I had thought that I would do most of my writing here in the winter months when I had more time, but apparently that's not so... I just got mellow, studied things ( input) and semi-hibernated...

SO...well, I guess Spring through Fall is my outgoing time, which is fitting, so I might not be on ehere much now either, but out gathering thoughts and experiences to share when it gets cool again.

Time just changed and already I can feel Spring calling me, like it did to old Moley in the Wind in the Willows... I feel it welling up within me, like the sap rising in a Sugar Maple...

I took a walk at Roosevelt Estate after work yesterday, taking my first steps into a new spance of growth and renewal... around the Wallace Center this time, for the first time... walking on the soggy grass, seeing how the deer had been there, and being greeted by a squirrel who came very near to me... being beckoned by the door in the wall to THE SECRET GARDEN...

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE...

peace and quiet, and a star in sight

a candle's glow, and sweet songs in the night ; 

snuggled up with a sweet, warm drink

time to dream and not to think

 

THAT'S what I love on Christmas Eve!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!! 

" THE WEATHER" man

In the course of my life, I,  like most people, have encountered many kinds of personalities, and perhaps some people will identify with the ones I portray. There are elements of real experience in the telling, but also various alterations and embellishments... and so it is with this is one I shall refer to as

 "THE WEATHER" MAN...    RLR

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     In all my life, I have known people I have loved, and others I didn't like at all, but I always knew something about them as a person. I have met people I liked or didn't feel comfortable with on the first meeting, but I always knew why. There was always some kind of conversation, and something said that caused me not to like them, or to like them, and want to see them and get to know them better. But there are some who have just left me curious...

     There is this person that I encountered throughout many years of my life, one who, I'm sure, knows people I know, but who has been more like weather than a person... except that weather is controlled by factors in nature and not be conscious thought. Weather is predictable sometimes, but most often, it’s not, though it has patterns that are recognizeable. This person was always unpredictable, yet there was a pattern to the weather they created. When he spoke to me at all, it was like trying to make sence of voices in the wind. He seemed to be saying something, but in the end, they are just the sounds of the wind, or a crashing like thunder... and later on I'd notice the damage the wind had caused. ( *perhaps more than once, but usually they would be like a gust of wind and passing showers... )

     Storms have names sometimes, and they have personalities too. Hurricanes for instance. You cannot speak to a storm. It doesn't listen. It just does what it does. You can track it, yet not really know where it's going and what it will do. You can never really get to know a storm. You can only experience it. Sometimes a storm will come up totally out of the blue and do great damage. There's no way to prepare for it. You might see clouds forming in the distance, but think it is just a raincloud only to find it is creating a tornado and hail when it suddenly approaches... or you might be indoors and not see any sign of it until it's right there. Sometimes you see it coming, and don't have time to do anything about it but try to seek a safe place. But sometimes you can be stand outdoors enjoying the beauty of a warm summer's day, thinking of how nice it might be to see a rainbow, see a cloud in the distance while the sun is still shining where you are, and get hit with a bolt out of the blue. Nature is like that... but it just does what it does. It doesn't do it intentionally to harm anyone.

     People make conscious decisions. There are those who act and speak without thinking, yes, but there is always a conscious intention behind it. If someone speaks nicely to you, they have an intention to do something nice. If they yell at you, they have the intention to do harm, even if they really aren't mad at you personally. You will be the one hit by their thunderbolt, and suffer the consequences (and so will they ) and they didn't have to do that.

     Throughout my life, I have spoken nicely to people I didn't know, only to have them act nasty to me. I will never know why they did that, but it's usually not someone I see again... or, sometimes, it's someone I get to know and I ask them, or get to know something about them their lives, so I can figure it out... or someone I know knows them and tells me some things about them so I understand to some degree. Sometimes I see them acting like that every time I encounter them, and it's usually brief, and I can see that they are just like that. I don't need to know them to see the way they are. It shows... even if I never know why they are like that. I don't take it personally because they are always like that... or I'm not likely to see them again anyway.

 But this person was not really like a person I met in passing, . I knew who they were. At least what they looked like and their name... the rest is a fragmented story, and that's about it.

