Plants, Guppies, Pie, and Volunteering

I wanted to show you some of the marvelous new plants in our fish tank. They are such a lovely shade of purply, magenta green. I'm really loving them.
And the much-anticipated baby guppies arrived yesterday! I have been watching the mummy guppies grow rounder and rounder every day. I think about 2-3 baby guppies survive each time, but this time I counted 7. Hopefully they'll stick around! We lost a few fish when we introduced some new species of fish at Christmas-time. We found out a little too late that they were predators, oops! See that guy above? Yup, he's a meat eater! He went back to the pet store promptly!
And this delightful concoction is my sister's homemade pumpkin pie! Oh yum! It smells so delightfully aromatic and spicy in my house right now. I can't wait to eat it tomorrow. It's sitting on the kitchen table now (waiting just for me!)

Tonight I went to a volunteer orientation for a local senior's care home. I think it's one of the loveliest care homes I have ever seen! The walls are painted by an artist to resemble forests, glens, gardens, and fields. They even have an entire stair well painted to resemble the Grouse Grind so that the seniors can go "mountain climbing" and "hiking" every day. Even the floor is painted near the edges to look like grass and moss! I've never seen anything like it.

I like it very much there. They also have overfed cats (one seriously looked like Garfield...), aviaries, and giant fish tanks. It seems like the perfect place for me!
The part that touched me the most though, was how volunteers can bring meaning and purpose to their lives. Some of the seniors lived very active and exciting lives, but now they are confined to their rooms, trapped in an old person's feeble, sick body. If I go to visit them, I can talk with them and allow them to relive their exciting lives by encouraging them to share their stories. They are very lonely in their rooms. Apparently loneliness is one of the major problems they experience, and visiting is not one of the hottest volunteer jobs.

Lucky for me, I love visiting and chatting up seniors. I never knew being a chatterbox would be a useful trait, but apparently it is one. So, chatterboxes take note: if you have a few hours of free time and a generous spirit, go to the local senior's home or hospital and sign up to be a visitor. You can be like a bee pollinating flowers, and bring joy and good health to a lot of lonely people.

I never thought my search for greater meaning in my own life would lead me to try and bring more meaning into the lives of others, but I guess that's how things work best.

Have a wonderful day!