Skid Marks in the Mud...or, Zoomies and Joy


 The past few days have been busy here, I have been distracted by several different events.  Suffice it to say I haven't been keeping up with my walking as much as I should have.  Plus it has been raining here.  This January we are getting all the precipitation that we really needed back in July and August.  

Above you can see tracks in the mud.  That is in the fenced-in garden to the west of the house.  I take Bella out there for walks when I don't want to go down the ridge to the creek bottoms.  If I let her loose down there, it is often close to an hour before I can catch her again.  She is quite clever and won't come when called until she is ready to leave.  haha...  I don't blame her, I wouldn't want to go before I was good and ready to go either.  

In any case, back to the above photo.  We haven't had an overwhelming amount of rain, but enough so that the garden area where I walk is all squishy and muddy....as gardens are when properly wet.  The top prints are Bella's, of course, as she is tearing off toward the back fence of the garden where the rodents burrow along the fence line.  The bottom prints, which won't appear to be prints at all until I explain, are Bella's paws skidding to a stop by me as she was running toward me to tell me it's time to go leave the garden and actually go for a long walk down to the creek.  She might be 10 years old now, but occasionally she gets the zoomies still, and will skid to a stop at my feet.  

Her enthusiasm for the simple things in life make me wonder, at my age; is there still anything that would enthuse me enough that I would run around in circles full tilt in anticipation of doing?

A short reflection brings me to the sad conclusion; No.

There is much in life that brings me great joy; family, Lord, church, a good cup of coffee...etc.  But there is nothing that would cause me to run uninhibited and heedless in large circles.

The term "jump for joy" is often used in relation to children and their uninhibited exhibitions of happiness.  When I think of it, usually it's the simplest of things that make a small child joyful; seeing a parent at the end of a long day, an ice cream cone as a rare treat, a trip to a theme park, a long anticipated gift at Christmas or a birthday.  Simple things.  

In the depths of her dementia, in her late 80s and early 90s, my mom mentally returned to that era of life; rejoicing in the smallest of things.  Her secret pal at church would make sure she had a gift every time we got together (even though we were only required to exchange 4 gifts per year) simply because she knew my mom delighted in getting gifts.  Mom's eyes would light up and she would exclaim over the smallest of gifts; candy bar, a flowery mug, a bright dish towel, it didn't matter.  To her it was something to enjoy and be thankful for.  She would thank the anonymous person profusely, put it back in the bag, then forget and pull it back out and enthuse over it again 5 minutes later. I had to put it away out of her sight.  It was mildly annoying to me at the time, but funny now that I look back on it.

Today, as the rain pours down here in Missouri, and wherever you may be, whenever you may read this,  I pray you would find delight in the old things once more.  Rejoice anew in the little blessings the Lord sends your way.  Rain will come, but blessings are always there.  Let us learn to enthuse over them again.

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