Lighting Candles

I have a number of friends and acquaintances who are ill at the moment. Apparently, something terrible is going around.

One person I know has been down for the count for at least 10 days. Others have coughs, colds, depression. One is terminally ill.

When this many people in my circle are suffering, this becomes one of the times when I offer up prayer.

On Facebook the other day, I had a little discussion about prayer. In particular, it was the idea that simply offering thoughts and prayers to the families of mass murder victims does little to solve the problem. This became a bit of a national discussion after the last murders, when one of the New York papers proclaimed in a headline "God Isn't Going to Fix This."

I think that  what prayer does is give comfort to the person doing the praying, especially if it's the quick "I bow my head, say "hey, help these people," and you're done kind. That gives you an immediate feeling of doing something. Then you go on about your day. Maybe later you give the matter some thought and wonder if there is a solution, I don't know.

There is nothing wrong with that. If it brings you comfort and that is your way of praying, then that is your business.

However, I don't pray like that. Prayer for me is a long, drawn-out process, something sacred that I do privately and with forethought. I don't do it often for that reason.

Today I did my prayer ritual for my ailing friends. This takes me quite a while, because first I must cleanse myself with a shower. I don't want to go before the Higher Power feeling dirty. Then I have to sit in a space that I consider sacred or personal. I usually light a candle because I find the flame helpful in focusing. Today I lighted candles for every friend I knew who was sick. I watched the smoke on each candle, watching the blackness of the burning wax rise in the air. Most of the smoke went straight up and was soon gone; one had no smoke, and one smoked for a good while. Oddly enough, that was the candle I had designated for the friend I know to be the most ill. The one with no smoke was the candle I had designated for a friend who I had hoped was almost better.

Then I prayed. That is personal and I won't relay it here, but it consisted of thinking about each person, one at a time, asking for protection, guidance, and healing, and then snuffing out the candle before I moved on to the next.

I believe there is power in prayer. I think if at some appointed time, the world stopped and everyone prayed for the same thing, fervently and with all of their heart (and regardless of which god they worship, or even if all they do is think about it because they are atheist), that we could make a massive change. Maybe we could stop wars, end greed, create peace. But personally, I think it would have to be a solemn, serious issue, not a big concert in a stadium like I've seen some churches have. Prayer doesn't have to boring, I suppose, but I don't think it is meant to be done in a party atmosphere.

Generally when people ask for prayers on Facebook, if I feel moved to respond, I say "I am thinking of you," which, in fact, I am. Later, when I've made my preparations, I pray for the person.

Anyway, that is how I feel about prayer. I don't really think a prayer tweet does much good. You may think otherwise, and that's okay, because we can have different opinions and still be kind to one another.

We're The Seedbed of the Republic

This is a letter to the editor I wrote that ran in last week's Fincastle Herald. My husband signed this one with me.

Editor:
""The county government is not in the historical preservation business. We've got other things that we do but we support it," said Todd Dodson with the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors."

This direct quote from a supervisor from a TV news story is one reason why so many citizens are upset about the county's stubborn refusal to review its plans to build this shell building atop the knoll where historic structures stand at Greenfield.

If county officials are not interested in preserving the very things that make Botetourt the special and wonderful place that it is, what are they there for? Just as Mr. Dodson thinks the county should not be in the historic preservation business, there are those of us who believe the county should not be in the corporate welfare business (what they call economic development), either.

We are tired of paying taxes only to have the supervisors turn around and give the money away to corporations that have no roots here, and no reason to stay once their "incentives" are gone.

If the county wants to bring in business, they should look at those with good corporate morals. In January 2007, Gander Mountain turned down $1 million in incentives from Roanoke County.  According to a story in The Roanoke Times, Gander Mountain Vice President Tim Martin said, "We don't think subsidies or tax breaks ought to be a prerequisite for opening a store."

That is a company we can do business with.
There are corporations that believe in standing on their own two feet and not in coming in, raping a county of its assets, and leaving.

