Happiness is a Warm Puppy

Today's good thing is a warm puppy in your lap.  Well, sort of.

This morning, I let Sam and the new puppy, who has finally been named Pepper, out and got them taken care of.  I made my coffee and sat down for my morning meditation.   About two minutes into it, I heard a crunching noise from upstairs.  I ignored it.  It persisted.  I finally got up and investigated.

Pepper had gone into the upstairs bathroom, selected one of the girls' safety razors, and was chewing vigorously on the plastic handle.  In accordance with puppy protocol, I informed the razor in a low, menacing voice that it was a very bad razor and spanked it severely.  Then I found Pepper's toy squirrel and praised it in a high cheerful voice, telling it what a good toy it was and how it was such a good thing to chew and gave it to Pepper.  Pepper got the point.  She does not want to be associated with any item as bad as that naughty razor.

Sam meditating

Sam is a good at meditating.  When he hears the bell, he goes to his bed and lies down and, generally, doesn't stir for 20 minutes until the ending bell sounds.  Pepper, not so much.  After I got the razor away from her, she tapped around the house and played with her squirrel and investigated all the corners, and generally distracted me.  After a while, she jumped into my lap and began licking my face.  Again, not too good for meditation.  Finally, I was able to discourage her enough that she curled into a ball and went to sleep on my lap -- allowing me to finish a very disrupted meditation period.

Pepper meditating

Still, there is something sweet and life-giving about a warm puppy in your lap.  So sweet that I name it today's good thing.  Being able to roll with life's little distractions is a good skill to practice.