M-m-m-mushroom Barley Soup!

This is one of my very favorites - from "Vegetariana" by Nava Atlas

Old Enough to Re-paint

Neil Young's song "Tell Me Why" popped into my head while I was in the car, so I started to sing it. Realizing I couldn't recall all the lyrics, when I got I home I looked them up. That's when I saw that all these years I have been mis-hearing one of the lines.
The correct line is:
Tell me why
Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself
When you're old enough to repay, but young enough to sell.

I had always thought he was singing:
When you're old enough to re-paint, but young enough to sell.

Wow. This makes a big difference. I've spent the better part of my life believing that when you get old enough, you get to choose: whether to re-paint or whether to sell. Now it all makes more sense. Because really, if you are going to sell, you are probably going to re-paint first. Then again, if you re-paint, you are then free to either sell or not.
This whole episode has turned my world upside down today.
I like to keep things in perspective.
Tell me why. Tell me why.

Peace, Love and Understanding

I was reminded of the song "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding" (the original Nick Lowe version, not the Elvis Costello version - click on the title to hear it).
Naturally, it got me to thinking: what is so funny about peace, love and understanding?
Why do we make things so difficult for ourselves? Must life be so complicated? Can't we all just get along? If not, why not?
First: Peace. Peace is a state of mind. The peaceful state of mind creates a peaceful reality. As long as any of us persist in our resistance to a peaceful state of mind, we cannot truly know peace in reality. Conversely, as long as one of us knows a peaceful state of mind, peace exists in reality. As always, it begins in one, and we need only bring ourselves to the tipping point for it to become reality all over. It can happen. It will happen. It is happening.
Second: Love. Love is all there is. Whatever is not Love, does not really exist. Semantics can be slippery here. One must be careful not to become solipsistic in the presence of Love. Still, in my book, Love is, and the rest is embellishment.
Finally, Understanding. The etymology suggests that it means "standing in the middle of, or center." How wonderful! When you understand, you are in the center of that which is understood. In this world of dualities, understanding brings you into the center, where, as we know, the perspective is infinite.
So: Peace, Love and Understanding - not funny, as in ironic, not funny, as in haha. Maybe a little bit funny, as in AHHHHHHHH! HAAAHAAA!!! I get it now!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is such a wonderful day - the day those >>shudder<< people leave the White House, and the Obamas move in.
No matter what happens, at least those >>shudder<< people will no longer be in power. More than that, I am hopeful that today is the dawn of a new era for our country.
At the very least, I don't have to avert my gaze when the President comes on the TV.

An agreement

I entered into an agreement with my self.

It was a yes or no thing.

Yes: I will be me.
No: It will not be easy.

What happened to the or?

There are no tears in heaven

We get caught up in the drama of our lives. We may suffer quietly, or we may wail, and yell, and gnash our teeth. How we respond to events (real or imagined, past or present) may vary with the seasons. We can learn from our experiences, and move forward to a higher level of understanding. In the end, though, we are only human, and we don't always get it right. We cause ourselves pain when it is not really necessary. We cry over little things. We yell about nothing.
I'll bet there are no shouts, or tears, in heaven, except for shouts, and tears, of joy.

~In memory of Dewitt, who died one year ago today

Memories

Why is it so hard sometimes to let go of the past? Even when you think you have let go of some memory or other, it can come back again and again. Is there some emotional component that lies dormant, to be triggered by some event or other in the present? What part of that memory must be addressed and/or eradicated for the thought to go back into the past and stay there where it belongs? Is it okay to continually have a memory crop up, as long as you don't dwell on it? Why is it okay for pleasant memories to come back, but not okay for unpleasant ones? I mean, it's not as though the memory is actually happening again. The key is the emotion attached to it, I think. To some extent, you relive the emotion when the memory is triggered. Fine if it is a pleasant or happy emotion, not so fine if the emotion is .... not so fine.

Wonderland

As winter wraps its long, velvety gray arms around us, and we settle in for the long ride towards spring, I remain grateful for being able to witness the turning of the seasons. As much as this season has its dull, dreary days and wet, wild nights, it also contains a wondrous beauty, and much life still abounds. I look out on my meadow, and at first see only the dead grasses, bare trees and ice-covered pond. But then, I see a bluebird flitting from a tree to a bush, and now a squirrel scurries quickly (is there another way to scurry?) across the lawn. There is a slight breeze that is making the cattails quiver, and if I squint I can see the dormant buds on the maple tree next to the deck. LIFE GOES ON, the world whispers. I do well to stop, and look, and listen.

AND....

4) SLEEP more. Yeah, that would be nice.

TA-DAH!!!!!: MY 2009 RESOLUTION ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!

1) LOVE more.
2) LAUGH more.
3) LIVE more.