We are mostly done now, just a few optional trims to do and some furniture to replace over time. The pace slows now and we are ready to enjoy some relaxing days in our comfy home. :-)
May everyone have a good Memorial Day weekend, both remembering those who have died and taking a little time to breathe.
I'm working tomorrow, then participating in a neighborhood "walk around" to assess what work is needed on the outside of our buildings, then we'll have granddaughter until midday Monday.
I thought of James Russell Lowell's "What Is So Rare as a Day in June" and decided to post it.
First verse:
And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days; Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune, And over it softly her warm ear lays; Whether we look, or whether we listen, We hear life murmur, or see it glisten; Every clod feels a stir of might, An instinct within it that reaches and towers, And, groping blindly above it for light, Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers; The flush of life may well be seen Thrilling back over hills and valleys; The cowslip startles in meadows green, The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice, And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean To be some happy creature's palace; The little bird sits at his door in the sun, Atilt like a blossom among the leaves, And lets his illumined being o'errun With the deluge of summer it receives; His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings, And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings; He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest, In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?
No matter how barren the past may have been, 'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green; We sit in the warm shade and feel right well How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell; We may shut our eyes but we cannot help knowing That skies are clear and grass is growing; The breeze comes whispering in our ear, That dandelions are blossoming near, That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing, That the river is bluer than the sky, That the robin is plastering his house hard by; And if the breeze kept the good news back, For our couriers we should not lack; We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing, And hark! How clear bold chanticleer, Warmed with the new wine of the year, Tells all in his lusty crowing!
Third stanza
Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how; Everything is happy now, Everything is upward striving; 'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true As for grass to be green or skies to be blue, 'Tis for the natural way of living: Who knows whither the clouds have fled? In the unscarred heaven they leave not wake, And the eyes forget the tears they have shed, The heart forgets its sorrow and ache; The soul partakes the season's youth, And the sulphurous rifts of passion and woe Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth, Like burnt-out craters healed with snow.
Last night on Rachel Maddow, an hour long documentary entitled "Why We Did It" revealing that the Bush Administration at the very beginning intended to take control of Iraq's oil. The attack on 9/11 and the charge of weapons of mass destruction gave them a cover to do what they intended to do from the first days of their administration. They lied about it, but Rachel and her staff unearthed documents of the complicity of the oil companies, specifically Halliburton and KRB and Shell and the administration led by Dick Cheney, and the military.
It sickens me. They were criminal in what they did from the attack on Iraq, to ignoring the threats of Al Qaeda, to legalizing torture,to war profitting (Halliburton and Black Water), to the loss and maiming of life of our soldiers and of Iraqi citizens.
Well, I don't want to spoil your day, but thank you Barb and Listener and all of us for remaining active and involved.
Common Dreams Can a New Populist Movement Fight Off American Oligarchy?
snip
At the 'New Populism Conference' hosted by the Campaign for America's Future on Thursday, a number of progressive thinkers and activists—not to mention Senators Warren and Sanders themselves—spoke to the idea of the "new populism" they say is desperately needed to release the nation from the stranglehold of corporate interests and a politics dominated by big money.
Striking a resolute and outside message at the conference was Rev. William Barber—head of the North Carolina NAACP and leader of the Moral Monday protests in his state—who rejected the idea that hope should come from Washington, DC or the establishment of either major party.
During his remarks at the conference poduim, Barber pointed to the lessons of the Civil Rights movement more than a generation ago and thundered: "They built a movement in spite of the odds," and cited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said: "There comes a time when you have to stop being a thermometer and instead change the temperature of the situation in which you exist!"
Barber said a truly populist and progressive movement must face off against both parties. "I'm sorry to tell you, if no one did," said Barber, "but sometimes Democrats don't do what they should even when they have the power. And Republicans do what they shouldn't do when they have the power."
The real solution, Barber declared, is "to have an independent movement which says, 'It doesn't matter who's in power! There are some things that are just right and we demand that they be done!'
begin quote: Good luck with that Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders led populist revolution!
From WSWS:
The United States Senate voted Thursday to confirm David Barron, the former Obama administration official who drafted the legal justification for assassination by drone-fired missile, to a lifetime seat on the First Circuit Court of Appeals. It was a near-party-line vote, 53-45, with every Republican voting against, joined by only two Democrats.
Every prominent liberal in the Senate voted to rubber-stamp the nomination. Those voting for Barron including the self-proclaimed “socialist,” independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont, as well as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, promoted as a potential presidential candidate by the Nation magazine and other liberal groups.
Also supporting Barron were Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, hailed by the pseudo-left as the first openly lesbian senator, Al Franken of Minnesota, and the three supposed critics of NSA spying, Mark Udall of Colorado, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
****************************** Yes, Bush is a war criminal and the people wanted him brought to justice.
Obama decided to "look forward." Previously, Pelosi took impeachment off the table.
The comment section of this article is very interesting.
The irony is thick this Memorial Day with the veterans scandal.
Wow. Thanks, Pat. It is good to know that the truth is coming out, as that its the only way to keep it from happening again.
May there be gentlenesses in your remembrances this weekend. I will be remembering my Uncle Junior (Harold), who died in WWII. I never got to meet him, except through his letters home, through which I discovered a kindred spirit blood relative.
We had quite a thunder and lightning storm last night, lots of rain. The weather, which always seemed to me variable and volatile in Colorado, is more than ever extreme. But, no flooding where we are.
I read that every great civilization that has collapsed was because of greed and militarism. I remember when Thich Nhat Hanh was at the retreat at the Y and remarked that every great civilization dies after hearing we had gone to war in Iraq, and I cried.
We have been no better than any civilization with genocide, slavery, oppression, racism, ravaging of the environment. I think what has been better are the ideals we've espoused and we have also been beneficial in many instances in our history.
I think the environment will be our test as to whether we can choose the constructive and necessary path to repairing damage to the planet and choosing to live responsibly, with equity and the goal of health of people and the planet.
We'll see. I have hope, have always been an optimist, but so much of the media is deceptive, ideologically driven, irresponsible. Can we do this? I hope so.
Another rainy day possible here. We need to put in our plants but with the possibility of hail, we're holding off.
Yes, I think learning the truth is the only real corrective to malfeasance and mistakes. I'm not so sure punishment is as powerful. But, knowing what happened, how and why can teach us.
Listening to NPR last night about the story of someone who stole a beer for under two dollars and ended up owing $400.00 a month for the costs of wearing ankle bracelets to inform police of where he was and going to jail because he couldn't pay the fees tells me the conditions of 18th Century England, and Les Miserable are still with us. We punish the poor, the ignorant, the weak.
When we privatized prisons, enacted mandatory sentences, we created a system that was more oppressive and discriminatory than anything a government paid system was.
A multi year imprisonment and fines and parole for stealing a $2.00 beer!
The question is why was this man an alcoholic, without employment, and ignorant. What are we doing or not doing that creates a society where victims are punished in extremes?
Well, this bothers me a lot. Maybe we can correct this kind of thing. I think there are many well intentioned citizens who will work towards getting rid of this kind of oppression.
I just realized that there are no "spoilers" for me. Whatever/however, I don't "get" the "thrill" of suspense. This is apropos of the fact that my 30 disk set of the Sopranos is missing the last disk. So I hit the nets to find out. Going to order the last season, sealed and new, just so I *will* have it, but knowing how it ends isn't going to spoil it for me. If knowing spoiled fiction, no one would ever reread any book. . . .
Pat, how very much I appreciate the depth of your thought-full-ness and your gift for articulation.
Do you have legislators you could sit down with to share your concerns about imprisonment of the weak and ask what we can do about it? Educating our legislators and speaking truth to power (also "speaking the truth in love") may be the necessary base for change. How can we inspire those in power to work for positive change? (The only other viable option is to run for office.) I am not one to protest lightly, but am certainly known by my legislators. Of course, easy for me to say, with such stellar souls representing Vermont.
You wrote: "I remember when Thich Nhat Hanh was at the retreat at the Y and remarked that every great civilization dies after hearing we had gone to war in Iraq, and I cried."
I recall saying, at that time, "This will be the humbling of America." My priest responded, "Oh, I hope not!" But i hadn't said it would be the humiliating of America, just the humbling, and I think that would have been a good thing. "Pride goes before destruction." A humbler nation would be more caring and understanding.
It looks like the weather is going to clear before this morning's parade. Thinking of my uncle who died in WWII. Thinking of the maple ice cream cone I'm planning to have later. Thinking of the nap I will take after Grand heads home. Sooo tired. Yet my life is good. When I think of all the people and places in the world, their weather and political circumstances, I see how incredibly lucky I am.
Beautiful, warm, sunny day. The put-put people left around two. Thank God.
Having finished up on Sopranos, I think I wouldn't recommend doing it so quickly. The impact is HUGE. So much going on artistically, spiritually, but jeepers. . . .
Thinking back to my leaving the church by degree starting in my late teens, and so much was based on truths that couldn't be spoken because they were ugly. And me thinking even then that if ugly is true, you have to speak it, or everything else is false, too. . . .
puddle, so glad you got some peace for the last of the weekend.
Leaving Church is something many do, but there are so very many different reasons. Feel free to speak yours.
Mine was simply that I saw too often how those in authority made decisions based less on what God "allows" than to fears underscored by what lawyers allow. I saw this at the diocesan level in the actions of bishops, and at the parish level in the action of enough priests that I realised it wasn't going to change in my lifetime. I could no longer move forward in the ordination process and feel free in relationship with God. That was the bottom line' so I opted out of the process. I stayed in the Church another 7 years, on the periphery as a contemplative, before discovering that I had taken a step away from the periphery. It was my peer group of spiritual guides, all of whom were clergy at the time, who listened to my journey and reflected that they now saw me as a desert mother, apart from the church and yet without animosity toward it. That helped me to take steps needed at the time. It hasn't been an easy "path without a path," but it remains the only way I can breathe spiritually.
Last night we had several inches of hail, a really hard downpour, and the clouds were heavy, thick, menacing. It looked like we had a snow storm. Plus, lightning, thunder, and it went on it seemed for an hour or it felt like it.
Today, quiet. I finished reading John Enright's The Dead Don't Dance, a murder mystery in American Samoa, where John was a history preservation director for over 20 years, 28, I think. It takes place on Ofu, an island across from Ta'u where we were. It was fun, well written, and brought back so many memories of the culture.
Thank you, Listener, for your kind comments and suggestions. In our small community here, we try to help one another in need, and our Senators Udall and Bennett are everything I could ask for. I'd have to do some research to find out the extent of our imprisonment problems here. I'll think about doing that.
Yes, the Sopranos is a masterpiece, I think, Puddle. You can't help but like Tony, even though he's a thug, a murderer, and dishonest. He reflects the emotions that we all know as humans, and that's a real contribution. Every criminal, vicious human being is still and always that, a human being. While I wouldn't want to know Tony personally nor have him as a neighbor, I'd recognize his humanness everywhere.
We rewatched the West Wing series, and they too are wonderful. Some more that I loved are Treme, China Beach, Hill Street Blues, and an off shoot of Star Trek, the name doesn't come to me right now. But, it was culturally oriented with the mercenary Ferengis and other interesting characters.
