I’m sitting in the kitchen, shaking my head with disbelief that we’re already well on our way to one-hundred plus degrees with enough humidity to make the air feel like a soupy custard concoction. My brother-in-law is somewhere touring Civil War sites and I keep wondering if he’s actually breathing during these treks, or whether he’s just driving around in air-conditioned comfort (I know he’s engaged in the former – a great guy, if not a little crazy).
Even the trees are beginning to tire – sagging as they typically do toward the end of August, when they’ve had enough of the season and are bowing their heads, laying low until the cooler September days arrive. The birds are limiting their conversations to the pre-dawn and post-sunset hours – and typically they gossip with each other all day (if we think that our lives can mimic a soap opera, I have a feeling that the birds have it all over us). Even the Sirs have had it – when I take them out, they sort of look at me like I’m kidding.
So where’s a person to go to get her happy on? Right here. I’m restricting myself to songs that make me smile, books with happy endings and ice-cold water. I read Simon Marsh’s blog this morning and felt humbled by his grace, grateful for his friendship and transported by his enthusiastic love for life’s unintended beauty. HelpMeRhonda posted some crazy pictures of attack flies that swarmed her truck while she was out with her dad. The gift of being with her dad resonates more with me – though the flies did make me wonder what could happen if Mother Nature gets any more ticked off. David Kanigan continues to set a bar that is so high, I just keep going to the gym to see if I can stretch my muscles far enough so I can at least touch it on tip-toes.
I can kvetch with the best, but I’m choosing to sing. I can slog through this day or I can dance – I’m a better dancer than I am a slogger. And certainly I laugh far more heartily than I snivel. Don’t get me wrong – I’m definitely holed up in the air conditioning while I trip the light fantastic, but today I’m going to trip all over myself within the confines of my house. And if you’re wondering what to do with a spare moment in your day – here’s an idea..it’s time to party somewhere in the world, so you might as well get up and dance.
Waiting for the Karma Truck 
Again, you are a wonder with the written word Mim. I’m glad you are tripping inside today with your music and books and ice cold water. Everyone should take a page out of your book and feel the greatest joys in the smallest things. The not so good days are nothing but a blip on the screen if you can face the world with a smile on your face and a song in your heart (and air conditioning of course). Stay cool my friend, in all ways!
xo
R
Hardly a wonder honey – more like a stream that flows outta my brain and onto the post without appropriate filter or organization. It’s why I’ll never be a ‘writer’…:-) But cool? Oh man, you betcha!
Never be a writer? Phsaw! You already are and girl…I’d buy a book of yours ANY DAY! Your writing hugs me (did I already tell you that?). You got style!
and good on the cool…best to dance when it’s cool!
Thanks…that’s a mega-compliment, and I love the thought that I can send hugs with my words. But my hunch is that it plays to a small audience of people who ‘get me’ – and besides, I don’t think the publishing world would know what to do with me…
So..dancing it will be, for anyone who wants to dance along, and hugs for the few who know they’re being sent..
We will have to agree to disagree on the writing and publishing thang. You speak the truth…real…authentic…and the way you do it is superb! Just sayin’
As for the hugs…I always get ’em, and return them ten-fold.
xoxo…many times over..
Join the daily adventure and party on!
I’m with you!
I love this – the video is fantastic and delightful! Wonderful way to to start my day, where I will be inside my air conditioned office despite the fact that we have a merciful cool down in our weather today. Sigh. Always enjoy what you have to share…thanks! 🙂
Thank you! And enjoy the cool down AND the air conditioning..If you’re feeling really daring, you can close your door and dance along!
Oh, that’s tempting!! I am alone in my office this morning…hmmm….! Do you mind if I share your post on my Facebook page? I’d love others to experience this too 🙂
You are welcome to share it – if you promise me that you will dance in the office..;-)
Ok, fair enough – that’s an equal exchange, except that I think I win 2x with that one. Off I go to boogie and post! Ps…I listed you on my list of blogs to check out when Paula from Stuff I Tell My Sister gave me a shout out! {make sense?] Hope some of my peeps become your peeps.
Thank you!! I’ll share peeps with you anytime! Have a great day!
I can hear you singing. I’m just going to tap my feet, hopefully, in time. Life is good. Miss you. But the visual of us sweating, no, make that glistening together, makes me smile down deep in my soul.
No sweetheart, you’re gonna dance!!! When you get home, watch the video – you will find you can’t help yourself!! And there’s a picture of Seville – you can dance with Jenna!
YAY! I’m dancing Mimi – badly (as usual) but dancin’. And grateful that it’s a little cooler over here. No, wait, did I say grateful for UK rain in the run up to the Olympics? Yeah. I think I did. I’m no sportsman but I imagine that, if I were, the hundred metres (or any metres come to that) at 100° wouldn’t be a lot of fun! Keep cool Mimi! x
No one judges how well you dance, just as long as you do…:-) Hopefully the sun will choose to shine when the Olympics begin – it’s just letting the rain get it out of its system beforehand!
