Pavo Art

This is Il Paveno (The Peacock).

Pavo graces us with his magnificent presence here on our Path. He enjoys lounging right outside my back door, near to the house for extra attention. He gets it any time he wants.

He loves to come to our door and open up that spectacular plumage and do this little twirly dance. He does it so I'll go out there and just BE with him. He is quite the entertainer.

{I tried to load one of those videos....to no avail. Still got some learnin' to do!}

His gifts are plentiful. Each year, at the end of mating season, he drops all those gorgeous feathers for me (and others) to find strewn all 'round the property. It usually happens near Summer's end. For me, it's like Christmas in August. I never tire of finding them. I still clap my hands and do my Happy Dance.

And thank him profusely.

You could say that I'm his biggest fan.

In addition to his beauty, he also serves as Protector to me and Sophie. He sleeps on our roof and will scream bloody murder should he hear something that's "not right". Each evening, before I turn in, I walk outside to wish him Good Night and thank him for his service.

Every single night.

For the past seven years.

Yes. I'm serious.

Peacocks are as noisy as they are beautiful. But ONLY during mating season. For about six months, the racket is loud enough to be heard from miles away. NOT exaggerating here. I'm sure it's so that all the Peahens can hear him. Alas, none has come to answer his calls. Poor guy. As for me...well, I love the "noise". Even at three in the morning. It wakes me up...and then the giggles ensue. It just tickles me.

What can I say? I AM his biggest fan.

Along with the beauty and the noise, Peacocks can also be quite messy. If you walk 'round here barefoot you're bound to wind up with Peacock Poop on yer feet. Sophie LOVES to roll in it. NOT something that amuses me. It stinks (and so does she) to the high heavens; if she comes in with it on her she is IMMEDIATELY dragged to the sink where she is rinsed off in cold water. It's my passive/aggressive way of scolding her. She is well aware that I hate it when she does it, but she does it anyway.

Stubborn little Scamp!

And then there's the Peacock Pee. It shows up as white blotches on the pavers or the deck. It's not as stinky as the Poop, but messy all the same. You can see the mess it makes on the roof tiles (in the photo above). And when it cakes up enough, it falls off the roof onto the deck where Sophie will snatch it up like some yummy little Peacock Pee Snack. Disgusting! I usually take a broom to the deck to thwart her snacking but sometimes she's too quick for me.

Anywayzzzz...

Yesterday afternoon, on a mission to clean up some of the mess, I opened the front door to find this:

(don't confuse the dark shade spots with the white pee splotches)

I stood there for a moment, staring at it and wondering why it bugs me so much. I mean...it's NOT Poop. It doesn't stink. So what if it's a big splotch on the brick?

And then it hit me.

PEACOCK ART!!! 

He's a Master of all things beautiful, isn't he? Why shouldn't his droppings be artful too?

I grabbed my box of sidewalk chalk and went to work. I giggled my ass off the whole time. I kept thinking about how there are SOOOOO many people who pay ridiculous amounts of money for "art" that I see as NOT art. I marvel at what some folks see. I wonder why they spend their money on "art" that often looks like a two-year-old made it. It's such a mystery to me. I thought all these things as I played with the shapes of his droppings. And then...I stepped back to look at his "work".

If there's anything to be had here it is that even Peacock Pee can turn into JOY. 

Because...

it's ALWAYS a CHOICE.

Serenity Path

I must have hit a nerve. Or, rather, a BUNCH of nerves. Because my readership skyrocketed after I posted "Highly Sensitive Beings". While it's a bit surprising, it isn't. I'm guessing, though, that it has as much to do with the many HSBs on this Planet as it does the need for some semblance of ease. I suppose people are trying not to freak out, what with all the tragic loss of life and the "natural disasters" of late, not to mention the ever-increasing division that has come to the front and center of a nation under duress. But I don't believe this is just a "national" thang. The whole world seems to be in flux, and, for anyone who has such keen sensitivities, it makes for one whopper of a pill to swallow.

I'm not going to repeat what's already been said. You may, if you wish, click on the link (above) and read that before going further. OR, you may just read on here and forgo the previous meandering. Either way, today is about TODAY. In my world, that means another opportunity to find the Joy that abounds. So...

Right now, as I sit before this laptop and listen to the sounds around me, I am hearing the soft rush of water from the pool's waterfall. There is a bird that is singing a song of three notes, the exact same three notes, over and over again. I think it's the Mockingbird that makes its home in the tree right in front of my office window. The "tune" is the whistle call my neighbors make when calling their little dogs to come inside. Over and over and over again, those same three notes.

The wind chimes are intermittent, the sound of church bells in Florence. They bring me right back to that first morning I woke there, just a block from Il Duomo di Firenze, all those years ago. I swore I'd bring that sound home with me. I didn't stop looking until I found the chimes that now hang right outside my back door, large and long and a near-perfect replica of those church bells.

Sophie is snoozing under the bed, safe in her Puppy Cave. All I can see are her fluffy little feet, poking out from 'neath the bed skirt. Her snoring is soft, but adorably audible.

Right now, at this very moment, all is right with the world. Serenity Path is a place. A real place. The place I have made my home. In a world gone mad, and loud, and tragic, here is where I do my part to bring just a little calm.

And Joy.

And Love.

Me thinks the world could use more of all those things.

You're welcome.

{giggles...and a mischievous grin}