[8/13/12] Never stop getting into mischief.

The other morning Diane and I were stretching in front of my house after our run. A lady we've run by before while she was walking her dog was walking towards us. I've learned in past meetings with her that her dog's name is Peaches, so as they got closer I said, "Hi, Peaches," and put my hand down for Peaches to smell before I tried to pet her.

Peaches is the cutest little dog (not cuter than our girls, of course). She is a Lhasa Apso:

Peaches look like this dog but with some copper/tan coloring.  Very cute, huh?!

This lady, who I'll call "Mary" since I don't know her name but she looks like a "Mary" to me, proceeded to tell us about the history of Lhasa Apsos. Evidently, Lhasa Apsos originated in Tibet and used to be the guard dogs for the Kings. And they can be very aggressive.

Now look at that face. Does that look like the face of an aggressive dog? Possibly. But we've found Peaches to be very friendly. I know our girls think they're Great Danes, and one day Abby tried to take on a large black lab in PetSmart.

Mary continued to talk to us for awhile. I think she just needed someone to talk to. She said that Peaches gets along very well with her three black cats: Blackberry, Tar Baby, and Halle Berry. She says Halle Berry acts like a star. Clever names. :o)

She also told us that she lives with her daughter (who she feels tries to be her mom), and that she's had two husbands who passed away. She used to work in a military medical facility when she was younger and unmarried, and that people worried about the soldiers hitting on her. 

We also found out that Mary is 86 years old! She does not look like she's 86 - she looks like she's in her 70s. Diane and I both told her we hope that we look as good as she does when we're 86.

This prompted her to give us some words of wisdom, although I don't think she realized this was what she was doing because she was just chatting with us.  I really like to listen to those who are older than I am and who, therefore, have experienced things I haven't experienced. I think I can learn a lot from these people.

Here are Mary's words of wisdom:

1.  If you take care of your body, your body will take care of you.

2.  Always stay active.

3.  Never stop getting into mischief. She said this with a twinkle in her eyes.

Now about that last one. I don't think she meant mischief that causes harm to others and/or is illegal. I think she meant to always keep things lively and fun and interesting and perhaps even spontaneous. I remember when our kids were little and they'd get "that" look in their eyes and we'd say they looked like they were up to mischief, or "look at that mischief in their eyes." You could tell that they were ready to explore new things and were really excited about what they could get into next.

I need to be more mischievous in this way. Spontaneity is sometimes a hard concept for me to grasp and put into action, because I always like to have a plan. And a backup plan. And a backup plan to my backup plan. Sometimes life does seem a bit boring and un-fun. I need to do better at taking time to find some mischief. With a twinkle in my eye, of course! :o)

*Image courtesy of wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lhasa_Apso)