Month: May 2013

Hammer Time.

When I was in High School, we were allowed to take “electives” to round out our schedule.  What to do… what to do.  Latin?  Physics?  What to choose?
Most girls took Home Economics.  So… like a Lemming, I followed suit.  I wasn’t so great with it…… at all.  Every time I would bake something…. the teacher would say… “Polly, your dough has fallen.”  Boy did that ever get a rise out of me.  As it turns out…. I only did sew-sew in Home Ec.

So I took Wood Shop.   Now I really shined there.  I could make all sorts of neat little things.  Like one of Santa’s Elves, I’ll tell you.  I saw dust everywhere, but that did not deter me.  ….. …. And at the end of the semester, we took our Wood Shop Final Exam.  I nailed it.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  -Thomas A. Edison

My Fish Story

I would say I am a bit of a Pescetarian.

Unless, of course… you count all the chicken eggs I eat.  Well… occasionally I have the actual chicken.   Oh wait….  I have ham every morning for breakfast too.    And every now and again, I like a good burger or steak.

Holy crap.  Ixnay the whole escetarianismPay thing.  Pitch it right out the window, really.

But in all fairness, I DO eat more fish than not.

Yet once again,  I am sucked into another huge conundrum in life.  I feel guilty about this fish-eating-practice sometimes.  You see… I have pet fish.  Koi.

I really enjoy our Koi.  They have names.  I hang out with them.  A few of them eat right out of my hand.

I looked in to my whole preoccupation with fish.  I think it started early on.  Yep.  Growing up I had the whole “Fish-Influence” deal.  I loved AquaMan.  He was my favorite Superhero.  And Don Knotts in the Movie…The Incredible Mr. Limpett.   Rocking.

Of course there is the whole Catholic thing too.   Born and raised under the ways of Vatican City. Catholics were required to abstain from meat every Friday, as a form of penance in honor of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross on Good Friday.   Hence the fish.

In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 10:9-16), St. Peter has a vision in which God reveals that Christians can eat any food. So, when we abstain, it’s not because the food is impure; we’re voluntarily giving up something good, for our spiritual benefit.  Hence the fish.

Here’s a spoiler for all you Still-Practicing-Catholics.  Many Catholics don’t realize that Church still recommends abstinence on all Fridays of the year, not just during Lent. In fact, if we don’t abstain from meat on non-Lenten Fridays, we’re required to substitute some other form of penance.   Get busy with the Hail Mary’s.

But.  Let’s get back to things.

Tonight, an old friend, who raises Koi, brought over a whole truckload for me to see.  A few of them are pictured above.  I bought most of them…. well…..   ALL of them.  And tonight, I hung out with those fish quite a bit.

I don’t know what to do about my fish eating, though.  I sure won’t eat my pets.   That would be bad form.

But I love fish…. I guess… in more ways than one.
Being with them at the deep pond… and also….  being with them at the deep fryer.  With Tartar Sauce.

Oooohhh My.   What’s a girl to do….  OR… what’s a GILL to do?
Go Fish.

Ollie Schwarzenegger

Dear Ms. Bunny,
I have a huge favor to ask.  The next time you get pregnant, which I am sure… will be again very soon (we ALL know how rabbits are)….   I ask you to please, please, PLEASE….. build your little den somewhere away from the house in which I live.

You see, here is the problem.  At least, on THIS morning it was a problem.  At the start of each day…..  I like to work out.  I also meditate,  and stretch….. and use that first hour of the schedule to sort of…. get my Mojo ON for the rest of the day.

So this morning, I opened the sliding glass doors to enjoy the beautiful outdoor air during my routine.  As I was on pushup number eight or so…. I looked over…. and there was my dog Ollie.  But this morning she looked different.  Uhmmmm.  She had a baby bunny in her mouth.    Yep.  I am pretty sure it was one of yours.  I shooed her outside.  But… as luck would have it….. I was just a little late to the party… it seems.

I found three more of your baby bunnies at various locations inside my house.  Yes.  Little, cute, dead surprises everywhere.  Ollie was busy a girl.  I imagine Frances was all a part of this scheme too.