Beautiful day here, though a neighbor about two blocks away had dirt bikes roaring up and down his driveway for hours. What is it about Americans that they don't mind noise?
Love the Internet. Deep Space Nine was the series.
Yes, I read somewhere that the path finds us with respect to our spiritual lives. I think of the 50s and 60s as a time of great conformity in so many ways: school, religion, dress, manners, language, media, expectations. I think of this time as a time of individualism, though besieged by a commercial culture that promotes addictions of all kinds from food, to things, to activities, and behaviors.
While I wish I could say I am a believer, I'm afraid Doubting Thomas and I are kin. I wish, I hope, I trust, but I just don't know, though I think that the teachings of Christ and the Buddha are real, true, and essential.
For me, the Catholic church, while there were some wonderful people, there was too much power, too much dogma, too much wealth and influence. When the priest said that anyone who doesn't make his Easter Duty (go to confession and communion once a year) would be in danger of hell, I thought of my father who never did, and my loyalty was to my father. That began the doubt.
But, our lives, our actions, our efforts and thoughts are our path, I think, and I'm grateful for the individual choices and variety. They all teach.
Pat, as close as the Mormons have to hell is being a "Son of Perdition" (based on you know, you saw, and you deny to His face).
Second year I was a camp counselor (church camp), we had the regular Weds night Testimony Meeting. Putting my girls to bed that night, one was weeping--he father was going to be a SOP. The priesthood teachers had come to the house (her mom was a member), and her father listened, and refused to come to church. I remember taking her out and sitting under the stars telling her about the color yellow. Which I'd hated almost to nausea after my parents got some cut rate paint and painted my bedroom this school bus color. That things can and do happen to people that they can't help--and outsiders have no way of knowing about. Her father may have heard the missionaries speak, that doesn't mean that he understood and denied God. And if I had to like the color yellow to get into heaven, I wouldn't be going there because I couldn't change it. Each soul is a mystery, even to itself. She calmed, and I hope I did her some permanent good. I've since said that God is interested in spirituality, not in religions(s).
Years later, with MRIs, it turns out that people praying takes place in the left front of the brain, right near the center of judging/ranking. Meditation takes place in the right central section, next to the center for joy/pleasure. . . .
"people praying takes place in the left front of the brain, right near the center of judging/ranking. Meditation takes place in the right central section, next to the center for joy/pleasure"
Ah, this explains much! It explains why the contemplative can appreciate much about a worship service while not getting caught up in the fine print. It explains why the mind is fed by delineation and the spirit by oneness.
Coming from a western culture, I tend to refer to the Buddhist concept "mindfulness" as "heartfulness." Westerners certainly do not need a full mind. ;-)
Ah, I also should have explained that the Buddhist concept of meditation is most akin to the Christian concept of contemplation (unlike the New Age sort of meditation or other fad methods of feeling good, such as a runner's high).
Pat, ever since my near death experience at age two and a half, I have had a deep and abiding kinship with the Really Real, which I learned to call "God" in my younger years, yet may or may not be like the "God" that many faiths speak of. All I know for sure is that there is One greater and yet within me, who is personal and who is of Love. I am equally content with comprehending this as a Creator God who is still present and active and co-creates with us and with a Universe that is replenishing and centered on Love. The construct, it seems to me, doesn't matter at all. The energy of our verve is Love; all else is just imperfect language.
Beautifully said. I will reread both your comments, Puddle and Listener. Puddle, I'm sure that you did comfort your daughter and give her an example of how to accept ourselves and our fears and responses.
I have to smile. The home we live in now, which I love, was painted almost entirely in school bus yellow. Yes, I understand how you must have felt.
Listener, thank you, so worth reading again and again. I know that human suffering can teach us, can elicit empathy and oneness with others, but I am grieved by how much suffering there is, especially among the most innocent and vulnerable. I have lots to think about, but yes, love, love is essential, is maybe the god in us, and we need it so much.
But, I don't have answers, am just a seeker at this stage.
Always we begin again, always we are seekers. We live between the Already and the Not Yet, so our knowledge is imperfect. Hopefully, it keeps us humble. ;-)
puddle, I agree that your words of wisdom at the right time must surely have stayed with her. I hope so. In fact, I hope it with all my heart because I see a smaller version of this with one Grand.
Hmmm, maybe strange, but for me the techniques of relaxation I have learned since my mid twenties allowed me to free myself from the Lutherans. Beginning in my mid- twenties. Self hypnosis taught me by my doctor for the birth of my last two children--Dana and Brenda, Reiki sessions weekly for a couple of years, eastern influence from a few sources --including Dr.Andrew Weil --who did a portion of his medical studies in India and some influence from the speeches of Prem Rawat whose emphasis has gradually developed to the concept that world peace must start with each of us. We only have this very moment. (The older I get the more apt this seems:)
Rachel Maddow does, indeed, do her homework. That special was great. She and her "minions" dig and dig. That's why her book "Drift" was such a page turner. I was so angry when I read about Regan that I had to put the book down for about a week. I call watching Rach "going to school" because of the extensive background research she presents on her main topic each night.
That's not to say that she only researches her main story. She and her staff do extensive research on every topic she brings up.
Chris Hayes is starting to do some digging as well. I so enjoy both of their shows. I get tired of Lawrence O'Donnell though, mostly repeats what Chris and Rach report and does not add much. We sometimes use that segment to catch up on tv shows that we missed because I was out of town or at a meeting.
Getting ready to introduce the person that is going to take over my Precinct. I'm SOOOOOO excited to finally be done with it. My back and knees cannot take the hills, driveways and staircases any more.
Ahhhhhh, most interesting that praying takes place next to judging! HAH! Me thinks that meditation and it's ilk better serves mankind.
So much going on as usual. Much love and many hugs to my here family. ~ ♥ ~ ~ ♥ ~ ~ ♥ ~ ~ ♥ ~ (stealing hearts)
hi ladies! so nice to read your thoughtful comments, your insights are helpful. Glad that you are healing Shirlee! Pat your book sounds wonderful, I hope you get a great response to it! listener your sprucing up sounds beautiful, I'm sure it is cozy and that you are glad to be almost done. puddle your images of spring and da boy make me smile! and Barb your energy and commitment to supporting good candidates is wonderful, thank you for what you do! things are okay here, spring makes things easier for sure. <3
Rachel is awesome and she has a great research team, they do dig and dig, she can always back up what she says. I've known about Cheney's quest for Iraq's oil for well more than a decade now - I was going to post a link or two but instead will post the link for my goggle search, there is a wealth of information about it from 2002, 2003. I hope that we never have another administration like that, they sure did do a great deal of damage in a short period of time!
Thanks Jo, Shirlee, Barb, Pat, puddle all. It has been such a sweet revelation to discover on this thread that what undergirds our ongoing conversation is that our spiritual journeys from all over have led us to the same broad perspective of love, compassion and social concern.
Well, I was at work and when I checked Facebook I learned that folks an hour south of me were under a tornado watch! I don't think any were reported, but there was a 74mph wind gust in Bridport, Vermont with a lot of trees down on Route 22A and Route 30, as well as wind damage and some flooding in Rutland and elsewhere. Wild!
A beautiful day. We will hike on National Forest land to look for wildflowers. We saw some exquisite primroses along the side of our access road yesterday.
Jo, it's always a joy to hear from you.
This I wanted to share with you today: One book I've been reading for a year is the poet, Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening. It has a passage for every day of the year, and for me sometimes the passage is just what I need. For example, today's May 28th reading is "The Risk of Attention"/
"For the raindrop,/joy is entering the river." -- The Sufi Prophet Ghalib
Nepo writes," It is amazing to consider how as infants we are one with everything. In time, of course, we learn how to distinguish between ourselves and others, between the world we carry inside and the world we move through. But ironically, the sages of all paths are those who, after a lifetimes of experiences, try to return to this primary state of Oneness.
When I think of the moments I have felt most alive, they all have this quality of joining all-of-what-I-keep-inside with everything-outside-me in a way that makes me forget myself. They all feel timeless and open-ended. Tenderly, the deepest moments of making love allow us to join in that Oneness beyond ourselves, as do certain moments of being immersed in great music or great open spaces. I have also felt this after long periods of swimming or running, or after long periods of being healthfully alone. I feel it when discovering what it is I need to write. Joy, it seems, is the feeling of Oneness.
Not surprisingly, it is the risk to love--the risk to give our full attention--that lets what-is-eternal-within merge with what-is-eternal-wthout. In those moments of Oneness, we, as drops of spirit, join the larger river of spirit.
And so, it is the risk to be fully present that opens us to the Oneness that flows through all things, the way a spring brrook flows from your acre through my fence, through my land, and on through my neighbor's fence and land. Just as that rush of water ignores all we have built in betwene, so the wholeness of life moves through us all, undermining all the walls we maintain.
It seems we always have the choice: to remain a builder of fences or to enter the stream that ignores all fences."
Then he gives some suggestions for mediation and breathing.
Listening or rather reading the comments on the blogs beneath the network headlines, so much negativity in this country, or maybe just bloggers.
What will it take to make us a less aggressive and militaristic people? President Obama has kept us our of war, and that makes him weak in the eyes of the likes of Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Graham and McCain) and so many others.
We are still in a WWII mentality, projecting the future in the mindset of the past. Very frustrating.
Well, that's my take. I will enjoy this summery day. Hope you do too.
Pat, we will be in a WWII mentality until those who fought in WWII are no longer in power. It makes sense, as that was such a traumatic and potent part of their young adulthood.
But just as the young people of today have forgotten the struggles and victories that gave them vital freedoms (such as being called humankind instead of mankind), those who warmonger will pass and those who assume that war is not a good thing will be in power.
It was a gorgeous day here…sunshine and 71F, with blue sky and soft clouds here and there. Lovely. Everyone was in a good mood everywhere you went. :-) I got to play in the garden a little before work, and even a bit after work because it stays light so late now! I love this time of year! No bugs yet to speak of, but that's coming soon.
this is all pretty exciting to me! Zephyr was the one who really connected people in the Dean campaign. when she left things really fell apart. she is brilliant and her background is killer! I wish her a lot of luck. if you want to follow her on facebook, she is communicating most of her activity around this campaign there: https://www.facebook.com/zephyr.teachout?fref=ts
OH MAN!!!!!!! That is exciting! She'd be great! What good news.
I've spent the last hour trying to get invasive stuff off my computer. they seem to install themselves when you are moving your mouse from one place to another on the internet and are set to be super sensitive to a mouse movement and install themselves. What a pain to get rid of because they don't just install one program, I've had to take out 5 to finally get rid of them. OY!
I agree very much about Zephyr's intelligence and people talents. I had to call the HQ a couple of times and she was the only one who could answer my questions or send me info.
I do wonder if she has enough name recognition in NY. What do you all think?
Spent the day driving to and from and attending the ordination of a friend and spiritual guide colleague. Ordinations are always bittersweet for me, having been in that process for six years, some twenty years ago. But this was a joyful one.
Another beautiful day. The land is lush with green green green and wildflowers. I even have hope my aspens might flourish.
