Harbor Pilots

Hi, Cadre. I'm a little bit late. I like to be on time, but, you know, not all days are like that. See my shirt? Hippie chick. I love surprises, don't you? This I received in the mail, and it was a surprise. I have a friend, Robin, who says I'm a hippy chick, and she has said, I'm going to send you a t shirt. Well, she did. So I've got it, and it matches my tie dye scarf. Hi, steph. I caught your Cadre on replay. Cadre on replay. See, once you're a poet, you just can't help yourself. So anyway, yeah, I happened upon a really cool word.

I. You know how in. You know how in Facebook, people send you little. We used to call them vines when they were, like, ten or 11 seconds in length, just. I think they were called vines, but short videos of things. And since I'm the proud and happy owner of a corgi, I will sometimes get videos of corgis. Well, the one that came to me the other day became my Cadre talk for today because it's a hawaiian word. And so in the video, there are these dog owners that have corgis, and they're talking about the hawaiian word kahu.

And kahu means protecting what's most precious. And I thought, you know what? Hey, Shannon. I speak from the harbor pilots template, which is those in the harbor who come alongside and pilot us to safety and to truth and to light, to quiet harbors of rest and places of restoration. And then they launch us out into the open waters with more knowledge and more confidence. And in the caregiving picture, we always need those mentors, those pilots, those people around us. And as caregivers, sometimes it's beneficial to reframe what it is we do.

And so I was thinking, for those pet owners out there, that our dogs inform us about caregiving, let me give you the specifics in Hawaiian. I did a little bit of research. You don't call yourself your pet's owner. No. You are their kahu. It has. Kahu has many meanings. It means guardian. It means protector. These are caregiver terms. It means steward. It means being a good steward of what's been given you. It means beloved attendant. Let that one wash over us. Beloved attendant, Kahu. So, basically, someone entrusted with the safekeeping of something precious is a kahu.

Something precious could be our dog. Something precious could be our child, our parent. Hello up. One moment. Hi. They couldn't get their camera down through there. They're gonna have to come back. So go ahead and run one or whatever. You got it. I'll keep working on this. You got it. Okay. Thank you. No worries. Thank you so much, Rover. Yeah, yeah. I think it wouldn't be neat to put this up somewhere. Yeah, I don't know. I got this in Titusville years ago, and I've always loved it. Boy. Yeah. Watch it spin around.

Right? Yeah. Julie was thinking over here. Yeah. Anyway, I could put. That's what she was thinking. And it could stick up and it could spin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'm on a phone call. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. I just heard. Thanks, John. Sorry. No. But maybe we could figure this out. Can you believe that chowdrosphere? Did you hear any of that conversation? That was my landlord. Oh, my goodness. This has got to be the silliest Cadre I've ever done. But I do have some content for you about kahu.

Hi, Shannon. A real life. Yes, ma'am. Real life. So the sewer guys were here, and I knew it was going to be the perfect trifecta. He came over a few minutes ago, my landlord, John, and said, need you to not run water, need you to not flush, because the sewer guys are going to find out where the kink is. So one of the pipes is kinked up. He said, we'll be making some noise. Well, wouldn't you know? He came to report on their findings. During my Cadre, I didn't know what to do. So that's the beauty of live broadcasting.

Right, Shannon, everybody. So, getting back to the kahu, thanks for sticking with me. If you had to wait that one out. A kahu in a hawaiian language is mostly they speak english, but they have hawaiian terms, which are just beautiful. And I wanted to go to Hawaii in our imaginations, because that is a place just teeming with harbors. All those islands and all those harbors and the harbor pilots. So to be a beloved attendant is a holy duty. And we don't always think of it that way. So I got to thinking, when we are entrusted with being a beloved attendant, it just elevates caregiving to a place of joyous, a place of meaning.

It always has been. But it's good to give it a new perspective and to think of ourselves as caregivers, as protecting and advocating for what is most precious in our lives. So, what do dogs have to tell us? Mine's being camera shy right now, honestly. She's right here. Here. Can I just angle the camera? That's Gracie. Hey, Gracie. Oh, look at you. Look at you. So my dog tells me that she values emotional safety. When she's with me, she's emotionally okay. On my list of what dogs expect from us or our pets is they expect routine.

So do our humans. They love their routine. My mom loves our routine of calling each night, and we kind of go over the details of each of our days and, you know, what activities she attended in her nursing home, whether she went to bingo or to hear the guitar player performing and what they had for their meals and who she sat with. Routine. And another thing is treats once in a while. You know, she knows that word. Her ears just went whoop. Because that's unexpected. And it's a nice burst of energy to have a treat once in a while.

New experiences. Now, I've read this on different dog blogs about being a pet owner, is that dogs do like their walk, but they really like it when you take them someplace with new smells, new things to see, new stimulation. And so it is with our humans. As much as we love our routines, maybe it would be good to change it up now and then, go somewhere new, have a new experience. My dog Gracie likes to sit quietly. I think that's her favorite day. She's a nervous nellie. She's a psychopath. She would.

She will look at the door and look at what shoes I'm wearing or not wearing. And they're very smart, our animals. And she knows if I'm leaving the house and if I'm leaving the house, she starts pacing and getting worried. So her favorite day, and her best day is when I have no shoes on and I'm plopped on the sofa or at my desk writing. And she curls up beside me and sitting quietly is her favorite. So it is with our humans that we caregive. And finally, on my list of things that doggies like is to naptainen.

I do, too. I'm finding naps are getting more and more mandatory in my life. So that is my Cadre today, a little bit scattered, people coming to the door and then me talking about this weather vane that I want to hang up on my. Outside my door, which I will be showing you, because it is sailboats, you guys. It's a weather vane. That is sailboats. So cool. So, in hawaiian, to those that we are entrusted to caregive, we are their kahu, their steward, protector, guardian, and their beloved attendant.

Thank you for attending. Thank you for protecting what's most precious in your sphere of influence in your family. You're doing a great job. And we're not doing this as loners. We're doing this in tandem, arm in arm, going forward together. Stay in the quadrasphere. There's more. Great content today. And peace be with you. May you have calm waters in your harbor.