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- Sleep Well
The world seems to swirl around me, catching me in the current, not abiding contemplation, demanding decisions without the time to consider all of the information, denying peaceful moments of considering risk and benefits.
This is a sideshow to aging.
i have been awash in dealing with it, not necessarily depressed but passive in my efforts to be productive. After all, productivity is no longer required even though it is intrinsic in my being.
The medical world has descended upon me in spades. It is mostly annoying but required to ensure some annoyance will not develop into a life threatening condition…or worse. So, this is a requirement even though the medical community is awash in computer wizardry, which separates the providers from patients’ concerns. This is a whammo for the old Navy officer who worked hard to ensure my commands were improving in performance of their mission while the sailors were treated well with their needs addressed.
After chasing the medical gremlins, i stop and avoid the news, and as much as i can, don’t comment or reflect on the sour turn of hate our politicians want us all to pursue. i do reflect on how fortunate i am with daughters and their families, my wife, our home. i perform tasks, some needed, some not. i write for me when so compelled, but no longer make them public every day.
i suspect i am at a crossroads and hope it leads me to what imagined life would be in my 80s: reading the rather large collection of books i have on shelves, plus those that come across my trail, listening to music, telling tales to those who might like to hear or read them, reflecting on a rather kaleidoscopic life, wishing i could pass what i’ve learned and observed from living it.
i also hope this turn onto the road i choose allows me to post more things for my friends, not for adulation, or praise, but just express how damn good this life is if we focus on what is good, refusing to wallow in the fear, hate, anger, and greed that seems to envelop us today, and encourage all of us, including myself, to do the right thing.
Sleep well. i will.
- Iron Law of Distribution:
Them that has, gets.
- Thoughts i had looking at a painting by Lisa Tang i found at the emporium next to the Star Ferry boarding pier on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong
he heard the cry, barely audible
he didn’t know from whence it came
he thought it was a woman’s cry
he could not be sure
the cry could have emanated from the cave
with a small entrance in the side of the hill
but
the cry also could have come from
deep in the brambles of the surrounding wood
he was not sure
he heard the cry again,
soft, almost a moan
crying for something, he thought
he did not know why
he stopped and listened
he heard a murmur, a moan perhaps
he stooped and entered the cave
he turned to the left tunnel of the two
he stepped in only to fall into the chasm
down he plunged into the abyss
the moan became louder
changing into a soothing call
he felt the change in him
he saw her fluttering up to him
his fall stopped
he found he had wings
she touched him with her left wing
he found his right wing touching her
the two soared upward
out of the chasm
out of the cave
they soared over the wood
to the sea
the two ospreys flew together
into the rising sun
- The Not So Grand Whiner Strikes
i wasn’t in a good mood this morning.
i had errands to run i didn’t want to run. i had chores to do i didn’t want to do. Maureen and Nikki, two of my favorite women on earth, went to see “The Odyssey.” i declined because the idea of super new graphics being used did not sit well (hey, i am old school: the only graphics (?) i like are the ones in the old , “Superman” TV serials and the “Rocket Man” serials in the movie theater before they showed the Saturday matinee oaters). Also, i am too damn old to sit in a movie theater seat for three hours. Besides, i had chores to do.
“i opened the garage door to take the car out on my errands. There blocking the mail box and the third lane of our driveway was Imperial Star Destroyer sized Toyota “Tundra” pickup, appropriately painted the color of the Star War Stormtroopers.
It obviously belonged to one of the guys working on the renovation next door. Our new neighbors to be are good folks and i like everyone i met who has been working there, even befriended quite a few.
But this gigantic Tonka toy partially blocking our driveway ticked me off.
i went back inside, wrote out a message on piece of paper with my green (XO) Sharpie, and used masking tape to affix it to the driver’s side window. It read:
Apparently, you don’t know, but your hood’s right side is partially blocking a driveway…mine.
And yes, we use it. Please walk a little further next time…unless you are handicapped.
Thanks, jim jewell, 306 Crestview.
i ditched the idea of doing errands and drove to the Bonita Golf Club and had a brunch of their wonderful chorizo and eggs with black beans and corn tortillas, with a couple of IPAs of course.
When i returned, the Tonka toy was still there. But when i woke from my NORP — yes, i still take a Naval Officer Rest Period in the middle of the day — the offending monster had moved, parking down the road a bit. i guess he wasn’t handicapped.
i smiled but was disappointed i didn’t meet the stormtrooper who owned it.
That’s okay. The “Grand Whiner of the Order of the Curmudgeons” (thank you, Marty Linville) felt better.
- Putt’s Law
Technology is dominated by two types of people: Those who understand what they do not manage. Those who manage what they do not understand.