Now, I am sure this is much more upsetting to you than it is to me.  You know… this Ollie the Terminator meets Sarah Conners of the baby bunny world…..   four times over.

So, if you would…. twitch your little whiskers… and pick a better spot for the nursery next time.  I beg of you.  I’ll buy you a bag of carrots if you’ll work with me on this one.  I have a feeling that putting it in the same location will only yield the same outcome.  You see… Ollie has been walking around the house all day… with a pair of sunglasses on… saying “I’ll Be Back.”

Sincerely,
The Terminator’s Mom……  aka Polly the Bunny Lover.

“Common sense is not so common.” – Voltaire

Transcend.

You probably could guess it… from the word transfer.
TRANS….. is from Latin transmittere…. which means “send across, transfer, pass on,”

And there you have it, right across the board.
Transact.  Transcend.  Transcribe.  Transmute.  Transfigure.  Transform.  Transgress.  Transition.  Translate.  Transmit.  Transport ….and on and on and on.

Now it is time for me to find out all I can about Transcendentalism….. which was… and is…   that idealistic philosophical and social movement that developed in New England around 1836.  It developed in reaction to rationalism.

It had many influences… which included romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy.  It is kind of cool in the fact that it explored the notion that divinity pervades all nature and humanity.
Way back when…. in those early days….  its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living.  Dudes like  Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures.  Now that is transonic… if I’ve ever heard anything.

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Be not simply good – be good for something.”  – Henry David Thoreau

The Talk.

Conversations.
On any given day, you may find yourself in any number of conversations.  They vary from far and wide.  Heaven only knows really.

They could be about any little thing, or grow in any direction.  It is all a big surprise…. what any one of them could bring.
Today for instance.  I had numerous chats with people.  Their ages ranged from  from 2 years to 90 years.

A dear friend of mine said…  “If I could come back as anything in the next life, I’d come back as a buzzard.  That way people would surely leave you alone.”  Now that is an true introvert… I would have to say.

A little later, my lovely life partner asked… “How could I improve on the potato salad, the next time I make it?”  To which I responded…. “You can’t.  THIS right here… THIS is THE perfect potato salad.”  And she said…”Next time, I think I’ll add more mustard.”   Arrrrrrggggghhhhhhh.

Then… in another conversation (while playing a video game), I told a six year old… “You are going to have to fight him tooth and nail.  Get in there and get the guy.” To which he responded… “What is tooth and nails, Polly?”   Ohhhhh.

I brought my Mom to our house for the Memorial Day Cookout.  When I took her back to her “home” …. she asked….. “Now who’s house were we just at?”  Double Oh.

You see.  The conversation can lead you any where.  Down any path.   The interactions can make you laugh, cry, ponder, wonder, or sigh.  Sometimes they make you happy, and sometimes they might upset you.  It is all part of the give and take, the interaction, the connection…. the holy-moly dealings we have with others.  Our communications… which keep us connected in life.  To everyone.  Everywhere.

Unless of course…… you are a buzzard.    And in that case….  well…. you’ll be a buzzard.

“It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.” – Yogi Berra

The Monk told me so.

Boy oh boy.
I really wish I knew what all this is for.  I mean, really.
If anyone had absolute proof, everybody would be on board.  As it is… a wide array of theories, life visions, religions, and creeds exist.

Some people believe there is a heaven, and divine salvation.  Others believe that we are reincarnated and keep coming back until we get things right.   There is Nirvana.  Karma.  On and on.   Still others put forth that we are no more than dandelions.  Once we die… we just sink in to the ground… and become food for worms.  There are many other takes on this whole deal we call life.

No matter.  No one knows for sure.  We all have postulations, beliefs, faith, etc.  But none of the above has ultimate proof.

Me?  I just don’t know what the point is, sometimes.  I hope it is about good energy.  Doing good.  Keeping the flow of good energy greater than the flow of negative energy.  I mean, each and every one of our atoms is filled with energy and mass.  That much DOES have proof.

