Life at a "Swell's" pace

Hello.

Today marks 19 years since the attacks on 9/11. Seriously, it is still so raw for a lot of people. I still tear up when I think about what those people went through that day. In the name of what? Someone else's opinion caused the death, and still continues to be the cause of death for thousands of people. I will never understand why people get so angry, or bitter over someone else's opinion. I used to get my feelings hurt a lot over other people's opinion of me and only within the last several years have a realized, I love who I am, I love what I contribute to the world, and I love the fact that I can help and make other people feel good about themselves, and what others think really can't take that away from me. I had a discussion with one of Jeff's relatives a few years ago and told them how I felt about things said to me over the past 15 years. Their response to it was, "Maybe you should reintroduce yourself to the family." I thought, how ignorant. The comments said to me were towards me. How is me "reintroducing" myself going to stop them from saying those things. Plus too, this is my personality. Reintroduction, or not, won't change who I am. Realizing that those are their issues and not mine, has really helped me recover from years of belittlement, betrayal, abasement, and bullying. I feel sorry for them. That aside, the country mourns the lose of all of those that met their fate from other people's damage, even 19 years later. Even during a pandemic we still honor and remember them all. Along with the remembrance of 9/11, our wildfires are getting worse. I was hoping that things would be able to be under control by now, but a few of the wildfires have merged together to form an even bigger fire. We've also had 11 more wildfires break out this week, too. It's a terrifying situation here and we are trying to stay as calm as we can. Skylar and I went to get a large dog carrier for our ducks and we were put at a level one (be ready/vigilant) status. If we go to a level two (get set) we are leaving. The sky is awful and it's so hard to sleep at night. This old house isn't insulated well and it looks like someone has burned food over and over again inside our home. Our eyes are burning and our poor animals are suffering. I bought some O2 quick inhalers and some saline solution, and it's been helping. We have many fresh water bowls all around for them, and keep the fans going. We even bought a few more to help clear things out. We don't go outside unless it's a necessity. We've moved our ducks into the garage for now with a fan going 24/7. Hopefully, we will stay safe for now and I don't have a panic attack. I've been working on my breathing exercises and calming methods, but I'll be honest, things are pretty stressful at the moment and this is the absolutely worse I've ever seen it here on the west coast since I've lived here. Our fingers are crossed it doesn't get worse in our general area. Here are five things this week.

1. This Memorial.

This memorial for 9/11 we sat and watched it all day. It helped keep our minds on today and what we are remembering rather than what's actually going on around us.

2. This Billboard.

I've never seen this before on the back of a semi. I would think it would be a distraction while driving, but I will say, it was pretty interesting.

3. These Bales.

When the fields get mowed and the grass baled, the farmers around here wrap them in white plastic *cringe*, but it always looks like fields of marshmallows.

4. This Moment.

This week they placed a burn ban into place and before that moment we sat out around our firepit and wondered how much worse the wildfires would get. We had no idea at that time how bad it would really get. It makes me want to go back to this moment.

5. These Trees.

We were hoping to replant these this week, but with the lack of visible sunshine and smoke, we've decided to wait until next summer. Hopefully, during this time we don't lose any plants. We've already accepted that our garden is done and we picked what we could and are allowing the rest to die out on their own. We picked as much as we could before more ash fell on everything.

Positive affirmations this week: "What is something you'd say to someone struggling?"

If you need an extra boost to get out of bed in the morning, if you need more than caffeine can offer, use this. People are depending on you. Your purpose is to help us render this great work together. And, we're waiting and excited for your to show up. -Made for Working Together (The Daily Stoic-July 21)

Have a nice weekend.