Influences...

The other day I stepped on a big 'ol ugly spider scampering across the floor of my garage.  I recalled a joke I had heard...and told...many times and years ago.

"What was the last thing to go through the bugs mind as it hit the windshield?  His ass."

Just like that spider and the bug on the windshield it can be said, "They never saw it coming."  I've heard many humans utter those words...usually about someone else, and rarely about their own life.  Humans rarely take the time to reflect and look around to see what may be lurking in the shadows.  I'd venture to say that even fewer take the time to become aware of the darkness and/or light that plays tag with each of us within.  Did I say aware???  For hell's sake, even admit to any of it.  Awareness is our foundation of existence. It is the observer within us, the essence of life. Without awareness there is no consciousness, no mind, and no life. It is the core of our being.  It is what gives us the ability to see "it" coming...that separates us from the likes of that spider.

It is time for me to take that inner trip once again.  Over then next week or two I am going to spend some time enjoying the three books that have added the most to my life:

• The Little Prince, by Antoine de St. Xupery - it's influence on friends, family, & relationships
• Walden, by Henry D. Thoreau - it's influence on finances, simplicity, and being still
• Siddartha, by Herman Hesse - my life influence on finding peace, the atman within, and respecting the journey of others

Dance Like No One Is Watching?

I've heard that phrase soooo many times...and seen way too few people do it.  I am guilty of it myself.  Apparently these guys below don't really care.  Which brings me to this short and simple post.  

Source

I'm curious...when I blog about something, anything, should I blog as though nobody is reading or everyone is reading?  Is a blog meant to let others know what is going on in this melon atop my shoulders, or is it a means for me to figure out what is in there to begin with?  There is a lot of stuff running around in my head.  I'm surprised it doesn't make me tired.  A lot of those marathon thoughts are truly interesting...some are just brittpratt (bullcrap).  I know those thoughts, I spend time with them 24/7...sometimes I wish I could escape.  =)  But I'd have to say that if really given the chance, some pretty cool thoughts could be put down for the ages.

The older I get though, the less I find people really care about the thoughts of others.  There are many valid reasons:

• Finding the time to listen or read
• Respecting the one whose thoughts are presented
• Understanding their journey
• Insecurity...feeling that the intelligence gap is too great
• Just plain not caring
• Or perhaps, like Siddartha, one desires to find and learn ones own lessons.

The last one is the most admirable, but the least applicable to 99.9999% of the people I am acquainted with.  Which brings me to the subject of my post.  It seems to be the way I can continually be known...to and by myself.  I have many that love me...but few that care to know me...save my Astri and myself.  I think that is enough of a reason to write now and then.  Enough of a reason to dance (or blog) like no one is watching (reading)...but I'll be looking in a mirror so I know how crazy I look.

Dad Humor, Pt.2

In the earlier post on "Dad Humor" I mentioned some of the items we get from our kids when they are young.  Here are a few of the items I have; not only have, but they are displayed.  I've had them displayed for over 20 years.

This was one of Leilani's first attempts at a cross-stitch...and maybe her last?

Jessica carved this out of a piece of sandstone.

Jared and Rebekah made these casts of their hands.  I put them in a frame later to display and protect.

Bad Ass Hats

One of the things I like about being a guy is hats.  More often than not, when I wake up in the morning my hair seems to have migrated to the top of my head (no, I will NOT post a pic).  Being a guy, and with my job also requiring some field work, all I need to do is throw on a hat and call it good.  No time to brush it?  Pull out a hat.

The question arises though what to do when a bit more class is required and my hair has that "just out of bed" look (get your mind out of the gutter).  That is where the "bad-ass hat" comes in (or drivers cap as most call it).  A baseball cap just doesn't cut it for a casual night out.  They need to be reserved for the ball field or yard work.  And anyone who wears one backward needs to have their head slapped around to fit it on straight.

Posted here are pics of me and my sons two kids (Bryson and Jack).  They both look just like him!  Maybe I can get my son to get rid of that old tattered ball cap and wear one.  =)  It'd be nice at a family reunion to get photo of me, my son, and all three of my g'sons in a hat like this...but we'll leave Jack out...maybe.  The last photo is my oldest daughter at about Bryson's age...in the baddest-ass hat of all.

Papa Ron and Bryson

Papa Ron and Jack

Leilani...now this is one bad-ass hat

Every Sparrow...

Matthew 10:29-31 talks about "That not even a sparrow falls to the ground without Our Dear Heavenly Father knowing about it."


Do you think he yelled "Oh Crap" a couple of weeks ago when over 1000 birds just fell out of the sky and died in Arkansas and Louisiana?

I Don't Care...

I'm one of the worst at the concept of time.  I'd like to blame it on my age, but I've been teased about it since I was 18.  The grand-poopa of my memory lapses are:  "The other day...", only to be reminded it was many months ago; or "Remember last year..."  when whatever event I think is important enough to recall actually took place within the last couple of months...or even days! This is probably fairly common with anyone older than four.  The memory of the event is much stronger in our mind than the timing of the event.  Which leads me to those annoying people that have the selective memory of saying "I used to..."