We suggest the supervisors look for those companies and leave the shell buildings alone. Any company that would locate in this shell building after learning the history of its construction and the "relocation" of two of the county's most historic buildings is not a company with the kind of morality that we and many others want to see in here anyway.

The supervisors' stubbornness in this action is bewildering. If building this shell building is such a good deal now, it will be a good deal six months from now. If it's not a good deal six months from now, then somebody should say why this must be done in such a hurry. The county has waited this long to do something with Greenfield - what is the rush? What would six more months hurt?

One cannot understand the complexities of these beautiful old structures and all of the historic and architectural aspects of Greenfield in a few months. Indeed, it has taken more than 20 years for people to begin to understand that we have historic resources here that rival those of any area in the nation.

We are The Seedbed of the Republic, to borrow from the county's most popular history book, and the supervisors would do well to remember that. All we can determine is that either the supervisors are not telling us all they know, or they merely want to destroy what we have for the sake of another pitiful economic dream. That is nothing but foolishness.

Sunday Stealing: Why Do You Want to Know?

From Sunday Stealing

Why Do You Want To Know That Meme


1. List 5 things you want to do before the year ends.

A. Get my bookkeeping caught up so I am ready for the new year, reorganize my morning schedule so that I am not getting out of bed and doing the same thing I have been doing for the last 20+ years, make fudge, see my friends, and manage to hit 30 minutes on the treadmill for the first time since my surgery 36 months ago.
 
2. What color are your pants?

A. At the moment I am in my nightgown, so, no pants.
 
3. Favorite motivational quote.

A. “All that is gold does not glitter/ Not all those who wander are lost / The old that is strong does not wither/ Deep roots are not reached by the frost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

4. When was the last time you drank coffee?

A. June 20, 2013, and three days later I was in the hospital. I don't normally drink coffee but strongly suspect the coffee set off my gallbladder attack that resulted in surgery.
 
5. What was the last thing you ate?

A. Cella chocolate covered cherry. I am totally addicted to those things.
 
6. Favorite animal.

A. Deer, because I think that is my totem.
 
7. Favorite song.

A. Starry, Starry Night, or Vincent's Song, by Don McLean.
 
8. Last movie you watched?

A. Kingsmen: The Secret Service (2014) although I am currently in the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring.
 
9. Any turn ons?

A. Lights.
 
10. Any turn offs?

A. Lights. You do know about switches, don't you?
 
11. List 4 big words off of the top of your head.

A. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, serendipity, eloquence, and rhapsody.
 
12. What are some meaningful movies?

A. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Under the Tuscan Sun, Secretariat, Finding Nemo, Shrek (the original), Dirty Dancing, and Flash Dance.
 
13. 2 most important people in your life right now?

A. My husband and whoever is driving the UPS truck that will deliver all the stuff I ordered for the holidays.
 
14. What are 3 things you want for Christmas?

A. A good, healthy diet, a happy and healthy husband, and peace and quiet.
 
15. When was the last time you read a good book?

A. I am listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The last good nonfiction book I read in print was The Four Agreements. The last good fiction book I read in print was Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. 

16. What was the last thing you studied?

A. How to make Windows 10 behave itself.
 
17. Do you have any nicknames?

A. Yes. My husband calls me Queen Pookie, sweetie pie, and other pet names.
 
18. Favorite kind of perfume? (fruity, alluring, etc.)

A. I don't like perfume of any kind.
 
19. Do you have any international friends / friends who live out of state?

A. I have a pen pal in England. We have been writing to one another for 13 years. We've exchanged more than 15,000 emails. I know this because we use yahoo groups as a backup route so most of the notes go through there. My father's family all live in California and I am in Virginia, and other family members on my mother's side are in Texas and Kansas.