We've been busy. I donated two copies of Retreat to the YMCA and one copy of Gaia's Garden, a montage of flowers from all over the world with some poetry and Inner Mongolia New Age Music produced by a friend. David produced the DVD. We've had fun with the time to write, photograph, and produce.
About climate emission rules from the EPA: Thank you, Mr. President. I think that he should just go ahead and enact his agenda since Congress is not going to be supportive in any way. He's kept us out of wars, made numerous corrections to systems, has worked towards stability, justice, ethics, and kept the economy from failing. Thank you.
Last night on Cosmos, Earth and Venus were compared. The sulfur dioxide cloud on Venus has cooked the planet, made it barren and unlivable. Our CO2 could do the same. It was a powerful segment. The last of the series will be next week, I think, on June 6th.
Have a beautiful day. Oh, our timid Molly Magee chased a bear away late afternoon yesterday.
Good on Zephyr! Starting to get some good name recognition. Hope she runs again!
Good going, Brenda. We love "watching" you gain your strength.
I love this little community. Hope it cools down for you folks back east. It's cool here so far today. It was 54 when I was getting gas this morning. Looks to be maybe 70 at some time today.
Another exquisite day! The weather warm, not too hot, everything green and blooming. The flowers seem to all be coming up at once. Over night, penstemmon. Usually they are late June. Sand lilies, flax, avens, loco weed, Blue Flag wild irises, saxifrage, pussy toes, blue eyed grass, leather neck clematis, larkspur, well, you get the picture. Always before you could estimate when each would arrive. Not so now.
I was thinking that time has speeded up and we are living longer. Kind of a paradox.
Well, it's taken a long time, but I realize now that I'm not going to live forever and will not have enough lifetime to read my whole library. So, it's the getting rid of time. I have the sense that I'll be freer for everything I don't have to hold onto. But, how grasping I have been about books, as if I'd find the secret to life in them. Well, certainly some good advice, some wisdom, lots of entertainment, but now I'm donating them to the libraries and to our shelf at the post office.
Have a beautiful day to day, and Shirlee, it's great to know you are healing.
Ah, Pat. Yes, it is hard letting go of those books. But if you donate them to a place that you frequent, you'll know where they are going. Glad you are having good weather. It's gorgeous here again today.
Congrats on your Momhood, Listener!
Time for you to check in, Shirlee, we miss you!
Puddle, how was your "rain event"?
Demogram has been sent on and is finally out of my hands for this month. Now to get ready for the LD Picnic in July. Always something. Burt and I are going to do a chocolate tasting. I've approached Theo chocolate and another lady that does classes in her home, but no response from Theo and teaching a chocolate making class is NOT the same as a chocolate tasting.
We would like to educate folks on the background/history of chocolate as well as the differences in Hershey's milk chocolate and Theo's milk chocolate and the nuances in betwixt the two. mostly educate so they know what to look for and expect in different chocolates. Burt wrote a blog on chocolate a few years back so he can draw on that.
Glad the river didn't rise, Puddle! News from GSO--I have enough strength to walk a good third of a block. On return even need to come up a slight hill! Tentative plans to move back to my apartment in a week or so. Back to downtown Greensboro where the action is!
I hope you find a good home for your books, Pat. Will you keep any of your favorites?
But on Friday I am taking a Retreat Day. My alma mater (Shalem.org) now offers retreats that can be done from home, connecting online for the (video) content and interaction. Most of Retreat is silence, anyway.
"I was thinking that time has speeded up and we are living longer. Kind of a paradox."
Pithy as ever, Pat. I don't think time itself is speeding up, but it may feel that way because we don't take the pauses we used to. Musical notes without pauses would just be noise.
Exquisite day today, flowers, sun, a rain shower, green, trees, sky, big puffy white clouds like sculptures. Just beautiful. When the West has enough rain, it's lush, gorgeous.
Glad you are making such progress, Shirlee. About books, yes, I'll keep some. I hope I live long enough to get rid of most of them though.
I thought of your comment Listener, "Musical notes without pauses would just be noise." I listened to some opera on the way down to Loveland, and yes, pauses among instruments, within the melody, and in song. I agree, we need quiet time, retreat time, time. I hope your retreat was renewing.
Well, not much to say, just hello and hope you are all enjoying this beautiful summer.
Ah Pat, yes, it was a good day of Retreat. The theme was "Holy Interruptions" though really it was more about staying in the moment. (Whenever the theme was mentioned, all I could think of was: "Holy Interruptions, Batman!" LOL!)
But through the openness of the day and the gentle pace I came to a realisation: I don't have a fear of having my heart broken (in life), I have a fear of having my heart hardened.
I worked until just after 2:00pm and we had VT*Grand here overnight last night. It was her dance recital day and she rocked it. She did her best ever in her two routines and I honestly believe she is one of those who gets energy, strength and joy from having a full audience before her. Six years old and she perked up the whole group routine which a few well placed pizzazz moments! Ha! Her group danced to "I've Got Rhythm" and "Send in the Clowns." For the first they were gorgeously out of step and for the second they were the comic relief! LOL! She had a blast! :-D
Tomorrow (Sunday) we are off to visit Grandson! Yeah!! XOXOXXX
A fog that covered the mountain. Another rainy, cool day, but in the West I don't mind rain.
Here's from a good friend who was a doctor on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the doctor on Ta'u Manu'a in American Samoa where we were. It's a beautiful short film
Have a fine day.
" This incredible short film shares an Indigenous Native American Prophecy that links all of life and the future of our planet. Visit the Upload the file and spread the word! Purpose We want to change the global markets."
Please pop over to Howard Empowered to read my post about PhD*Son. He leaves today for Coats Island in upper Hudson Bay, Canada to collect the geolocators that were banded onto 35 Semipalmated Sandpipers last Summer. The devices will offer information on where the birds have been each say since they were banded, yielding information that will help scientists understand why this species is in sharp decline and hopefully reverse the decline.
He will be braving 40's by day and 30's by night, without heat, and on an island that also has polar and grizzly bears. They actually have to take a 12 gauge shotgun to the loo!
The post I wrote includes a few photos, and links on where to read the camp log from both last season and where to watch for the camp log for this season.
PhD*Son leaves TODAY and will be gone just over 3 weeks. During that time his 2nd grader will become a 3rd grader, his nursery schooler will become a kindergardener, and his wife will take an exam and become a *registered* nurse.
Sorting family letters/papers here at Brenda's. Some easy to get rid of--others not--especially letters from a favorite aunt who lived with us when I was a kid in order to go to a good 12 grade public high school. In the thirties there were some high schools in Michigan that only went through 10 grades. Not sure when this stopped.
It is hard now to get rid of hand- written letters from favorite people in my life. Off for a walk-- getting in shape to go back to my apartment this week-end!
Ah Pat, the journal entry was not written by my son, as he was not in the research group on Coats Island last year. I'm pretty sure those are the words of his boss, Stephen Brown…a wonderful man who helped us choose the very best Swarovski binoculars for our son when he graduated with his PhD…the same wonderful man who sent our son to the ER to begin Lyme Disease treatment when he developed a mark on his leg while doing research on an island…without waiting for tests to confirm a diagnosis. (Field biologists don't take chances with ticks…only bears. LOL!)
I just wanted to ask good vibes and/or prayers for all in my workplace. This past week a truly wonderful trustee called my coworker asking her about some upcoming changes, then broaching the subject with her and asking her to tell what is up with our director. Thankfully, my coworker was truthful and kind at the same time. So was the trustee. Our director has a revue coming up, and the trustees are highly impressed with us staffers that we have managed without much direction these two years. My coworker says the trustee assured her that no one is going to be sacked. The delicacy of the situation is well in hand. At least…as regards this trustee and the chair as well. There is one new trustee member [who has NEVER darkened our door except for trustee meetings, who asked this same coworker, who has worked there 9+ years, whether she is a volunteer (!!!)], who is a Republican and likely ran to get an inside view of how to diminish what we do. (I'm not kidding.) But aside from one or two members, the others will be discreet and gracious. So there is hope in the works, as well as a need to keep alert. Pray tuned. ♥
Listener--NOT getting rid of important letters. Perhaps I wasn't clear--I was going through an envelope of papers that INCLUDED the letters. And really, for long term storage or preservation plastic bins are not the answer. Need to use acid free storage folders or scan and put on-line.
Our whole family is going through major trauma just now MyFamily.com is completely closing down as of September 5. We have been members since 2006, have over 3,000 edited and annotated family photos. We will be able to export the photos only NOT the information with them nor the long distance family conversations we have had on a daily basis. MyFamily is owned by Ancestry.com which we also have. Apparently Ancestry has gobbled up a number of family history sites over the years and is now closing them down. They consider anything but the photos their property. A bunch of mad, irritated, disgusted people out there in the family history world. Our failure here to make backup files!
Brenda is searching out an alternative site for us. But it is a ton of work to re-identify and edit the photos again.
Ho-Ho, Ha-Ha--just read that the Obama's have purchased property in Asheville, NC for their post- presidential home! Asheville is a culturally varied, town in the far west of the state--mountain scenery, Democratic stronghold. It is now known as a "cool, hip, and with it" place. Culture, education, the arts, local food etc. Welcome, welcome to the Obama family.
Why do I feel this is a counterweight to the nasty actions happening in our Capitol in Raleigh on the eastern side of the state? Here in Greensboro we are in the Piedmont area in between the two, geographically and politically :)
Yes, lovely here too, Puddle. Glad you are having heavenly weather.
Listener, thoughts and a prayer your way. Work relationships are crucial but often very complex and conflicted. They are important and maybe there are no easy solutions.
Shirlee, I understand about saving memories in letters, photos, notes, and artifacts. I'm struggling with that now.
I wrote a former journalism student who now is the publisher of a mountain town newspaper, would she like some of the Nederland yearbooks in her archive, and she said yes. So, I sent them to her. It's an honor to have a former student who now publishes the newspaper.
Shirlee, we were just out on our deck ruminating about all the changes coming in our society and that change is always happening. We both commented that Barack Obama has been the correcter, the patch maker, the healer, a brilliant man who is aware of the volatility and instability of society and yet is principled and future directed. He will be one of our greats, so we said.
Perhaps you can copy and paste all your info to files outside the MyFamily.com site. If the timing gets tight, you can photograph it and type it back in later.
I see someone took out the garbage - thank you! local police forces are arming their cops - Obama has nothing to do with it. it is obscene and overkill imo and if only there was a way to stop it. since 9/11 localities have gotten crazy and it can only be combatted one city, county or state at a time. and I don't see that happening anytime soon.
things are nuts here, my gas was shut off last week so no hot water, stove, heat, etc. cold showers suck! thank goodness it's warm here, my arthritis doesn't like it at all. I hate using bleach but am using it to wash dishes and clean, my only source for hot water is my coffee maker and by the time the second pot of water is heated the first one is lukewarm - so bleach it is. I barely paid enough to keep the power on today, I would really be screwed if that was shut off too.
