Category: Wisdom Tidbits

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The Appropriation Of Cultures

Flipping through Twitter this morning someone commented if everyone would paint the Confederate battle flag on mailboxes, Gospodin Trump and his henchmen would leave them alone.  This brought back to mind one my favorite short stories of all time,  The Appropriation Of Cultures by Percival Everett. I first heard it listening to a podcast of Selected Shorts. 

The base premise of the story is a black professor buys a pickup with a Confederate flag on it from a redneck.  For me it was one those stories that embeds itself strongly in whatever part of your brain or psyche that happens in.  I am including a YouTube link to the short story parsed from an episode of Select Shorts.  IMHO, it more than worth the 20 minutes of your time invested in it.  Somehow it seems so perfect for right now.

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SING… Sing where you can…

If you ask the lyrical Señora Weinhaus she will quickly tell you that her life is music.  If she could not sing I am not sure she would find life worth living.  Normally she sings in in several choirs, but all that has been curtailed due to COVID-19.

She met two of her mates from the Hospice Choir at a tunnel on the Creve Coeur bike path.  Bonnie’s husband shot this video of their jubilation.

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The Magic of Dogs

The peerless Señora Weinhaus has two long term friends, Greg and Jeanne.  She met the both of them when all were taking classes in Reiki some 20 years ago.  In fact she has two other long term friends from the same class, a retired meteorologist from Sicily named Vincenzo and his partner Maury.  Despite living in this country for 50 years Vince still has a fairly thick Italian accent, but I believe his command of English is better than mine.  You will not find many other folks more interesting to converse with than Vincenzo.   Maury hails from Brazil, but  I thought him a native North American the first time I met him as his accent is so perfectly Midwestern.  Maury can give Vince a run for his money in the conversation department… when he can get a word in edgewise.  That is always Continue reading “The Magic of Dogs”

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Radiolab – The Cataclysm Sentence

Radiolab is one of my most favorite podcasts. When first I discovered it I went through their archives. I have literally listened to every episode that is available on Stitcher.  A bit of a feat as the podcast has been around a long while. It has been interesting watching the evolution of the show.  The early episodes were nerdy, sciencey, hidden side of things.  The current shows are  still many times that, but they have also branched off into social and philosophical realms.

This week’s episode is titled The Cataclysm Sentence.

The theme of this podcast was if Continue reading “Radiolab – The Cataclysm Sentence”

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Before you vote, write a letter to your grandkids…

I was listening to a Living on Earth podcast as I was doing yard work this afternoon.  On one segment they were interviewing the author of The Optimist’s Telescope, Bina Venkataraman.

She made a point that struck home with me.  We are a society much too focused on the short term.  We are builders of quonset huts and not of cathedrals. When people go to vote they are thinking of their own immediate issues, probably whatever issue or problem is most current.  Her suggestion was before you go to vote, write a letter to your grandchildren or even great grandchildren. Explain to them why you voted they way you did.  The whole point being to make yourself think more of the long term.

This harks back to a theme I have mentioned several times in this blog, usufruct. It is actually a legal term referring to (layman here) the right to enjoy and profit from real property as long as you do not alter or damage it.  For me, this invokes the concept of stewardship.  We were handed this earth by the stewards that came before us, our ancestors.  We have an obligation to be stewards for the generations that are coming after us.

Write that damn letter to your grandkids.

Here is a link to that Interview with Venkataraman.

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If only…

“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows.

And the people began to think differently.

“And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

“And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.”

~Kitty O’Meara

Who is Kitty O’Meara?

Normally when I use art on my blog I do a Google image search and make sure I grab images that are “free to use and share”.  I took the poem and image off a Facebook posting of a friend who is an artist.  I erroneous made the assumption the art was hers.  I believe the picture is actually the work  of Jessica Boehman.  Here are a couple links for her and her art.  It is a very nice picture, and hopefully Jessica will not be offended by my use of it.

Jessica on Etsy

Jessica Boehman’s blog

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The Utter Delight of Discovering Echoes

My son was hiking with my grandson in a nature area close to their home in Fayetteville, AR.  I’ll let you figure out who is who! My grandson realized by himself that he could create an echo.  The delightful laughter is his response to this discovery and his experimenting with it.

He had been doing this for 2 or 3 minutes when my son decided he needed to video the experience.

Ah… the wonder of childhood to be delighted by simple pleasures and simple discoveries.

Grasshopper, we all need to open ourselves to such wonder.

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Life at Midlife by Mary Anne Perrone

Dec 2016
Christmas at Midlife by -Mary Anne Perrone

I am no longer waiting for a special occasion;
I burn the best candles on ordinary days.

I am no longer waiting for the house to be clean;
I fill it with people who understand that even dust is Sacred.

I am no longer waiting for everyone to understand me;
It’s just not their task Continue reading “Life at Midlife by Mary Anne Perrone”