Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the-bloghop-that-Lizzi-built, and it is, as befits all communal activity in the virtual world, many things to many people. There are few Rules, (but many Secret Rules), the people who participate vary from the new-to-blogging to extraordinarily talented blog writers, however, the bottom line here the charge to us to make the effort to identify parts of our life/our world/our reality that elicits a feeling of gratitude and to share what that means, (to you), here at this virtual gathering, every weekend.
1) I’ll start by thanking Denise for today’s Post subtitle. Not certain what prompted it, but, in the course of conversation, we agreed that, when it comes to writing blog posts, its’ easier…’
2) funerals. This is not an attempt to be macabre or worse, contrived, but I have to go to a funeral service (a work connected person, close but not family close) tomorrow and I am grateful because most of the time I go to one, I leave with a refreshed sense of the importance of appreciating the here and now. It’s not a ‘glad I’m not them’ thing, rather, it (the experience of going to a funeral service), is a very real and effective reminder that no matter how caught up I get in my dreams and ambitions, fears and hopes, the fact of the matter is that there is only today. (Sure, there’s probably going to be tomorrow… but that’s exactly how I get myself in trouble, living in the future, as most clarks do.*) And, I also experience funerals as an opportunity to self-understand myself more… not being an overly-emotional person, (which is not to say that I lack emotion), I find it a challenge to convey what I would convey to the people that I care about at (a) funeral.
3) Lets hear it for work! (The employment type, not the dig in the yard, physically demanding, mentally refreshing activity, which will be Item #5)… I enjoy what I do and sometimes I catch myself avoiding making mistakes and that’s really an excellent feeling. (I did mention that I’m a clark, right?)
4) I will cite as Grat Item #4, the opportunity to use the word macabre in a sentence where that is the legitimately best word
5) digging holes in the ground. (the photo below) is my home made drainage …thing. (turns out that the new driveway was not quite properly pitched, at least the section of it that Phyllis uses to park her Mini. Which is a problem in the winter. The snow melts and pools inside the enclosure that we have for the car and the car sits in water until it gets cold enough and then the car is locked in the ice for a couple of months. So, the solution is to create a lower point. The problem is, most of the area around this section of the driveway is higher. (damn! this is taking a long time to write! Hell, I devoting nearly as much time describing my drainage project as I did trying to relate my feelings and attitudes toward funerals… that can’t be right! lol)
6) Phyllis’s Treehouse is coming along fine… for this year, the only things left are some sort of curtains (probably some of those bamboo roll-up things) and a little landscaping and that’s about all for this season.
7) Una, of course.
8) the fearless and intrepid Graviteers over at the 2 Mile Run ‘Gravity Challenge’ (that would be Kristi, Christine, Val, Lisa and Joy) ya oughta come by and join us! It’s fun and gravity-defying!
9) z and her Six Sentence Stories…. A weekly mid-term/class project/term paperette and impromptu presentation all rolled into one! (no! normal bloggers! don’t listen to me on this. this is only how I view the challenge of writing a six sentence story, most of the others have the skill (and talent) to not only create great stories, but also make it look easy! My own interest is very simply, if I hangout with people with superior skills in the word-wrangling biz, then mine will surely improve as well!
10) SR 1.3 …and,of course, the entire Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules) for being nothing less than license to do almost anything in these pages (with the clearly appreciated caveat that this is still about being grateful)
* and rogers live in the past and scotts, now they, they’re the one’s that live in the present, ‘cept they don’t have the interest to over-appreciate what it is they do…
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About clarkscottroger
You know, you now have to change that self deprecating thing in number 9. You are quite good at it. Hope the funeral is as painless and insightful as possible. Hey what about the “That Effing Book” blog?
Ummmm…youre quite good at sss …not the self deprecation….well…wait….never mind.
slow at the change thing, I know! thanks (although most of the people around me here have skills that I covet and the best way to get them is to try and keep up)
sent you an ‘author’ invite thing for ‘That Effing Book’ (couldn’t’ figure out how to do a co-host thing with blogger, but lets start with this)
so what do you think we should do with “That Effing Book” ?
lets write an online detective novel (preferably of the old, pulp variety)…
You’re welcome! I started my TToT but I’m still… writing it. You sure we decided it was easier to finish? Is that what we decided? LOL
I’m getting totally distracted and proving that point right this minute! Why the hell am I reading your post before I complete mine?
#2 – difficult, admirable, imperative
Yeah, #4 is pretty cool :)
And that is one deep drainage ditch! (hope it works!)
yeah the depth is a function of the surrounding topography…. ain’t nowhere close that drops off and so, in order to keep moving the water, I have to keep digging deeper lol
I love number four, as someone who loves all the words at our disposal.
:-)
Good choice.
thank you… lots of words (and, around here, if one enjoys a word it doesn’t even matter if it’s overly real or not!)
Sweet! loving that treehouse! I’m thankful for you and Denise…and HOUSEWARMINGS! :D
Yes, we aren’t ready, we aren’t quite unpacked, and we’re making ourselves get out of our comfort zone by having a house gathering. Hehe. I will *try* to call in tonight, though. Cuz it’ll be over by then. But we are doing this cuz we have family in town…so we will see. But I would love to talk to y’all!
“Why darling I love what you’ve done to the place, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the school of stacked boxes quite so effectively employed, you simply must give me the name of your designer!”
lol
8:00 to 9:00 yo
Denise is right. Good things this week. Looking at funerals as a way to appreciate and celebrate life – yours, the dearly departed, and the lives of those you know, is an excellent view of gratitude as the center of life.
well, it’s another example, for me, of how perspective in everything (and, even more important, how perspective can be a choice)
I still do want to join your running group, but I don’t know how to link my pics. NICE drainage ditch!
Often when you describe clarks, I think there are similarities with people who suffer from anxiety. What do you think of this possible connection?
while ‘the Everything Rule’ serves to remind us that there are few things that are the exclusive purview of any one worldview, I would tend to agree, at least with the qualifying that, of the three, clarks are more likely to accommodate anxiety as a condition (and, worse, allow it to be considered part of the value system that we all have when making decision, large and small)
!. Can snakes climb stairs and go into a treehouse?
2. I thought the tree house would be, well, more tree-ish. Not as far to fall, though.
3. I’m sorry about the loss of your friend.
4. You are a marvelous 6 sentence story teller.
1) no. but they can drop out of overhanging branches and sneak in
2) Phyllis was inclined to agree (with your perception of ‘more height!!!’) I may have influenced the process, plus, other than a treehouse 30′ in the air, the tree we selected was the best available.
3) husband of a work-friend, but I appreciate the thought
4) thanks, you’re pretty darn good your own self
!) SWEET BABY JESUS, NOOOO!
lol
The treehouse is looking fantastic! The flag is a nice touch.
all Phyllis’s work… she is really enjoying having such a frivolous, yet still valid addition to life’s daily routine
Hmm. I felt the same way about life this week, Clark. It is indeed transient, so we’ve to live in the moment!
yeah… I really suck at actually doing it (live in the moment) but to make up for it, I always try to remember to try to
I love the treehouse and once again am impressed when you do something I didn’t knowwwwwwwwwww you could do, like digging a good ditch! jehnay
yeah, for various sordid (I would hope) reasons, I do love to dig holes in the ground.
I have the chills — without having read your post at all, mine was written about a funeral I went to.
Weird.
Just. Weird.
I’ve run into that (around the TToT) before… spooky yeah
The treehouse looks great!
I agree (I’ll tell Phyllis you said so)