Category: Life

Posted in dogs, Life

Water adventure at the dog park

Posted on by William Douthwaite

While the dogs were delighted, we were horrified when someone opened the gate and two of our three dogs got into the pond.

We usually only have two dogs, but we were also watching my daughter’s older dog. The dog park surrounds a fenced-in pond populated by turtles, snakes, fish, and no doubt a gator or two. A couple of gates provide access, but I’ve never seen a dog in there.

Until that day. A gentleman with an Irish setter and some kind of terrier opened the gate for them, and two of our dogs eagerly followed. My daughter’s dog, an eleven-year old lab mix spotted a tennis ball in the lake, jumped in, and swam to get it. Her hips are a little stiffer, but she could still swim! And then she wanted someone to throw it back in so she could swim some more.

Our Westie is not a swimmer, but ran around the lake, yapping at the swimming dog, turtles, and fish, and lapping at the murky water.

What about our Great Dane? She didn’t get through the gate, but ran around the outside of the fence, woofing at everyone inside.

Once in the pond enclosure, there was no getting them out. In and out of the water and around the lake, they got wet, dirty, and had the time of their lives. A lady grabbed a few dog biscuits from her car, but our dogs weren’t interested.

After about half an hour, I positioned myself on the bank and waited for them to run by. Once they were distracted by water and a ball, I grabbed each by the collar and ended their water play.

The dogs had fun, the van smelled like wet dog for a while, and they all took good naps when we got home.

Posted in Food, Life

A skinny chicken

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Want to get a rotisserie chicken for supper?”

You never have to ask me twice. At our favorite grocery, where shopping is a pleasure, I love the smell of the birds roasting and frying just beyond the deli counter.

And they smell so good. Which one should I choose? Lemon pepper? Mojo seasoned? I chose a good old-fashioned oven-roasted. It’ll pair well with tonight’s Caesar salad.

I didn’t look at the price tag in the store, so when we got home and I pulled the chicken out of the bag to put on a serving plate, I noticed it wasn’t as cheap as it used to be. Three dollars than just a few years ago. I also noticed that there wasn’t as much meat on the chicken as I remember. This was a skinny chicken. We call it a “Haitian chicken.”

Chicken was the typical supper entree when we traveled to Haiti on medical mission trips. The chickens that were running around there were definitely hormone- and antibiotic-free. They were very skinny and always cooked until well-done. There wasn’t a lot of meat on those bones.

On one bus ride back to our lodging, the driver suddenly veered off the road. A man was standing there holding a live chicken whose legs were tied together. Our driver handed the man a few dollars and he tied the chicken to the roof of the bus. It was part of our supper that night.

Candy bars are smaller. There are fewer chips in the bag. The chickens are skinnier, too.

Posted in Life

Overcoming Media Saturation: Embrace Real-Life Experiences

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Edge2Edge Media on Unsplash

In a recent edition of Recomendo, a weekly newsletter I receive Sunday morning, the editors pointed me to Erik Davis’ talk How to Navigate the Weirdness. I haven’t watched the whole talk yet, but two summary statements caught my attention.

  • “Ground yourself in physical sensations and direct experiences to counterbalance the effects of media saturation and overwhelming information.”

I don’t want to be saturated with media, but it happens. One Google search to learn how to fix a problem with my 3D printer brings up self-help videos on multiple platforms laden with links to other videos and advertisements for related products. It’s like someone dumped a bucket of media on my head. I do this many times a day. I’m overwhelmed with information.

To counter this, I take the dog for a walk, I play my guitar, or I exercise. I do something physical, something that engages my senses, and immerse myself in an experience to escape a virtual world for the real one.

The second statement had a spiritual hue:

  • “Deepen your capacity to embrace uncertainty, mystery, and doubt without searching for fact or reason—not everything fits into a fixed narrative.”

There’s a lot I don’t understand about God. Even though I daily learn new things about him, I always have more questions. At the end of the day, I have to trust what he says without much corroborating evidence.

