Sometimes we have to do our Shoulds. We made grown-up choices–marrying, having families–and those pretty much preclude going to Bali to think. But I agree–shove the Shoulds aside whenever we can.

I would love to get rid of my FB page, and I’m on it very seldom, but I am expected to have one. It’s a Should, I’m afraid.

Since you live in the woods, they may have been phoebes. A very distinct call–feee-bee! They like to nest under eaves of old dwelling (not that your house is old!). Poor little things. Nothing sadder than a failed nest.

By the time we found the nestlings, they were dead. 🙁

The bird is medium sized and gray. Not a wren. Aren’t sparrows usually brown?

Yes, I often myself caught in the web of Shoulds. I have difficulty sorting it all out, but as Elizabeth pointed out, I refuse to let comparison steal my joy. Toward that end, I just de-activated my facebook page.

I hear you, Connie. I’m forever waiting for “normal” or for when this straightens out and it quits raining or warms up or my foot heals or I have more money . . . there is not normal and that “perfect” day never comes. You’re right–we have to take the days we are handed. We don’t know how many we’re going to get.

Those yellow tulips are fake! The window box is on a shed and nothing I’d ever fool with. I think Zelda was attracted to them. No regular old tree for her . . . she has flowers!

Oh, you were one of those good girls. I wasn’t, mainly because nobody paid that much attention to me. I wasn’t *bad,* just not good. If someone said, Don’t do that, I’d run and do it. It wasn’t until I grew up that I realized I’d have to comply to get along in this world. But that didn’t stop me from going barefoot in the office where I worked and hanging a poster of Middle Earth above my desk.

You have broken away from the shoulds . . . and now you are about to start a new life in a gorgeous house. Fill it with what you love. Plant petunias in a whitewashed tire in the front yard! Be bad!

The moon fabric lady is named Ellie Luna, I think. I found the link through a tracery of links I can’t remember.

When I think of how productive I was 20 years ago, I realize it was the Internet that wasn’t around. It makes a huge difference in how I spend my time. For all of us. I’m still on the web a ton, but I’m better at sorting out the “fluff” and zeroing in on the sites that help me.

If baby birds fall out of the nest, you can put them back in. Birds can’t smell our scent. But most of the time, the parents take care of the babies until they can fly off.
Describe that bird to me–small, brown? It may be a song sparrow. Jerky tail and snapping eyes? May be a wren.

That said, I’ve always been a bit of a quiet rebel. Which is why your post reminded me of myself. Too, it made me think of this lovely snippet by Shel Silverstein:

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”

Here’s to the child in all of us, and to my personal motto: More Wheeeee, less Whoa. xoxoxxo