Just How Much Do Dogs Really Understand?

There has been quite a bit of research done on how much dogs understand what we are saying to them. We, as humans, should pay more attention to their body language as we speak to them. This picture is Piper, my brother's Vizsla. Notice her head tilted to the left as if she is saying, "I'm trying to understand what you are saying to me." Other signs that a dog may be showing you that he is trying to understand human conversation is raising his ears, wagging his tail, intent staring at you or whining.

My husband and I know that our dog understands us. We did not need a scientific study to reveal this piece of information. Davis demonstrates this all by himself. We even spell words, like parents do around young children. If he hears the words spoken such as walk, go, or doggie-daycare then we can expect one very hyper active dog and nothing really will settle him except us talking to him to let him know that it is not for now. 

Dogs are a lot smarter than most people believe. They not only hear and understand, they can feel and read our body language. They are great listeners and we can pour our hearts out to them. This trust develops into a very special bond. If it is something positive that you are talking to them about, they will wag their tails and maybe even give a bit of doggie talk back to you. If it is more on the negative side, just watch his ears go back. Every morning when Davis hears a soft good mornin' and sees a smile, he goes to his box of toys and chooses one to bring to me.

Dogs have more intuition about people than most people have. The next time that you are out on a walk, or have a guest or workman come to your house, just watch your dog's body language. Does his tail wag in a welcoming way or does it dip down between his legs. It has been said that if a dog does not like someone, that should be a sign for you to be wary.

Dogs are great mimics and have an empathy for their owners. If you are happy and showing it, their tails will be wagging. On the other hand if you are sad or upset, they drop their ears and tails in sympathy for you. Our dog will come to check on us if we sneeze or cough and seems to have a look of concern on his face, even putting his head on our lap or trying to cuddle up with us on the sofa to try to make everything okay.

Scientists have used MIR scans on hundreds of dogs to try to find out how dogs process speech, its meaning and tone. They have discovered that it is similar to the way that humans do this. Most dogs have a vocabulary of 250 words, however, if you talk to your dog often and use repetition, respect, play and patience, your dog could raise that number significantly. 

When you are talking to your dog continue to remain positive and tell him how smart he is. Continue to make training time fun and give him new adventures and experiences. Having some of his favorite treats is always a good thing, as he will do anything to please you. We even have played around with hand signals and our furbaby follows them. He is a fast learner. We know that some of what he seems to understand so well is also based on our tones, body language and routines. When he sees me get my shoes on and grab my handbag, he is running from me to Steve and then to where his leash is hanging. 

His ears perk up at the first sound of a shoe hitting the floor. It is his cue to wake up and get ready to go. He can put on the most soulful, big brown eyes when we say to him that he can't go and point to his home. Davis goes in willingly and plops down, head resting on his front paws and just stares at us. Whenever we are not with him, I like to leave music playing or a ball game. Whether it helps or not? Let's just say that it helps me when we must leave him at home.

Last topic is about dogs watching TV. Before having Davis, I can't remember ever having a dog who watched TV like he does. His breeder, Kim Mills Davis, told me that when she wanted to get a picture of her puppies for sale, that she would turn the wall mounted TV on and all of the puppies would look up at the movement on the screen. Great idea! Our Davis loves watching most all sports that involve a ball, movies with dogs in them and even animated movies with one of our granddaughters.

Only the future can tell how much more our furbabies can learn and will they ever understand full conversations?  There are times that I believe our dog and many others do this now just by picking up on certain phrases and phrasing. Dogs, after all, are positively pawsome!

Day Care

Day Care is one of the most important choices you will ever make for your child. You want them to be happy and safe and with caregivers who love them while you are away. What about Day Care for your furbabies? Are they not just as equally important? Of course they are!

My husband and I are both very much dog lovers. So much so, that we knew that we could not take care of one the proper way until something changed in one of our jobs. We worked very long hours and many times unpredictable changes such as meetings lasting much longer than expected and both of us in positions that we could not just walk out to say, "Sorry, must go pick up our dog." We each left our home for work at 7:00 A.M. and rarely left before 5:00 or 5:30 P.M.That is no life for a dog to be left alone for that length of time. 

