Hi friends. Finally - it’s Tucker Tuesday!
I’m going to get what mama calls “feela’soft’tickle” today. Mama says all the hearts and candy in the world this month are here because people celebrate love in “Febiary”, but I wondered what that means and why there is a month to celebrate something we feel all the time. I heard on the picture box one day that the world needs more love, and that didn’t make any sense to me because with all the puppies in the world how could there possibly be any more love, but then I realized… maybe you guys don’t know love like we know love! So here’s what love is, from a puppy’s point of view. Love is… …going to sleep knowing when you wake up your people will be there to snuggle you. …making a booboo on the floor and trying really hard to do better because you know it makes your people happy when you do a good-boy thing. …when daddy gets the cold rocks out of the freezer and lets the thingie run a little longer so extra rocks will fall on the floor for you to chase and bite and play with. …barking like the dickens when “oven puppy” shows up because you want to make sure mama and daddy are safe. …bringing mama your monkey when she’s on the couch ready for snuggles. …racing down the steps when daddy gets home because he hasn’t seen you all day and must be missing you something awful. …licking the kitty in the ears because she can’t reach them to lick them herself. …waking mama up at 2am so she doesn’t have to clean piddle off the rug at 6am. …sharing your chewy with your people because they share their snacks with you. …waiting for hours and hours for your people to come home because you know how happy they will be to see you. …kissing tears out of your person’s eyes when they have a sad thing. …having someone who looks at you the way I’m looking at mama in this picture. Love isn’t that hard, these are things every puppy comes equipped knowing how to do. Mama read me a story one day about a little girl whose puppy dog went away to Rainbow Bridge. The girl’s mama and daddy tried to explain to her why dogs don’t stay on earth as long as people, and the little girl said she already knew why. She said “God put us all here to learn how to love the way He loves. Puppies already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long as we do.” The story made mama cry, and I think it’s because she knows it’s harder for people to love like that. I can tell ya, loving people that way takes some practice, but it sure is worth it. So hopefully you had some love to celebrate this month. If you need some more you can always come back to this picture, I’m pretty sure it’s what love looks like. But what do I know, I’m just a puppy. Love – for real… Tucker PS – yesterday I turned 6 months old. That’s half a year! Mama says I act like a teenager and I don’t know exactly what that means but it makes her laugh so I’ll try to keep doing it for a while!
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Tucker Bear here, reporting in with a farm safety update for Tucker Tuesday!
Life on the farm is frought with danger and loud noises and scary things, so a pup has to be on high alert at all times. For one thing, mama is still in denial about "oven puppy", so I can't be surprised at her nonchalant attitude about this week's dangers. Let me explain. First thing this morning I was shaken from a sound slumber (that's me slumbering in mama's bed, where I sometimes sleep with one eye open to protect her from the scary things she doesn't know about) when we were attacked by what I can only assume were space aliens! The clatter from the kitchen was out of this world and I sprang up from my dreams barking and growling so they would know this was NOT going to end well for them! Mama said it was just the kitty knocking a cookie sheet off the counter, but I know better! Once I chased off the aliens I tried to get back to sleep, but I just couldn't get any peace. I could hear monsters in the woods screaching and yowling. Mama said they were raccoons and we could hear them because it was so warm that she had the window open, but I know better. Raccoons... pfffph... Then I was working hard at mama's desk (see me in the pic working hard) when I decided we should take a break so mama and I walked out to the backyard. I was trying to concentrate on a place to piddle when suddenly I heard a giant crashing thru the woods! Mama said it was a tree falling, but I know a crashing giant when I hear one, so I barked and barked until it heard me and ran away. Yesterday was super warm outside, so I spent a lot of time guarding the chickens. Mama was busy taking the lights off our outside tree (she said if she didn't, daddy was going to start calling her a redneck...?) so I made sure I kept a close eye on them. See my chickens?? There used to be more of them but mama says a fox came and then we didn't have as many chickens, so I have to keep an eye out for the fox to come back so I can chase it away too. Then we walked around the perimeter looking for dangers and I had to make mama stay back from this raging river so she wouldn't get wet. I got a drink out of it, but that's just because I'm so brave. I saw lots of scary critters while we were walking and I barked at all of them even tho mama said they were cute. I almost caught one. He was little but sometimes the little ones are the most dangerous things. I tried to get a pic of him to show you because you wouldn't believe the racing stripes on his back. Mama called him a chipmonkey, but he didn't look anything like my moneky... she said there are lots of them at the house. Great, how does she ever sleep with that much danger around!?! Well that's farm life for ya. Mama says we're getting some other farm pups this spring so I won't have to work so hard to keep everyone safe. I can't wait, I could use a break! Talk to you all again soon, stay safe out there! Tucker PS - Anyone know what a fox looks like?? Sometimes I wonder if we do justice to the "firsts" in our lives. In our house we have a lot of firsts this year. First Christmas and New Year in a new home. Tucker Bear's first Christmas. First time sleeping under a lovingly made quilt.