I tried to cook pasta in a crockpot today and made paste, LOL! I'm going to try it in the microwave next, get the water good and hot before I add the pasta but maybe put a couple of pieces in to avoid that scalding you can get if you boil water alone in a microwave - it creates tension at the surface and when you move the bowl it is in it explodes out the top, it's very dangerous!. we'll see how that goes - I really want to make a pasta salad!
I am really missing my Mom. Mother's day was hard and then on 5/31 my brothers and niece and I planted the first flowers at her grave. it was really nice to be with them, living alone I never have someone to hug when I start crying about Mom, we all cried and hugged a lot. the day was a tribute to her, we stopped at the greenhouse that we always stopped at on our way to plant flowers in the family cemetery, then after we planted all of the flowers we stopped at her favorite place to eat and a little further towards home we stopped where she always loved to get a creamy (soft ice cream) and had one for her. we also buried my Dad's ashes - different cemetery - and planted flowers at the big family stone there. my younger brother couldn't let go after he died 12/02/2012 so he kept the urn at his house but once we buried Mom's ashes he knew that the time was coming. I think we all healed a bit but Mom's birthday is 6/21 so I am still in a bad way, everything about spring reminds me of times with her.
Hope all is well with you ladies, Shirlee you must be healing well if you're going through your papers! listener I hope your son enjoys his trip, that sounds like quite an adventure. Pat and puddle I enjoy your reports of the weather and growing things. I've got a bit of a veggie garden going, I hope it bears well. love you all! xoxoxo
How good to hear from you, Jo. Sorry to hear of your difficulties. I know we all wish we had a way to help you out. I remember times in my early married life when things like that would happen. The 50's were not all that easy for country families.
Thank you again and always for making this space for us.
Jo, it's always good to hear from you, but we are concerned for you. Are there resources that can be of use, help, mitigate? You are creative and resourceful, and very smart. Let us know your thoughts.
Just finished watching Cosmos. What an amazing, exhilarating program! I'm not sure how much I understand, but the information about the multiverse, what we're made of, how science works, the brilliance of ideas and processes, just amazing. Carl Sagan's words about our species going into outer space were the climax of the program.
On Chris Hayes MSNBC, a New York Times article that Obama has achieved the four major things he promised in his 2008 campaign: Health Care, Leaving Iraq, Climate Change initiatives, and Education. Many are incremental, but far reaching, will last longer and are better than the initiatives and bad laws under the Clinton Administration. So, Obama isn't Super Man, but he's as good as it gets in thinking about the future and working towards it.
Well, Jo, you are in my thoughts. I'll say good night for now, a busy day.
no worries, I feel that things will work out. I have been searching for a job for a long time now and it wears on me more some times than others. I think it helps to let you know what is going on, I usually keep it all inside. 'talking' about it helps I think. and it's all a learning experience, gaining appreciation for things that I often take for granted - and it works the mind and body to do things differently. it felt good to laugh at myself when I tried the crockpot pasta today!
I have had ups and downs on the house, my mortgage was bought by another company in February and I went into panic mode, it has been in foreclosure for a while now with no sale date set. turns out this company is even better than the one I had, told me there would be no sale date set until early next year and they are determined to keep me in it if we can, I have a lot of equity in it. I just need a job and could even get by with part time, my mortgage is so low. many friends and the support group from my doctor's office think that I should file for disability again - I tried when I was housebound waiting for my hip surgery a couple of years ago but was denied. most of my physical problems are worse and I have a couple of new ones so maybe that is what I should do. it would certainly pay my bills and keep the lights on. but it somehow feels like failure, I feel that I could do a good days work in some capacity if only the right job came along and someone would hire me. sigh. anyway, it's going to work out, it's just a bit of a nail biter, hanging on so long. thank you for letting me let it out, holding it in keeps the universe from helping I think.
"Thank you for letting me let it out, holding it in keeps the universe from helping I think."
Dear Jo, it isn't a failure to accept disability when you have contributed all your life to the well being of others, and still do in so many ways (like creating this blog!). This is exactly what disability is for ~ for folks who have a lot of health issues that get in the way of being ABLE to work in the usual ways.
A friend of mine writes blog posts for groups and companies that want to maintain a blog but have no one to do it. I could see you doing some of that from home for a little spending money. Here's her website, if you want to explore the idear: https://www.blogmutt.com/profiles/5da04dc27b3de78bb51f4bb2d8f72a1d
Jo, I'd LOVE to bring you some pasta!!! What's your favorite kind? I could come on Wednesday, if that's good for you. I could make some and put it into containers that you could easily reheat.
I'll also take a look to see if anyone makes a plug-in water pot that actually boils water. Someone must, eh? If so, I'll bring that too!
I'm just paying it forward. My mother and father struggled to make ends meet, and I know what that can do to your day to day life. Sometime it will be my turn, so helping now makes me feel better about that time when I will need help. Y'know?
THANK YOU listener, that pot sounds perfect for my needs! you are so sweet, I'll find a way to thank you for this and for your love and support, it has cheered me! also thank you for the blog link, I have thought that I could do that as well, this may point me in the right direction. I worked from home for Putnam Investments for a few years and really liked it and found that I had good focus and could accomplish a lot.
I just got foodstamps for the month so am set on food for a bit, later in the month is when I run out of fresh fruit and veggies. I'll think about the list, but really you have already done so much!
I am so set - I asked my daughter in law if she had an electric skillet that she doesn't use and she has one that she got as a gift 5 years ago that she has never used! oh yay! so many things that I can cook with this and the pot, I've been making scrambled eggs in the microwave and they are edible but really don't taste great and I know that the nutritional value has been zapped out of anything that I cook in it. ;-)
I have been thinking about you, Jo. I'm glad that you are letting us know of the difficulties you've been facing, and cheered at your humor and resilience. Listener, you are such a good friend and your support cheers me as well.
Jo, I know there has to be community supports that can help. My mother was part of the Grandmothers in the Schools Programs that supplemented her Social Security. There may be government programs that pay you for your expertise. I also have a high school friend who has an apartment that is subsidized by the government, and she is very happy with it.
Listener is correct, Jo. We've all paid into the fund for disabilities, and that's why it's there. It's not a reflection on inadequacy. All this stress can't be helping you feel better. You deserve whatever resources you need.
So, thinking about you and a prayer. Keep us apprised, Jo, and yes, a smile for your good humor.
thank you Pat. I have an appointment on the 24th with a team from our local hospital, they have a community health team and they help connect people with local services. I spoke with them yesterday and was given a couple of options for assistance with transportation - for doctor visits I've been using the special services transportation at no charge but apparently there may be other types of transport for non-medical purposes. I still have my car but it will be a while before I can repair the brakes, inspect it, register it, buy insurance - AND I let my driver's license expire in March, so it's the first time that I haven't had it in 34 years!! this experience has increased my gratitude for many things, everything is easier when you have a car. I purposefully went without a car for 7 years when I lived and worked in downtown Burlington, but I was a walker then and could easily get to anything that I needed to. yup, I'm grateful, especially for friends like you ladies. you do make me feel so much better! xoxoxo
You are so very welcome, Jo! I'm heart glad that the pot will help in so many ways!!
And I am very glad indeed that your new bank is being intelligent. Too many institutions are only intellectual (using just the mind), but intelligence also uses the heart.
Pat said it well. We pay into disability all those years, not only so that others may use it, but so that it's there for us when we need it.
Keep us posted. I'm not that far away and could help out sometimes. ♥
Ah, Jo! Feel with you. No one can ever have been exactly *there*--but I've been close.
Glad you found the electric frying pan. I too have tried the mush pasta in a crockpot, lol! Sooooooooo disappointing! ] Much love and light from here to there.
When I was in China, we rigged up a little oven on our tiled terrace, made from an electric ring, and bricks salvaged from the earthquake, and put together with mud. The top and front were big cutting boards. I could do cookies, and pies, and candied yams, but cakes were too tall--the tops would never bake.
I learned from Maine*D-I-L today that the Circus will be coming to town here in July. When I commented excitedly that it's the same week that Eldest*Grand (her daughter) will be staying with us, however, she asked us to skip it because they're taking her to it in August. =Sigh=
I need great ideas for things to do with a 7 (almost 8) year old Grand who is super smart and gets taken to the ballet, etc., every year.
113 comments:
Wonderful quote puddle, so true.
Just a pop in to say hello and give you all my love.
Howard Dean is still first in my book! ;-)
Thank You for the new thread, Puddle.
Cinnci kids are in town for the week-end.
Always good to see them.
Wonderful quote!! Thank-you!!
Doing what it right for the sake of another really is its own reward.
We are carpeted! Hurrah!!!
We are mostly done now, just a few optional trims to do and some furniture to replace over time. The pace slows now and we are ready to enjoy some relaxing days in our comfy home. :-)
May everyone have a good Memorial Day weekend, both remembering those who have died and taking a little time to breathe.
I'm working tomorrow, then participating in a neighborhood "walk around" to assess what work is needed on the outside of our buildings, then we'll have granddaughter until midday Monday.
Good Morning,
A nice rain last night, ground wet, and air cool.
I thought of James Russell Lowell's "What Is So Rare as a Day in June" and decided to post it.
First verse:
And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;
The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,
In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?
No matter how barren the past may have been,
'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green;
We sit in the warm shade and feel right well
How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell;
We may shut our eyes but we cannot help knowing
That skies are clear and grass is growing;
The breeze comes whispering in our ear,
That dandelions are blossoming near,
That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing,
That the river is bluer than the sky,
That the robin is plastering his house hard by;
And if the breeze kept the good news back,
For our couriers we should not lack;
We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing,
And hark! How clear bold chanticleer,
Warmed with the new wine of the year,
Tells all in his lusty crowing!
Third stanza
Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how;
Everything is happy now,
Everything is upward striving;
'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true
As for grass to be green or skies to be blue,
'Tis for the natural way of living:
Who knows whither the clouds have fled?
In the unscarred heaven they leave not wake,
And the eyes forget the tears they have shed,
The heart forgets its sorrow and ache;
The soul partakes the season's youth,
And the sulphurous rifts of passion and woe
Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth,
Like burnt-out craters healed with snow.
Last night on Rachel Maddow, an hour long documentary entitled "Why We Did It" revealing that the Bush Administration at the very beginning intended to take control of Iraq's oil. The attack on 9/11 and the charge of weapons of mass destruction gave them a cover to do what they intended to do from the first days of their administration. They lied about it, but Rachel and her staff unearthed documents of the complicity of the oil companies, specifically Halliburton and KRB and Shell and the administration led by Dick Cheney, and the military.
It sickens me. They were criminal in what they did from the attack on Iraq, to ignoring the threats of Al Qaeda, to legalizing torture,to war profitting (Halliburton and Black Water), to the loss and maiming of life of our soldiers and of Iraqi citizens.
Well, I don't want to spoil your day, but thank you Barb and Listener and all of us for remaining active and involved.
Kiddle just arrived! Pretty day. Only downside is that on long weekends, the city peeps arrive, too, and drive their ATVs up/down/all around.