As I got closer to retirement, we talked about possibly getting a dog at that time. I researched what kind we may want. We even pointed out where he would be near our feet and if you can believe it, we even had his name chosen. We talked to others about their dogs and the vets that they took their pets to, just to gather important information when the time came. 

Once the time did come, BOOM! Everything happened so quickly. The Animal Clinic that kept coming up as highly recommended was Walnut Grove Animal Clinic. We live close to Walnut Grove, however, this clinic is a bit further in on Walnut Grove than we realized. In fact, it is 14.7 miles down the road. We pass at least 6, maybe more, on our way there. The decision was made that we would go to this Animal Clinic when we chose our furbaby. 

After reading about the different breeds we really wanted a Goldendoodle. It helped in that they are known for their intelligence, being non-allergenic, little shedding, clowning performances, and great personalities. Because of their intelligence, empathy, and need to please, they are often used for Pet Therapy dogs. 

I researched breeders and here is where the tricky part came in. The only ones coming up were a day trip away or more. Pictures are put up for you to pick out the pup of your choice on your computer. They will fly your pup to you (for a cost) or hire a driver. No thank you! Both of us are a "hands on" kind of people. In fact, in our imagination we could see that the puppy would actually find us. And he did just that.

Putting out a note on Facebook that if anyone knew of a local breeder to please private message me. A friend that I have known since elementary school days wrote back the name of her friend whose mother was a breeder just over the state line in Mississippi. After checking it out, I called and we set up a time to come out to their home to see the puppies and their parents. The writing was on the wall that we would find our new puppy. The breeder's name: Kim Mills Davis. Davis is the name that we had already picked out for our puppy. Coincidence? Our last name is Miles and if you flip it around to the jazz musician of Miles Davis, there you have it. 

Kim had us in her home and brought in a couple of pups at a time. They all were adorable. However, one in particular kept coming up to Steve's leg and cuddling up to him. He had a sister that was as cute as a bug and kept pushing him out of the way. The others just enjoyed playing around. Davis was THE ONE. No question. We saw his momma, a beautiful standard black poodle and his daddy, a handsome Golden Retriever. So size wise Davis would be somewhere between 45 and 65 pounds. At this time he was all of 15 pounds. So cuddly!

Kim gave us all of his papers before we left and told us to get him to a vet to be checked out as soon as we could. If anything was not right, she would refund our money or if we had already bonded, she would refund 50% if we had a note from the vet. I called first thing on Monday morning and being a new puppy, they took us right away. (By the way, Goldendoodle by Kim's Design is the site of our breeder. Check her out if interested.)

The front office staff, as well as the technicians that we met were super friendly. Then Dr. Taylor came in. She said that the whole staff in the back were all taking turns holding Davis and getting pics of them holding him. Davis, even at this young age met no strangers. We were offered the puppy package which included all of his needs for that first year, including having him neutered when the time was right. One of the technicians asked me to please bring him to Doggie Day Care when he has all of his shots up to date. That just kind of went over my head because I had never heard of such a thing.

Just as infants visit the pediatrician for booster shots, etc. so did Davis visit Dr. Taylor. Every time we went, I was even more impressed. I asked about Doggie Day Care and what they did. Steve and I talked it over and thought we would try it out when he was ready.

It was most definitely the best decision that we ever made. Even though both of us are home working as writers, Davis, at almost 2 years of age now, needs to run off his energy in a fun, safe, and loving environment. Walnut Grove Animal Clinic (WGAC) was most definitely the place. Since we started taking him here and there, we see how safe and protected all of the dogs are. They have upgraded the play area to the same kind of artificial turf that we have for our furbaby at home. They have baby pools and climbing equipment for all of the dogs to do their own thing. Our dog is in it for the pool, yet on his first report card it was noted that he was very shy and that the pool was not his favorite thing. That was the last time that was ever on his report card.