At any rate,  I suppose we just need to keep moving in the right direction.  You can mostly tell it in your gut when you are doing what is right.  What is good.   The next right thing.  Sometimes we have to change our direction, or our course in life, to achieve this.

The scholar Robert Chambers first wrote about our place in existence and our ability to follow the altruistic path  .. … …. “And, you turn yourself around.”   Yes. There you have it. The author of the Hokey Pokey, DID, in fact…. have it right.  All jokes aside.  Sometimes, you simply have to turn yourself around.
That’s what it is all about.   I think.

I better go shake a leg or something.

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” – Lao Tzu

What you don’t know….

This is Rose, Agatha, and Bertha.
Rosie, Aggie, and Bertie.

They were sisters.

Rose married a guy named Ben.  He died right after they had three children.  She never married again.

Aggie and Bertie never, ever, married.  They lived together up in the country, on a farm.  For their whole lives, really.   Later in life, Rose moved back in with the other two sisters.

I can only remember meeting them once.  They were old women by that time.  As I look back…. I think I might have been slightly afraid when I met them.  But they seemed very kind to me.  As I recall.

They had chickens running about everywhere.
I was just a little city girl visiting the big country.

Clearly, I was out of my element.  It must have made me uncomfortable to be in a strange place, among “relatives” I didn’t know, doing things I had never done before.
Sometimes….. we get out of our element.  I think that can be a good thing.
It invokes change.  It broadens our realization of all the different existences right here among us.

Yep. This is a big world we live in.  There is an awful lot of realization to be had.

If we always stay within our own element, in our own little bubbles, in our own little worlds…. we only know what we know.

And although it may feel difficult at times…. there is a lot to be said….  for one’s ability to simple say…..

I just don’t know.

“Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.” – Karl Von Clausewitz

Give me a B.

 

Holy Smokes.  It was the flip-dingiest thing.  I was outside for a few moments today…. taking in the air around me.

Yep.  I was just sitting there, breathing in and out.  I knew I was out there all by my human lonesome.  No one was around…. I was pretty darn sure of that.

And then I heard it.
Mischievous.  m-i-s-c-h-i-e-v-o-u-s
Incognito.  i-n-c-o-g-n-i-t-o
Luminous.  l-u-m-i-n-o-u-s

On and on this went.  Well…. I will Holy Smoke it again.  I was getting nervous.

Was I hearing voices in my head?  What could be wrong with me?  Sure.  It had been a long day.  But I didn’t feel like I was losing it.  Still though.  That little voice.  It won’t quit.

Finally, I realized.  THERE……. right next to me…. was a Spelling Bee.

Yes.  My very first Spelling Bee.

“The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us.” – Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Out standing

I can see and hear.  But sometimes I do not know how to look, and listen.

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, lived a great and  old wise women.  She was wise beyond the ages.  The old wise woman sat on the highest peak, on the highest mountain top….. on a little pink burlap pillow.  With her legs crossed over and such.  Like wise people do.

Travelers…. Seekers…..Vacationers…. Trekkies…., from all the world around….  made the long journey to see her, and learn from her wisdom.   Many of them had afflictions in life.  Some worse than others…. really.

One year, a certain journey man scrambled all the way up the big mountain, up to the very top of the very high peak.  The man was deaf.

Exhausted after climbing up and on to the edge…. he signed to the sage, “Oh wise woman.  Please give me the great words of wisdom.”

To which she spoke in a quiet voice….. “Listen to one another.”
He signed back to her… “I am a a deaf man, sage.  I cannot hear the words you just spoke.”

So she signed back to him… “Can you see the pasture below?  Go and sit with the cows, if they will let you.”

He shook his head…. and felt that he had wasted his time.  And away he went…. saying over his shoulder…. “Pink is NOT your color.”

IF he had gone to the pasture below… the cows would have let him sit.

“Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.” – Pablo Casals

The Picture

See Big.
See Little.

And there you have it.
Life.

 

“When you open your heart by acknowledging the magnificent design of the universe that you’ve been given, with no mistakes, just positive and negative homing devices to guide you,  you start to be grateful.” – John Demartini