In the spirit of Dr. King:
Common Dreams
Can a New Populist Movement Fight Off American Oligarchy?
snip
At the 'New Populism Conference' hosted by the Campaign for America's Future on Thursday, a number of progressive thinkers and activists—not to mention Senators Warren and Sanders themselves—spoke to the idea of the "new populism" they say is desperately needed to release the nation from the stranglehold of corporate interests and a politics dominated by big money.
Striking a resolute and outside message at the conference was Rev. William Barber—head of the North Carolina NAACP and leader of the Moral Monday protests in his state—who rejected the idea that hope should come from Washington, DC or the establishment of either major party.
During his remarks at the conference poduim, Barber pointed to the lessons of the Civil Rights movement more than a generation ago and thundered: "They built a movement in spite of the odds," and cited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said: "There comes a time when you have to stop being a thermometer and instead change the temperature of the situation in which you exist!"
Barber said a truly populist and progressive movement must face off against both parties. "I'm sorry to tell you, if no one did," said Barber, "but sometimes Democrats don't do what they should even when they have the power. And Republicans do what they shouldn't do when they have the power."
The real solution, Barber declared, is "to have an independent movement which says, 'It doesn't matter who's in power! There are some things that are just right and we demand that they be done!'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/05/23-1
From the comment section:
begin quote: Good luck with that Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders led populist revolution!
From WSWS:
The United States Senate voted Thursday to confirm David Barron, the former Obama administration official who drafted the legal justification for assassination by drone-fired missile, to a lifetime seat on the First Circuit Court of Appeals. It was a near-party-line vote, 53-45, with every Republican voting against, joined by only two Democrats.
Every prominent liberal in the Senate voted to rubber-stamp the nomination. Those voting for Barron including the self-proclaimed “socialist,” independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont, as well as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, promoted as a potential presidential candidate by the Nation magazine and other liberal groups.
Also supporting Barron were Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, hailed by the pseudo-left as the first openly lesbian senator, Al Franken of Minnesota, and the three supposed critics of NSA spying, Mark Udall of Colorado, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
******************************
Yes, Bush is a war criminal and the people wanted him brought to justice.
Obama decided to "look forward." Previously, Pelosi took impeachment off the table.
The comment section of this article is very interesting.
The irony is thick this Memorial Day with the veterans scandal.
sea
Wow. Thanks, Pat.
It is good to know that the truth is coming out, as that its the only way to keep it from happening again.
May there be gentlenesses in your remembrances this weekend. I will be remembering my Uncle Junior (Harold), who died in WWII. I never got to meet him, except through his letters home, through which I discovered a kindred spirit blood relative.
Good Morning,
We had quite a thunder and lightning storm last night, lots of rain. The weather, which always seemed to me variable and volatile in Colorado, is more than ever extreme. But, no flooding where we are.
I read that every great civilization that has collapsed was because of greed and militarism. I remember when Thich Nhat Hanh was at the retreat at the Y and remarked that every great civilization dies after hearing we had gone to war in Iraq, and I cried.
We have been no better than any civilization with genocide, slavery, oppression, racism, ravaging of the environment. I think what has been better are the ideals we've espoused and we have also been beneficial in many instances in our history.
I think the environment will be our test as to whether we can choose the constructive and necessary path to repairing damage to the planet and choosing to live responsibly, with equity and the goal of health of people and the planet.
We'll see. I have hope, have always been an optimist, but so much of the media is deceptive, ideologically driven, irresponsible. Can we do this? I hope so.
Another rainy day possible here. We need to put in our plants but with the possibility of hail, we're holding off.
Have a good day, friends.
Hi Listener,
Yes, I think learning the truth is the only real corrective to malfeasance and mistakes. I'm not so sure punishment is as powerful. But, knowing what happened, how and why can teach us.
Listening to NPR last night about the story of someone who stole a beer for under two dollars and ended up owing $400.00 a month for the costs of wearing ankle bracelets to inform police of where he was and going to jail because he couldn't pay the fees tells me the conditions of 18th Century England, and Les Miserable are still with us. We punish the poor, the ignorant, the weak.
When we privatized prisons, enacted mandatory sentences, we created a system that was more oppressive and discriminatory than anything a government paid system was.
A multi year imprisonment and fines and parole for stealing a $2.00 beer!
The question is why was this man an alcoholic, without employment, and ignorant. What are we doing or not doing that creates a society where victims are punished in extremes?
Well, this bothers me a lot. Maybe we can correct this kind of thing. I think there are many well intentioned citizens who will work towards getting rid of this kind of oppression.
I just realized that there are no "spoilers" for me. Whatever/however, I don't "get" the "thrill" of suspense. This is apropos of the fact that my 30 disk set of the Sopranos is missing the last disk. So I hit the nets to find out. Going to order the last season, sealed and new, just so I *will* have it, but knowing how it ends isn't going to spoil it for me. If knowing spoiled fiction, no one would ever reread any book. . . .
Pat, how very much I appreciate the depth of your thought-full-ness and your gift for articulation.
Do you have legislators you could sit down with to share your concerns about imprisonment of the weak and ask what we can do about it? Educating our legislators and speaking truth to power (also "speaking the truth in love") may be the necessary base for change. How can we inspire those in power to work for positive change? (The only other viable option is to run for office.) I am not one to protest lightly, but am certainly known by my legislators. Of course, easy for me to say, with such stellar souls representing Vermont.
You wrote: "I remember when Thich Nhat Hanh was at the retreat at the Y and remarked that every great civilization dies after hearing we had gone to war in Iraq, and I cried."
I recall saying, at that time, "This will be the humbling of America." My priest responded, "Oh, I hope not!" But i hadn't said it would be the humiliating of America, just the humbling, and I think that would have been a good thing. "Pride goes before destruction." A humbler nation would be more caring and understanding.
It looks like the weather is going to clear before this morning's parade. Thinking of my uncle who died in WWII. Thinking of the maple ice cream cone I'm planning to have later. Thinking of the nap I will take after Grand heads home. Sooo tired. Yet my life is good. When I think of all the people and places in the world, their weather and political circumstances, I see how incredibly lucky I am.
Beautiful, warm, sunny day. The put-put people left around two. Thank God.
Having finished up on Sopranos, I think I wouldn't recommend doing it so quickly. The impact is HUGE. So much going on artistically, spiritually, but jeepers. . . .
Thinking back to my leaving the church by degree starting in my late teens, and so much was based on truths that couldn't be spoken because they were ugly. And me thinking even then that if ugly is true, you have to speak it, or everything else is false, too. . . .
puddle, so glad you got some peace for the last of the weekend.
Leaving Church is something many do, but there are so very many different reasons. Feel free to speak yours.
Mine was simply that I saw too often how those in authority made decisions based less on what God "allows" than to fears underscored by what lawyers allow. I saw this at the diocesan level in the actions of bishops, and at the parish level in the action of enough priests that I realised it wasn't going to change in my lifetime. I could no longer move forward in the ordination process and feel free in relationship with God. That was the bottom line' so I opted out of the process. I stayed in the Church another 7 years, on the periphery as a contemplative, before discovering that I had taken a step away from the periphery. It was my peer group of spiritual guides, all of whom were clergy at the time, who listened to my journey and reflected that they now saw me as a desert mother, apart from the church and yet without animosity toward it. That helped me to take steps needed at the time. It hasn't been an easy "path without a path," but it remains the only way I can breathe spiritually.
Hi Friends,
Last night we had several inches of hail, a really hard downpour, and the clouds were heavy, thick, menacing. It looked like we had a snow storm. Plus, lightning, thunder, and it went on it seemed for an hour or it felt like it.
Today, quiet. I finished reading John Enright's The Dead Don't Dance, a murder mystery in American Samoa, where John was a history preservation director for over 20 years, 28, I think. It takes place on Ofu, an island across from Ta'u where we were. It was fun, well written, and brought back so many memories of the culture.
Thank you, Listener, for your kind comments and suggestions. In our small community here, we try to help one another in need, and our Senators Udall and Bennett are everything I could ask for. I'd have to do some research to find out the extent of our imprisonment problems here. I'll think about doing that.
Yes, the Sopranos is a masterpiece, I think, Puddle. You can't help but like Tony, even though he's a thug, a murderer, and dishonest. He reflects the emotions that we all know as humans, and that's a real contribution. Every criminal, vicious human being is still and always that, a human being. While I wouldn't want to know Tony personally nor have him as a neighbor, I'd recognize his humanness everywhere.
We rewatched the West Wing series, and they too are wonderful. Some more that I loved are Treme, China Beach, Hill Street Blues, and an off shoot of Star Trek, the name doesn't come to me right now. But, it was culturally oriented with the mercenary Ferengis and other interesting characters.
Beautiful day here, though a neighbor about two blocks away had dirt bikes roaring up and down his driveway for hours. What is it about Americans that they don't mind noise?
Well, Cosmos on tonight. June is coming.
Love the Internet. Deep Space Nine was the series.
Yes, I read somewhere that the path finds us with respect to our spiritual lives. I think of the 50s and 60s as a time of great conformity in so many ways: school, religion, dress, manners, language, media, expectations. I think of this time as a time of individualism, though besieged by a commercial culture that promotes addictions of all kinds from food, to things, to activities, and behaviors.
While I wish I could say I am a believer, I'm afraid Doubting Thomas and I are kin. I wish, I hope, I trust, but I just don't know, though I think that the teachings of Christ and the Buddha are real, true, and essential.
For me, the Catholic church, while there were some wonderful people, there was too much power, too much dogma, too much wealth and influence. When the priest said that anyone who doesn't make his Easter Duty (go to confession and communion once a year) would be in danger of hell, I thought of my father who never did, and my loyalty was to my father. That began the doubt.
But, our lives, our actions, our efforts and thoughts are our path, I think, and I'm grateful for the individual choices and variety. They all teach.
Pat, as close as the Mormons have to hell is being a "Son of Perdition" (based on you know, you saw, and you deny to His face).
Second year I was a camp counselor (church camp), we had the regular Weds night Testimony Meeting. Putting my girls to bed that night, one was weeping--he father was going to be a SOP. The priesthood teachers had come to the house (her mom was a member), and her father listened, and refused to come to church. I remember taking her out and sitting under the stars telling her about the color yellow. Which I'd hated almost to nausea after my parents got some cut rate paint and painted my bedroom this school bus color. That things can and do happen to people that they can't help--and outsiders have no way of knowing about. Her father may have heard the missionaries speak, that doesn't mean that he understood and denied God. And if I had to like the color yellow to get into heaven, I wouldn't be going there because I couldn't change it. Each soul is a mystery, even to itself. She calmed, and I hope I did her some permanent good. I've since said that God is interested in spirituality, not in religions(s).
Years later, with MRIs, it turns out that people praying takes place in the left front of the brain, right near the center of judging/ranking. Meditation takes place in the right central section, next to the center for joy/pleasure. . . .
"people praying takes place in the left front of the brain, right near the center of judging/ranking. Meditation takes place in the right central section, next to the center for joy/pleasure"
Ah, this explains much! It explains why the contemplative can appreciate much about a worship service while not getting caught up in the fine print. It explains why the mind is fed by delineation and the spirit by oneness.