Before they upgraded to artificial turf, Davis had a favorite place to go. Needless to say, he had to have a bath before we picked him up.

We think that he believes that he is the official greeter for all dogs. With the renovation of WGAC, the new signage went up that calls it Resort Hotel and Spa. And it truly is. The dogs have a blast. It is wonderful for socialization skills. It is like a mini day vacation. We know that our dog gets lots of TLC all day long. In the car as we near WGAC, he starts trying to talk, as if to say to us that we are taking too long. Our feelings would be hurt, except when we do come to pick him up, he is that excited to see us come for him also. We are just so thrilled that he loves Chris, Chaney and Jess so much! He feels the same way about Dr. Taylor when we take him in to see her. 

For the record, we have set up times when he plays most of the day and toward the last part, he can get a bath or one of the expert groomers can work their magic on making him so handsome!  This happens only when he needs it. Normally he has eight hours of non stop play. They do get a rest time but I am betting Davis is just like our eldest granddaughter. Even in Pre-K she did not rest at rest time. 

The ones who run the Resort part of WGAC are Chris, Chaney and Jess and they love their dogs. And they treat each one of them as their dog. They know all of their names, as well as the owners. You can even go on line and see what your doggie has been doing throughout the day. Special instagram pictures of Meet the Pup Monday or Tongues Out Tuesday are posted also.

If you are still wondering about why Doggie Day Care is a good idea or not consider this:

*  for exercise and socialization 
*  human contact (especially if you work outside of the home
*  expert supervised playtime
*  relief from boredom
*  good solution for busy owners

And if you want a recommendation, what better than using Walnut Grove Animal Clinic, as it was voted best of Memphis in 2018! We agree! 

Look at all of the fun these pups are having:

They were loved, they were able to run freely in a safe environment and when our little guy (all 60 pounds of him) falls fast asleep within one mile down the road, walks in to nibble on some of his food and crashes by the front door, as if it is his job to protect us from anyone who may want to come in; this is when we know he had fun.

There are times that he does not make it all the way to the front door before he takes a break.

Once he has taken a little break, he comes over to us for some loving and looks at us with his soulful brown eyes, as if he were saying, "Thanks for giving me such a fun day!"

My First Writing Workshop

For quite some time now, I have been working on a novel that has been blazing in my head. There have been some interruptions (legitimate ones, not excuses) that have delayed my process, however, now is the time. No, I have not finished, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

To help me along, even when I was not working on my novel, I have been reading books by authors that I admire. I have subscribed to the Writer's Digest and Poets and Writers magazines to keep me up to date on what is happening in the world of writing. Plus, I started a blog that I was writing three times a week and now have cut back to once a week, just to work on my style and voice. The whole blog idea happened to be from my Marketing Advisor. Yes, I have one. A very handy one that just happens to be married to me and I love him dearly! He was a Director of Marketing at FedEx and is an avid reader. He has retired and is a writer also. We have our own offices and a lovable goldendoodle who spurs us on. 

 After reading some of my blogs,once I really started writing from within myself, he gave me a fantastic compliment. He referenced a style of my writing to an author that we both enjoy reading. Oh wow! I know he is a bit biased, yet just hearing this
comparison built me up to a new level of writing. 


Every writer tells others the most important thing is to write every day. This is something that I have always done, if nothing else but to write in my journal. I wish that I had started sooner than I did, however, I do have twenty years of journals stored. Who knows? Maybe I will become famous and my journals will be used for a biography? Or perhaps my children may want to flip through some to see what was on my mind on certain days/years? The point is that I wrote not for others, but for myself. My day does not seem complete without writing. 

After retirement from the field of education, I started my blog and have set up my office in order to carry on as a business working out of my home. It feels so right! I even have entered a writing contest from the magazines that I subscribe to. Nothing has come of entries yet and may not. It is getting my writing out there!

The exciting part of digging in harder and deeper with my novel is talking to a friend of mine about his novels and what advice he can give me. Greg sent information to me about a workshop locally that I may be interested in. I read all about the details and it made perfect sense to attend. So I registered.

