Happiness is Dina’s Daily Dose

The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.             ~ Mother Teresa

So we’re all facing some hard times, I can tell with the folks I work with, there hasn’t been a week since shelter in place started that I haven’t had to talk someone down.  It’s not surprising, people are stressed, afraid and living in uncertain times.  I’m starting to feel like I should put counselor on my resume under my list of job duties.   When this all first started I made a point of reaching out to people.  I first reached out to the people I don’t talk to real often, then transitioned to my closer friends.  It came as no surprise that the deepest contacts in this process were with my old friends from Plattsburgh.

After I had failed out of college, pretty much crashed and burned my life, I started to put things back together.  That process started at Columbia-Greene Community College, their help is one of the reasons I today work in the community college system, it gives me a chance to do for others was that institution and the people their did for me.  My next step was to transfer and as I was starting the process of evaluating colleges I took a tour of the college my sister was attending, the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.  On the tour, the tour guide talked about how SUNY Plattsburgh was a special place.  I was significantly more cynical back in those days and I rolled my eyes so hard it drew a comment from someone else on the tour.

After going through my search I did finally decided to go to SUNY Plattsburgh, a small college in the Adirondack Mountains on the Canadian border sixty miles south of Montreal.  It became apparent really early on that in fact it was a special place.  At transfer orientation, even though I started out feeling like a complete outsider, I quickly found people I felt comfortable around.  In fact, I met a guy from Pennsylvania named Bryan, he would soon become my best friend on campus and now, almost 35 years later, we are still close.

I’m a person who keeps a small circle of close friends.  And although over my 55 years of life I’ve been and lived in a lot of places, done a lot of things and met thousands and thousands of people, I have very few close friends.  What’s amazing  is that a large percentage of those people that I’m close to, are people I met at SUNY Plattsburgh.  Tonight I want to talk about one of them, my friend Dina.

One thing that I have always admired about Dina is her big heart.  Of course like all big hearted people, she’s been hurt more than a few times, but what amazes me about her is she keeps coming right back and putting her heart right back out there.  So, it didn’t surprise me at all when I reached out to her that I found out she was doing something amazing for her colleagues.  Like me, she also works in education, and experiencing like I have that people are stressed and edgy, she started sending out little daily pick me ups.  She calls them Dina’s Daily Doses of …. and each day that sentence is ended with another little bit of positivity and happiness.  Now I do one of these blogs each week, even though Dina’s Doses aren’t long, I very much know how much work it is to come up with something like this every single day.  But it doesn’t just take work, it takes a lot of heart to work this hard to help people feel supported and cared for, she’s doing something really amazing and I’m happy and proud to call her my friend.

So below are a few of Dina’s Daily Doses of …. I hope you enjoy them and they help you have a happy day my friends.  ~ Rev Kane

.. Chocolate!

For those of you who don’t know, we love our chocolate at Central Office! In particular, our Dove chocolate which, by the way, have sayings on their wrappers. So, here are a few:

“When life isn’t going right, go left!” Haylea S.-South Dakota

“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations!” Jetta L.-Massachusetts

“Your vibe attracts your tribe!” Libby W.-California

For the sake of unearthing more sayings, I solemnly swear to eat two pieces of chocolate each day. Feel free to make the same commitment! After all, it is for the greater good! 😂

…. Happy!!!

It’s Friday… it’s 5 o’clock somewhere… it’s Happy Hour!!!

Here’s a cocktail perfect for the sugaring season… the Old Vermonter!
1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce pure maple syrup
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice or straight from the bottle
2 dashes of bitters (if you have them)
Pour all ingredients over ice and give it a couple of shakes..
pour into your favorite glass and garnish with an orange rind.
Savor!

Now, if you prefer a non-alcoholic beverage… enjoy a Shirley Temple!
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
1 1/2 tablespoons grenadine
1 maraschino cherry (or, if it’s been a rough day, 2 or 3 or 4…)
Pour the soda and grenadine over ice. Stir. Pour into your
favorite glass and garnish with the cherries.
Enjoy!

And for an added bonus, enjoy this video of a 6-year-old who is a
connoisseur of the Shirley Temple!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5R0fqUIkXE

… Avians!

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTevoLkcFdI); so much better than singing in the rain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ)!!

While you’re enjoying the sunshine and taking a walk, listen for our avian friends singing in the sun!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHnzqKfxSQw