Other Thoughts | BulgingButtons

June 19, 2015
by BulgingButtons Leave a comment

Summer in Phoenix

Hot is a dog who won’t go outside,

preferring instead to sprawl across the tile floor

directly across from the air vent

Hot is the sensation that your paper parking permit

Will spontaneously combust between your fingertips

As you remove it from your windshield

Hot is a ponytail, braid, or bun

Morning, noon, and night

Hot is driving home from work

With the air conditioning on high

and pulling into the garage

before the car has cooled down

Hot is feeling apprehension every time you turn the ignition key

and feeling gratitude every time the car starts

Hot is waiting until later in the day

when the shadows appear

to go into the backyard pool

Hot is floor fans, ceiling fans, wet cloths, and water bottles

Hot is planning on cold cereal and yogurt for dinner

Hot is finding the one parking spot under the scrawny Palo Verde Tree

just for a little bit of shade

Hot is laundry. So much laundry.

Hot is choosing shoes with thicker soles

so you don’t feel as much of the heat coming up from the pavement

Hot is watching movies like Ice Age and Frozen

Even if there are no children in the house

Hot is extra chemicals for the pool

and extra water for the lawn

Hot is Phoenix in the summer

and no surprise

Hot is the temporary price we pay to live here

For that reason only, hot is okay.

June 18, 2015
by BulgingButtons 2 Comments

There is a bird’s nest in our backyard. Not really in the yard, though, more like up under the patio cover next to the house. We see the birds fly in and out of there, and we can hear them on the wall outside our bedroom, but we can’t actually see the nest. I thought the babies had flown away a while ago, but either I was wrong or there is a new crop.

This afternoon while we were in the yard the dog nosed at something that moved. I told her to “leave it,” and remarkably, she did. Turns out it was a baby bird. This baby was far from the nest, and obviously injured. As I said, we don’t actually have access to the nest, and truthfully this little one might not have even come from there. What do you do with an injured baby bird?

Maybe, if you know anything about birds, you can attempt to rehabilitate it. I know nothing about birds, and frankly they kind of freak me out, up close. Putting it in the nest wasn’t an option, and even if we had, I doubt it would have survived. So what does that leave? A mercy killing? Maybe it would have been the kindest thing to do, but I couldn’t. I was a coward. I let nature take its course, and a little while later I found the little guy dead.

It was a bird. A common ordinary bird. There are millions of them, and not all of the babies survive, which is why they hatch multiple eggs at a time. I get it. Still, I feel badly about it. My head knows that in the grand scheme of things, that little bird’s death is just the way things work, but my heart is a little sad about it. I hope that little bird found some peace. I’m sorry little bird.

June 9, 2015
by BulgingButtons 4 Comments

Acts of Service – The Five Love Languages

A while back I read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It really was a while ago, because I bought the singles edition, and I’ve been engaged for the past two years (no hurry, but that’s a whole other post). Tonight I was clearly reminded of this book’s premise by my sweetheart. No, he hasn’t read it, it was in his actions.

You see, Chapman asserts that we all have a love language with which we are most comfortable. We tend to show others our love though that language, and we prefer to receive the love of others in that same way. The languages, as he defines them, are Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Acts of Service, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. Of course most people enjoy all of those types of interactions with their loved ones, but generally one of them stands out. For my sweetheart, it’s Acts of Service.

He shows his love through doing things for me, like changing the wiper blades on my car and repairing the dryer. Yes, these are practical things, but they are things that make my life better, and I appreciate that he does them. I also have to remember that he feels loved when I perform acts of service too. Simple things like cleaning up the kitchen or vacuuming make him very happy.

Tonight he proved, once again, that he’s an Acts of Service guy. I mentioned to him, rather late in the evening, that I thought I might be getting a bladder infection. TMI? Sorry. Being the sensitive man he it, he knew that cranberry juice is the first line of defense against such a problem. He immediately left the house to get me some, bringing back two large bottles and a six-pack of small ones I could take with me on the go. As soon as he got home he got out a glass, filled it with ice, and presented me with the elixir of health. Now if that’s not a display of love, I don’t know what is.

Maybe some people this book is pop psychology or new age nonsense, but it made very good sense to me. I think I’ll reread it before I go on vacation with my extended family. Maybe I’ll be able to use some of the information it contains to keep things running smoothly with all the people I love.

How do you show love? How do you like it to be shown to you?