Californian artist Robbie Connell’s marvelous portraits of cautious optimism.
In spite of everything I feel good this morning.
Good “in my water” as one of my early directors–Oliver Gordon Batcock at Salisbury Repertory Theatre, used to say.
And it’s worth saying because there are so many reasons to feel bad and uneasy and pessimistic and downhearted and disappointed and depressed.
When one feels an innate feeling of “alright” it’s worth noting that it is even possible, when–to misquote Rudyard Kipling–all around, the world is heading for the plughole.
Why some mornings this occurs is not immediately clear.
I got out of bed “the right side”?
My Mother would confront a moody Robin with the accusation of my having got out of bed the wrong side.
Puzzling this–and guaranteed to UP the grumpiness–because there was only one side to get out of my bed!
Could it be because what I ate yesterday agreed with me better than other days?
I can examine the news from around the world and try to extrapolate a positive vibe.
Surely not the case this morning….
Plenty of things to get unhappy about out there; why do they NOT inform the way I am feeling today?
Am I living in cloud cuckoo land?
No, but I am living in the heart of the French countryside and the weather is reasonable and I have a new recipe bubbling on the stove to be tasted and tested for lunch and I spy–not a cuckoo–but a robin on the bird table, looking proud and sweet.
Ben, our mercurial black cat has come downstairs for a quick bite before mercurially slipping out the back door.
Today’s “alternative facts” are not in yet.
If this is cloud cuckoo land, I’m tempted to stick around for a while.
Is there a chance I’ll feel the same tomorrow?
Robin Ellis 
Great! Enjoy your day. I feel better today than I have in a long time. Being part of the Women’s March in Washington, rubbing shoulders with so many positive, kind people has broken my depression over this recent election. I am not alone!
Hello Robin. I can only imagine your feelings during this period. With your words you give me such a strength! And Meredith is next to you in this beautiful day. Life is hard and strange,you know. But we HAVE to be optimistic. My Mum is 96 , she ‘s quite fine and she’s been optimistic all her life. I apologize for my bad English but I thank you for you words.Take care of yourself and cook good recipes for us! Lots lots of love from Rosaria.
Moi aussi! Et pourquoi?
sometimes I think we are just in awe of actually being alive.
Thanks for posting today.
Catherine x
I certainly needed a smile this morning – thank you for your post!!
Robin, are you O.K.? Please say you’re not having health problems.
I get up at 6 A.M. feeling creaky these days because the “Arthur-itis” (as my father called it) kicks in during this cold damp Upstate New York weather and takes a few minutes to subside, or get accustomed to. Yesterday we went to the March in NYC and it was so wonderful–five hundred thousand good people of all ages, races, sizes, etc.–all happy and kind toward one another. The police said that there wasn’t even a single arrest made all day! What a wonderful event. Hoping all is well with you and your dear Lady.
Love you.
XXSuzanne
Sounded and looked wonderful, Suzanne.
“I’ve got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.”
I think you are a man with a good perspective on life, and an understanding of what matters in the present moment. Chop wood, carry water.
Lovely, Richard.
add one more under a picture of Trump – “scheming”
>
Cheered me up! thanks
Great post, Robin. Any property for sale in your beautiful village? Your American friends need some of your state of “alright.”
All the best to you and Meredith for continued peace and happiness.
SAme to you, Tara.
Well, that just put ME in a good mood!! I guess positive attitudes are infectious!! Let’s spread it around! Thanks Robin!
God’s creation of morning, animals, simply breathing in and out has brought you joy today, best not to let some of His created humans make you upset especially when it appears in a newspaper. May God bless your day with contentment.
The fourth estate is what keeps us safe and informed. When “alternative facts’ are promoted or suggested by those in power, beware!
Thanks for your good wishes.
having never felt this low, due to events not immediately in my purvue but from A FAR, your post was an elixir this morning. what’s bubbling? save me a bowl.~~~~lucy
I’m posting the recipe in a day or two…
Hi Robin, my mother would also accuse me of ‘getting out of bed on the wrong side which like you was impossible as I could only get out of one side. I remember also being told when I had a stye appear on my eye or that ‘it was my badness coming out’ ……..I think I had a lot of it !! However as she grew older and I would accuse her of having the a grumpy day she would say ‘ I’ve done the spade work , I’ve earned the right ‘. No clue what that meant but it stopped any argument and she enjoyed her grumpy day. Enjoy your grumpy days and your ‘alright ‘ days………life’s rich pattern as somebody once said.
Glad you’re ‘alright’. Great post. Ros
Thanks, Ros.