There’s nothing wrong with some uncertainty. That’s what makes games fun. You don’t know what you’ll be dealt or what number you’ll roll. I love reading mysteries. Doubt is good. It protects me from being scammed.

I love facts. As a logical thinker, I gravitate to reason. But some narratives take me in a new direction. Or, as I now like to say, “I didn’t know where I was going until I got there.”

Posted in Life

A new barbershop

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jeppe Mønster on Unsplash

After a couple of bad haircuts, I decided to try a different barber shop. I always got stuck with the third or fourth chair barber who was just out of barber school or had too much to drink the night before. Or maybe that morning. Who knows?

Anyway, I found another barbershop a little closer to my house. When I walked up to the door, a handwritten note announced “Carmelo is not here.” It was Carmelo’s Barbershop. Okay. No problem. They were open, so there must be other barbers cutting hair.

Just before I opened the door to walk in, I saw a small table with a spiral-bound notebook and pen. It was open to a page with a list of names, most of which were crossed out. I wrote my name and walked in.

A young lady was cutting hair, and a couple of other men were waiting their turn. I sat down and read some emails on my phone. I listened as the barber described how her father (Carmelo) was sick, the other part-time barber was ill, and she was running the shop alone that day.

As she finished each cut, she would take their money, walk outside, check the notebook, and call out the next name. A pretty good system, just one I’ve never seen before. Usually, I walk into the barbershop, sit and take note of the other guys sitting there so I know when it will be my turn. Sometimes I get the front of the line since they are waiting for a specific barber. Of course, then I get a lousy haircut.

Anyway, I got a great haircut that day. I went back and got another great haircut from another barber in that shop a month later.

It all worked out pretty well.

Posted in Life

5 Simple Joys: Morning Sparks Happiness

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash
Daily writing prompt
What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?
View all responses

Waking up.

    I’m a morning person. An early bird. No two ways about it, I love waking up in the morning. Somehow my body knows the time, and I almost always wake up at 5:55 am. Depending on the season, it might be dark, or the sky may be light. But that’s when I like to wake up, and I like to wake up. Rarely do I sleep in.

    Waking up and walking the dogs.

    This has long been a part of my morning routine. After feeding the pups, I put on their leashes and we’re out the door. We walk around the block or around many blocks. It’s quiet. The air is still. I can hear the sounds of traffic and trash trucks off in the distance. I think it’s the best time of the day.

    Waking up and walking the dogs as dawn colors appear on the horizon.

    As we walk, the sky slowly turns from night to day. As it does, many hues of orange paint the sky, especially if there are clouds. It’s magnificent. How can there be so many different kinds of orange? I’m impressed by the Creator’s work up above.

    Waking up, walking the dogs, watching the brightening sky, and hearing the birds singing.

    When we leave the house, it’s quiet. But not for long. One bird starts singing. Another responds. Pretty soon, my ears are filled with birdsong. I whistle back, participating in an antiphonal chorus. They probably aren’t fooled, but I like to think we are singing together.

    Waking up, walking the dogs, watching the brightening sky, hearing the birds, as ideas show up in my head.

    This is when I think of some of my best, most creative ideas for writing and storytelling, The rhythm of my steps and the tempo of my breathing stimulate my right brain. I speak my ideas into my phone, messages I’ll see later. I don’t want to forget.

    Everything about the morning brings me happiness, from my first step out of bed until I get back from the walk. For me, it is a magical part of the day, regardless of the weather, the day’s agenda, or how I slept that night.

    Posted in Life

    A Forgotten Tool: Using a Slide Rule in Physics Class

    Posted on by William Douthwaite
    Daily writing prompt
    Describe something you learned in high school.
    View all responses

    I took physics in eleventh grade. It’s hard to imagine, but fifty years ago, four-function (+, -, x, /) handheld calculators were new and an expensive luxury. So I learned how to use a slide rule.