20. What is something unique that you do every single day?

A. I take my own particular combination of a drug cocktail prescribed to me by my doctor.
 
21. If there was a movie based on your life, what would it be called?

A. Run, Dumb Ass, Run!
 
22. When was the last time you bought a gift for someone?

A. Yesterday.
 
23. Are you a shopaholic?

A. Nope.
 
24. What are some songs that always make you feel better?

A. Anything from the 1970s - Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Steely Dan, The Rolling Stones (although they are from every decade of the last 50 years), Paul McCartney and Wings, Fleetwood Mac - I could go on but you get the point.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Boulevard

Saturday 9: Boulevard of Broken Dreams (2004)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 

1) The "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" video begins with the gentlemen of Green Day dealing with car trouble. If your car overheated, what's the first thing you would do to remedy the situation?

A. Pull over. Call my husband. Raise the hood, watch the steam roll out. Wait until it cooled enough to open the cap. Pour water out of the water bottles I always have in the car with me into the radiator. Drive it to the closest repair place.

2) Thinking of cars, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong has had his share of trouble behind the wheel and was busted for driving well beyond the speed limit. Was your last ticket for parking, or was it a moving violation?

A. My last (and only) ticket was in 1993, when I topped a hill to find a line of stopped vehicles where no vehicles had stopped before. I rear-ended the one at the end of the line. I took a driver's education course and the charge was dismissed.

3) Billie Joe says "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was inspired by the Edward Hopper painting, "Nighthawks." Tell us about a piece of artwork that you enjoy. (Yes, the macaroni picture frame created for you by your nephew counts.)

A. I have a small painting of a cabin in the woods on my wall. It was painted by Jessie Stull Burton of Buchanan, which is a town in my county. The little cabin has been something I have imagined many times before I fall asleep. It is my safe place.

4) Let's go back to childhood. Was the home where you grew up located on a boulevard, an avenue, a street, a lane or a road?

A. For most of my childhood, I lived on a dirt road. Just down the road, a big old oak tree stood in the middle of the intersection of two roads. So we'd say, take a left by the oak tree in the middle of the road. Eventually they cut it down but for a long time I gave directions that way. Sometimes I still do - I say, where there used to be an oak tree in the middle of the road. People look at me funny. The road has been "improved" and paved over since I left.

5) This song won Green Day a Grammy for Record of the Year. What positive feedback have you received recently?

A. A friend who was with me when I hit a deer Tuesday night said I handled the car like a NASCAR driver, braking so that she didn't even realize what had happened until she heard the noise of the deer against the car. I suppose that is positive feedback. The car was undamaged and the deer, after looking a little stunned, ran off. So no harm done, I think.

6) Green Day uses their Facebook page to let more than 32 million fans know what the group is doing. What's the last thing you posted to social media?

A. I posted the front page of the Daily News that said "God Will Not Fix This" after the shooting in California, and my Facebook page lit up like I'd said Satan was coming to dinner and I was fixing him a pot roast. I don't understand why people were so offended (my more liberal-minded friends quickly came to my defense). The headline and accompanying story merely pointed out that offering "thoughts and prayers" does little to bring about solutions to issues created by humans. I am reminded of that joke where the guy is stranded on an island and he prays to God to save him. A tug boat comes by, a big ship comes by, and a cruiser stops, but he won't get on any of them. Then he asks God why he hadn't saved him yet, and God said, I sent you three ships, you dummy. You only had to get on board.

I am in favor of gun control. I think the words "well-regulated militia" means that we can regulate gun ownership just like we do vehicle ownership, but what do I know. I just read the words. But sitting around on the island watching the ships go by is not helping anyone.

7) In 2004, when this song was popular, Ken Jennings had a still unbeaten string of 74 wins on Jeopardy! What game show do you think you'd do well on?

A. Probably none of them. I would freeze up in front of the camera.

8) Also in 2004, Lance Armstrong was in the midst of his own Tour de France winning streak. Now we know he cheated. Tell us about a time you broke the rules.

A. I confess that I smoked pot in high school. I even inhaled. There go my chances of ever being president of the country, eh? (Are you surprised, anyone?)