Coming from a western culture, I tend to refer to the Buddhist concept "mindfulness" as "heartfulness." Westerners certainly do not need a full mind. ;-)
Ah, I also should have explained that the Buddhist concept of meditation is most akin to the Christian concept of contemplation (unlike the New Age sort of meditation or other fad methods of feeling good, such as a runner's high).
Reposting to fix a key typo:
Pat, ever since my near death experience at age two and a half, I have had a deep and abiding kinship with the Really Real, which I learned to call "God" in my younger years, yet may or may not be like the "God" that many faiths speak of. All I know for sure is that there is One greater and yet within me, who is personal and who is of Love. I am equally content with comprehending this as a Creator God who is still present and active and co-creates with us and with a Universe that is replenishing and centered on Love. The construct, it seems to me, doesn't matter at all. The energy of our verve is Love; all else is just imperfect language.
Beautifully said. I will reread both your comments, Puddle and Listener. Puddle, I'm sure that you did comfort your daughter and give her an example of how to accept ourselves and our fears and responses.
I have to smile. The home we live in now, which I love, was painted almost entirely in school bus yellow. Yes, I understand how you must have felt.
Listener, thank you, so worth reading again and again. I know that human suffering can teach us, can elicit empathy and oneness with others, but I am grieved by how much suffering there is, especially among the most innocent and vulnerable. I have lots to think about, but yes, love, love is essential, is maybe the god in us, and we need it so much.
But, I don't have answers, am just a seeker at this stage.
Thank you both.
Always we begin again, always we are seekers. We live between the Already and the Not Yet, so our knowledge is imperfect. Hopefully, it keeps us humble. ;-)
puddle, I agree that your words of wisdom at the right time must surely have stayed with her. I hope so. In fact, I hope it with all my heart because I see a smaller version of this with one Grand.
~ ♥ ~
Hmmm, maybe strange, but for me the techniques of relaxation I have learned since my mid twenties allowed me to free myself from the Lutherans. Beginning in my
mid- twenties. Self hypnosis taught me by my doctor for
the birth of my last two children--Dana and Brenda, Reiki
sessions weekly for a couple of years, eastern influence
from a few sources --including Dr.Andrew Weil --who did
a portion of his medical studies in India and some influence from the speeches of Prem Rawat whose
emphasis has gradually developed to the concept that
world peace must start with each of us. We only have
this very moment. (The older I get the more apt this seems:)
Rachel Maddow does, indeed, do her homework. That special was great. She and her "minions" dig and dig. That's why her book "Drift" was such a page turner. I was so angry when I read about Regan that I had to put the book down for about a week. I call watching Rach "going to school" because of the extensive background research she presents on her main topic each night.
That's not to say that she only researches her main story. She and her staff do extensive research on every topic she brings up.
Chris Hayes is starting to do some digging as well. I so enjoy both of their shows. I get tired of Lawrence O'Donnell though, mostly repeats what Chris and Rach report and does not add much. We sometimes use that segment to catch up on tv shows that we missed because I was out of town or at a meeting.
Getting ready to introduce the person that is going to take over my Precinct. I'm SOOOOOO excited to finally be done with it. My back and knees cannot take the hills, driveways and staircases any more.
Ahhhhhh, most interesting that praying takes place next to judging! HAH! Me thinks that meditation and it's ilk better serves mankind.
So much going on as usual. Much love and many hugs to my here family.
~ ♥ ~ ~ ♥ ~ ~ ♥ ~ ~ ♥ ~ (stealing hearts)
hi ladies! so nice to read your thoughtful comments, your insights are helpful. Glad that you are healing Shirlee! Pat your book sounds wonderful, I hope you get a great response to it! listener your sprucing up sounds beautiful, I'm sure it is cozy and that you are glad to be almost done. puddle your images of spring and da boy make me smile! and Barb your energy and commitment to supporting good candidates is wonderful, thank you for what you do! things are okay here, spring makes things easier for sure. <3
Rachel is awesome and she has a great research team, they do dig and dig, she can always back up what she says. I've known about Cheney's quest for Iraq's oil for well more than a decade now - I was going to post a link or two but instead will post the link for my goggle search, there is a wealth of information about it from 2002, 2003. I hope that we never have another administration like that, they sure did do a great deal of damage in a short period of time!
https://www.google.com/#q=cheney%20iraq%20oil%20maps
Thanks Jo, Shirlee, Barb, Pat, puddle all. It has been such a sweet revelation to discover on this thread that what undergirds our ongoing conversation is that our spiritual journeys from all over have led us to the same broad perspective of love, compassion and social concern.
Well, I was at work and when I checked Facebook I learned that folks an hour south of me were under a tornado watch! I don't think any were reported, but there was a 74mph wind gust in Bridport, Vermont with a lot of trees down on Route 22A and Route 30, as well as wind damage and some flooding in Rutland and elsewhere. Wild!
I forgot to mention the golfball-sized hail!
Good Morning,
A beautiful day. We will hike on National Forest land to look for wildflowers. We saw some exquisite primroses along the side of our access road yesterday.
Jo, it's always a joy to hear from you.
This I wanted to share with you today:
One book I've been reading for a year is the poet, Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening. It has a passage for every day of the year, and for me sometimes the passage is just what I need. For example, today's May 28th reading is "The Risk of Attention"/
"For the raindrop,/joy is entering the river." -- The Sufi Prophet Ghalib
Nepo writes," It is amazing to consider how as infants we are one with everything. In time, of course, we learn how to distinguish between ourselves and others, between the world we carry inside and the world we move through. But ironically, the sages of all paths are those who, after a lifetimes of experiences, try to return to this primary state of Oneness.
When I think of the moments I have felt most alive, they all have this quality of joining all-of-what-I-keep-inside with everything-outside-me in a way that makes me forget myself. They all feel timeless and open-ended. Tenderly, the deepest moments of making love allow us to join in that Oneness beyond ourselves, as do certain moments of being immersed in great music or great open spaces. I have also felt this after long periods of swimming or running, or after long periods of being healthfully alone. I feel it when discovering what it is I need to write. Joy, it seems, is the feeling of Oneness.
Not surprisingly, it is the risk to love--the risk to give our full attention--that lets what-is-eternal-within merge with what-is-eternal-wthout. In those moments of Oneness, we, as drops of spirit, join the larger river of spirit.
And so, it is the risk to be fully present that opens us to the Oneness that flows through all things, the way a spring brrook flows from your acre through my fence, through my land, and on through my neighbor's fence and land. Just as that rush of water ignores all we have built in betwene, so the wholeness of life moves through us all, undermining all the walls we maintain.
It seems we always have the choice: to remain a builder of fences or to enter the stream that ignores all fences."
Then he gives some suggestions for mediation and breathing.
Sorry for the typos: lifetime, book, between.
Argh, brook, not book.
It was a beautiful day here, and though the wildflowers were not profuse, it felt so good to walk in woods and meadows.
Have a good evening friends.
My spiritual guide often says:
"As the fish is in the sea and the sea is in the fish
so are we in God and God in us."
Another beautiful day.
Listening or rather reading the comments on the blogs beneath the network headlines, so much negativity in this country, or maybe just bloggers.
What will it take to make us a less aggressive and militaristic people? President Obama has kept us our of war, and that makes him weak in the eyes of the likes of Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Graham and McCain) and so many others.
We are still in a WWII mentality, projecting the future in the mindset of the past. Very frustrating.
Well, that's my take. I will enjoy this summery day. Hope you do too.
Negative Bloggers are generally trolls that are paid to post negative things in the hope of influencing us more reasonable people.
More later, much busy here at work.
Lovely rainy, cool green day here. Blessed.
Pat, we will be in a WWII mentality until those who fought in WWII are no longer in power. It makes sense, as that was such a traumatic and potent part of their young adulthood.
But just as the young people of today have forgotten the struggles and victories that gave them vital freedoms (such as being called humankind instead of mankind), those who warmonger will pass and those who assume that war is not a good thing will be in power.
The Wheel Turns.
It was a gorgeous day here…sunshine and 71F, with blue sky and soft clouds here and there. Lovely. Everyone was in a good mood everywhere you went. :-) I got to play in the garden a little before work, and even a bit after work because it stays light so late now! I love this time of year! No bugs yet to speak of, but that's coming soon.
wOOt!! A possible opponent to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo is none other than Zephyr Teachout of the Dean Campaign! wOOt!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/nyregion/working-families-party-warns-cuomo-of-a-possible-opponent-Zephyr-Teachout.html
http://zephyrteachout.com/
http://www.cityandstateny.com/2/75/campaigns-and-elections/who-is-zephyr-teachout.html#.U4imHpBOUTA
this is all pretty exciting to me! Zephyr was the one who really connected people in the Dean campaign. when she left things really fell apart. she is brilliant and her background is killer! I wish her a lot of luck. if you want to follow her on facebook, she is communicating most of her activity around this campaign there: https://www.facebook.com/zephyr.teachout?fref=ts
OH MAN!!!!!!! That is exciting! She'd be great! What good news.
I've spent the last hour trying to get invasive stuff off my computer. they seem to install themselves when you are moving your mouse from one place to another on the internet and are set to be super sensitive to a mouse movement and install themselves. What a pain to get rid of because they don't just install one program, I've had to take out 5 to finally get rid of them. OY!
A good day to my peeps XOXOXOXO
Thanks, Jo! Awesome!!
I agree very much about Zephyr's intelligence and people
talents. I had to call the HQ a couple of times and she was the only one who could answer my questions or send
me info.
I do wonder if she has enough name recognition in NY.
What do you all think?
I truly believe that Zephyr would have a stellar work force, and anyone who didn't already know about her soon would.
Spent the day driving to and from and attending the ordination of a friend and spiritual guide colleague. Ordinations are always bittersweet for me, having been in that process for six years, some twenty years ago. But this was a joyful one.
I always think of today as a personal holiday. ;-)
Good Morning,
Another beautiful day. The land is lush with green green green and wildflowers. I even have hope my aspens might flourish.
We've been busy. I donated two copies of Retreat to the YMCA and one copy of Gaia's Garden, a montage of flowers from all over the world with some poetry and Inner Mongolia New Age Music produced by a friend. David produced the DVD. We've had fun with the time to write, photograph, and produce.
About climate emission rules from the EPA: Thank you, Mr. President. I think that he should just go ahead and enact his agenda since Congress is not going to be supportive in any way. He's kept us out of wars, made numerous corrections to systems, has worked towards stability, justice, ethics, and kept the economy from failing. Thank you.
Last night on Cosmos, Earth and Venus were compared. The sulfur dioxide cloud on Venus has cooked the planet, made it barren and unlivable. Our CO2 could do the same. It was a powerful segment. The last of the series will be next week, I think, on June 6th.
Have a beautiful day. Oh, our timid Molly Magee chased a bear away late afternoon yesterday.
Kinda gray warmish day. Welcome June. So blessed that winter has finally ended. . . .
Working Families finally did back Cuomo, but it was great to see Zephyr up there, in consideration. Spells a good future for her. (BTYKT)
It was hot enough to melt a brass monkey here today! 90F after a week of 70's is just too hot!!!
Anything above 80F is unnecessary!!
listener, that is *hot* for Vermont this time of year!!