The author who is guiding the workshop is Susan Cushman. After doing some research on her website and reading some of her blogs, I thought it was a perfect fit for me at this time. Some of my positive mantras that I post on my Facebook page say if you don't take that step into the unknown how will you ever know what could have been and how will you ever reach your goals without taking opportunities that may help you reach them.

Susan stated in her e mail to me after I registered about the set up of the day. There was a deadline to send 15 pages of your manuscript to her. She will
 choose some for the morning session and some for the afternoon session to critique with us in the workshop. I must admit that I was questioning my sanity for registering. Do I really want others reading my work and critiquing  it out loud to the whole class? I did rationalize that when I am published (stated positively) many others will be critiquing it. So perhaps this was the best way to find out what it is that I can do to continue to hone my writing skills. 

Certainly, I need all of the advice that I can receive. Once I saw the guidelines of how to critique a manuscript, it eased my mind. Susan explained that this is a guideline that is used in many workshops and that she has had her manuscripts go through the process. It was not to catch a writer out on grammar or spelling or typos...but more on the style/voice, balance of scenes, pacing, dialog, characters, etc.

Little did I know that everyone who submitted a manuscript received everyone else's manuscript for us to have read before the workshop so that we are familiar with the pieces and already may have some notes to add. We may decide to hand our notes that we wrote on their manuscripts back to them after the workshop if we wish. Plus, we will all have a copy of our manuscript with Susan's notes on it. 

The end of my novel is what I was working on (the story board and how and where I will end it) however now I believe that I will keep it simple in the plot until I hear what others have to say. If it means that I will go back to revisit some of my earlier chapters then that is what I will do. 

The one thing that amazed me was that two or three months, even six months after retirement, I had friends asking if my book was not only finished but when would it be published? Writing a book is not easy. It is most definitely what I have always wanted to do and now I have the time and energy to give to becoming what I have always dreamed of. 

When asked the question by Greg, my published author friend about why did I want to get published, my reply was to just get my name out there. Sort of a foot in the door...not expecting a best selling novel! He smiled and said, "Right answer!" In my own words, that is sort of like a one in a million chance and I am not that kind of writer yet. One step at a time and I believe with all of my heart that I am headed in that direction! 

Sick Puppies

When my children seemed to be ill as young children, it was extremely stressful to know when it was time to call the pediatrician for an appointment. As a mom, you don't want to overreact, yet on the other hand you don't want to let something go that could lead into something more serious.

At least with a child, I had a bit of a history to base my decision on after a few visits to the doctor's office. One child would run a low grade fever, yet continued to play and no one would ever guess that he was ill. After two or three days of the fever, I would take him in, happy and smiling, only to be told that any other child would be crying if their ears or throat looked like his did. I would feel terrible. 

Then on the opposite side of the coin, was my drama queen daughter. I could not count the times that I took her in because she would act as if her ears or throat were hurting, yet it would rarely be any kind of infection. I learned to hold off on taking her in to see the doctor right away, unless I felt it was serious enough to be seen.

Now their children are  causing them the same worries, so it is something we all go through. The same can be said if you are a pet owner about when do you make the appointment and when do you wait it out? Our furbabies can't tell us how badly they hurt and where the pain is. 

This past week our puppy, Davis Miles, was not acting himself. He usually entertains us beyond belief or else is getting into some kind of mischief that puppies do get in to. 

This is why he has toys to help occupy his time when we are not able to play with him. However, it is not often that we find him lethargic and not interested in play.

When he did get up, he lost his breakfast on the floor. I won't go into details, let's just say a lot. Of course, it worried us but dogs, just as people get ill this way. Unless there is some other symptom that is worrisome, most of us will just keep an eye on them before jumping to conclusions. We did take up his food but left a bit of water for him. He just slept on the tile and only moved to the sofa to be close to us. His nose was still cold and moist. He was responsive to his name, just no interest in play. 