9) 2004 is when Morgan Spurlock released Super Size Me, his documentary about eating nothing but McDonald's for a month. What's the last fast food restaurant you visited?

A. Does Cracker Barrel count as fast food? It's a sit-down meal complete with green beans and mashed 'taters if you want them. Anyway, that was the last place I ate out. I usually don't eat at places like McDonalds or Wendy's.

_____________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Thursday Thirteen

Tuesday night in the dark, with fog and rain making driving difficult under any circumstance, I had a little vehicle accident. I hit a deer. Well, actually the deer sort of ran into the side of the car. It was a small animal and it mostly ran into the wheel. No damage to the vehicle and the deer, after a moment of stunned and momentary confusion, ran away. I am hoping it was only bruised.

In any event, with icy weather coming and more darkness meaning more driving in the night, I thought I'd offer up 13 safe driving tips today.

1. Pay attention. I saw the deer as it entered the fog lights on my car, as I did not have the brights on because with foggy weather brights do not work well. Had I not been watching the road, I probably would have plowed into the deer instead of the deer running into me.

2. Don't trust other drivers. Unfortunately, too many people do not pay attention. They have their cell phones on and they are talking or texting, or maybe jamming out to music. I've seen people apply lipstick and once some guy in an open-door delivery vehicle beeped his horn at me as I passed him on the interstate so I could see that he had his penis out and he was jerking himself off. Obviously he was not paying attention to the road.

3. Yield to the other drivers. Sometimes you have the right of way but I have noticed that especially at four-way stops, nobody knows who is supposed to go first. The rule is the vehicle to the right goes first.

4. Wear your seat belt. This is the law in most (if not all) states in the U.S. Restraining yourself so you don't tumble from the vehicle and be crushed by it does make sense now, doesn't it?

5. Look ahead. I try to figure out my next move with vehicles, particularly in heavy traffic, far ahead of what I need to do. For instance, if I have to get off at an exit, I find my way into the correct lane long before I need to be there. I notice if people are hitting their brakes way in front of me. I slow down if traffic looks odd. (My husband, on the other hand, apparently only sees about three feet in front of the car sometimes.)

6. Slow down. Be aware of the road and weather conditions. Fortunately, I was driving slowly the other night because of the rain and fog. I am sure that was a factor in keeping me from being hurt or having my car damaged.

7. Choose your route. I go out of my way to try not to make left turns, though of course sometimes you have to. Left turns are dangerous, but they can be avoided by taking just a moment to make a right and then a legal U-turn or whatever you must do to avoid the left turn.

8. Learn how to recover from a skid. This takes a little practice because it is counterintuitive to release the brake pedal and steer toward the skid. Being a farm girl I learned how to do this a long time ago by driving an old vehicle around in a field, but I doubt everyone has that opportunity.

9. Don't drive while you are impaired. This does not simply mean don't drink and drive. It also means if you're sick, or if have an injury, you need to realize that you may not be as quick with your reflexes as you normally might. For instance, I have a chronic issue with my right ankle. I keep that in mind when I'm driving. In fact, on days when it is really acting up and swelling, I simply don't drive.

10. Slow down at intersections. I know you've passed through the one at your house a thousand times, but you never know when someone is going to plow on through even if you have the green light and the right-of-way.

11. Maintain your vehicle. Check the tires, make sure the headlights and tail lights work, keep the brakes in working order. If you have a problem with the vehicle, have it fixed.

12. Be careful when backing up. You can't always see small things. I learned this the hard way when I backed into my husband's motorcycle. He had parked it just out of my line of sight and as I backed out of the garage, I hit the front tire, which was turned a little and in my path. As you know, with a motorcycle it doesn't take much to damage it when it hits the ground.

13. Use common sense. This is probably the hardest one, because I think common sense left the room a long time ago, but if people would only think a bit about their actions when they drive, many accidents could be avoided.

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 423rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Robins in December

If We Had a Real Say

Yesterday, my husband went to the county courthouse to pay our local taxes. He said he was going to tell the treasurer that our share was not to be spent on shell buildings.