"I used to bench..."
"I used to have time to..."
"I used to cook..."
"I used to weigh..."
"I used to be able to..."

Well...I don't care what you USED to...
If you can't do it or just don't do it...then hush...I'd rather not hear about it.  What I would be interested in is what you can do now.  Seems peoples memories can get selective on the things they "used" to do.  When those things come up it is usually in an effort to praise themselves or because they just like to hear themselves talk; or perhaps they are a bit distraught because they no longer have the discipline for it now, and feel a need to try to impress others with their past.  In fact...isn't saying "I used to" actually admitting that they have gone backward in life, become less efficient, gotten lazier, life has become less important?  Perhaps not in all cases, but as I reflect on when I've heard it said...or the times when I know I have said it...it rings true.

Tell me what you CAN do.  Tell me what you are GOING to do.  Tell me where you are adjusting your life for the better.  Impress me with your discipline, even when time and the struggles of life fight against you.  If you want to tell me what you USED to...then it needs to be followed up with why you can't now, what you replaced it with, and/or most importantly, why I should care.  Is there a positive lesson in it; or did you just get lazy, busy, fat, or just distracted?  And what are you doing to change or replace it?  I'd love to hear the "I used to..."  followed up by something greater.

I used to work out three times a week...but now I work out five times.
I used to bench 200 pounds...but now run 5 miles a day.
I used to weight 165 pounds...put I got busy and put on weight.  I'll be back to 165 in less than a year.
I used to crochet...but with my arthritis I had to take up painting.

As for me...I "used' to have more patience with people...but I'm getting older and have less time for others lack of discipline; especially when bragging about the past when the present is in disarray.

~ Digger

Direction

I rarely head into the wilderness without my GPS unit.  Depending on the length of my journey, the technology requires that I also carry extra batteries.  My ability to return home to my wife in a timely manner requires that I subscribe to the ever present power of the Energizer Bunny.  More times than I'd like to admit the screen has gone blank, only to find me reaching into my day pack to grab a set of replacement power.  Digger, why would you not want to admit that?  Perhaps it is because the set that I so proudly pull out are occasionally the same set I put in the pack LAST time the unit went blank and forgot to replace them with fresh batteries.

I was recently re-reading Walking, by H.D. Thoreau; it had been years since I had blown the dust off that book.  I've been a Thoreau fan since high school; just one within the plethora of others that cut their teeth in a desire to embrace simplicity.  I found I had forgotten the quote that began to shape my life for the next 40 years.  Over time it morphed into "flying by the seat of my britches." <----This phrase became the manifestation, separated from its' initial cause.  I began my separation, or forced individuality, from my abode of my youth with a specific direction in my mind.  It was like looking at a map and measuring the distance between two points ("as the crow flies") and believing that is the true distance between them.  Come to find out, I didn't know how to fly; so getting between any two points wasn't as direct as I thought it would be.  I should have recalled the quote at that time.  It would have made the next 40 years much easier to chart.  The quote...as simple as only my friend Henry could have made it..."My needle is slow to settle...but it always settles...".

Anyone that has used a compass has noticed how the needle respond to the earths magnetic field.  It takes time for it to calm, line up with the power of the field, and point in one ultimate direction.  The needle will always settle given time,  buy it is the degree of measure off this true direction that sends us on our path.  But FIRST we must have a true direction.  If we fail to let the needle settle our course could be way off over the course of our journey.  A needle that fails to settle means there is some interference.  It is important, if not necessary, to find out what the source of this interference might be, then establish direction.  To not rid ourselves of the interference could cost us our journey.  On the other hand...there is nothing in error with traveling in a general direction, without waiting for the settle.  But there will come a time, or several times, when a more exact path will be needed and the settling of the needle is a necessity.  I think that is one of the hardest lessons to learn.  In my youth there were times when my impatience did not wait for the needle to settle, in my older age waiting wasted valuable time when I should have been moving forward.  Not to mention the times I just had a "gut" feeling on my direction and did not want to pull the compass out.  That compass can be different for every individual, maybe even different for each circumstance in our lives.  What ever the compass is, the important part is to at least stop long enough to consult the compass.

What did this have to do with a GPS from the first paragraph?  There is nothing wrong with having the tools to direct us along the best or shortest route, or to be able to backtrack our path if it becomes impassible.  But a GPS unit triangulates our position from satellites hundreds of miles above us, focusing to a benign apex on the ground that is us.  I think there are times when it might have been better to take the time to triangulate myself using the landmarks around me...and identify my position in life first.  Then use the natural field, energy, or atman inside me to patiently let the needle of my life settle and chart my course a little at a time; taking the time to plot my position along the way from my level as often as I see necessary.