     Since I really never got to know this person, and they really don’t seem like a person to me, from here on I will refer to them as IT… a weather condition. … I never got to know IT. IT never got to know me… There were times when the sun seemed to shine, but mostly there were unsettled atmospheric conditions  that arose from time to time… like lightning in fog or some other strange occurrence.

Sometimes a brief encounter seemed pleasant at first, then IT spoke like the wind saying things that made no sence. Then, usually with a bit of a gust, IT was gone. Time would pass and it would happen again. IT wasn’t just passing by without notice.  There were actual encounters... but it was akin to having a whirlwind coming at me, swirling and catching me up in it for a moment, and sometimes shoving me into a wall or something, and then IT was gone again.

     I learned where this storm originated, but I couldn't contact it. IT, this person, wasn't there, or didn't respond, or spoke like voices in the wind. There was no conversation. I couldn't speak to IT. Like a storm, IT didn't care what I had to say. IT just did what IT did, and was gone again.

     I can't say I know this person, any more than one can know a storm... but I experienced IT.

IT seemed to have targeted me on numerous occassions, including on the first encounter many years ago. IT had come up to me (... and that set off a series of strange weather conditions that continued for years.) At other times IT seemed to be coming toward me, and then vanished. Suddenly IT was appearing, as if from out of nowhere, and trying to make it seem like it wasn't planned, though it was. For a time IT had actually avoided me... intentionally, but I didn't take it personally. Weather is what weather is...

     Like on a file in some folder at the weather bureau, IT has a phone number, and because this kind of thing had been going on for so long,  I opted to call. I thought it would be better to have an actual conversation than to continue this strange series of whatever this was.. I left a couple of messeges.

      When IT finally called me back, IT became VERY personal. It knew who It was speaking to, and identified ITself by name.I tried to speak, and make what I had to say as clear as possible, but IT kept twisting my words and intentions around and throwing them back at me  in a highly contemptuous manner. Its words were like lightning bolts that seared me to the core, and I never fully recovered this experience.
     

      I had not gone up to IT...  IT had come up to me, passed a few words over the years, did what it did and moved on... then THIS!
     

     After that, I saw IT here and there, and again it was like the wind speaking... or the crashing of thunder and IT would be gone again. Time would pass. It would happen again... with IT coming to where I was... as if by mere coincidence, again.

     It's like being stalked by a storm … and WHY? I have no desire to  risk being hit by lightning again. IT's verbal assaults were raging.  As with a storm, you can't ask it why it did that. It never says anything. It just vents and leaves. It doesn't care what you have to say... it just does what it does. There is no reasoning with it. Yet, within this storm there is a person. There is intention.

     A person can speak like a warm breeze on a summer's day, or they can shout and spew venom. They can speak to and treat treat you nicely or badly. This is no accident. This isn't just nature doing what it does.

I have learned that when I seem IT coming, to remain calm, and let IT pass... I have come to see that whoever this person is, their likes and dislikes, their life story, is something I will, more than likely, never really know. But I have experienced them...as an indifferent breeze or a cold brisk wind ... once or twice as a gentle warm breeze... and finally, like a STORM... But like the weather, IT comes and goes. I never know when. It's impossible to really like or dislike IT because It changes all the time...but I can like or dislike what it DOES..

      Yes, to me, IT not a person, though I know they are... to me IT is as the weather... (Though this has intent, and can make choices as to the direction of the weather and the kind of weather they will create )… like a Hurricane, whose eye is on me from time to time, and I'd venture to say, based on numerous past experiences, IT will continue to do what IT does ... whatever it does... And as with the weather,  I take comfort in knowing that, this too shall pass...

I remember WINTER

When I was a kid in the middle ages of earth ... lol... It got cold in November and the first dusting of snow came by Thanksgiving. It stayed at 32 or below, (but rarely got below the teens)... until early March, sometimes with a brief January thaw right before the BLIZZARDS came... and we ALWAYS had one or two or even three of those... There was ice for skating and snow for sledding and making snowforts and things, and it was usually at least 2'deep most of the winter. Ice really wasn't a problem because the sand or ashes we put down didn't wash away with a thaw or winter rain... We did it once and that was that, unless it snowed again, of course. It was cold, but there were no winds to speak of except during the blizzards. We didn't have all the fancy gear people have today...only layers of socks stuffed into over-sized hand-me-down play sneekers and rubber boots ...woolen mittens and scarves and flannel lined jeans and layers and layers of sweaters and stuff, ( like Ralphie's little brother  in A CHRISTMAS STORY* = ) but we were outside all day most of the time. We had dozens of pairs of mittens to replace wet ones with (and we did that fairly often) ... and we loved it!