Later in the day he got sick again, but only a small amount. Made sense because he had nothing to eat. He did take small sips of water here and there; not his usual drink up the whole bowl at one time. We decided to call the next day if he was not better. He had a few sips of water and did do his business outside, which was a positive sign and then, without any food for the day, he threw up a little again. 

We called the vet the next day and got an appointment for him to be seen. We get there and he is acting like nothing is wrong. He is so excited, wagging his tail, jumping and bouncing around...making us look like we have lost our ever-loving minds. Thank goodness the vet knows Davis and us.

She checked him out and said his vitals are all good. It appears to be one of two things wrong. He either ate something that did not agree with him or he has a stomach virus, which animals get just like we do. She gave him an injection to calm his tummy and then gave us tablets to give him an hour before feeding him. We were to do that for three days. It worked! We surely were happy about that. Parents of furbabies are willing to pay the vet for her services and medicines when it all comes together and heals your baby.

Davis had two normal days of eating his food, playing catch, being his usual mischievious, loving self and went off to play with his friends at Doggie Day Care to help him use some of that puppy energy! He even took a dip in their pool with a friend

.

Grammar Police

The question that I ask myself quite often is do grammar rules ever become outdated? After quite a bit of research, I have found the answer is: yes, yes, yes! Of course, they do, except for those English majors from my era who can't let go of them. The English language is difficult enough without having so many rules that have so many exceptions. 

To this day I can remember having red marks on my papers due to ending a sentence with a preposition. Dangling prepositions were apparently huge mistakes. Really, I just don't like someone imposing their outdated guidelines to my writing. Please don't get me wrong. I do like guidelines and look them up frequently. I need constructive criticism. But some rules are meant to be broken. (And I just did with this sentence and the one before.)

Let's begin with ending a sentence with a preposition. It is fine to do so in almost all circumstances. Two examples where it is not necessary:
"Where are you going to?" Drop the to and simply ask, "Where are you going?" Or, "Where are you at?" There is no need for at. Drop it and just say, "Where are you?" When as a child, I remember my mother and teachers answering my question of, "Where are you at?" with a short answer of, "Between the a and the t." Must have worked because I still remember this rule.

Even Winston Churchill rejected the rule against ending a sentence with a preposition with his famous quote of, "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put." There are a few variations floating around of this quote, but basically all are extremely similar. It has been in circulation for some time and there seems to be no real evidence that it was his true quote or some other writer who attributed it to Churchill to demonstrate his dislike of this rule.

Some of the misguided rules are actually rules leftover from Latin grammar. Times change. Four different articles that I found had the over-application of a real or perceived rule of grammar labeled hypercorrection. I love that word. Usually it is used to describe someone trying to appear formal or educated, however they are so far over the edge that they don't realize they are actually incorrect in the modern usage. 

Another way to have the grammar police come after you is if you begin a sentence with a conjunction. In my second paragraph above, the last two sentences would put me behind the grammatical bars. Students everywhere  are getting points taken off their essays for beginning their sentences with "and," "so," "but," and "or." The origin is said to have started when teachers felt the need to teach their students where to break their sentences. Therefore, another erroneous grammar rule was born. So be BOLD. Break the so-called rule.

While we are on the topic of "bold," so to speak, let's talk about the rule of not splitting an infinitive. To refresh memories of those who have been out of the classroom for many years, an infinitive are those two-word verb forms that begin with  "to" such as "to go," "to fish," or "to read." If you split them then you insert an adverb in the middle. In several different sources I found this example from the starship Enterprise. The mission, it states, is, "To boldly go where no one has gone before." The Oxford and Merriam-Webster English usage dictionaries have no problem with it. So go ahead and split those infinitives when it is needed.

Then there is the age old argument of using the word "irregardless."

Kory Stamper, a lexicographer for Merriam-Webster has this quote on the word, "irregardless:"

"One word that gets a lot of vitriol is the word "irregardless." There is a dictionary entry for "irregardless." "Irregardless" is a word. This inspires specific vehement hatred in people. "Irregardless" is a word and we're duty-bound to enter it. It is related to "regardless." It is actually a blend of two words. It's a blend of "irrespective" and "regardless." People hate it because they say that it has no use — why not just use "regardless"?

