#MondayMusings

Given the way things have played out for many of us over the last three years or so, it’s easy to forget that not all surprises are unhappy ones. With Covid and other health issues, my husband’s job being eliminated forcing an early retirement, the rapidly rising cost of living, and being told I have to cut back on some of my very favorite activities, I began to wonder if it all added up to a preview of how bad everything in my life was going to be from here on out. Then I realized I had to stop focusing on the crummy stuff and think about the good things, like the many blessings I’ve had and am still having every day. They’d gotten a bit lost in all the grim headlines and brain fog going on, but upon reflection, I remembered there were still many, many things for me to be grateful for.

First and foremost of those is my family. My son and daughter are both doing very well, and their spouses and children are, too, as is my healthy and active husband. When I shoved the bad things off to one corner and focused my attention on the people I love most, both family and friends, I realized once again how lucky I am to have each one of them in my life. After all, it’s those folks we love who make all the difference.

Once I began shifting my point of view to the things in my life that I love (and those I am still able and allowed to do), everything began to look brighter. I’m laughing more and fretting less. I’m enjoying our four beautiful, funny cats, and spending more time watching all the activity at the birdfeeder. I notice hawks and the occasional bald eagle flying overhead again, and yes, I’m taking time to smell the roses, which are in bloom even as I type. In other words, life is far better than it was when I let the unpleasant stuff drag me down.

Also, you never know when something totally unexpected, but great fun, can happen out of the blue, impacting your life for the better, too. Case in point: Not too long ago, I got an email that surprised and delighted me. A boy I knew in high school was trying to reconnect with friends he’d known back in those ancient days (more than 60 years ago). He found me online, and emailed to ask if I was the Marcia he’d been friends with way back then. I am! And I promptly wrote him back.

Over the last few months, we’ve communicated regularly, catching up with each other, and sharing info about our spouses and children, and grandchildren. It has been wonderfully uplifting, but the most fun of all has been discovering that we are both (in his words) Bird Nerds. Wildlife enthusiasts. Nature lovers to the nth degree! Neither of us was all that into birding or hiking or canoeing when we knew each other in the 60s, but now, we are regularly updating each other on birds and wildlife we’re spotting, here in Florida for me, or up in North Carolina for him.

I’m telling you all of this for two reasons. First, as a reminder that mindset is everything. If you’ve been down lately because of health issues, or being trapped at home for months on end, or reading too many ghastly headlines, just remember that you can choose to look beyond those things and focus on the good stuff in your lives. Whether it’s family and friends, or the security of having a good job, or simply being able to enjoy an afternoon in your own backyard, there ARE good things around you. I hope you’ll give this some thought when those evil partners, Gloom and Doom, show up trying to body slam you to the canvas and tromp all over you. If I can do it, so can you. 😊 Honest.

The second reason I’m sharing all this is because after reconnecting with my friend, Dennis Burnette, I’ve had so much fun talking about wildlife again that I decided if I can’t give in-person talks locally these days, I’m going to revive an old series I ran here once or twice called “Wildlife Wednesdays.”

I’ll be posting some cool things I’ve learned about Florida birds, wildlife, and habitats, and I’ve invited Dennis to be a guest poster for the series, too, when he has time. His life is much busier than mine of late, but he has agreed to give it a try when he can, and I really think you’ll enjoy what he shares.

Dennis has a great deal more “professional” experience with presenting wildlife lectures and so forth than I. He also has some pretty amazing academic credentials, too. I suspect we will have very different approaches to our posts, but I hope you’ll enjoy both.

I’m going to start the ball rolling fairly soon with an inaugural post on alligators, since they are one of the more infamous critters that reside in Florida, and one I’m pretty familiar with.

Photo by Doug Little

I’ll wait until closer to time for Dennis’s inaugural post to let you know what he’ll be sharing with you. (Hint: I’ve seen his notes and they are terrific.) Both of us will do our best to make these posts informative, interesting, fun, and filled with beautiful pictures, as well. Hope you’ll check out “Wildlife Wednesday” when it gets underway.

Thanks for reading this long post, and here’s to days filled with happy thoughts and loving friends and families.