Shell buildings are the big thing right now in local conversation. The county wants to build an empty building, hoping it will lure in a big corporation. The problem is, they want to build it atop one of the loveliest knolls in the county, which also happens to have historic structures located on them. The supervisors want to "relocate" the structures.

Of course, the money we paid goes into the county's general fund, and it will be spent however the supervisors determine. I will have to content myself with thinking my share is supporting the schools and the county library, and somebody else's share is supporting the things I disagree with.

I began wondering what it would be like if our representatives really voted our interests at all levels of government. Perhaps on the IRS form there should be a place where we could mark how much of our taxes we wanted to go where.

For example, I might want 30% to go to welfare programs to reduce inequality, 10% to infrastructure, 30 percent for public safety (police, fire departments, etc.), and 30 percent to public education. You, on the other hand, might want 100 percent to go to military. Whatever. Your mileage may vary. None of us would agree on the funding ratios, but I bet when the totals were in that the numbers would not be as the dollars are currently spent.

My point is, they don't ask. Locally, representatives don't ask, statewide they don't ask, and nationwide they don't ask. They take their election as some kind of mandate to do what they want and to stick to the harmful and destructive political lines that have been drawn. This occurs even though poll after poll at the national level indicates that the citizenry would rather see public funds spent in different ways than the current breakdown, but nothing is ever done about it. The people in power do what they want, and if you have an opinion, your best bet is to be sit over there and be quiet. Otherwise someone will, at the least, want to argue with you.

But if we are all quiet, then no one will be left to speak out for us when it is too late. So if you want your tax dollars spent elsewhere, locally or otherwise, say something. Write your representative. Writer a letter to the editor.

Complain about it on your blog.

We have voices. We must learn again how to use them.

The Art of Appreciation

I had a conversation recently in which a person told me s/he did not feel appreciated by family members, or anybody else, for that matter.

So I began thinking about what it means to be appreciated. Or to feel appreciated.

First, I must say I think that the two can be confused. Someone can be appreciative and the other person not realize that whatever the first person is offering is appreciation. And the second person may not realize that the first person has done something which should be appreciated or remarked upon.

I also have to wonder if people who feel unappreciated appreciate others back. It does seem to be a reciprocal kind of relationship. For example, if the husband doesn't appreciate whatever contribution his wife makes to the marriage, then it is likely she isn't going to appreciate his contributions, either. And vice versa.

My husband hears me thank him quite frequently. I thank him for working, for making money, for putting up with my crazy moods, and for handling my current illness with aplomb and grace. I am not sure I thank him enough.

Now, he seldom thanks me in words. He is not a vocal man. He is a quiet guy. But he thanks me when he stops by the grocery store when I'm not up to shopping. He thanks me by working hard to earn money to pay the bills, something especially important now that I am not able to work as I once did.

So our appreciation styles are different. Sometimes I don't recognize his actions as appreciation, and sometimes I think my words to him go in one ear and out the other. He feels more appreciated, I think, when I actually do something for him - wash his clothes, fix a nice dinner, snuggle with him on the couch. The words are nice and I mean them when I say them, but for him I think the actions matter more.

Now me, I would like to hear the words more often. I would like for him to occasionally thank me for doing the laundry or washing the dishes. I also like for him to surprise me with a small present, even a box of Tic Tacs. Otherwise I begin to feel taken for granted.

These are different languages we're speaking, but we're saying the same thing - I love and appreciate you. However, we may not be able to understand one another if we're not listening, or not trying to listen, anyway.

I am reminded of a book I have here somewhere called The Five Love Languages. I think this applies to feeling appreciated as well as feeling loved.

In the book, the five different ways of communicating are words of affirmation (my thanking my husband), acts of service (my washing the clothes), affection (hugs and kisses, snuggles on the couch), quality time (being together without the TV or anything else on), and gifts (the person remembers you and gives you something to show appreciation).