There are other good firsts to look forward to and remember: first car, first kiss, first job, first home, first love. Kid firsts are easy to recognize and remember. First Christmas, first word, first steps, first day of school, first sleepover, first date, first school dance. We assign emotions and space in our hearts for our firsts, each memory taking on its own color like a well preserved Polaroid. But then there are the firsts we never saw coming. First broken bone, first time on unemployment, first heartache. When we lose a loved one we start measuring the world in firsts. First night and then weekend without them. First holiday, first vacation, first birthday, first walk in the woods, first anniversary of their departure from our lives. How and where do we file those firsts? They matter, they weigh on us, their existence deserves recognition. Those firsts, the hard ones, the ones that catch in our throats and make it hard to breathe, the ones maybe no one else can see... those firsts feel like they will wipe out all the other wonderful firsts stored in our hearts. They're heavy, burdensome, and they stop us in our tracks while the world inexplicably turns on without acknowledgement. They loom huge over our hearts and threaten to swallow us in a whole new collection of horrible firsts. But they don't. Those aching firsts can temporarily distract but can never remove and replace the wonderful firsts. We plow thru them. We cry thru them. We beat our fists against the world and scream thru them. And we get thru them. In the end they may change the color of the wonderful firsts but they can't replace them. The treasures are still there, they just mean something different now. And that's ok. In the end, it takes all of those firsts to make you the person you were meant to be. Today is someone's "first". It may be a big one or something relatively small. If you see them, hold out a hand and become part of it with them. That might be just enough to change the color of that first as they file it away, and maybe you can make it just a little lighter to carry. Smile at the world with your whole being, it's the Toby Way. Things I learned from Toby:
Patient Persistence – sometimes you have to sit patiently and stare at someone to get what you want. People are easily distracted, so a little snort or sigh may be required to get their attention. Routines are good. When you smile, it should show on your whole body, from your nose to your tail. Love with everything you have. Don’t hold back. It’s worth it. Always greet people with a smile. Look for the shade on a hot sunny day. Play in the snow. Romp and run. Go all in. Kisses are mandatory at bedtime. Always get excited when you see someone you love. When your connection is strong, you don’t need words to understand. Give people a little of yourself whenever you can. Sometimes a little yellow rope makes all the difference in their world. People aren’t perfect, but if you love them like they are they’ll try really hard! When people tell you you’re beautiful, smile and believe them. Little kids are scary but don’t bite them, they can’t help it. Try to keep your nose and ears up so they can’t reach them. Life is too short to dwell on the bad stuff. Live for now, be present where you are – that’s the key to happiness. It’s important to have someone you trust completely. That’s your safe spot. When you find that, everything else is ok. Things I hope Toby learned from me: I love you... more than anything. You were worth it. Sometimes a really little thing makes a great big impact.
Today a friend of mine, I'll call her "Amy" (mostly because that's her name) stopped by my desk shortly after lunch. She confessed she'd had a rough morning, feeling down and a little sorry for herself, having a pity party for no good reason at all. Perhaps she had decided some frozen sugary caffeine would improve her mood, maybe she just had some time to kill (I didn't ask her how she got there), either way Amy found herself in the drive thru at her favorite coffee shop. When she pulled up to pay for her frozen decadence she was greeted by a broadly smiling cashier. It was almost as though he couldn't wait to share the good news with his next customer as he declared "your order was paid for by the car ahead of you!" And that was it. Her order was under $5. Not a financial burden she couldn't afford, the previous patron hadn't blessed her with a life changing gift, it was simply a yummy coffee. Just like that, though, Amy felt her spirit lift. Just like that a tiny act of kindness from a stranger she will never meet started a ripple effect of positivity. So what's the big deal, right? One nice guy, one coffee, one happy lady, how is that ever going to change the world? Let me explain… I mentioned the $ wasn't a huge deal, and it really wasn't. In fact, with a smile on her heart and a new attitude about her day, Amy instructed the young man to give her the bill for the car behind her, paying for an order that was double what hers would have been. So let's follow the trail. One guy paid for the car behind him. We don't know him but let's assume he received at least a little satisfaction from passing along a small gift. Then we have the cashier, whose smile as Amy approached belied his pleasure at being able to play his part in this gifting. Amy herself, in an emotional funk all morning, we can arguably say benefited the most. Not only did she receive the gift but she was able to pass it along, two-fold, and feel the warmth that comes from gifting as well. Would you agree that we can also assume the occupants in the car behind her were delighted to have their order covered? I'm certain they were, and maybe continued the gifting themselves! But the ripple didn't stop there. Amy returned to work and promptly shared her story with me and several other coworkers. I'm sure I wasn't the only one uplifted by her story and pleased to see her so happy following the event. She told us she had looked toward the sky and smiled, feeling like this was God's way of telling her to chin up, keep going, and let go of the heavy stuff (He will carry it, you know, but you'll have to let Him have it!). So here I am, passing Amy's story along to you all, and hoping the ripple will continue. I know we've all read the "pay it forward" stories, so that part is nothing new. I'm always warmed when I read about the ways such kindness impacts others. Want to see God in action? Next time you're in a funk, look for a way to do something small for someone else. Pay for the order in line behind you. Go out of your way to hold a door. Let someone have your seat on the bus, get in front of you in traffic or in line at the store. When you toss that tiny pebble of kindness into the pond you start a ripple effect that extends farther than you can ever see, but God sees it. He sees it and He uses it to touch those who need it most. Don't be surprised when that ripple you started comes right back to touch your spirit, too. For, afterall, we are the body. |
AuthorTucker (pomeranian) is an author of marginal famou'nicity. Catch his Tucker Tuesday farm pupdates here and on the Toby Way Farm facebook page. Archives
April 2023
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