Ahh those were the days : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ============ weeeeee!!! * = ]

PEARLS

There are so many people who have a lot to learn in this world, we could easily use it as an excuse to find fault with and treat them badly, but then, that's only adding to the misery of the world and not doing our part to try and make it better. We may not succeed, but we don't have to add to it... LOVE is always the right choice...because inside of each of us is that Divine Spark we call a Soul. Without it, we would not be alive.

I guess you could say that some people are like poisonous sea creatures that create for themselves a hardened shell and never produce anything of value... And some are like Oysters that surround themselves with LOVE to protect themselves from the painful experiences of life that are imposed on them, and they are the ones who create the precious pearls.

below is the link to a very interesting video  on how pearls are made...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T18E58vOTus

AS YE DO UNTO THE LEAST OF MY BRETHERN / PET PEEVES

*PLEASE NOTE:These are things I ponder... so please don't take offence because none is intended and I'm not pointing a finger at anyone... and when I say YOU It's just a point of reference and I don't mean YOU personally, ok?

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For years I have heard people say that noone can help another .... that they have to do it themselves. There is truth to that when someone has a personal problem within themselves, but when the problem is in regards to conditions and not the person or persons involved, that isn't so. If someone is drowning and cannot swim, more often than not, someone else can help them get back to safety, or at least they can try, or call for assistance. Clearly the drowning person isn't in a position to do that. Even if they are a good swimmer, if the water is turbulent, they will drown without assistance. If you don't believe you can save them yourself, you can still do something to try and save them. You need not jump into the water yourself if you feel that would put yourself in peril, but you can do something.

I do not know how people can stand by and watch and do nothing, or walk away and pretend they didn't see someone drowning and say, "It's not MY problem". 

Yet, I have seen people do this time and again, even saying it was their own fault for getting in that position.

There are those who are foolish or reckless or who otherwise DO cause their own problems, (and in truth, we all do that at some time or other in the course of our lives, though some seem to make a career of it) and there are some who will only go and do something to get themselves into a bad situation again by not thinking ahead, or taking precautions or being reckless, but there are many who do all any person can do to do the right things and stilll end up in perilous situations. Accidents happen, and people get pushed by one thing or another, or tricked into something believing it is good by someone who knows how to make something bad look good. It's fine to say they should have known better, or that they must have had a feeling something was amiss and shouldn't have fallen for it, but I don't know of anyone who hasn't been sold something they later wished they had not bought, or done.


All life is a learning experience, and is it right to let someone drown because of some mistake they've made, no matter what the cause of it may be? Children would never make it to adulthood if that is so.

If a child doesn't heed a parent's advice and is reckless on a swing and falls off, should he never go on a swing again? Should the parent simply walk away and leave them laying there? Of course not. But there are some who do desert their children, and then others then come to their aid.

But as adults, we must rely on other people, and not just our parents, for assistance. If that were not so, we would have no police or firemen and doctors and a host of others who make it their life work to save other people and assist them. yet, there is a limit as to what they can do. If someone is in a bad situation, they may be able to make a call themselves, but not always. Assistance oftentimes must come from other indivuals... such as one who sees a drowning person and knows there is no time to waste calling for help, or who at least calls 911.

I would not expect someone who doesn't know what to do to assist someone who has an addiction to go and try to help them get a cure for it, but perhaps they know where to call, or where they might find that assistance. But that is a personal problem. One in the individual.

But there are good people who have problems where others can assist them in some way, and don't offer anything... not even a kind word. Not all problems are our our own making. 

If you have never been in a certain town before, for instance, and you find yourself in a bad part of town because you made a wrong turn is that "your fault"? If you are trying to find your way back to where you want and need to be is it wrong to ask for assistance in getting there? It's not like you're asking someone to drive your car for you... just to get the assistance you require to get back to where you want to be.... If you run out of gasoline while trying to find your way back to where you need to be, is it too much to ask for someone tell you where you can get some?