I think if your way of showing appreciation is to buy someone a gift, but the other person doesn't want a gift, they want a compliment or acknowledgement of something they did, then you have a communication problem. I can see where this could escalate into an argument very quickly. "I bought you a present and you don't like it," "Oh, I like it, but it's just a candy bar, and I did all this work and you didn't even notice," and boom. There you go. The round starts and everybody's in the ring, boxing gloves in hand.

Learning not to take it personally can be difficult. You do things day in and day out, and nobody ever says thanks for it. After a while it feels like drudgery and it is easy to become resentful. Meanwhile, the other person is doing things for you day in and day out, and you don't recognize it, and that person becomes resentful, too.

Stuff simmers. Toss in issues like financial concerns, interfering parents, children, job stress, medical issues, and any number of other things, and that resentment turns into a full-on boil, complete with steam and roiling water.

I have been married for 32 years, so I feel like I can comment on this issue with some authority. You don't stay married (and happily, at that) for such a long time without learning something.

My husband I do not necessary speak the same language of appreciation, but we have learned that appreciation comes in many forms. Just because he doesn't think to buy me a soda when he stops at the store doesn't mean he does not appreciate me. It just means he didn't think to buy me a soda. Just as if I am ill and don't do the laundry one day, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate how hard he must work to make money. It just means I was ill.

When we don't communicate, we have issues. This goes for every relationship I am in, and it goes outward in a ring that extends from my husband to family to friends to acquaintances to the media and the mixed and awful messages it offers. If you aren't listening, if you're too busy talking and thinking about what you want and not hearing the other person, then nobody is appreciating anything.

We've become a very self-centered sort of nation here in the US, where we expect to be catered to and many of us have a sense of entitlement that is out of place. I run across it all the time and it is always jarring, but too many people are entwined in their cell phones when they should be paying attention to the human being standing next to them.

Life is not a bowl of cherries, but if you have one cherry, you can appreciate that. If you're lucky enough to have the whole bowl, then you can be very appreciative. But people are not things, and showing appreciation for the one you love is not all that hard.

It just takes a little thought, and a little listening, so you can figure out what that person needs in order to feel loved.

Sunday Stealing: Consider Yourself

From Sunday Stealing

Consider Yourself Meme


1) Of the various cultures, ethnicities or nationalities you belong to, which most strongly do you consider yourself?

A. American. But if you're asking my background, it's Scottish and Irish.

2) Is there a culture you cannot claim heritage from but which you feel quite close to?

A. Nothing that is on my radar at the moment.

3) What's one language you wish you knew fluently?

A. I used to speak Spanish somewhat but never fluently. Fluently would be nice.

4) If you could move anywhere in the world and be guaranteed a job, etc., where would you go?

A. I would go to New Zealand if I could be a guide in Hobbiton.

5) If you had a time machine, and could witness any one event without altering or disturbing it, what would you want to see?

A. The trial of Joan of Arc.

6) Have problems sleeping?

A. Yes.

7) Are you free with your feelings?

A. I think not but I am likely wrong.

8) What is the one outfit/piece of clothing/accessory you own that makes you feel incredibly good whenever you wear it? Why?

A. My signet ring from Hollins University, because it reminds me of my accomplishment of my masters degree.

9) What do you do to make yourself feel better when you're in a funk?

A. Play video games, read, play the guitar, or watch Lord of the Rings.

10) Has anyone ever surprised you in a way that let you know you were special? How?

A. My husband gave me a nice surprise party for my 50th birthday.

11) When you are having a "good day," how do you spread the happiness to others?

A. I laugh with them, or make them laugh.

12) What is one thing that puts you in a bad mood, no matter how good you were previously feeling?

A. I am not going to answer this question.

13) Would you rather live in a world with or without technology such as computers, cars, airplanes, bombs?

A. I would definitely like to live in a world without guns. How about just a world without gunpowder. That would eliminate a lot of things that are deadly.

14) If you had to live without either heating in your house or air conditioning, which one would you keep?

