Tag: poison ivy

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Walk a country road

Woman and dog walking on country road
Our road with our new yellow line. Clare liked this angled picture best

It’s another glorious Thanksgiving weekend.

When Dave and I used to live in the city, we’d go for a drive in October in the Caledon Hills or the Hockley Valley. This area will always have a special place in our heart, because it’s where we got married 24 years ago this month.

As much as the drive was beautiful, I would yearn to get out of the car and walk the country roads.

There’s something special about walking a country road. Seeing the farms and fields ablaze in autumnal hues, feeling the warmth of the fall sun on your face, gazing up at piercing blue skies that perfectly frame nature’s masterpiece, and wondering what picturesque view lies beyond the next bend in the road.

Mushrooms
Clare took this amazing picture of a mushroom village we discovered

Yesterday, Clare and I walked our country road. Today, I plan to discover new roads with my best friend Leslie as we go on the Westport studio tour. I can’t imagine a better way to spend Thanksgiving Sunday.

This week’s #HappyAct is to escape for an hour this weekend from family gatherings and gobfuls of turkey and get out and walk a country road. Enjoy the brilliant sunshine, fall colours and promise of adventure around every curve.

Ed. note: Interesting side fact. Until this year, our road never had a yellow line. The roads crew painted it on Canada Day weekend. We cheered when we saw them (when you live in the country, this is our excitement), but I’m still not used to it. Maybe when winter comes, I’ll appreciate our bright yellow line.

Poison ivy
Poison ivy leaves turn a beautiful red in the fall, but they are still lethal–avoid them at all costs!

Country road

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8 things NOT to do if you want to be happy

Our great Pyrenees Bella likes to gnaw on the drywall in our sunroom in the middle of the night
Our great Pyrenees Bella likes to gnaw on the drywall in our sunroom in the middle of the night

It’s been almost a year since I started this blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my posts on Sundays, thinking more about what makes you happy and doing each week’s Happy Act.

After almost a year of happy acts, and being more aware of what makes me happy, I’ve also learned what doesn’t make me happy. Here is “the list”.

Eight things NOT to do if you want to be happy

  1. Offer to drive four 8-year olds to summer camp for an entire week
  2. Get a Great Pyrenees as a pet
  3. Go bathing suit shopping unless you’re a size 6 or less
  4. Leave your interior car light on at the Watertown airport while rushing to catch an early morning flight and coming home to a dead battery at 11 p.m. at night
  5. Hang out with negative people
  6. Pick white berries for your holiday wreath (I learned the hard way poison ivy has white berries)
  7. Wear nylons
  8. Challenge your kids to a farting or burping contest

This week’s #HappyAct is really easy—don’t do any of these things! Have a happy week!