THANK YOU 🙂 … as to the Olympics, what a gift it is to have faith! 🙂
🙂
Sounds like a great plan! 🙂 Love Matt’s videos.
He really has some wonderful experiences!
Let’s Dance! Love it.
Thanks!! No time like the present…:-)
Wonderful Mimi. This has uplifted my day . . .Thanks. You are a great soul
And you have made my day Dr. Bill…thank you!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this, Mimi!! Laughed and cried all the way through–unbridled joy, that’s what was rolling off that video. Every time I thought I’d found my favorite group of dancers, the next one rolled onto the screen and I loved it even more. 🙂 What a great video for a gray day!
I have watched it more times than I should admit – because it is so joyful and holds such promise!!
Ok, I have watched this at least 4x today {and yes, I danced in my office! } , showed it to a few people at work, and just now got my son to turn the tv off to watch. His comment, ‘THAT was totally worth it!” He’s 8. Awesome! So joyful 🙂
I shared it with my sons too (though they’re grown) – and they thought it was totally cool. I LOVE that your son liked it too!! He must have inherited your great taste!!
I somehow miss this comment..sometimes I wonder 🙂
Thanks…my kiddo is cool, but I think he does it all on his own! I loved that he thought it was worth turning the TV OFF to watch! 🙂
Wouldn’t it be fun to dance with this guy?!
I would LOVE to dance with this guy – what a kick that would be!!!
I filled out the little form on his website…I’m not normally that daring, but I couldn’t help myself. And, work on a college campus…I thought that might be a ‘hook’ 🙂 Can you just imagine…20k college kids…and him?
How cool!! Good for you!! I hope you get to do it!!!
Absolutely. It makes me indescribably happy to see people from all over the world “working together” on something that makes everyone smile. There’s so much dissension in the world these days that expressions of joy are doubly meaningful. Thx for sharing this…
xox..
Hi Mimi, I wish I could take a bit of your heat from you. I hope it is not quite so intorrerable when I am there next month, but I am sure chances are slim to none. I loved the video, what fun he must have had dancing with all of those people making connections with them in all those countries and states. Thanks for posting it!
I hope the weather is better during your visit here..I hope I get to meet you when you’re here!
That would be fun, I have a large conference that I am speaking at downtown and then I am staying an extra few days to help my Aunt with a few things. I will keep in touch with you.
Please do!
I don’t quite understand why you’d feel like kvetching if you’ve got an air conditioner. That should give you a sense of heaven on earth. I’m not familiar with your type of temperatures, but we’re having 39 degrees in Jerusalem these days… and having air conditioning, I just smile, as I gaze out the window.
I love the visual of you looking out the window with a smile…I’m not kvetching about the air conditioner…I would kvetch about having an illness that makes it difficult for me to be out in extreme weather, forcing me inside for days such as yesterday…But I’m not going to kvetch about missing fresh air on my skin..I’d rather look to make the day a happy one.
Love the melted ice cream van so bloody awesome………lol Sorry it is so hot for you I am typing this with wollen gloves on my hands…..well they wouldn’t be on my feet would they………….lol
Any form of extreme weather is too extreme for me!! Sorry it is so cold!!! And you’re right, it might be tough to put gloves on your toes – especially the place for the thumb! 🙂
Smiling. Front beginning to end.
I’m happy
Oh my god…I laughed and then I cried. I would marry that man if I weren’t already married…or maybe if I was Mormon. Thank you for sharing. I knew I shouldn;t miss a day reading my favorite blogs. Thank you for this gift.
Get in line – I’d marry him too – if I wasn’t married, and if he wasn’t married…I love that video!!!
Nicely written. Really lovely visuals. I love the idea of the trees tiring and sagging as a result. Reminds me of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” In it, she describes the trees: “The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled.” I stole (but credited her, of course) the last half of this heavenly description for the title of my novel. Of course, your writing is a tad more optimistic that O’Connor’s is. LOL
Flannery O’Connor is not known for her optimistic tales..but her eloquence with the written word is unparalleled (well, you’re right up there of course, I’m just talkin’ about the rest of us)..
Why thank you! Flannery, erm, I mean, flattery will get you everywhere. My novel is slightly more optimistic than O’Connor work, but I’m still a huge fan of hers. And yours, you chipper morning person, you.
It really is a little nauseating – this early morning perkiness of mine. It goes downhill as the day progresses, I promise..
And since the flattery was sincere, and I really don’t have any direction in mind in terms of where it can get me – I think you’ll just have to take it and enjoy it!