Footprints That Run Deep

I saw this on my Tumblr. Thought it was pretty amazing myself, so I had to share...

70 year-old Buddhist monk Hua Chi has been praying in the same spot at his temple in Tongren, China for over 20 years. His footprints, which are up to 1.2 inches deep in some areas, are the result of performing his prayers up to 3000 times a day. Now that he is 70, he says that he has greatly reduced his quantity of prayers to 1,000 times each day.

The footprints have become a source of inspiration to younger monks at the temple. “Every day I come here and every day I look at the piece of wood, and it has inspired me to continue to make the footprints myself,” Genden Darji, a 29 year-old monk in the monastery, notes.

My Favorite "Keep Calm..."

"A Dog's Purpose" by W. Bruce Cameron

A while ago I read this "tail-wagging" novel with the real insights to in the world of a K9 friend, told in a touching, doggy first-person. The story tells about a dog's life and the new lifes he starts when he/she is reborn. All the same dog, but this animal questions why the reborn-again, and if it completed it's life's purpose.

This pup is first Toby, a small puppy of 4 to Mother where they are rescued by the local dog lovers (without a license to rescue), and unfortunately ends up being euthanized. He is reborn as Bailey, a golden retriever puppy who spends most of his life running around on a farm in the summer and playing with his new human family. He passes away feeling like he fufilled a purpose for that family. The he is reborn as the German Shephred Ellie, yes a female, which confuses the former Bailey. She is trained as a search and rescue dog and saves many lives. But he is last reborn as Buddy, a black lab, where he finds his old master when he was Bailey, but old and gray. It isn't till Buddy is reborn, that he finds his purpose of life.

If you're a pet-lover like me, you will laugh out loud and have tears drip down your cheeks. I really enjoyed reading this dog-loving book.

"Finally, a fictional dog who is a real dog! Anyone who has ever loved a dog needs to read this wise, touching, often hilarious book. Bailey, the narrator, tells the absolute dog truth about how intuitive your dog is, how profoundly your dog loves you (and how very much they love to roll in road kill, and how puzzled they are that you don't love it, too). Most importantly, this book allows the reader to intimately experience a genuine dog's eye view of the bond between dogs and humans, and how nothing, not even death, can ever end that bond."--Dr. Marty Becker, Resident Veterinarian on Good Morning America and the Dr. Oz Show

RIP My Little Man Stitch

Back when I started college and moved out into my first apartment (gawd, like 2002/2003) I came across this little dude at the local Petco. At that same time, Jennifer Lopez (yes, the famous star) had bought a gray chinchilla fur coat. So because of her shopping spree, I bought this young chinchilla... to SAVE him!

It was interesting adjusting to the new critter, and especially since I've never been a chinchilla owner before. But it came pretty easy! I don't know how many hours I went all over the Internet researching. When I took him home he was all set up with his cage, food, bedding, chew blocks, jumping ledges, water dispenser, roll-a-round ball, dust bowl, and of course treaties!

(That's my lil old guy and he's buddy Ginger)

He lived with me at the apartment, and then when I moved to my aunt's house, and then I had to move him to my parents house (because I ended up being somewhat allergic to him lol), where he spent most of his years... in a 3 story cage the size of my tall dresser! I had to make sure had a mansion when I moved him there!

The past couple years, he's lived outside under the patio, enjoying his "old man" years. As he turned more and more gray, time was settling in on him and he wasn't as active as he once was. Yet he still would be very excited for his banana-chip treat (hell ANY treat for that matter, lil piggy), and every time it was "dust-bath time!" 

However, this last weekend's heat wave was a little too much for him. We brought him into the house, but things weren't looking too good for the little man. He wasn't up to eating, drinking, not even moving/bouncing around. My brain knew it was only a matter of time, but my heart wasn't ready to let go. Yesterday I went to work in the morning after saying a hopeful "see you later" to him, but I hope in the last little bit of his time he just went to sleep dreaming of dust baths and rolling around in his ball.

I'm just glad I got to be with him during these last days.

I'll always love you Stitch & I'll always miss you lil man.

Rest in peace Stitchy-Poo.

Word of the Day 9/28/2010

Eternize (verb)
1a: to make eternal b: to prolong indefinitely
2: immortalize

Examples: The poet with her pen eternizes what is fleeting in the world.

"Today, almost a century after her death, Ida Saxton McKinley has been eternized as a representative of all American first ladies at her Canton home." -- From an article by Michael Schuman in the Chicago Tribune, April 25, 2004

Did You Know?: "Eternize" shows up in the works of literary greats, such as John Milton, Edmund Spenser, and Herman Melville, and it sees occasional use in modern-day sources, but it is far from common. The same can be said of its slightly longer and related synonym "eternalize." "Eternize" is the older of the two; our earliest evidence of the word dates to 1566, while evidence of "eternalize" dates to 1620. But there's a third relative that predates them both, and it's far more common than either of them. That would be "eternal," which has been with us since the 14th century. All three words are ultimately rooted in Latin "aevum," meaning "age" or "eternity."

Merriam-Webster Word of the Day

You Know What I Miss....

These bad boys... Caramel Macchiatos

Gawd how I miss you guys!

OH! HAPPY 200th POST HAPPA!

Thanks Squarepants...