Perception And Mind Set

                                                          Our point of view, perception of life,
preconceived ideas, and attitude, all affect how we interpret life.  How do the optimists stay optimistic? Why can't the pessimists cheer up and be more positive?  Abbey cat perceives things through two mind sets, causing her to have a split personality.  I definitely prefer her playful and cuddly "life is good" attitude vs her chip on the shoulder "I dare you to try to pet me" confrontational mind set.

      This photograph by Arthur Meyers is a good example of where point of view kicks in.  The angle you select to take or view a photo changes your perception of what you are looking at because your mind set says something else.  When people see this image, they turn their heads sideways because they are certain that it is not being projected correctly. BUT, it is! Taken in Hong Kong, the “green” is the side of an apartment building with laundry being extended from the unseen balconies.


     We can joke about mind set with this poster... tunnel vision of the optimistic pessimist... Sees the light at the end of the tunnel as a positive sign to the entrance of another tunnel.


     We had gotten into a discussion at school last Wednesday, during one of my meetings, about our preconceived notion of our students ability and its affect on their performance.  It started from the decision to drop a low level physical science course and move all the low achievers into Chemistry.  It is being done as a means to divide and concur the low level behavior problems with the hopes that the good students will bring up the behavior and effort of the low achievers.  About half of us were not in favor because we feel the low achievers are going to "drown" because they will be in over their heads... and they will tend to just shut down, give up, and maybe become more of a discipline problem.  Plus, we are concerned that it will slow the progress of the class and the chance for our higher level thinkers to move at their faster pace. We talked about how our expectations of the students affects their performance.  If we believe in our students who
are low achievers, set higher
expectations for them and can get them to believe they can do it... there is greater potential for learning.  This is true... but, can be applied to a lower level class where the students aren't expected to perform way beyond their ability.  Still "set the bar" high (expectations for behavior and learning) but at least make the goals obtainable.

     Amiga and Zorro are "guarding" the entrance to the barn so Roni can't get in.  He needs to go in first to get to the back where his stall is.  I am still working on an attitude adjustment of these two young punks.  Roni's mind set is to stay away from them... but he doesn't want to leave them out of his sight.

     Thursday was a rainy, misty, gloomy Thanksgiving morning.  I worked on school work for several hours... then started in on Christmas decorating.
                                                      First I had to tote in the 8 tubs of stuff
we have stored, then I had to unpack each of them to see what I had to work with, then I had to put away all my regular decorations and move some furniture, then I had to do a ton of cleaning... floors and walls that were hidden by furniture and I had to dust everything.  I had Christmas music playing so I could whistle while I worked... life seemed good.

     Joe did yard work, cleaning up additional leaves, and then drained both water heaters to clean the sediment out. 

Well, in the process, the kitchen sink had to be running and we ended up with a bunch of water spraying all over because the nozzle clogged.  So, the kitchen got a good scrubbing too.  The ducks were thrilled about dabbling and playing in the puddle of warm water draining onto the drive.  Some chickens enjoyed a warm drink too.

     Before I actually got anything decorated, it was time for chores so I went out to help Joe with that.  While Joe cooked bacon and eggs for dinner, I realized Abbey was missing and I hadn't seen her in quite some time.   I called and looked for her both inside and out, but with no luck.

     The cows have an easy going perception of life, with eating always on their minds.  They keep an eye out for us at feeding time. 

      After dinner I did a thorough search in the house for Abbey.  Then I headed out to look around the farm, flashlight in one hand, dog on leash in the other.  I had my mind set on finding her.  Once when Abbey was missing, she came out from under the corn crib, so I searched around and in all of the buildings.  I shut the chicken coop in the process.  Then I walked the whole perimeter of the property.  I decided to make this my walk with Kaysha.  When we got back, there was Abbey at the back door, paws up on the window looking out from within.

      Is mind set affected by the side of the door we are on?  Do we always perceive things better on the other side?  It seems like the barn cats want to come in while the house cat wants to go out.   And they sit on their side of the door looking at you in an effort to alter your
                                         mind into thinking
it would be wise to open the door.

     I was guessing the reason Abbey had gone into hiding in the house was because the spraying water from earlier scared her.  And she may have even gotten a little shower out of it in the process.

     Friday was a much more productive day in terms of decorating.  After Joe had put the tree together, he was quick to head outside to clean stalls, do some tree trimming, move bales of straw up around the coop and kitchen window, and redo the air condition cover that had blown off.  Missy
later found this spot in the sun a great

place to nap.  I had the Christmas music going and was set to beautify the house.  Starting with tree lights, I ran into the usual problems with lights that would not work.  I replaced burnt out bulbs but if the whole string was dead, it was a bit more complicated.  I looked for loose bulbs, bad wire, etc. but if I couldn't find a quick fix, I pitched the whole string of lights.  Soon I realized I would need to go to the store for some replacement lights.  I was not going to let this alter my festive mind set.  With the sirloin tip in the crock pot, laundry going, and Christmas music playing, I kept at the task of decorating.

     We ate an early dinner so I could head to town.  I have to admit, the beef was quite tasty.  Buying Christmas lights was at the top of my list but I needed to buy food items to take to Iowa and wanted to get some more stuff to put in Daniel's Christmas box.  I went to school first, to feed some critters and xerox.  Then headed to Menard's for Christmas lights and Wal-Mart for my groceries.  Getting home at 8:30, my bed time, I was exhausted and ready to call it a day.  After unloading and stowing away my purchases, I did dishes, folded laundry, and sat here to reflect and enjoy a beer.  15 min. later, I was ready for bed.