If you know a neighbor's situation has changed dramatically due to a job loss, or divorce, or illness, is it too much for you to taken them a bag of food, or to give them something you believe will make things a bit easier for them? If they are a neighbor you should know if they are good people going though a difficult time, and not people who aren't even trying and who will take advantage, even if you merely know who they are. Even a bag of food placed on the doorstep or something you believe they can really use here and now, would be a blessing. You might not be able to do do more than that, but it's better than nothing, because they will know someone cares and it will fill a need here and now. It may be that they can buy their own food but can't get to the store for one reason or another.

 There are so many variables and reasons why such simple things as this aren't so simple for some people. It's true that here are those even with disabilities who prefer to do things for themselves.. but does it hurt you to ask if they seem to be having difficulty and you are right there and in a position to offer assistance?

People make all sorts of excuses and give all sorts of reasons why not to assist another. It's not like we have to go out of our way to assist people we sence will pose some kind of problem if we get near them... but there are plenty of people who won't. You don't have to make it a regular thing if you're not in the position to, but even once is better than nothing at all. You might not want to have a homeless stranger come to your house for supper, but that's no reason why you can't direct them to the nearest food kitchen... but all too often it's not total strangers who need assistance and are shunned or ignored by people who know they are simply going through a bad time. If they are a neighbor, no doubt you have been able to observe them for a while, and perhaps spoken to them at a school, church, park or some such place.

Noone who gives and noone who takes a gift like that from another is under any obligation to the other. It is a matter of fear, pride or selfishness that would stand in the way of someone who needs and someone who can provide something. If you can't provide something tangible, at least you can offer a kind word. Generally speaking, there is nothing that means more when someone is going through a bad time.. and they might well have so much to handle that that really is all they have time for.

There are many stories written about people who seem to be what might be called " the dregs of the earth" who really are far from it but due to sudden adverse circumstances have taken on that appearance. but then I have heard people say that they might be desperate and therefore dangerous to get near. Well, nothing makes a person more desperate than to feel that noone notices or cares, and noone will even offer them assistance of the simplist kind.

Jesus was a condemmed man carrying his cross and others watched and did nothing but there was one woman who offered him a drink of water. Would you do that much?

Noone knows what they or their loved ones may yet go through in the course of a lifetime. There have been many people who were doing well today, and who had good credit and money saved, and never thought it would happen to them, only to find themselves on the poverty list tomorrow tomorrow because they lost their job through no fault of their own. And the numbers are growing.

It's easy to blame someone in government, or even the person who is now struggling for survival, but it's so easy to say that someone else should do something about it, while you sit there and simply point an accusing finger, debate issues and do little else.

There are many people who would like to do away with the welfare system, but once people are born into this world there are few options, because people have to eat, and have a place to live. If you put them in prison you are paying for them too. If you think there are enough jobs to go around and that they can work as many as needed to pay their own way, that's an excuse to do nothing. Perhaps you would prefer they die in the street, or in the park where you take your kids to play, or in front of the grocery store where you shop, and pay crews to tote them away to mass graves.... perhaps even you or your own children in time... or maybe we should just parade them all out the warf and put them on a garbage scow and dump them into the ocean...

And as rude as this may sound, I really don't mean it to be offensive, but, among them may be the child born because a young woman wouldn't take precautions, or resort to the " morning after pill", for religious reasons... so think twice about that being an option...... although I would also like to point out that an Angel of the Lord has told Mary that she would bear a son who would be Christ, the Lord... so unless you've had a Holy Messenger appear to you like that, you are probably not pregnant with the Savior, and if you can't afford to provide for them here and now, I wouldn't necessarily rely on God to provide, because I haven't seen him feeding most of the people of the world with manna lately, even if He does do it tomorrow...

Although I don't understand how can it be okay for teens to bring forth a child and the expect the welfare to provide for them, if you do away with welfare and what happens to these babies who are born into the world? Is it right to let them be born and then just let them die? not only would that be cruel and inhuman, but I'd venture to say that the jails and courts would be filled with people brought up on manslaughter charges ...

