After the Wallowing….

This bison was walking near the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park in the early morning. It was evidently a hard night for this bison (Bison bison). He must have spent the night sleeping in a buffalo wallow as one half of his body was covered with dried mud. Is this the bison equivalent of a hang over? This guy is diffiently not a morning animal!
Copyright WyoJones. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

I am looking at the world this morning with much the same bleary gaze as this buffalo. As the hubs noted, this buffalo just climbed out of the wallow. Google defines wallowing thus:

1. (chiefly of large mammals) roll about or lie relaxed in mud or water, esp. to keep cool, avoid biting insects, or spread scent.

   “watering places where buffalo liked to wallow”

   synonyms:

   loll about/around, roll about/around, lie about/around, splash about/around; More slosh, wade, paddle; informalsplosh “pigs wallow in the mud”

   • (of a boat or aircraft) roll from side to side.

     “the small jet wallowed in the sky”

     synonyms:

     roll, lurch, plunge, pitch, reel, flounder, keel, list; More labor “a ship wallowing in stormy seas”

2. (of a person) indulge in an unrestrained way in (something that creates a pleasurable sensation).

   “I was wallowing in the luxury of the hotel”

   synonyms:

   luxuriate, bask, take pleasure, take satisfaction, indulge (oneself), delight, revel, glory;

I’m guessing that the buffalo’s wallow was more of #1, just going off his less than thrilled expression. I was a little surprised to see #2 definition, because when I think about wallowing, it is more about wallowing in misery. Which usually results in me wallowing in chocolate or bread or something comfort food oriented.

The thing about wallowing, eventually you just have to get out and face the world, even if you’ve got mud or chocolate on your face. Even if the world doesn’t look that great. You get up. You get out. You get on with your life. Even good wallows (like #2) only take you so far. Life needs to be lived, not wallowed in. Does that make sense? It’s late and I need chocolate, so I’m not sure.

What have you wallowed in lately? How did you get out? Did you want to get out? While commenting won’t help with a wallowing problem, it will get you entered into my monthly drawing for an AnaBanana gift basket of awesome. I would totally give you permission to wallow in her bubble bath or spend time with her soaps. Cuz they are awesome. Winner is announced in first blog post of the new month. 🙂

Perilously yours,

Pauline

Pauline is resisting the urge to wallow. Instead she is focusing on getting Family Treed: The Big Uneasy 1.5, finished so she can release it to the world. Okay, maybe not the world, but the parts of the world that check out Amazon for their reading. She hopes to release this “amuse bouche,” aka short story, by the end of the month. If all the stars align and no wallows beckon. To find out about her latest releases, or other bookish news, pop over to her website and subscribe to her ezine.