Should
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go ahead
be all passionate about that
it’s a hot-button issue
gets people all riled up
don’t for a second think
that you might be misguided
maintain precision focus
ignore all the complexities
don’t bother to figure out
the deeper reasons
why bad policies benefit
a chosen few
root cause analysis
is not your job
it’s an issue of your faith
you have an obligation to sanctimony
really?
at the expense of what?
don’t look down your nose at unwed mothers
orphans
immigrants
the impoverished
anyone different than your narrow definition
of what a human should
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Filled Frames
Just some close inspection comparisons of a few surfaces around the house…
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Short Shift
I had a very short shift of animal care last night while Cyndie was at her mother’s house for the night. Delilah seemed thrilled that we could walk through our woods again, now that the deer hunting season is over. The temperature was in the 50s(F) which seems really strange for any day in December, but not all that surprising now that the global climate is being cooked.
The warmth seems to have kicked our burrowing rodents into high gear. By the size of some of the fresh dirt piles showing up they must be building extravagant palaces beneath the turf. The soil they bring up looks so pristine. I really should collect it for future use. Not a stone to be found among the mounds of wonderfully sifted dirt.
Our habit is usually to just stomp the piles flat again but there was just too much dirt for that yesterday. I couldn’t pound them down enough so I decided to kick them around, instead. A little like kickin’ horse manure in the pastures.
I found the horses to be incredibly serene when we showed up to serve the feed pans with afternoon rations. It probably rubbed off on Delilah because she barely made a fuss while waiting for me to finish, barking only briefly at nothing in particular.
In less than an hour, all the animals were taken care of and I had the night free to lose myself in the first episode of the 3-part documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson.
Lose myself, I did.
I am eternally grateful to the fab four for allowing themselves to be filmed at the time and indebted to the camera operators and sound technicians who successfully captured so many hours of unscripted randomness. That we can all watch this unique footage some fifty-plus years later is remarkable to me.
With two more episodes to go, this documentary is the opposite of a short shift, and I will savor every drawn-out moment.
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Unexpected Fireworks
As Cyndie was about to serve the horses their dinner last night around the time the sun was setting, the tranquility was disrupted by the sound of fireworks exploding.
I was listening to music at the time and spotted a text from Cyndie urging me to step outside to hear “crazy sounds.” I had been aware of something going on outside but discounted it as likely the sound of a neighboring farmer harvesting crops or some other activity.
Opening the door brought the instant clarity of the sound of fireworks. Not typical fireworks that pop in a planned sequence but non-stop, chaotic pops and bursts that told me this was an out-of-control event. It wasn’t dark enough yet for fireworks, anyway. Through the tree branches that obscured my view from the deck, I could tell a large smoke plume was rising into the sky.
I stepped back inside to grab binoculars that allowed me to spot bursts of color happening at the bottom of the billowing smoke. Those were fireworks all right. The peak of the bursts was just barely visible above the horizon.
I have no idea what distance away from us that would place the fire but I double-checked the overhead view on the map to verify I was looking toward the little hamlet of Beldenville. I just don’t know at this point if it was that close or some greater distance beyond. There has been no obvious evidence that I’ve noticed that would explain why a large number of fireworks are stored in the vicinity.
We checked the neighborhood app and looked at multiple news sources but couldn’t find any immediate explanation being posted. The popping sound of small shots lingered for over four hours lending credence to the belief the conflagration was newsworthy.
In this age of instant information available on the internet, I discovered my lack of participation in the multitude of social media applications leaves me out of the loop when something like this occurs. Maybe someone was streaming live video and I just didn’t know how to find it.
If anyone discovers what happened around here last night, point me to where you found the story.
Maybe I’ll finally get around to finding a scanner that monitors local emergency response calls. We don’t hear sirens in the area very often, so when we do it usually leaves us wondering what has happened.
Seeing the smoke plume and hearing the exploding fireworks made it pretty obvious what was happening, we just don’t know how close it was happening.
