Enlightment

What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?

This 1957 book introduced us in the west to a different mode of thought.

Carrying water is an expression.

It’s a bit old fashioned and a bit odd. In some iterations it is very Zen.

You may carry your own water or do so for someone else. Valuing who you are, you carry your own water. In service to others, you do so for them.

You find the quality of your life in the carrying.

How is this day…?

Describe your life in an alternate universe.

Stock media: a space shot.

It’s pretty same-o-same-o today. A day like no other.

From my perch, I see the rings that have made our planet famous. Like Jupiter’s, they are a gassy effusion. And like Jupiter’s, they are very beautiful.

It’s barely past the lunch hour, and I am hungry. This, too, is not unusual.

Like I said, this seems to be shaping up to be an ordinary day.

Don’t have to look far

Scour the news for an entirely uninteresting story. Consider how it connects to your life. Write about that.

Back to work isn’t happening for me. It’s one of the positives of retirement.

A return to the office is therefore not in the cards either. Irony is, however, always timely.

Zoom, the annoying and helpful tool that helps meetings happen when in person isn’t going to, ordered the dreaded RTO.

The only qualifier that doesn’t qualify here is that this is far from an uninteresting bit of news.

30 happy thoughts

List 30 things that make you happy.

Don’t let the number throw you! It’s a good thing. The more things to make you happy, the merrier.

30. Toddlers in the park

29. Flower beds

28. Linen napkins

27. Fine dining

26. Papaya King hot dogs

25. Sunny side up eggs

24. Describing the river

23. Creating a poem

22. Dancing

21. Dancing along to my favorite music

20. Singing along (always off key)

19. Exercise classes

18. Aqua exercises

17. Dance performances

16. Theatrical events

15. Symphonic concerts

14. The flute

13. The harp

12. Jazz

11. Rock

10. Bach

9. A good cup of joe

8. Murder mysteries [book]

7. Murder mysteries (tv)

6. Fresh pineapple juice

5. Certain sit-coms

4. Peaches and nectarines

3. A beautiful day

2. A rainy day

1. My husband

Crossover cookery

Greeks must have meandered into French kitchens in the last half century. Almost every little bakery seems to feature a small burek alongside the croissants.


Veganism, if it is an ism, seems to be going mainstream. My evidence? Tacos with vegan pastor. Likewise, there’s Impossible gone mainstream in the Starbucks breakfast sandwich.

Enigma

How would you describe yourself to someone?

It’s hard to be immodest, but sometimes it’s better than hiding your true self. Under a bushel of false modesty.

So I will admit to my best qualities. I am friendly and loyal and sincere.

I lose some of my pride in these when I realize these are qualities that are also common to your golden retriever.

Ah well.

Let them be

If you could bring back one dinosaur, which one would it be?

From Stock Media

I always loved the dinosaurs that occupy the AMNH.

As a child, I loved visiting the giant beasts and the big whale.

Years later, I spent many a productive evening in the great halls with little Danny. In his childhood, as he is in adulthood, he was always a scientific guide. It was a real treat when his mom entrusted him to me for a trip to the museum.

All that said, I see no useful purpose to bringing the TRex or any of his pals back. Not even the herbivores.