But actually in the dialect that "irregardless" comes from, it has a specific use that doesn't translate well in print. It's basically an emphatic use of "regardless." So if you're a native speaker of certain dialects that use "irregardless" you use "irregardless" to shut down further conversation on a topic. I might say, "Dad, let me borrow the car. I'm a really good driver." And he'll say, "Regardless, I'm not comfortable." I'll say, "Oh but come on. I'll get it detailed, and I'll put gas in it." He'll say, "Irregardless, no."

The point of the "irregardless" is to shut down conversation. So "irregardless" is a word. It has a specific use, in particular dialects. That said, it's not part of standard English and so — especially if you're writing or if you're speaking in formal places — you want to use "regardless" instead. Because if you use "irregardless," people will think you're uneducated."

Many grammar police have their own rules made up in their minds. They may have been relevant at one time but have become overrated throughout the years. As a writer, I know that I need to be aware of what is truly a rule to follow and which ones are allowed to be broken. 

One further example of what has become a topic for debate is the use of a comma. Who knew that such a tiny little punctuation mark could draw such discussion. Writers need to use it to show a pause in the phrasing. Example:

"Let's hurry and eat Grandma" or Let's hurry and eat, Grandma. The two sentences mean two different things. To end my blog of watching grammar, let's not forget the Oxford comma. When I have a series of items in a list is it necessary to put the last comma before saying and?  Example:

"While at the grocery store I bought apples, celery, milk, cereal and bread." At one time it was a hard fast rule that a comma needed to appear after cereal. No longer is that the case, except with some grammar police. 

I did discover that it depends on what source you use to find your grammar rules. Know your audience and who will be reading it. Many authors like to use made up words for the creative side of their writing. As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now you know the rest of the story."

Not Ever Enough Time

There are so many days that I can honestly say that there is not ever enough time in my day to accomplish what I want to do. Sometimes they are things that I NEED to do, not just want to do. Now that I am retired, my question to myself is how did I do what I did while working outside of the home. As a writer, I do consider myself working, just on my time. Maybe therein lies the problem. "My Time!" 

I do believe that time is our most precious resource. For myself, I had to come up with some ways to manage my time more effectively so that I can get all accomplished that are on my to do list each day. If I needed help, there certainly are enough self-help books out there to guide me. In my humble opinion, I do believe that I know what I have to do; I just must do it.

Today, I plan on sharing some of these ideas. Sometimes, we as human beings know the answers are deep down within us, and sometimes, me included, we just need to hear them enough to finally do something about them. That is just human nature.

• Be consistent - make a goal and stick to it such as my goal to work out daily can be accomplished if I remain consistent and realistic...knowing my limitations and not trying to overdo it makes me more excited to get this worked in to my day and even motivates me.
• Social media is right at my fingertips all during my work on the computer while writing. Pick the times that it is okay to go and check e-mail, FB, Twitter and stick to those guidelines. My attention sometimes had rather go to the fun stuff instead of work. Even though I love writing, there are times when I get writer's block and it is so much easier to go scrolling on FB or to see what is in my e-mail that is more interesting.
• Always have a never ending supply of water to keep myself hydrated. Eating has become easier now that I know when my body should be fueled and weekly grocery shopping takes care of getting what I need to make it easy to throw something nutritious together. 
• Check my personal calendar so that I am sure about which days will have interruptions. These "interruptions" are most definitely the highlight of being retired and not having to ask to take off to go to the doctor or dentist. The most important thing about interruptions for me is that so many of them are simply fun, fun, fun! Luncheons with friends, manicures/pedicures/facials/hairdressers scheduled in the middle of the day while the rest of my former world is locked away inside four walls. My husband and I no longer shop on the weekends when the crowds are out. NOPE. So much easier and less crowded during the week. This goes for hitting the movies for a matinee, also.
• Choose what brings meaning to my day. Really, this is just another way of telling me to prioritize my to do list. Some days this may mean to put the easy things on the top of my list, while other days get the hardest task out of the way so that it does not become the monkey on my back.
• When sitting down for my mindset part of my morning before I start anything, focus in on my positive mantra to share on FB. This is how my attitude gets put in a good place. It is proven that the brain can't focus on both negativity and positivity at the same time. Practicing gratitude and being positive activates my brain to move forward. For me, it is like taking a "happy pill," only more natural.