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Future Me
I recently saw a news article on the topic of “health span” as compared to life span. If people live longer but haven’t taken care of their health, the golden years can be fraught with ailments instead of desired retiree pursuits. It gave me a new appreciation for how many of my present moment decisions are made with “future me” in mind.
Planting trees is a primary exercise in doing something for “future me.” Sometimes, it’s even more for generations that will be around after I’m gone. I like to point out the giant maple trees near our labyrinth with an invitation to imagine what it will look like in a hundred years when the fingerling we transplanted from beneath them has matured in the center of the labyrinth.
We could all do better by making more decisions each day with our future selves in mind.
Even when it comes to the water we drink toward healthy hydration each day, what we are doing in the moment actually pays dividends tomorrow. There is a time element to how our cells absorb, so to be at our peak tomorrow, we need to drink enough water today.
The planking and stretching exercises I do in the morning are a routine I adopted to strengthen my core for next year and beyond. A little workout at a time for a future me in ten years.
Scrubbing my mental health to purge negative thought patterns and replacing them with positive messages as a daily practice is absolutely a gift to future me. I have witnessed more than enough people who seemed to grow gloomier with each year that passes to inspire my goal of achieving the opposite.
With these life practices, I’m hoping “future me” will be happier and healthier than present-day me. I would be very satisfied if my health span and life span came out as close to even as possible.
Wouldn’t everyone?
I recommend allowing our future selves to guide all our daily decisions instead of just relying on the possibility of luck to bring us happy endings.
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More Sky
We seem to have fallen into a pattern where the sky is our focus for photography of late. Cyndie shared this wonderful sunset view yesterday:
As I enter the final month of commuting to the day-job, this brings to mind the sunset of my career in electronics manufacturing, which next leads to the sunrise of my expanding days on the ranch. This is where I thought I would be shortly after we moved so far away from my place of employment nine years ago.
Back then, I thought I might find work closer to home so I wouldn’t have to drive to the far side of the cities for work. I never planned to keep going back to the old job all these years.
We didn’t really plan on living in the midst of a global pandemic, either, but now that’s what we’ve got.
Leaves me a little timid about guessing what the next few years will bring. For now, caring for our rescued horses and coming up with a different way to keep chickens are two highly likely areas of focus.
And beyond that, a lot of soaking up our glorious views of the always fascinating sky.
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Interesting Cloud
In many ways, the weather around here the last few days has felt rather November-typical and the sky has been a constantly changing mix of cloud types with intermittent moments of blue.
Yesterday, we saw what almost looked like the monster of all contrails.
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Feel free to make up your own scary conspiracy story to explain what “they” are up to that created this spectacle.
It appeared close to the time the Omicron variant showed up in the world… Coincidence?
Um, in case you don’t know me that well yet, I’m poking fun at those who might actually believe the line above.
Regardless, doesn’t hurt (except maybe some people’s pride) to put on a mask if you are near a lot of other people.
Never mind to those of you who stormed the college football fields in Ann Arbor or Minneapolis yesterday. Hopefully, your euphoria will protect you from infections.
Big wins are soooo much fun in sports competitions. Way to go, Gophers!
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Believed
.
loving you
is a habit I developed
from repetition that started
when I saw you the very first time
that I remember, anyway
when my heart rippled
involuntarily
and new feelings arose
from cells throughout my body
it wasn’t possible for me
to not be in love with you
not until later, anyway
when I began to get
in the way of my own healthy growth
building imagined realities
my brain willingly believed
but unraveling phantasmic strands
that disrupted true love
rekindled old feelings
and I discovered that old habit
was still hanging around
still growing, in fact
beyond limitations
my brain willingly believed
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Some Leftovers
Twas the day after Thanksgiving and all through the house…
I’m taking the day off today. Instead of something fresh, I present the wayback machine for anyone interested in revisiting a leftover blog post from the more than 10-years I’ve been posting to Relative Something. Doesn’t require reheating.
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