Lovely here in Greensboro. I am still at Brenda's but getting strength back every day. Major surgery at 80
is only for the foolhardy! Love you all.
OK, Puddle-- translation needed for BTYKT --for the benefit of unknowing North Carolinians :)
but then you knew that
Shirlee, keep on keeping on--it's out there!
Beautiful June day here at the puddleriver.
puddle… LOL!
We had another hot day today, with a high of 88F, humidity is currently 96%! BLAH!
Looking forward to tomorrow's high of 70F!!!
Good on Zephyr! Starting to get some good name recognition. Hope she runs again!
Good going, Brenda. We love "watching" you gain your strength.
I love this little community. Hope it cools down for you folks back east. It's cool here so far today. It was 54 when I was getting gas this morning. Looks to be maybe 70 at some time today.
huggies all around.
Warmer today, but still 70's. Sposed to be cooler tomorrow, via major rain event this evening.
It was nicely cooler today. Still too humid, but livable.
It is also our Eldest's birthday! 39 years ago today, I became a Mom!! :-)
So happy to know you are feeling stronger, Shirlee! ♥
Congrats on your mom-hood, listener. One of our larger passages as humans. More for the parent than the child, I think.
Shirlee, continue to grow strong and prosper, eh?
Another exquisite day! The weather warm, not too hot, everything green and blooming. The flowers seem to all be coming up at once. Over night, penstemmon. Usually they are late June. Sand lilies, flax, avens, loco weed, Blue Flag wild irises, saxifrage, pussy toes, blue eyed grass, leather neck clematis, larkspur, well, you get the picture. Always before you could estimate when each would arrive. Not so now.
I was thinking that time has speeded up and we are living longer. Kind of a paradox.
Well, it's taken a long time, but I realize now that I'm not going to live forever and will not have enough lifetime to read my whole library. So, it's the getting rid of time. I have the sense that I'll be freer for everything I don't have to hold onto. But, how grasping I have been about books, as if I'd find the secret to life in them. Well, certainly some good advice, some wisdom, lots of entertainment, but now I'm donating them to the libraries and to our shelf at the post office.
Have a beautiful day to day, and Shirlee, it's great to know you are healing.
Ah, Pat. Yes, it is hard letting go of those books. But if you donate them to a place that you frequent, you'll know where they are going. Glad you are having good weather. It's gorgeous here again today.
Congrats on your Momhood, Listener!
Time for you to check in, Shirlee, we miss you!
Puddle, how was your "rain event"?
Demogram has been sent on and is finally out of my hands for this month. Now to get ready for the LD Picnic in July. Always something. Burt and I are going to do a chocolate tasting. I've approached Theo chocolate and another lady that does classes in her home, but no response from Theo and teaching a chocolate making class is NOT the same as a chocolate tasting.
We would like to educate folks on the background/history of chocolate as well as the differences in Hershey's milk chocolate and Theo's milk chocolate and the nuances in betwixt the two. mostly educate so they know what to look for and expect in different chocolates. Burt wrote a blog on chocolate a few years back so he can draw on that.
Hugs all around.
Rain event turned out to be not much--couple of solid hours of rain. River did not rise.
Today, cloudy and considerable cooler. Very nice.
Glad the river didn't rise, Puddle! News from GSO--I have enough strength to walk a good third of a block. On return even need to come up a slight hill! Tentative plans to move back to my apartment in a week or so. Back to
downtown Greensboro where the action is!
I hope you find a good home for your books, Pat.
Will you keep any of your favorites?
Love to all.
I was swamped with Grammie duties on Thursday.
But on Friday I am taking a Retreat Day. My alma mater (Shalem.org) now offers retreats that can be done from home, connecting online for the (video) content and interaction. Most of Retreat is silence, anyway.
I am looking forward to it!
"I was thinking that time has speeded up and we are living longer. Kind of a paradox."
Pithy as ever, Pat. I don't think time itself is speeding up, but it may feel that way because we don't take the pauses we used to. Musical notes without pauses would just be noise.
Gorgeous, moderate June day happening here!
Congrats, Shirlee: big steps!
Had a six hour phone call with Thankful last night--heaven! She sends love to all.
Hi Friends,
Exquisite day today, flowers, sun, a rain shower, green, trees, sky, big puffy white clouds like sculptures. Just beautiful. When the West has enough rain, it's lush, gorgeous.
Glad you are making such progress, Shirlee. About books, yes, I'll keep some. I hope I live long enough to get rid of most of them though.
I thought of your comment Listener, "Musical notes without pauses would just be noise." I listened to some opera on the way down to Loveland, and yes, pauses among instruments, within the melody, and in song. I agree, we need quiet time, retreat time, time. I hope your retreat was renewing.
Well, not much to say, just hello and hope you are all enjoying this beautiful summer.
Ah Pat, yes, it was a good day of Retreat. The theme was "Holy Interruptions" though really it was more about staying in the moment. (Whenever the theme was mentioned, all I could think of was: "Holy Interruptions, Batman!" LOL!)
But through the openness of the day and the gentle pace I came to a realisation: I don't have a fear of having my heart broken (in life), I have a fear of having my heart hardened.
So far, so good.
Quiet warm summer day going on here. After remembering last winter, who could ask for more?
Just saw on facebook that Zephyr is still thinking about running. . . .
Zephyr! Zephyr! Zephyr!
I worked until just after 2:00pm and we had VT*Grand here overnight last night. It was her dance recital day and she rocked it. She did her best ever in her two routines and I honestly believe she is one of those who gets energy, strength and joy from having a full audience before her. Six years old and she perked up the whole group routine which a few well placed pizzazz moments! Ha! Her group danced to "I've Got Rhythm" and "Send in the Clowns." For the first they were gorgeously out of step and for the second they were the comic relief! LOL! She had a blast! :-D
Tomorrow (Sunday) we are off to visit Grandson! Yeah!! XOXOXXX
Good Morning,
A fog that covered the mountain. Another rainy, cool day, but in the West I don't mind rain.
Here's from a good friend who was a doctor on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the doctor on Ta'u Manu'a in American Samoa where we were. It's a beautiful short film
Have a fine day.
" This incredible short film shares an Indigenous Native American Prophecy that links all of life and the future of our planet. Visit the Upload the file and spread the word! Purpose We want to change the global markets."
< http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/158947/We_Are_All_One__An_Inspiring_Short_Film_To_Watch/>
Warm green summer day here. Gonna get hot later this week, whew! For now--good.
Dear Friends,
Please pop over to Howard Empowered to read my post about PhD*Son. He leaves today for Coats Island in upper Hudson Bay, Canada to collect the geolocators that were banded onto 35 Semipalmated Sandpipers last Summer. The devices will offer information on where the birds have been each say since they were banded, yielding information that will help scientists understand why this species is in sharp decline and hopefully reverse the decline.
He will be braving 40's by day and 30's by night, without heat, and on an island that also has polar and grizzly bears. They actually have to take a 12 gauge shotgun to the loo!
The post I wrote includes a few photos, and links on where to read the camp log from both last season and where to watch for the camp log for this season.
PhD*Son leaves TODAY and will be gone just over 3 weeks. During that time his 2nd grader will become a 3rd grader, his nursery schooler will become a kindergardener, and his wife will take an exam and become a *registered* nurse.
http://howardempowered.blogspot.com
Good Morning,
Thank you, Listener, for the photo and the beautiful journal entry from your son. It's evident there is a strong spiritual and aesthetic similarity.
Your energy and enthusiasm is uplifting.
Ah, sun, after a cloudy, windy, rainy day. It felt like winter yesterday.
Lots of busyness today. Hope you all have a good day.
Sorting family letters/papers here at Brenda's. Some easy to get rid of--others not--especially letters from a favorite aunt who lived with us when I was a kid in order to go to
a good 12 grade public high school. In the thirties
there were some high schools in Michigan that only went
through 10 grades. Not sure when this stopped.
It is hard now to get rid of hand- written letters from favorite people in my life. Off for a walk-- getting in shape to go back to my apartment this week-end!
Ah Pat, the journal entry was not written by my son, as he was not in the research group on Coats Island last year. I'm pretty sure those are the words of his boss, Stephen Brown…a wonderful man who helped us choose the very best Swarovski binoculars for our son when he graduated with his PhD…the same wonderful man who sent our son to the ER to begin Lyme Disease treatment when he developed a mark on his leg while doing research on an island…without waiting for tests to confirm a diagnosis. (Field biologists don't take chances with ticks…only bears. LOL!)
(Doubled post deleted)
Shirlee, I can't imagine why you would ever get rid of letters that hold special significance for you. That's why God made plastic storage bins. ;-)
Work update:
I just wanted to ask good vibes and/or prayers for all in my workplace. This past week a truly wonderful trustee called my coworker asking her about some upcoming changes, then broaching the subject with her and asking her to tell what is up with our director. Thankfully, my coworker was truthful and kind at the same time. So was the trustee. Our director has a revue coming up, and the trustees are highly impressed with us staffers that we have managed without much direction these two years. My coworker says the trustee assured her that no one is going to be sacked. The delicacy of the situation is well in hand. At least…as regards this trustee and the chair as well. There is one new trustee member [who has NEVER darkened our door except for trustee meetings, who asked this same coworker, who has worked there 9+ years, whether she is a volunteer (!!!)], who is a Republican and likely ran to get an inside view of how to diminish what we do. (I'm not kidding.) But aside from one or two members, the others will be discreet and gracious. So there is hope in the works, as well as a need to keep alert.
Pray tuned. ♥
revue = review
LOL!
Listener--NOT getting rid of important letters. Perhaps I
wasn't clear--I was going through an envelope of papers that INCLUDED the letters. And really, for long term storage or preservation plastic bins are not the answer.
Need to use acid free storage folders or scan and put
on-line.
Our whole family is going through major trauma just now
MyFamily.com is completely closing down as of September 5. We have been members since 2006, have
over 3,000 edited and annotated family photos. We will be able to export the photos only NOT the information with them nor the long distance family
conversations we have had on a daily basis.
MyFamily is owned by Ancestry.com which we also have. Apparently Ancestry has gobbled up a number
of family history sites over the years and is now closing them down. They consider anything but the photos their property. A bunch of mad, irritated, disgusted people out there in the family history world.
Our failure here to make backup files!
Brenda is searching out an alternative site for us.
But it is a ton of work to re-identify and edit the photos
again.
Ho-Ho, Ha-Ha--just read that the Obama's have purchased property in Asheville, NC for their post- presidential home! Asheville is a culturally varied,
town in the far west of the state--mountain scenery,
Democratic stronghold. It is now known as a "cool, hip,
and with it" place. Culture, education, the arts, local
food etc. Welcome, welcome to the Obama family.
Why do I feel this is a counterweight to the nasty
actions happening in our Capitol in Raleigh on the
eastern side of the state? Here in Greensboro we
are in the Piedmont area in between the two,
geographically and politically :)
Oops that was me!
listener, good love to all of the library--no easies there. Great trip for the kiddo--got to be exciting!
Shirlee, sympathies! All around. I just got asked by a niece for a picture that only exists on a dead computer. That I know of.
