only one who yelled stop!  Stop! Don’t kill it!  but Luke wouldn’t listen & the others joined in on the stomping & I yelled stop!  but no one would listen & they stomped & stomped & killed the frog  & and it bled red out of its eyes out of its head & it made me sad & can we buy the frog flowers because when someone dies they should get flowers & Mami, what if that frog was supposed to be a prince  but now he’s dead & now we’ll never know” (daily ex., morning dog walk 1.6 miles, pm slow jog 3.5 miles)

Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular.

 (daily ex., walk 3.2 miles over 3 walks, pm jog 3 miles)

I've been thinking with my guts since I was fourteen years old, and frankly speaking, between you and me, I have come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains. ―Nick Hornby, High Fidelity

 (daily ex update, 2 dog walks = 1.5 miles, pm jog 4 miles)

“How inappropriate to call this planet "Earth," when it is clearly "Ocean.” ― Arthur C. Clarke

 (daily ex., morning walk 1.6 miles, only partially with my dog, pm jog 2.7 miles)

Beware. I walk my talk.

 (ex. update, walk 2 miles, run/jog 3.2 miles)