A. I'd have to keep the heating or I would die in the winter. Virginia can get very cold.

15) If you had to own five dogs, what kind would you get?

A. I would never own five dogs. But if were going to get a dog, it would be a small poodle.

 __________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Black

Saturday 9: Black Is Black (1966)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.  

1) Black is this week's signature color because Friday, November 27, was "Black Friday," when retailers cut their prices and consumers flock to the stores. Did you score any "Black Friday" bargains?

 

A. I did not go out, but I did a little online shopping. I did not feel like I managed bargains, though. More like I paid the price the things were actually worth to begin with.

2) WalMart, Best Buy, Toys R Us and Target have all heavily advertised their "Black Friday" sales. If you could have a $50 gift card to one of those stores, which would choose? What would you spend the $50 on?

A. If I had to chose, I would go to Best Buy and purchase ink for the printer.

3) Star Wars items are predicted to be big sellers this Black Friday. Are you a big sci-fi fan? Are there any sci-fi fans on your holiday gift list?

A. I am a big science fiction and fantasy fan. I live and breathe the Lord of the Rings. If someone would give me a Legolas doll for Christmas I would be ecstatic. :-) I like Star Wars but am more into fantasy. My brother is also into similar movies and books. He is the only other nerd on my holiday gift list.

4) Feasting and football are also popular Thanksgiving weekend pastimes. Do your Thursday-Sunday plans include pigging out or watching a game?

A. Eating was on big on Thursday, with leftovers Friday night. But no football games for me.

5) At Thanksgiving dinners, Crazy Sam's homemade gravy is always a hit. (Probably because she's so generous with the cognac, which gives the gravy a nutty taste.) Do you have a signature dish?

A. I usually fix the turkey for Thanksgiving, which is held at my mother-in-law's house. Aside from making killer fudge, I am not known for other dishes.

6) What did you give thanks for on Thanksgiving 2015?

A. I am thankful that I have a good husband, a nice home, and good friends. And Saturday 9 and Sunday Stealing and the people who play these memes with me.

7) Monday is Cyber Monday, when shoppers can save big online. Do you shop confidently over the Internet, or do you worry about security breaches and identity theft?

A. I had my credit card numbers stolen online once, and it was scary. I worry a great deal about this and try to sidestep it by having a single credit card I use online and taking advantage of the various alerts my bank offers.

8) This week's featured band, Los Bravos, was international. Their members came from both Germany and Spain. If you could travel to any foreign country in the world, which would you choose?

A. I would love to visit Ireland/England/Scotland. I'd have to take a long trip and do all three.

9) The band's name, Los Bravos, can be translated to mean, "The Brave." Do you consider yourself gutsy?

A. Not so much anymore, but when I was younger I was rather fearless. For example, I went up in a hot air balloon. I took a ride in a twin engine plane with an old drunk guy. I went for a long ride deep into the National Forest to explore a cave full of endangered bats. I went into a burning building (it was a firefighter's training building, and firefighters were with me, but it was still on fire). All of those were to "get the story" when I was an avid and daring news reporter. I don't do things like that anymore.

_____________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

A Tale Told by an Idiot

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.— Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 21-28)

(Note the reference to Psalm 90.9, addressing the transience of life: "we spend our years as a tale that is told.")

Yesterday the Thanksgiving paper had a series of "I am thankful for" essays by local folks. Two of them, I noted with interest, refuted Shakespeare, declaring that life is good, and it is not, "a tale told by an idiot" in any way.

I tend to be nihilistic in my thinking, so I related to these lines from Macbeth. I think we are miniscule dots in the annals of time, individually and most likely as a species. In the vastness of the universe, what are we, anyway? Do the stars shining in the sky care if we have wine with dinner?

No. Nor do they care if we lie, cheat, steal, live honorably and with perfection, are wealthy, poor, or anything else. In that great gulf between the earth and all that is above, we are what we are, and little more.