In my own mind, all of what I am doing to help me increase my time on tasks are simply put: creating better habits. Using the words 'simply put' is sort of an oxymoron. It takes work to follow through on my techniques. 

If you went in a bookstore, you would find books with many more ideas. They tell you that if you buy and read the book, they will unlock the secrets for you to manage your time better. For me, that was just a bit overwhelming. I need the KISS approach. Keep it simple, stupid in order to help reduce stress and achieve my goals. It is an essential life skill.

 

Need to Relax?

No matter what we do for a living, no matter if you love your chosen career path or the luxury of retirement, we all need to set aside time for relaxation. I laugh at the common myth that once a person retires, they sit in a rocking chair and rock away the rest of their life. I would not have retired if that is what I had to look forward to. 

Retirement is the perfect time to go after a dream that you may have had at another point in time during your employment. I can't speak of others, however, for myself, I always wanted to write. Ideas of novels and children's books popped in my mind all the time. Luckily, I took notes when those ideas came to mind. With the kind of job that I had, I discovered that I could not write effectively and do my day job unless I gave up sleep. 

That wasn't going to happen. Like most others, without sleep, I don't function well. The best thing for me was to check out when it would be most beneficial for finances with my husband to take the plunge and retire before the magical age of 65. We figured it out to the best of our ability with the help of financial planners starting way back when. The opportunity was right.

At first, I did not think that I needed to carry on my own regiment of relaxation once I was retired. I was so wrong about that. It took about a month of just regrouping mentally and physically once retirement began. It was then that I wanted to get into my dream work of writing. Because I wanted to have some type of routine (and did) was the main reason that I needed that relaxation. 

First one has to get over the fact, no matter what your job is, that relaxation is not another word for being lazy. It is the key to my health and state of mind. Even while writing it is important to use most  of my former techniques on relaxing. Let me share some of them with you.

• Find time to curl up with a good book. I try to read some each day. It always helps writers to improve by reading other authors' writing.

• Along with reading comes writing daily in a journal which helps in finding how you are really feeling about your world.
• Sometimes, just taking that long hot bubble bath works magic to settle my mind. I have found that it is a great time to settle my mind and to actually meditate - it clears the cobwebs. I like to call it my mindful meditation time.
  
• Listening to the sounds around you, whether it be nature or a great play list that I have downloaded. Music helps release emotional stress. Luckily, now, even with me writing, I almost always have some type of music on.
  

A wonderful cup of coffee or at night a glass of merlot are my ways of relaxing. The first cup of coffee is what relaxes me and gets me into my day. Before retirement, I would drink 4 - 5 cups of coffee each day. Now I am down to one wonderful cup each morning before I move on to my water. To go with dinner or after dinner, a glass of merlot is just perfect. Each person should find the drink that is relaxing for them.

• Exercise is important for relaxation also. Although I will never be the runner as in the picture, I have discovered what works best for me and saves my knees.

• I like to find time to enjoy outside when it is not so stinking (a Southern expression) hot and humid outside. Time is coming up where I live now to be able to enjoy the outside more. This is how I like to relax or in our "inside/out" room that is screened and keeps the bugs out. Just as you would never find me running, it is relaxing to some, others have told me that to relax they enjoy going out camping. To each their own. This would stress me out more. 
  

The state of relaxation is so very important in our lives. It it my belief that if more people practiced it, there would be less violence in our world today. It is not the answer for everything and everybody but it surely can't hurt to give it a try. Take a moment to let it go!