3 Things

Three seems to be this ultra earth shaking number.

Bad things happen in threes, apparently. There were The Three Musketeers. And the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.The phases of life are past, present and future. One, two and three.
Body. Mind. Spirit.
Faith. Hope. Charity.
Animal. Vegetable. Mineral.
Three primary colours.
Three phases of the moon.

See, this is what I end up thinking about when no one is around to distract me.

Right now, I am thinking of the three things I'm most interested in.

First, my window garden:

I know it doesn't look like anything other than a bunch of carrot tops, but that's not the case. Some garlic and beets have also sprouted there. For some, this isn't awing or inspiring. For me, it is. Not only do I look at these living, sprouting, growing things every day and am amazed by it, but I'm also overjoyed to be blessed enough to witness something have new life. These are things I bought to consume. Carrot tops people throw out, beet ends people don't eat, a rotten old garlic. Plunk it in water and -bazaam-new life. It astounds and warms me.

So far my sidekick hasn't complained about how many carrot tops are growing on the sill. And so operations 'see how many carrot tops I can sprout' is underway.

Secondly, found treasures:

What we have here are the treasures I found at Comox Lake yesterday. Some wood. A cool rustic rock with metal around it. A heart shaped rock. Flashy coal. And a rusted railroad spike. Honestly, this word has such cool things. I highly encourage you to open your eyes and actually look around. There is so much free for the taking. If anyone reading this is interested in me sending them a found treasure, so they have something amazing to put on a shelf, then feel free to contact me and I'll see what I can do. Because I am giving.

And last, or thirdly, natures reclaiming things:

 Humans have this weird way of thinking they are all important and cool. Well, the truth is, we don't go on. At least our bodily selves don't. We die and go back into the earth. Nature keeps going. There are buildings and cars, bombed out shelters, nuclear meltdowns, and plant like and creatures survive and exist in these extreme elements. It was like when I went down to Montana and saw the sulphiric hot springs. There were plants growing right up out of them. Anyway, I love to see things like this...

I'm not sure what this used to be, but nature is taking it back. Moss covers the foundation of the structure and trees poke through it. I consider it to be some sort of little fort, but Cumberland, the place in which I live, used to be an old mining town, so I imagine this is some sort of mining plant or station.

And I often see tractors and cars, rusted out at the side of the rode, overtaken by the woods and flora. It makes me happy to see this. Like it doesn't matter that we are here now, eventually our homes and cars and precious belongings will be a part of nature again. 

Here is a bed of a truck someone left behind:

And a vintage car completely covered in moss and grass:

So, what are some of the things piquing your interest these days?

Restlessness

Every once in awhile I get this this nagging feel of uneasiness. Restlessness. Not being sure if I want to sit, stand, dance, walk, laugh, cry or sit like a blob and do nothing. Chances are, I'll do the later. Mostly because it's almost eleven at night and the town went to bed four hours ago. It isn't safe to go for a walk. A bear might eat me. Or a cougar. These aren't real fears. Just excuses.

These bouts of restlessness bring with it the ability to make me uncomfortable in my own skin. This happens once in awhile. I look in the mirror and am not too sure I'm pro the girl looking back at me. All I see are cons.

Don't get me wrong, I love myself, I'm relatively happy, life is fine, I'm okay and blah, blah, blah. Do not jump to any 'oh, she must be depressed' conclusions. Not everything is so dramatic. Actually, most things aren't.

Hormones. Can I blame them? It feels like a cop out.

Whenever these moods creep up on me, I end up disenchanted. With life, myself, writing, where I'm going to be in five years. The last year was a roller coaster ride, and not in the good way. The valleys out numbered the peaks about two to one. Some days, three to one. Then again, it's all perspective, isn't it? Through it all, I kept myself together. I reasoned. I kept a smile in place.

For the most part, I remain positive, looking to the bright side, being thankful, and walking around with the knowing smirk of a person who has most of it, if not it all, figured out. For the most part, see, that's the key. We cannot be positive, upbeat, happy, go-lucky, things are coming up roses people every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every...you get the point. It's just not humanly possible. Not without drugs, at least. And, frankly, it's annoying.