So why then, do we persist in attempting to be more? Children of God. The sentient thoughts of the Universe. The last great creation - obviously so flawed that we must create a god in need of blood sacrifices in order to understand our own existence.

Because ultimately we are our own little gods, each of us - are we not? Standing naked before the mirror, the only consciousness in our house - everything else exists in stasis, and time becomes something we cannot see if we are in that particularly moment. But of course we are unable to live in the moment - we have pasts and futures to think of. We think we are alone in this, that other mammals on the planet do not worry about pasts and futures, though I think perhaps the squirrel hiding nuts for winter might argue that its preparedness for the upcoming snows brings with at least the perception of some kind of forethought, however much one might contemplate that it is all "instinct."

Do we not operate by instinct, too, us humans? Do we not mate, fight, argue, and love with instinctive ardor? Is not our entire economic system based upon who can fight their way to the top, who can be the most bestial, the most ornery, the strongest, the most mean? Is that not why we admire the blowhards who care little for those who suffer?

And then - there it is. The problem - or our salvation. Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book The Signature of All Things, labeled it "the Prudence problem" because a character in a fictional book about science and Darwinism was sacrificial. If we are, indeed, instinctive animals, why then do we share our food, feed the homeless, clothe those who need it, and not take our diseased and disfigured children into the wilderness and leave them to die? That is, after all, what the animals do. They discard the runts of the litters.

It is our choice to be humane that makes us human and sets us apart - it is this which makes us godly and sets us apart, makes us more than we are. But it is this choice which I am watching wither away as we become less humane and instead more animal-like. Not because we are worshipping or not worshipping, but because the thing we worship is now a concrete, tiny bauble that we can hold in our hands.

It is greed that has set us back, because now instead of being the insignificant spots we know we are, we think we are more because we have started worshipping this thing we call money. This, our new god, has supplanted all that was and perhaps all that will be, if we don't get a hold of ourselves.

For this reason, we now worship the self-made man, the mongrel who chews and tears his way to the top of the heap, or the well-bred man who has more by mere chance. Not because of our primal instincts - for those instincts can be tamed (the fact that actually makes us humans) - but because we have chosen to give in to those instincts.

Dog-eat-dog worlds beget only misery and madness.

Thus we are where we are, living, indeed, lives that are full of nothingness. I am thankful to be alive - as, I hope, are you, dear reader - but in the end, if our lives do nothing to foster assistance to those around us, are we alive as animals, or alive as humans?

I leave you with that question.

Thursday Thirteen

It's Thanksgiving here in the U.S.A. It would be natural to do a "things I'm thankful for," but I'm a bit abbynormal, so now I have to think of something else! Hmm. But what?

How about . . . stuff in my office. For which, actually, I am thankful, now that I think of it. Ha. Fooled myself! So Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for reading! (I love my readers.)

Taylor on the left, Takamine on the right.

1. A Taylor and a Takamine guitar.

2. A Nikon camera sitting on a tripod, ready for action.

3. Nasal saline spray.

4. The Four Elements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. It's summed up easily: be impeccable with your Word; don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions, and always do your best. The first is the most important.

5. Bits and pieces of a letter to the editor I'm working on about our (idiotic) county's plan to relocate some of the most historic structures in our part of Virginia.

6. My diploma from Hollins College (now Hollins University).

7. A picture of Gandalf the White from the movie The Two Towers.

8. A plate hanging on the wall that says Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.

9. A photo of my nephew, arm back, football in hand, as he makes a throw when he was a quarterback in high school.

10. A hot cup of tea.

11. Two fudge stripe cookies (yes, this is breakfast).

12. A candle shaped like a pyramid.

13. The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition).


_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 422nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Deer Porn

I have seen deer do just about everything up here on the farm. Give birth, nurse, chase each other, stomp a cat, stamp their feet, huff and snort, eat and drink.

But until this morning, I don't recall seeing them go at it during the rut.

The pictures would have been better if it hadn't been (a) so dark and (b) I wasn't shooting through the window and the screen.

Beware - this is sexy stuff!