OnFriday I had one of those moments of profound exasperation at the absolutemindless insensitivity of some people, and (if I may state this publiclywithout seeming like a complete judgy wench) the idiocy of some peoplein the treatment of their dogs. Sigh….

Ineeded a few warm, fuzzy feelings to balance the negative energy, so I askedFacebook friends to post pictures of their pets. Boy howdy, did they ever. Ifyou were one of those folks, thank you. We can never underestimate the power ofseeing a cute dog or cat or horse or reindeer face (or robot—long story) torelease a bit of oxytocin and calm our troubled hearts.

Afterperusing those pics for half an hour, I left the valley and drove to LakeArrowhead to do a quick hike then visit my granddaughter and her baby daughter—allof which enhanced my oxytocin high.

Beyondthat good stuff, I want to take a moment to thank those of you who are regularreaders of my posts. I began this blog in 2009 while I was living in thewilderness of Mt. Baldy, having adventures with nature and wildlife nearlyevery day—while also experiencing many, many rejections of my work written forcommercial purposes (and an occasional sale or two). I wanted to write aboutwhatever I felt like writing about, with no concern for word count or marketviability. So I began to blog (the first post mentioning how much I loathe theword “blog”).

Atfirst, I had a handful of folks who were regular readers willing to skimthrough my somewhat provincial if not inane musings. Slowly, as the posts wentout into the world—and I began to write about more pressing issues, such asrace relations in the U.S. and the “Me too” movement—views of my postsincreased from 30 a month to 100 a month and then close to a thousand a month,which is where the average now hovers.

Butlast month was a banner month. I mean, I had a lotta lotta views. The analyticson Blogger allow me to see what posts people are looking at, so I know whatstarted the upward trend in views (a post that could be construed aspolitical), but I was downright shocked when I saw the numbers skyrocket.

Totalnumber of overall views for June: 9,041. These were not views of the same post;there were a number of different, er, issue-related posts being viewed. But ohmy goodness, I am humbled and grateful whenever people read my words, be it 5or 500. This number nearly floored me.

Sothank you, dear Readers, for clicking that link again and again over the monthsor years to see what the heck I might have to write about in my rambling,parentheses-and-dash-infused style. Before you click away from the page, here’sone more silly rambling offered for your amusement:

Thingsto do while the oatmeal is cooking:

(Note:Of course it’s cooking—no packets here, no “instant” for me! Damn right it’ssteel cut (whatever that means), organic, they-take-forever, cholesterol-loweringoatmeal for this “granola head.”)

Starta load of laundry.

Add“laundry detergent” to the grocery list.

Emptythe dishwasher.

Openthe door for Jenny the Cat to sashay outside and begin her day, warning her notto bring yet another mouse into the house.

Washthe dogs’ dishes and Jenny’s dish.

Washhands thoroughly.

Stirthe oatmeal.

Catchthe mouse that is now scampering about the livingroom with Jenny merrily givingchase.

Carrythe mouse outside (in an empty oatmeal can) and down the block, depositinghim/her near the ravine (and thus near food, shelter, water).

Stop.Notice the sunrise as it tops Mt. San Jacinto.

Thinkof that one guy who always makes you smile.

Smile.

Returnto the house.

Washhands thoroughly.

Stirthe oatmeal.

EncourageJenny disingenuously to “keep looking for Mr. Mousie,” pretending it “must behere somewhere.”

Createa Facebook post documenting the number of mice Jenny has brought into the houseto play with (not to eat).

Walkall the way back to the bedroom to pet Sgt. Thomas Tibbs in his bed and tellhim he is the best boy ever.

Walkback down the hallway to the den to pet Maya and tell her she is the best girlever.

Washhands thoroughly.

Stirthe oatmeal.

Addwalnuts.

Grabthe blank page journal used for poems and jot down the lines that came to mindabout that one guy while you were walking back from relocating the mouse.

Turnoff the burner under the oatmeal and add raisins, dried blueberries, bananaslices, cinnamon, and brown sugar.

Stop.Close your eyes. In one long inhale of this sweet-scented repast, acknowledgewith gratitude the blessings of food, cat, mouse, dogs, dishwasher, washingmachine, sunrises, wild spaces, warm smiles, word gifts… and that one guy.