People are allowed to have bad days. Hell, people are allowed to have bad weeks. We are allowed to be in bad moods. Just don't let it take control and consume your whole being and smash apart your common sense or rationalization because...well, because that's bad. But it's almost as though, on my path to finding love and light and happiness, I forgot that there are downs. Oops.

In the end, the simple truth is, I feel sloth-like. And there is nothing wrong with a sloth. Actually, on any normal day, I'd embrace being sloth-like. I mean, those guys get to eat and sleep a lot, like up to twenty hours a day. Not to mention they only have three toes and are the slowest moving creatures on earth, so slow and sedentary algae actually grows on their fur. I mean, come on. How cool are these mammals.

Now I feel bad for comparing myself to these beings in a negative fashion.

The anxiousness is worse than thinking I look terrible or being agitated with everything I come in contact with. Sitting, bouncing my knee, and trying to think of a way to bring myself out of this state is most frustrating. Nothing really helps. Except, sleep. (See, sloth-like) And maybe cake. It's touch and go in these scenarios because I might end up feel like an even chubbier bunny after divulging in a cakey goodness with icing and some sort of jammy filling.

That said, I haven't had cake in like two months.

Oh, I think I just figured out what the problem is.

And here's a baby sloth, just because:

 

Settle In

For some odd and inexplicable reason, I absolutely love the phrase 'settle in'. Probably because I completely support the idea of taking time to ease yourself into a new surrounding, whether it is a living space, place of employment, coffee shop, school or anything else that involves new environments, you need to take your time. No sense rushing things. Besides, there is a very important allotment of time for you to learn your way around, like if there are stairs in your new home and you haven't had stairs in years. You have to take a few days to settle in so you don't tumble down the stairs one night on your way to the bathroom. No, I am not speaking from experience.

Moving along...

These days, I am settling into my new digs. Gaff. Home. House. Abode. Dwelling. Whatever you opt to call it, I'm adjusting. This is my period of adjustment. Meaning, I am getting used to things. And you know what, it isn't all that bad this new place I'm living.

I know a lot of you don't follow me on Instagram (I linked my account if you're interested in keeping tabs on me there). You really should, though, because I post amazing pictures everyday or my extravagant little life. If you want me to break it down, I mostly just post pictures of the dogs in my life and food I cook. Sometimes random lovely things as well. There was a stint where I posted a picture a day for a year, which I documented on my tumblr here, but Instagram allows me to post 5 pictures a day. And sure, I might be annoying, but I like documenting the things I love. It reminds me of what is important and keeps the unimportant things from the cobwebs of my overworked mind.

That said, I have been documenting my settling in on Instagram. See, I already posted a vlog  that showed the rather awesome insides of my new crib. It was titled New Home and mostly consisted of Oliver going up the stairs and the boys fighting on the bed. Totally worth a laugh. But what about the outside? What surrounds me in this new foreign place on Vancouver Island? Well, I am going to show you.

Here, in no particular order, is the happenings around town so far. I mean, there's a lot more than these ten pictures, but they will simply have to do for now. So, that's what I am doing, settling in. Once I complete this, I will regale you with my thoughts on love, life, writing and cake. You know, all the stuff I am known for rambling on and on about. Until then, enjoy the pictures and let me know what you think.

 Allen Lake

 Stone Inukshuk

 Random Bridge

 Graffiti Around Town

 Into The Mountains

 Random House Two Blocks Over

 Raging River

 Allen Lake Again

 Trees & Water

 Reflection

 Water Source

 Lots Of Biking Trails Around These Parts

 A Trail

A Dixon On A Trail

Spam

These days, all I am getting is SPAM.

No, not the overly salty canned meat. That'd be a ridiculous thing to send a vegan.

I'm referring to the ye old blog. This one.

And all my comments are spam. Meaning, they want to sell me something or take me back to their awesome websites. I get a little thrill when I see the 'comment pending' notification. And the thrill is promptly squashed under the heavy boot of reality.

Some lesser beings might take that as a sign to give up and go home.

Not I. I simply feel this means I need to get back into the blog-o-sphere and draw my readers and commenters back in with my wiles.

First, I have to figure out what and where my wiles are.

But then it's on, like Donkey Kong.

Seriously though, has anyone else been getting an abundance of salty meat in their inbox?

Oh, I do declare. That sounds positively rude.