Gorgeous green slightly warm day today; utterly lovely.
Yes, lovely here too, Puddle. Glad you are having heavenly weather.
Listener, thoughts and a prayer your way. Work relationships are crucial but often very complex and conflicted. They are important and maybe there are no easy solutions.
Shirlee, I understand about saving memories in letters, photos, notes, and artifacts. I'm struggling with that now.
I wrote a former journalism student who now is the publisher of a mountain town newspaper, would she like some of the Nederland yearbooks in her archive, and she said yes. So, I sent them to her. It's an honor to have a former student who now publishes the newspaper.
Shirlee, we were just out on our deck ruminating about all the changes coming in our society and that change is always happening. We both commented that Barack Obama has been the correcter, the patch maker, the healer, a brilliant man who is aware of the volatility and instability of society and yet is principled and future directed. He will be one of our greats, so we said.
A beautiful day today.
Perhaps you can copy and paste all your info to files outside the MyFamily.com site. If the timing gets tight, you can photograph it and type it back in later.
Or family has been using Geni.com
Good luck! ♥
I see someone took out the garbage - thank you! local police forces are arming their cops - Obama has nothing to do with it. it is obscene and overkill imo and if only there was a way to stop it. since 9/11 localities have gotten crazy and it can only be combatted one city, county or state at a time. and I don't see that happening anytime soon.
things are nuts here, my gas was shut off last week so no hot water, stove, heat, etc. cold showers suck! thank goodness it's warm here, my arthritis doesn't like it at all. I hate using bleach but am using it to wash dishes and clean, my only source for hot water is my coffee maker and by the time the second pot of water is heated the first one is lukewarm - so bleach it is. I barely paid enough to keep the power on today, I would really be screwed if that was shut off too.
I tried to cook pasta in a crockpot today and made paste, LOL! I'm going to try it in the microwave next, get the water good and hot before I add the pasta but maybe put a couple of pieces in to avoid that scalding you can get if you boil water alone in a microwave - it creates tension at the surface and when you move the bowl it is in it explodes out the top, it's very dangerous!. we'll see how that goes - I really want to make a pasta salad!
I am really missing my Mom. Mother's day was hard and then on 5/31 my brothers and niece and I planted the first flowers at her grave. it was really nice to be with them, living alone I never have someone to hug when I start crying about Mom, we all cried and hugged a lot. the day was a tribute to her, we stopped at the greenhouse that we always stopped at on our way to plant flowers in the family cemetery, then after we planted all of the flowers we stopped at her favorite place to eat and a little further towards home we stopped where she always loved to get a creamy (soft ice cream) and had one for her. we also buried my Dad's ashes - different cemetery - and planted flowers at the big family stone there. my younger brother couldn't let go after he died 12/02/2012 so he kept the urn at his house but once we buried Mom's ashes he knew that the time was coming. I think we all healed a bit but Mom's birthday is 6/21 so I am still in a bad way, everything about spring reminds me of times with her.
Hope all is well with you ladies, Shirlee you must be healing well if you're going through your papers! listener I hope your son enjoys his trip, that sounds like quite an adventure. Pat and puddle I enjoy your reports of the weather and growing things. I've got a bit of a veggie garden going, I hope it bears well. love you all! xoxoxo
How good to hear from you, Jo. Sorry to hear of your difficulties. I know we all wish we had a way to help you out. I remember times in my early married life when things like that would happen. The 50's were
not all that easy for country families.
Thank you again and always for making this space
for us.
Jo, it's always good to hear from you, but we are concerned for you. Are there resources that can be of use, help, mitigate? You are creative and resourceful, and very smart. Let us know your thoughts.
Just finished watching Cosmos. What an amazing, exhilarating program! I'm not sure how much I understand, but the information about the multiverse, what we're made of, how science works, the brilliance of ideas and processes, just amazing. Carl Sagan's words about our species going into outer space were the climax of the program.
On Chris Hayes MSNBC, a New York Times article that Obama has achieved the four major things he promised in his 2008 campaign: Health Care, Leaving Iraq, Climate Change initiatives, and Education. Many are incremental, but far reaching, will last longer and are better than the initiatives and bad laws under the Clinton Administration. So, Obama isn't Super Man, but he's as good as it gets in thinking about the future and working towards it.
Well, Jo, you are in my thoughts. I'll say good night for now, a busy day.
no worries, I feel that things will work out. I have been searching for a job for a long time now and it wears on me more some times than others. I think it helps to let you know what is going on, I usually keep it all inside. 'talking' about it helps I think. and it's all a learning experience, gaining appreciation for things that I often take for granted - and it works the mind and body to do things differently. it felt good to laugh at myself when I tried the crockpot pasta today!
I have had ups and downs on the house, my mortgage was bought by another company in February and I went into panic mode, it has been in foreclosure for a while now with no sale date set. turns out this company is even better than the one I had, told me there would be no sale date set until early next year and they are determined to keep me in it if we can, I have a lot of equity in it. I just need a job and could even get by with part time, my mortgage is so low. many friends and the support group from my doctor's office think that I should file for disability again - I tried when I was housebound waiting for my hip surgery a couple of years ago but was denied. most of my physical problems are worse and I have a couple of new ones so maybe that is what I should do. it would certainly pay my bills and keep the lights on. but it somehow feels like failure, I feel that I could do a good days work in some capacity if only the right job came along and someone would hire me. sigh. anyway, it's going to work out, it's just a bit of a nail biter, hanging on so long. thank you for letting me let it out, holding it in keeps the universe from helping I think.
"Thank you for letting me let it out, holding it in keeps the universe from helping I think."
Dear Jo, it isn't a failure to accept disability when you have contributed all your life to the well being of others, and still do in so many ways (like creating this blog!). This is exactly what disability is for ~ for folks who have a lot of health issues that get in the way of being ABLE to work in the usual ways.
A friend of mine writes blog posts for groups and companies that want to maintain a blog but have no one to do it. I could see you doing some of that from home for a little spending money. Here's her website, if you want to explore the idear:
https://www.blogmutt.com/profiles/5da04dc27b3de78bb51f4bb2d8f72a1d
Jo, I'd LOVE to bring you some pasta!!! What's your favorite kind? I could come on Wednesday, if that's good for you. I could make some and put it into containers that you could easily reheat.
I'll also take a look to see if anyone makes a plug-in water pot that actually boils water. Someone must, eh? If so, I'll bring that too!
I'm just paying it forward. My mother and father struggled to make ends meet, and I know what that can do to your day to day life. Sometime it will be my turn, so helping now makes me feel better about that time when I will need help. Y'know?
What else can I bring?
Okay! I found one!! It's the Pasta Plus Water Kettle and Noodle Cooker! :-)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F0Q9HC/ref=ox_ya_os_product_refresh_T1
Jo, it will arrive at your house by 8pm Wednesday.
ENJOY!!
I am still willing to bring you some goodies!
Send me a list! ♥
THANK YOU listener, that pot sounds perfect for my needs! you are so sweet, I'll find a way to thank you for this and for your love and support, it has cheered me! also thank you for the blog link, I have thought that I could do that as well, this may point me in the right direction. I worked from home for Putnam Investments for a few years and really liked it and found that I had good focus and could accomplish a lot.
I just got foodstamps for the month so am set on food for a bit, later in the month is when I run out of fresh fruit and veggies. I'll think about the list, but really you have already done so much!
<3
ha! that pot will make it possible to wash dishes - and me - in hot water! that poor coffee maker just isn't cutting it!
I am so set - I asked my daughter in law if she had an electric skillet that she doesn't use and she has one that she got as a gift 5 years ago that she has never used! oh yay! so many things that I can cook with this and the pot, I've been making scrambled eggs in the microwave and they are edible but really don't taste great and I know that the nutritional value has been zapped out of anything that I cook in it. ;-)
Good Morning,
I have been thinking about you, Jo. I'm glad that you are letting us know of the difficulties you've been facing, and cheered at your humor and resilience. Listener, you are such a good friend and your support cheers me as well.
Jo, I know there has to be community supports that can help. My mother was part of the Grandmothers in the Schools Programs that supplemented her Social Security. There may be government programs that pay you for your expertise. I also have a high school friend who has an apartment that is subsidized by the government, and she is very happy with it.
Listener is correct, Jo. We've all paid into the fund for disabilities, and that's why it's there. It's not a reflection on inadequacy. All this stress can't be helping you feel better. You deserve whatever resources you need.
So, thinking about you and a prayer. Keep us apprised, Jo, and yes, a smile for your good humor.
thank you Pat. I have an appointment on the 24th with a team from our local hospital, they have a community health team and they help connect people with local services. I spoke with them yesterday and was given a couple of options for assistance with transportation - for doctor visits I've been using the special services transportation at no charge but apparently there may be other types of transport for non-medical purposes. I still have my car but it will be a while before I can repair the brakes, inspect it, register it, buy insurance - AND I let my driver's license expire in March, so it's the first time that I haven't had it in 34 years!! this experience has increased my gratitude for many things, everything is easier when you have a car. I purposefully went without a car for 7 years when I lived and worked in downtown Burlington, but I was a walker then and could easily get to anything that I needed to. yup, I'm grateful, especially for friends like you ladies. you do make me feel so much better! xoxoxo
You are so very welcome, Jo! I'm heart glad that the pot will help in so many ways!!
And I am very glad indeed that your new bank is being intelligent. Too many institutions are only intellectual (using just the mind), but intelligence also uses the heart.
Pat said it well. We pay into disability all those years, not only so that others may use it, but so that it's there for us when we need it.
Keep us posted. I'm not that far away and could help out sometimes. ♥
Ah, Jo! Feel with you. No one can ever have been exactly *there*--but I've been close.
Glad you found the electric frying pan. I too have tried the mush pasta in a crockpot, lol! Sooooooooo disappointing!
]
Much love and light from here to there.
When I was in China, we rigged up a little oven on our tiled terrace, made from an electric ring, and bricks salvaged from the earthquake, and put together with mud. The top and front were big cutting boards. I could do cookies, and pies, and candied yams, but cakes were too tall--the tops would never bake.
I learned from Maine*D-I-L today that the Circus will be coming to town here in July. When I commented excitedly that it's the same week that Eldest*Grand (her daughter) will be staying with us, however, she asked us to skip it because they're taking her to it in August. =Sigh=
I need great ideas for things to do with a 7 (almost 8) year old Grand who is super smart and gets taken to the ballet, etc., every year.
Wow! Check out this photo from Loveland Pass, Colorado that was taken YESTERDAY…!!!
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BpusFXyIAAA42mu.jpg
Is that really a snow bank? Horrendous.
OMG!!! That snow bank is CRAZY!
So my back dr wants me to get my KNEES fixed before he does anything with my back. His theory is that my bad knees are throwing out my back.
Of course, there is the matter of the bone spur and many degenerated disks, but I see his point. Lots more PT coming up.
lots of good thoughts out to all of you and hugs all around.
Good Luck with back, knees and all joints, Barb!
All of it can be mighty painful and disrupt many parts
of your life. Thinking of you.
New thread with Shirlee and puddle at lunch in Harrisonburg.
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