     Saturday I was up at my usual 4:30... needing to get a lot done before we hit the road for Iowa.  It poured off and on during our three hour drive.  We had a great time with Joe's family.  Tracy cooked the turkey and all Joe's sisters cooked up a ton of good stuff to go along.  We had a feast.  Then we had fun playing different board games requiring wit, fast thinking, good memory, and different mind sets.  It is always a lot of fun to have everyone gathered around the table.

      Sunday we enjoyed more turkey for lunch and then hit the road for home.  I did more decorating but had more issues with lights and extension cords, so did not accomplish as much as hoped.  We had gotten a package in the mail to Dan from Dan that Joe open.  Abbey was quick to perceive it as a new place to hide. 

     Monday was a very bad, no good day.  It seemed as if things continued to go wrong all day.  It started by my discovering one of the chickens missing a bunch of feathers.  I don't know when exactly or why this has occurred.

I forgot to take my xerox folder to school, and had gone in early to get that job done.  Then I couldn't get my web editing to work.  The students were non-responsive in class.  Went to mail Dan his Christmas package after school and discovered after the third time to park and try a door, that I was at the wrong post office building.  I lost one of my gloves in Lowe's but discovered this after I was long gone.  At the check out line at Schnuck's, the cashier was chatting with this old lady who was ahead of me.  It was moving very slowly, and I was worried about being late for therapy.  Finally, when she had finished ringing me up, she was smelling the pine scented candle she was bagging for me, and dropped it on the floor breaking it into pieces.  So, I told her I would run and get a replacement not knowing how long it would be otherwise.  At therapy, the PT told me I had been overdoing it (no surprise) and that my range of motion was worse because of the swelling and additional build up of scar tissue. 
                                                      Once home, I discovered that Norman

 was out back by the tracks.  He seems to think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  In this photo he is following Joe back in to the paddock.  There was cat throw up in two different spots in the house. And I had run out of time and energy to get everything done once animals were taken care of.  The day did end on a nice note, going to our Growth Group.

      I had put the plucked hen, Baby, in the dog crate and checked her Tuesday morning to see if she was pulling out her own feathers.  They will do this when they get broody.  But she hadn't.  Here you can see Tiny on top of the crate.  I put a shoe box with hay in it so Baby could keep warm or lay eggs if needed.  In the afternoon I went out to the barn to see if I could give the barn cats a wormer they needed.  I was going to mix it with the canned cat food I had just bought.  Well, their dish of dry food in the tack room was untouched.  I had seen Brother in the morning, but Missy never came to eat.  There is never food left in their bowl... so I was worried.  After calling for them several times I set off in search.  I had gotten a rake out of the garden shed in the morning, and sure enough, there was brother, locked in.  It took several more buildings until I found Missy.  She was in one of the grain bins where Joe had put the dog crate yesterday afternoon.  They were both very hungry and wolfed down the can food with the wormer mixed in.  So that actually worked out fairly nicely. 

     After dinner of beef and noodles, I cleaned out the furnace room.  It was going to get pretty cold for a good part of the night so we needed to reorganize and then store all our outdoor liquids in there.  We have insecticides, herbicides, cleaners, waxes, paints, tack polish, horse stuff, etc. that needed to be stored where they wouldn't freeze.  Again I was low on time and energy and didn't get much else done.

     Wednesday morning the winds had finally died down.  The sun was shinning and I was feeling optimistic about the day.  I spotted this hen and duck sunning together.    
As I was coming up the drive after school, I glanced out at the side pasture and saw Norman out there with the horses again (same as yesterday). He definitely has his mind set that there is better eating outside his fenced pasture, which is true.  I had a stack of grading and wanted to work on this blog post, so I stayed inside and at my desk.

     Thursday started with a red sky sunrise... warning of what?

     Joe's contribution to the outdoor Christmas decorating was to climb up the ladder (a feat I still can't do with my injured wrist) and plug in the star on our corn crib.  It was shining brightly with the sun rising in the background.  As I was rounding the corner to head down the drive late for school, I saw Norman out by the tracks again.  So I called Joe while traveling in to school.
     My therapy session went well in the afternoon.  It is amazing how much better my wrist feels afterward.  It is so much more supple and less stiff.  Thirty minutes of massage and stretching makes such a difference.  I wish I was able to accomplish the same thing myself when doing my exercises.

     I checked on Norman first thing when I got home, and he and his two friends (Frankie and Babe) were lying on a pile of alfalfa, chewing their cuds.  I walked around to get a better view point, and Norman got up.

     I had my hopes set on getting done with this blog and then doing more decorating.  But time and energy got away from me as usual and it was early to bed.

      Why is it that... on a Friday morning we have more bounce in our step than we do on a Monday? 
Does knowing there is only one more 
work day in the week alter our state of mind that much?  I am always glad to see a Friday roll around. And this morning, my cup of tea seemed hotter, stronger, and tastier than usual.
     I got a good chuckle out of this picture of a poster that was shared on Facebook, and thought it was fitting for this week.  It reminds me of my Dad who was an engineer... and always very practical.