a little Odd at times

By the time it came to the edge of the Forest the stream had grown up, so that it was almost a river and, being grown-up, it did not run and jump and sparkle along as it used to do when it was younger, but moved more slowly. For it knew now where it was going, and it said to itself, "There is no hurry. We shall get there someday."



Now we come to what could be called the most characteristic element of Taoism-in-action. In Chinese it is known as We Wei. It is also the most characteristic element of Pooh in action. In English, it is not known as much of anything in particular.



We believe that it's time that someone noticed it and called it something, so we will call it the Pooh Way.



The efficiency of Wu Wei is like that of water flowing over and around the rocks in its path- - not the mechanical straight line approach, that usually ends up short-circuiting natural laws, but one that evolves from an inner sensitivity to the natural rhythm of things.



The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused it to develop a mind that tries too hard. . . . When you work with Wu Wei, you have no real accidents. Things may get a little Odd at times, but they work out.

(excerpts above from "The Pooh Way" chapter of The Tao of Pooh)

We took a long walk again this morning in a different direction and I was surveying the snapshots, thinking, there isn't much of a narrative here. Then I plopped down with my coffee in the swing and read the above chapter, chuckling to myself at the "little Odd at times" and decided this would work well as a frame.


You see, there are these wild growing plants along the trail that draw the dogs like catnip. They plunge their noses deep into the center of them and crack me up. Evan then feels the need to pee on them, as if this will somehow enhance the aroma, and he tends to do this while Katy is still entranced in the leaves, so I'm waiting on the day he pees on her head.

And one of the little oddities is that this dog was apparently raised by cats, because after he does his business, he takes two steps forward and kicks the dirt over the spot.


And there's Katy still inhaling.




I mentioned we were due for a cool down but it still hasn't arrived -- just blue skies and bright blooms every day this week.





And the bunnies are out enjoying the mornings, too.


When we get back from a long walk the dogs empty their water bowls (after peeing on every thing for miles, of course they do) and then finish their breakfast. Here's another Little Odd thing about our newest family member. He picks at his food. He'll spit out the parts of the kibble he likes less and leave it strewn all around the bowl. BUT, if you give him long enough, he cleans every bit of it from the floor.

Just give him time to do it in his own way.


And then, after all that, I usually get treated to a round of puppy wrestling before they flop down under my feet for the rest of the morning.



I love my little Odd times.


Those who do things by the Pooh Way find this sort of thing happening to them all the time. It's hard to explain, except by example, but it works. Things just happen in the right way, at the right time. At least they do when you let them, when work with circumstances instead of saying, "This isn't supposed to be happening this way," and trying hard to make it happen some other way. If you're in tune with The Way Things Work, then they work the way they need to, no matter what you think about it at the time. Later on, you can look back and say, "Oh, now I understand. That had to happen so that those could happen, and those had to happen in order this this to happen . . ."

Then you realize that even if you'd tried to make it all turn out perfectly, you couldn't have done better, and you'd really tried, you would have made a mess of the whole thing. (Tao 80)