Having reached the good old age of 60 my body is no longer what it was 10 years ago I seem to have become allergic to everything food included! And arthuritis has set in everywhere. However my brain and spirit are still intact. Theres alot to be thankful for, and not listening to any constantly depressing news reports from the outside world!!
Contentment and happy with your lot! All you need for a happy life x
Good day to you and Meredith,
You both look great!
Due to domestic violence I was unable to get to any book signing near New York. I left my area in Northern PA. USA for another one Southwest…same State of course and I am finally happy and at peace.
I still need to get your cookbook. Wondering if I can get a signed copy from you direct?
I feel the same way about our world. It’s a wonder any of us want to arise in the morning.
I enjoy your posts. Keep them coming.
Sincerely,
Mary
We’ll send you a signed bookplate if you are happy to leave your address.
I feel good because it has rained and rained in California and we have a wonderful Governor who tells the truth and will resist any environmental protection reversal. He will also maintain the health insurance that was enacted here with the Affordable Care Act. When I was a grump my Mom would sing a song about ‘everyone hating me No one liking me and I was going to the garden to eat worms’ and would start to laugh through my pout. I believe she learned it from my English Grandmother Blanche Cox Snoddy,
I live in cloud cuckoo land too (east TX) and I love it! At 64, I feel a lot better if I say to myself “What can my body do today?”
Today is my 68th Birthday; how DID that happen 😂 Your post was the first I read. Thank YOU for bringing a smile to my face so early in the morning. Belated Birthday Wishes to You🍷🎂
Many happy returns, Kathi!
Save me a bowl! Thanks for posting the ups and the downs and the everyday details–it’s helping!
Good!
Robin, I have always thought the “getting out of bed on the wrong side” when there is only one side could be prompted by the idea that if you try to get out the wrong way you’d bang your knee on the wall and that has to give you a bad start to the day!
I’d forgotten that and you are probably right. Thanks for reminding me, Dorothy!
Wow! this was one of the best yet. Belated Birthday wishes to you. Mine was January 8th….78 and still counting.
Many Happy returns–to both of us and thank you!
Personally my husband and I really ,really love cloud cuckoo land…..the only place to be be in this mad ,mad world….two lovely sons,two dogs one very bossy grumpy cat ,birds in the garden including a couple of fierce robins and all in the heart of lincolnshire…heaven……#ignorance is bliss???
Good for you. Maybe we’ll see a break in the international cloud cover. Hope you share the new recipe when you’re happy with it.
Nice to hear a positive side, Robin. It’s so easy right now to just wallow in frustration and worry! Suppose that might only end in an ulcer!
Make the most of feeling good. None of us know what’s around the corner. You are blessed.
Talking of cuckoo land…we haven’t heard q cuckoo in lower Wensleydale for a few years but go up to Bolton Castle beyond Leyburn and last year we heard one in the woods there. I suppose the the title of the new film La La Land sums it all up!!! and a likely winner at the Oscars. Happy day greetings from a cold, foggy and frosty North Yorkshire G and Wx
Finding a Robin Ellis post in the morning always makes a day brighter – especially a cold, snowy one like this in Santa Fe.
Nancy
I grew up near Santa Fe and spent many a time there…Mostly at ‘the Shed’ eating blue corn enchiladas and sopapillas. You have snow? How wonderful. I can smell the mesquite branches burning. Adios.
Haven’t been to The Shed in years, but love Gabriel’s – for the guacamole, enchiladas, etc. A long drive but worth it, even in winter.
Just good old ‘joie de vivre’ I think, Robin. Simple pleasures can produce this feeling and it’s not to be sniffed at! It’s good to be reminded of such things when the world is ‘going to hell in a handcart’. Also, it’s good, however hard things can be, whether health or anything else, to always keep your spirit and keep smiling. It’s infectious.
Love the photo!
Bahai prayer….Make my prayer, a fountain of living waters whereby I may live as long as Thy sovereignty endureth, and may make mention of Thee in every world of Thy worlds.
Thou Who art the Lord of all names and the Maker of the heavens! I beseech Thee by them Who are the Day-Springs of Thine invisible Essence, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, to make of my prayer a fire that will burn away the veils which have shut me out from Thy beauty, and a light that will lead me unto the ocean of Thy Presence.
Hum-m, sound to me you are very human. Natural to have some mornings when one feels great. My answer is you’re experiencing the “love of God,” in a special and personal way. Give thanks and praise him for souring of your soul. It’s the only answer. mary ann
I like all your posts, Robin, and this one was especially good. Enjoyed the comments, too, that your wise readers added. Karen