I will start this post where I am — on my way from Boston’s Logan Airport in a Lyft to our home on the South Shore.
Because I am starting the day with no sleep after a red-eye flight from Portland, Oregon, I may need to change the ending after I gather and share all my latest photos. Let’s see where we end up.
Start where you are and you very well may end up with pizza.
This is what I find on YouTube when I start searching for “start where you are.”
I start and end with gratitude no matter where I am, so thanks to all who help me start and end my blog posts, including YOU.
Yesterday, as my beloved friend Maria and I spent many happy hours exploring The Joy Store and other happily wonderful parts of Portland, Oregon, I noticed this sign:
Every hour in Portland has been a happy hour for me. I’m also happy about returning back to Boston and to my happy husband, son, and cats today (although I doubt that every hour of my loooooong flight back is going to be happy).
Here and now, I’m happy to spend a happy hour creating today’s blog post and sharing all these images with you.
On International Being You Day, I am so happy to be spending more happy hours with Portland people who are always their wonderful selves.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “where every hour is happy hour.”
Gratitude makes every hour happy hour, so thanks to all who help me spend happy hours creating this daily blog, including YOU!
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I forget that I am loved, even when I’m around people who love me. So it was nice to see this sticker yesterday when I was on the road in Portland, Oregon:
When you realize you are loved, life seems much more lovely, including all these other images I would love to share with you, here and now.
You are loved, no matter what the Daily Bitch says.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “you are loved.”
You are loved and I would love to know what you think and feel about today’s post.
I am not a bot and that is why I can blog, share a definition of “bot” in this post …
… and find this online:
Even though I am not a bot, somebody on Twitter reported me as a bot, which I found abot as pleasant as botulism:
I am not a bot, so I noticed the discrepancy between “I suspect she is a bot” and “I have no intention of hurting her feelings.” I also read the referred-to letter from Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal about spotting bots and it was clear from that, too, that I am not a bot, so I blocked that person on Twitter who reported me.
Yesterday, I tweeted this:
People said I could prove that I was not a bot by blocking someone or also by tweeting a photo of myself holding up two fingers, so — again — I am not a bot.
In case you have any remaining doubt about whether I am not a bot, I ask you this: could a bot travel from Boston to the Pacific Northwest and share all these images?
I am not a bot, so I can recognize that the Daily Bitch is uncharacteristically not being a bitch today. Also, I can’t bike to work on National Bike to Work Day because (1) I don’t have a bike and (2) I’m on vacation thousands of miles away from work.
Here is what I find when I search for “I am not a bot” on YouTube:
I am not a bot, so I can express gratitude to all others who are not a bot, including YOU.
It’s easy for me to see the good when I spend time with good people like my wonderful friend Maria in good places like Olympia, Washington, where I saw this yesterday:
Olympia, which is the good capital of the good state of Washington (which I knew even though I wasn’t good in Geography) (which reminds me of a good story about when I wrote on a Geography test in Elementary School that the capital of Belgium was Broccoli instead of Brussels) has a good restaurant named Chelsea Farms Oyster Bar.
Our good server, Emma, helped us see what was good on the menu at Chelsea Farms and was good enough to let me take a photo of her good tattoo, which my regular readers will see is good for this blog.
Do you see the good in the other images in today’s post?
The bright sunshine and warmer weather definitely help me see the good on National May Ray Day.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “see the good”:
Thanks to everyone who helps me see and share the good every day, including YOU.
Yesterday, when I saw this on a bulletin board at the beautiful Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon …
… I said to my dear friend Maria, “That’s the title of tomorrow’s blog.”
I like many places in Oregon too, especially when I am surrounded by lovely people and animals in Portland and also — from a distance — lovely people and animals in Boston and on social media.
What places do you like in today’s post?
I like this place in Oregon and I like that Michael sent me photos of the Daily Bitch Calendar I forgot to pack back in Boston.
I like this place in every day’s blog post when I express gratitude for all those I like, including YOU.
Whenever I pack for a trip, I make many decisions about what to take and what to leave behind. Rather than get too caught up in perfectionism about that, I remind myself that no matter what I forget to pack, I can always adapt. At the same time, I make sure that I have my medication, my identification, a device so I can blog and tweet, and layers of clothing to wear no matter what the weather.
Yesterday, when I was packing for my trip to Portland, I couldn’t decide whether to take a portable music keyboard. I packed it, took it out, and then repacked it again.
On the way to the airport, I talked to my Lyft driver about that nagging feeling that I had forgotten SOMETHING. He related to that, mentioning a toothbrush as something he had forgotten to pack in previous travels.
When I was on board the plane, I felt pretty secure I had everything I needed for the ride, including masks, something to read, and snacks (especially useful because the airline announced that only people who had reserved food over a week ago could get any). After my friend Maria picked me up at the Portland airport and I got settled in her lovely home, I realized, as usual, that there was one thing I had forgotten to pack.
Let’s see if my readers can guess what that might be, as they look through the images in today’s blog.
Happy National Pack Rat Day (which seems somehow appropriate as I post about packing). And by the way, I didn’t pack walnuts, cherry cobbler, or a graduation tassel and I’m not in Idaho, but I’m okay with all that.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “what I forgot to pack.”
Hint: I didn’t pack everything on her list and she didn’t have what I forgot on hers.
Don’t forget to comment with your thoughts about this what-I-forgot-to-pack post and thanks to all who help me blog every day (no matter where in the world I am), including YOU!
Without fundamental change in our laws and attitudes, I fear for the future of the human race. I do believe in people’s ability to change — otherwise I couldn’t do my job as a psychotherapist. However, I just don’t know if the human race can change quickly enough.
As I change over to the visual part of today’s blog, do you see change in my images for today?
My son Aaron — who experienced a change in his appearance yesterday (thanks to the amazing Mia at MiAlisa Salon) — used to call a playground a “bahgo” before we all went through many changes. I’m proud of the young man he has turned out to be.
Feet are on my mind this morning because I love to walk and I’ve been having some pain in my feet.
I wonder if my feet will take me to a doctor before taking me on to a plane this Monday to fly my feet and the rest of me to Portland, Oregon.
Yesterday, I was on my feet while I was capturing these images:
I don’t know if my feet will let me celebrate Dance Like a Chicken Day, since I have been groaning after putting on my shoes, just like the Daily Bitch.
This was what my ears were listening to yesterday when I started worrying about my feet:
Before my feet lead me into this beautiful day, thanks to all who help me take the steps to create this daily blog, including YOU!
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 