What Inspires Me? #2 Dawgs!
You Dawg, you! . . . Sure, when said with a certain intonation it's a sideways compliment, but I personally never aspired to being a Dawg or Dog. Before now . . .
"I really don't want to be dog either. But, I'm not sure a bunny is better option."
What Inspires Me?
#2 Dogs!
Confession time: I read AARP magazine. (The subscription's not mine--really, it's not--It's my mother's...not that there's anything wrong with that.) Or, as they used to say about Playboy: "I read it for the articles..."
Of course I opened it. Kevin Costner aside, who can resist a lead line that reads"6 Bad Habits that are Really Healthy?
Moving on: An article titled Our Dog Years in the Dec. 2014-Jan. 2015 issue, caught my attention. (So, I'm a little behind in my reading.) OMG I thought, wanting to rip it into shreds and compost it. What's the deal with all the books and movies starring dogs? It's as though mid-life crisis, once synonymous with mistresses and souped-up convertibles, is now all about dogs. Reminds me of the play Sylvia, in which an adopted dog becomes the "other woman" in a middle-aged couple's marriage. Funny play . . . Scary thought considering how many other recent movies feature leading men who love their dogs more than humans...Richard Gere, really?
Curious about just how many mid-life dog crush movies have been published recently, I Googled "Dog-Lovers+Movies." This list popped up:
The Greatest Dog Movies of All Time
List Criteria: Films must be about dogs or feature dogs / puppies as major characters
(Turns out it's an interactive list! We--you and me--can influence each movie's placement on the list by voting. I've hyperlinked it above in case you'd like to do some investigating--voting--dog movie watching later.)
Anyway, back to the article. As a non-dog lover, I must confess it was a bit of a yawn:
The best part was the end. (No disrespect intended, David Dudley.) The article closed with a nugget of advice from neuroscientist Elizabeth Head.
Dr. Head studies aging beagles at the University of Kentucky. She’s noticed the plaques (hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease) found in aging dogs is similar to those found in humans (more similar even than those found in primates.) The reason, Head poses, might be that “living in our environment—our food, our water, our homes—has made dogs more vulnerable.” That age-related dementia might actually be a “side effect of civilization.”
If, as Head suggests, domesticating dogs has made them prone to human “Old-timers” then might the reverse be true? Rather than “Gone to the dogs,” meaning something has “gone badly wrong and lost all the good it had,” is the converse true? Maybe going to the dogs the better way? Rather than singing along, should we heed the call of the song: “Duh-duh-duh duh da- dut/duh-duh-duh duh da- dut/duh-duh-duh duh da- dut/duh-duh-duh duh da- dut/Hey baby…”
Dr. Head is confidant she will figure out how to “stop brain decline entirely in middle-age animals" (hopefully humans included). In the meantime, she's offered, via Dudley's article, this sage advice:
“Everything you do for a dog to help them age well, you should do with them”
TREAT YOURSELF AS YOU DO YOUR DOG:
Eat the best food you can afford
Go for a walk, even when it’s raining
Keep your teeth clean and your breath fresh, so that people you lick will not flinch
When someone you love walks in through the door, even if it happens five times a day, go totally insane with joy
Take your vitamins! Like these from topdogvitamins.com!
So now I'm thinking: If we can learn all this from living like a dog, what wellness tips can we learn from our cats? Or our Fish?
Living Like a Dog Playlist:
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl). All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in my “Winner-Winner Chicken Dinner” Quarterly Giveaway!
What Inspires Me #1-Family Photo Collage
The holidays behind me, I went to bed last night with a feeling of “Tomorrow back to the same-o?” Soooo…? We all thought by 2022—all those welcoming curves and 2 two too me toos—the world would be all sunshine and light, but… Thinking maybe, like me, you too “22” need a little boost, I’m returning to a practice from those darker days of Bird Flu and empty nest syndrome: Collecting inspiration.
Each week, along with my regular posts, a 7-Minute Poetry Challenge each Wednesday & Ask Norman, response to a reader’s letter each Friday, I’m going to post What inspires Me. Here’s #1
What Inspires Me #1
Collage Art by Sharry Wright
You know all those old family photos—the ones of people you know and most especially those you can only wonder about? Sharry, a friend and fellow classmate from VCFA uses them in collage art. And her captions are the best! Check it out!
Here’s a bit of what inspired Sharry to begin creating these delightful collages:
“…found myself pouring over photos of my grandparents and great grandparents, great aunts and uncles, cousins in various categories of removal and my parents in their youth, wondering about their hopes and dreams and all of the “what-ifs” and forks in the road not taken.”-Sharry Wright
To view more of Sharry Wright’s art (and perhaps snag some of her notecards) click over to her website: SharryWright.com
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl). All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in my “Winner-Winner Chicken Dinner” Quarterly Giveaway!
