First day back in Firestone Bay. Cold and crisp.
Community, Christmas Cheer, condolences and Chai.
#1369 theoldmortuary ponders.
Author: theoldmortuary.design
theoldmortuary has been a blog for about five years. It has evolved into an almost daily event. Pondering on the things that are inspired by my daily life. Often mundane, sometimes repetitive I swerve from hyperlocal activity to big and small thoughts without blinking an eye. I am an artist and writer. My hometown is Plymouth in South West England, part of me will always be connected to London and another part loves to travel.
#1368 theoldmortuary ponders.
Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.
The obvious answer would be my Dad. A quiet, clever man who avoided conflict and worked hard. He was dependable and wise, a man ahead of his time in many ways and out of step with the masculinity of his generation.
The bar was set quite high, but having a gentle father gave me a natural resistance to toxic masculinity in my inner circle. Such men are unavoidable in the real world, but I am lucky that the significant men that I have as friends and family are of the same calibre as my Dad.
#1367 theoldmortuary ponders.
I took this photo last week. I was intrigued by the twist on the normal message of Merry Christmas. Taking Christ out of the salutation and replacing him with love. Millions of people with no Christian faith at all celebrate Christmas, and for them Christmas is all about being with the people you love, sharing food and gifts and most importantly sharing oodles of love widely. I never expected to use this photo, but the sudden death of a much loved dog has plunged us into a Love-mas. Not merry but a Love-mas never the less.
#1366 theoldmortuary ponders
Messages of sympathy and love have flooded in from all over the world. Along with photos of Hugo that we have never seen before and stories of his antics that have made us smile.
Hugo was an Interventionist Flâneur, from the day he arrived.
Having observed, he intervened, fixing people with his eyes, limpid, black pools of love and interest. He looked into souls, searching for a reason to give one of his specialist dominating cuddles.
A dog who knew all about the human need for comfort. He felt the pain of bereavement, heartbreak, hangovers, period pains and sorted things out with long moments of eye to eye contact.
Before collapsing into the cuddle position which was always his unstated intention. If he had been a human therapist he would have been struck off every list that exists.
For the first time in 13 years he is not around to resolve my sorrow and sadness. But because he was so good at what he did, our family has been flooded with love from all corners of the world. We have loved getting the photographs and anecdotes. They make us smile and they make our eyes leak, but we find ourselves in a Lovemas all of his making.
#1366 theoldmortuary ponders
From time to time, people tell me, “lighten up, it’s just a dog,”
or “that’s a lot of money for just a dog.”
They don’t understand the distance travelled, the time spent,
or the costs involved for “just a dog.”
Some of my proudest moments have come about with “just a dog.”
Many hours have passed and my only company was “just a dog,”
but I did not once feel slighted.
Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by
“just a dog,” and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch
of “just a dog” gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.
If you, too, think it’s “just a dog,” then you probably understand
phrases like “just a friend,” “just a sunrise,” or “just a promise.”
“Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship,
trust, and pure unbridled joy.
“Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience
that make me a better person.
Because of “just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks and look
longingly to the future.
So for me and folks like me, it’s not “just a dog”
but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future,
the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.
“Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts
away from myself and the worries of the day.
I hope that someday they can understand that its’ not “just a dog”
but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being
“just a man” or “just a woman.”
So the next time you hear the phrase “just a dog,”
just smile, because they “just don’t understand.”
~Unknown Author~
© 2016 PROFESSOR NOEL FITZPATRICK All rights reserved – Built by Lightflows Digital Agency
Hugo died suddenly, one day after we returned from our holiday. His last enthusiastic greeting had broken his heart. Heart Failure caused by a sudden rush of love to his heart.
Our world will not be the same without him.
#1365 theoldmortuary ponders.
What skills or lessons have you learned recently?
Rather a dry question for today’s Christmas Tree. But subvert it a little and ask.
“What new pearls of wisdom have you gained recently?”
My more romantic version of the question brings forth so much more inspiration for a well honed answer.
Pearls of Wisdom come in all shapes and sizes and in many different colours.
The pearls of wisdom I learned yesterday were all on the darker end of the spectrum. But they overlayed the pearls of the last few weeks that were much lighter and brighter colours, more joyful in every way.
“It’s all a part of Life’s Rich Pattern/Tapestry”
Never a truer quote and one that rings true every day. Gathering pearls of wisdom and adding them to life’s rich pattern is a skilled and valuable lesson. However uncomfortable those lessons may be at times
#1364 theoldmortuary ponders.
Hard to reconcile the news, that as I wandered the very quiet streets of Windsor in search of another coffee after a boisterous and turbulent 14 hour flight. Something dreadful was occurring in Sydney, a place I have only just returned from. A place that found a place in my heart and mind instantly.
A place that introduced me to Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere. Gorgeous, camp and oversized. Twinkling brightly, defiantly competing with the brilliance of the sun. Now overlooking a landscape of grief and sorrow.
An unimaginable horror in paradise
#1363 theoldmortuary ponders.
Holidays, like all good things must come to an end. It is a bummer.
This bum was in our last coffee shop stop in Hong Kong. Kaktus Koffee in Sheung Wang.
The last coffee of our holiday and the last in Hong Kong it may have been, but I had my first taste of a cloud coffee.
And of course I also took a photo of the beautiful floor.
My normal coffee of choice is a simple two shot, short black. However travel is a great way to open the mind. Giddiness in all things is permitted beyond the confines of the day to day.
Coffee giddiness went to some crazy places. Lemon Coffee. Burnt and Salted popcorn coffee, Cloud coffee. My coffee infidelity was rampant. There are others that have currently slipped my mind. Probably because it has become so delightfully open.
December and our travels in Asia and Australia have been punctuated by coffee stops. My winter blogs will be peppered with holiday anecdotes and sunshine photos during January, but the rest of December will be all about Christmas trees in sunny places.
Normal blogging but with a sunshine twist. X
#1362 theoldmortuary ponders.
A day of back street wandering and an accidental story unfolds…
As luck would have it I can draw us a happy ending.
Which is significantly different to other happy endings offered on the same street.
For us too it is a happy but bittersweet ending. Time to head for the hills of home.
#1361 theoldmortuary ponders
This time yesterday we were taking a tea and wee break in Hong Kong Airport. Sitting below a pink festive waterfall. Which inspired me to catch the pink dawn this morning .
I am not sure pale pink is a colour I normally associate with Hong Kong or Christmas but both worked for quiet contemplation before the hurly- burly, vivid carnival that is family life in Hong Kong.
Let it begin.
#1360 theoldmortuary ponders
This time yesterday we were taking a tea and wee break in Hong Kong Airport. Sitting below a pink festive waterfall. Which inspired me to catch the pink dawn this morning .
I am not sure pale pink is a colour I normally associate with Hong Kong or Christmas but both worked for quiet contemplation before the hurly- burly, vivid carnival that is family life in Hong Kong.
Let it begin.
theoldmortuary.design 