" It's An Orange Popsicle World We Live In........."

This weekend has been pretty gloomy weather-wise. But that didn't stop us from getting outside and doing our daily hike at one of the beaches around here. And besides, our dog, Sophie, needs plenty of exercise too.

Saturday we headed to P.P. Park (Point Pleasant)....it is Sophie's favourite place to socialize with others of her kind. Actually, we like it too. A chance to talk 'dog talk' to fellow dog owners. The whole Park is an 'off leash' one, except for the perimeter which goes along the harbour. So there is lots of room to roam for both human and mutt.

We met up with another labradoodle. It was gray and black and a lot smaller than Sophie.......they were the same age (three years). Sophie, we have realized, is a 'big-boned girl'. They had a ball together.....playing off each other in a similar fashion.......or should I say bouncing off each other! Around the corner she found a little 'poodle mix' and tolerated it 'deep-throating' her ......till she finally 'told' it to lay off.

Today we were on the hunt for a fold-up blind for the kitchen window. We had our game-plan and off we went to a number of stores. Lots of blinds but none that were suitable or would fit....it is a custom window we had put in a few years ago. Anyway, no luck today.

So off to the beach with Sophie. She was getting quite annoyed with us for leaving her in the car. She let us know this by tearing up an empty Starbucks paper coffee cup. We got the message.

Even though it was overcast, Ron, my husband, thought he would put on his sun glasses for overcast weather (bright orange lenses). I guess it makes everything POP and look very clear. So he, being his normal positive self, began to sing a song that started : " It's an orange popsicle world we live in.....". There it was.... raining and he was driving, but he wasn't going to let it get the best of him. I really like this about him. Most of the time he is light hearted and cheery. (Yes, some mornings it can get to me till I am fully awake).

Anyway, was raining 'cats and dogs', so we had to make one more stop at home to get on our rain gear. It was only 2 degrees at the beach but not too much wind......so it wasn't that bad. It was low tide and there was some beach left on which to walk.

Sophie looked like she had restored faith in us. She bounded onto the beach. She did a '180' to see where we were and got into position for the first ball throw. She was happy. So were we.

Without sounding too, too syrupy, I learned today, or at least it became very obvious to me, that one can enjoy the moment regardless of what's going on around you. Or, to put it another way, why not find a reason to be content with what the day is presenting......instead of putting a negative spin on it. Even if the day is evolving into a lousy one, don't make it worse by adding to it. Put on those 'orange popsicle lenses' and enjoy the view from there.........as best you can.