    My dad had a K&E slide rule he used through college and his early engineering days. I adopted it and took it to class every day to work through the math part of physics. I faintly remember getting pretty good at using a slide rule. Using logarithms, a slide rule enables you to turn a difficult multiplication or division problem into a simpler addition or subtraction problem.

    In the movie Apollo 13, a whole room full of engineers pull out slide rules to figure out flight trajectories to get the three astronauts home when their capsule is damaged by an explosion.

    After high school, programmable calculators became affordable, and by the time I started college in 1975, there wasn’t a slide rule to be found on campus.

    Posted in fitness, Life

    Fun Ways to Enjoy Exercise: My Journey

    Posted on by William Douthwaite
    Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
    Daily writing prompt
    What’s the most fun way to exercise?
    View all responses

    I’ve done a lot of different exercising over the past fifty years. I played informal sports in my neighborhood growing up and some intramural sports in college. I didn’t truly get into fitness until my final year of college, when I decided to start running.

    Some hate to run. I loved it. I liked competing with myself, to run farther or faster each time. The self-competiton made it fun. Along with the music that ran through my head in time with my footsteps. I never listened to music while I ran. My creative brain sprang to life about a mile into those long distance runs.

    When I supplemented my running with weightlifting, I again loved the competitive nature of exercising. I carefully journaled everything, always pursuing another rep or a few more pounds.

    I still find exercise fun. My feet hurt so I don’t do much running. I do a lot of walking with the dogs and a lot of bodyweight exercise routines in the garage. Every exercise is a variation of the basic movements of pulling, pushing, squatting, and standing. I love learning new movements from fitness professionals who produce exercise videos.

    For me, the moving, breathing, pacing, and exertion are fun. It’s me against me, or the elements, or the two dogs on a leash. From the dog-smiles on their faces, I know they’re having fun, too.

    Posted in Life, listening

    What Makes a Person Unique: The Art of Listening

    Posted on by William Douthwaite
    Photo by Christina Morillo on pexels.com
    Daily writing prompt
    Which aspects do you think makes a person unique?
    View all responses

    I believe one thing that sets someone apart from most others is their willingness to listen.

    I say that because the norm is a person who talks about themselves. They ask, “How are you?” But they won’t listen to your answer. Whether you reply, “Fine,” “Terrible,” or “Living the life,” they will launch into a monologue about themselves, their family, their projects and their problems.

    What a difference when you encounter someone who responds, “What do you mean by that?” Or, “Tell me more about that.” Maybe a simple, “What else?” They show their willingness to listen with a nod and a smile. Nothing more. These people are few and far between.

    Such a person is not afraid of silence. They know you need a moment to think about your feelings, shape an answer, and unravel your thoughts.

    You can tell they are listening because they rephrase and repeat your thought, making sure they understand what you’ve said.

    This person neither approves nor judges what you’ve shared. They do not talk about their similar experience. They don’t tell you what to do. Or what they would do if they were you.

    They are that rare and unique person who listens.

    Posted in Life

    Early morning walk: embracing solitude and wishing for company

    Posted on by William Douthwaite
    Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

    I got up a little earlier this morning to walk our big dog (the Great Dane) before our three granddaughters, who spent the night with us, woke up. 5 am in Florida? Yep, still dark.

    The big girl and I headed up a main thoroughfare before dawn. Much to my delight, there were no cars on the road. None. Zip. Nada.

    I loved that moment.

    Suddenly I felt like I was all alone in the world. Just me and my dog and a long, long line of street lights shrouded in a touch of fog.

    That moment was surreal. What if it was just me and my dog alone in the world? What if we were the only ones left? What if everyone else somehow vanished?

    I loved that aloneness. I wanted it to last. And I wanted it to be over. I wanted someone, anyone to drive by. But at the same time, I hoped they wouldn’t.

    What should I do with that? I love being by myself, and yearn for the crowd. I crave solitude, and pursue the mob. I am so comfortable with just me, yet wonder when everyone else will arrive.

    The paradox torments me.