Like no one is watching

I love it when people totally and absolutely and thoroughly feel the music and dance.


I was reminded last week of the “Dancin’ in the Streets" that David Bowie and Mick Jagger did together a loooooooooong time ago. I haven’t seen the video for probably 20 years, but I still remember loving David and Mick’s dancing. If you don’t smile during this video, then you must be having a very crab-assy day.



I showed it to Brian because he had never heard their version before. (How can someone get to be 21 years old and never see this happy happy feel good video? So I decided to enrich his life with it.)


He seemed duly impressed…but I have a feeling he was just trying not to laugh at the 80’s styles. But COME ON, this video should transcend any generation or fashion gap because of its sheer happiness!!!!


Brian then shared this video with. It made me smile too.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Here’s a guy that dances like a dork…but he does it with soul. Gotta love it!! (I am in the same category as this guy...I dance like a dork....I should probably work on that since I'll be the mother of the bride in just over a year!!!)


These videos qualify as smooth stones in my life!

the slightest touch

The slightest touch moved me this weekend. It was a touch so soft I barely even realized it happened. But I think it was a sign of great love and trust. It came from our cat, Bennie.

Now hang on before you jump to the conclusion that I’m just being a sappy pet lover that thinks that everything her pets do are the most precious things in the world. (Well, I DO think that way but there’s more to this entry than just sappy pet schmooze.)

Normally Ben is way to cool for any kind of show of affection. When he does show affection, you better appreciate it because it will only last a brief moment before he darts off in fear of being discovered that he was being a softy. He likes to be known as tough cat, yet a cat with a sense of humor.

It was the weekend morning that I wrote about in my last entry. I was reading a book and he jumped up to lay next to me….a rare thing….but then I looked down and he had reached over and gently placed a paw on my foot. He reached over….the paw didn’t just randomly lay on my foot. He then closed his eyes and started to knead my foot (for lack of a better word).

Okay call me crazy, but I felt love and trust in that slight touch. His love and trust was overwhelming in that moment.

I’m glad I had that moment with Ben. It was a much appreciated random act of kindness, love, and trust.

Okay, now I’m going to go all philosophical….I hope that I don’t miss other small random acts like this from people. Some people find it hard to show others that they care. A smile may be as much as they can give. With big huggers and demonstrative people it’s easy….but what about those that aren’t comfortable with affection? They still feel love, but they may be very uncomfortable showing any sort of affection.

I think I’ll watch for those tiny random acts of love more. I’m also going to show a little more affection too. Don’t worry I won’t be mauling everyone with hugs every five minutes, but I am going to try for more small random actions that show I care.


hmmm...we can learn alot from animals.

Something Peaceful

As much as I like to sleep in on weekends, there is something peaceful about waking up early….before every one else.





Coffee tastes so much better when I drink it in complete solitude in a house still snoozing. Even the dog and cat have gone back to sleep to allow me a little more time to listen to the quiet.

Now don't get me wrong, I really love to sleep in on weekends. This sleeping-house-peacefulness doesn't make me want to set my alarm to experience it. That wouldn't be the same. But when for some crazy reason I do wake up early, it is lovely. Simply lovely.

Playing ball

For Maggie, our dog, her true passion in life is playing ball.

She usually talks me or Kent into a nice game of ball in the back yard after work. I can’t help but love her love for running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth as fast as she can after a dirty tennis ball.

Look at the sheer exhilaration and happiness and intense speed while she’s in the middle of a ball game!



Tongue hanging out….a smile on her face….not a care in the world….just enjoying what she’s doing right that second and doing it with every bit of energy in her body and every bit of enthusiasm that she has.

Even if I’m not the one playing ball with her, I usually watch her from the deck or through the window just to see pure happiness in its simplest form.

Weeds are flowers too

“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.”
- A. A. Milne, 1882-1956

I’m kind of a quote freak. I remembered the above quote when I was in my garden. There’s one “weed” that I just love…The Johnny-Jump-Up.

Every time I see a Johnny-Jump-Up in a new place in my garden, I smile. I can’t help it. I’m not sure if it’s their name, or if it’s their simple purple flowers, or if it’s the fact that they pop up whenever or where ever they feel the need to spread some beauty.

I planted my first Johnny-Jump-Up about 8 years ago. I bought him at a house with a “perennials for sale” sign out front. (I’ve never seen a Johnny-Jump-Up in a ‘real’ garden shop…thus the debate whether they are a flower or a weed.) Johnny came home with me in a Styrofoam cup. Since that time he has spread and multiplied and moved from garden to garden. He never seems to be in the same place twice.

He’s not like other weeds that move in and take over the whole garden and kill off the other flowers. He just happily co-exists…spreading his simple beauty…not hurting anybody.

I once shared some of my Johnny-Jump-Ups with a friend. She ended up hating them and uprooting them wherever they decided to spread their beauty. They would pop up in unexpected places in her well-planned garden. It drove her nuts….and Johnny knew it. He took it as a challenge to keep finding new places in her gardens. Gotta love the spunk of Johnny-Jump-Ups!

Johnny-Jump-Ups definitely qualify as a ‘smooth stone’ in my life. My $1 investment 8 years ago continues to make me smile every summer.

I can learn a lot from Johnny…keep spreading whatever beauty you can, in whatever way you can, wherever you can….whether it is wanted or not. Someone may get a smile out of it!

The smooth stones in life. This blog's purpose.

The smooth stones in life.

Every blog has a theory/concept/theme, right?

Some blogs are full of angst and their prime purpose is for the blogger to release all of the anger inside of them. This isn’t that type of blog.

Some blogs are written by very creative people and are filled with beautiful photography or amazing prose. This isn’t that type of blog. (But I do hope to re-kindle my long lost love of photography!)

Some blogs are jam-packed with information and can teach you how to do just about anything to perfection….again…not that type of blog.

In this blog my sole purpose is to work on the health and well-being of the soul. I don’t hold a degree in theology. I’m not a trained psychologist. What I do know, however, is that there are amazing things all around us….in all of our lives…that are over-looked and under-appreciated. And those small amazing things are the very things that can bring richness to our lives. THIS is what my blog will be filled with….the little under-appreciated blessings in our lives.

If nothing else, this will be a journal to record the many blessings in my life. I encourage anyone who may be reading this to look for these little under-appreciated blessings in their lives. They are out there, you just have to open your eyes to them.

Even during the hard times in life, these things are out there. Sometime you just have to search a little harder for them. I know that search will prove successful. What you find will be amazing.

The title of the blog? That comes from a trip to Duluth, Minnesota. Lake Superior is there. It’s huge. It’s massive. It’s beautiful. Many photographers have captured its beauty in many different ways. But what I found amazing were the rocks on its shore. They are amazingly smooth from the hundreds of years that they have been pounded by the waves. They rounded and smooth and multi-colored. They’re beautiful. It makes me feel good to hold one in my hand and feel the smoothness. These rocks are one the under-appreciated and over-looked things in life, that are right in front of us yet many don’t even see them or take the time to pick one up and feel it’s beauty.

This is what’s good for my soul…the smooth stones in life. I want to appreciate them and search them out.