 Where are all these teen pregnancies coming from, for that matter? Not more than 50 years ago there were very few of them and those who bore children out of wedlock, especially teens, were shunned, bigtime! Today it's accepted as if it's nothing more than getting a speeding ticket... in fact, a DWI, or smoking cigarettes will cause you to be looked down on more. If you keep the baby, you are a hero or something... 

Perhaps they should be fined for it, but then again, they couldn't pay, so for every teenager who ends up pregnant, and whose parents can't afford to meet all the needs,, I have to pay to provide for them and I don't have a say in it in any way at all. If a human life is so precious, how about the human lives that are suffering for being born into this world and not having their needs met?

 Is it worse if it happens to an American baby instead of one of another nationality? Is it excuseable or permissable to have a baby and be on welfare because you had a child in your teens and your parents have always worked and earned well, and your family came here with the pilgrims? Why? And for that matter...if not... why not?

 I don't like the fact that there are many  people milking the systems either, but it's not the little guy, the drug addict, or whatever, who has out-sourced the jobs, raised the cost of housing, medical and food, or who allows illegal aliens to enter the country and stay here, getting into the welfare system. Our government allows that... but even aside from that, if you believe in God, perhaps there is a bigger reason for it than we know... and it might well be beneficial in the future, or that might be part of a bigger plan as far as our government is concerned as well, else why do they allow it?

If you work, and/or own a house but most of what you own is actually on credit, are you really the salt of the earth you claim to be? Do you pay off the balance or apply for MORE credit? You may pay a lot for medical insurance but does what you pay in actually cover the cost of all your medical bills for the course of your lifetime, or are you relying on the insurance companies to pay a sizeable portion of it... If you and a bunch of other people make a lot of claims do they only raise yours and theirs, or does everyone else pay more too? 

Oh, but this isn't the same as welfare...WHY? ... because it's under a different name and system...like  a cat is a cat and a dog is a dog so they have nothing in common? They live in your house, you have to feed them, clean up after them, and cats go to the same vet as a dog, and vice versa, they're not humans, but they have rights, and they are both pets, only dogs need to be licensed and cats usually don't have to be. So, aside from one being a cat and the other a dog, and different species, as far as their expenses and tending how does one differ from the other? Catfood costs more than dog food, but dogs needs heartworm medicine... Cats need litter boxes and dogs need to be licensed... uh huh...  but... where is the REAL difference when it comes to their needs and the cost of keeping them? They are only smelly animals, but cat owners love their cats and dog owners love their dogs and where would we be without them as a whole? Life would be lonelier and less meaningful indeed for those who love them... and while the owners pay to keep their pets, hopefully for a lifetime, they don't pay and tend to all the strays that are out there... Perhaps we should have done away with all of them while we had the chance?

You know, I haven't been to New York City in 15 years, but I still have to pay the MTA surcharge ... to which some have said " Like it or leave..." yeah... nice... born and raised here, ancestors too... so much for Rights as an AMERICAN then huh? 

Of course, I have to vote that out... uh huh... I can vote for someone who is for something I want and also for something else I deem totally intolerable who is running against someone else who has the roles reversed, so... what's your point... if you are one of them who blames the current President today and tells me that if I'm not happy with the way the country is run, vote him out...well... Others I didn't like were voted out, and someone else took over, and it might make a difference somewhere but it hasn't made my life any better... so what's your point?

WE THE PEOPLE is you and me... and you and me united... not you and me on opposite sides. This is AMERICA not a football game. If WE THE PEOPLE don't stand UNITED  and help one another, and teach one another, and think ahead to try and foresee the consequences for our actions not only on ourselves but others around us, and see something of ourselves in every person we meet, then we won't be diversified and strong in our diversity, but divided and scattered like a stone wall that has fallen into disrepair and is now just a pile of rubble... GOD BLESS AMERICANS TO DO UNTO OTHERS AS WE WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO US...

If we can love our non-human companions, surely we should be able to bridge our own differences with LOVE and mutual respect as well...

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*If you think I'm amiss, I'm willing to listen for new perspectives and insights I may not be aware of... feel free to comment...