John
Posts to Out of My Hat are just my thoughts on varied subjects from politics, religion, parenting, magic and life in general. Please feel free to comment on or share any of the material found here. Just note the source and, when possible, provide a link to Out of My Hat.
There is a lot that can be said about the Buddhist belief that possessions and desires tie you down and lead to suffering. For example --
I like our home. I like our house and I like having a safe place to retreat to and a warm, comfortable place to live and sleep. I like the five acres we have and the various flowerbeds. Although I don't mind working in the yard, it is also a pretty big commitment and takes quite a bit of time and effort.
It is a privileged life that we live.
However, I also think it would be cool to get a truck-top tent rig for the Maverick and just hit the road, stopping wherever I feel like stopping and spending whatever time I want to spend before moving on. That really isn't a thing that my wife would be into, so that attachment (along with the homeowner obligations) is another tie down.
Honestly, I don't know if that is something that I would really like for an extended period of time. There is a little bit of me that thinks I would like it and is a little sad that it likely isn't something that I will ever do. I can't say that it is a major regret or anything. It's just something I think of from time to time as kind of a fantasy adventurous lifestyle.
So that has me wondering...
What would you be doing differently if you weren't tied down by obligations to people or property?
Would you live in a different city? ...or maybe a different country?
Maybe you have a dream of starting a business (talk about being tied to an obligation!).
Is there something you'd like to learn about?
An instrument you'd like to learn how to play?
Maybe there are things you can do in spite of your commitments and obligations.
I know that there are people that thrive on having obligations. They need to be committed to something. They need to have a purpose for getting up in the morning, Maybe you are doing exactly what you truly want to be doing.
In a sense, we are all doing what we choose to do -- even though it may not be what we want to do.
Just some weird things rollin' 'round in my head today.
What would you be doing today if you could be doing what you truly want to do?
John
One of a simple life's pleasureful things is being able to observe and enjoy nature.
I get to do that a lot -- morning coffee on the deck, working in the flower gardens, an afternoon cigar, a relaxing evening, and late nights listening to the frogs, bugs, and occasional coyotes.
This year we seem to have an abundance of dragonflies. I read that this is in part due to the very wet spring that we had. These voracious little hunters consume mosquitoes and other small flying insects -- often more than 100 per day.
Competing for small insects and also eating dragonflies are the barn swallows. I kind of hate that these birds dine on the dragonflies, but love that they also keep the wasps population in check. I haven't seen as many wasps around this year. It might have something to do with the mud nest built on one of the deck joists!
Earlier this week I watched a tiny little jumping spider stalk and capture a small moth on the deck screen. It was the third time I have observed a spider make such a catch. The other times were houseflies.
There are golden finches that nest in the trees across the street that come to feast on the seeds of my zinnias and cone flowers. In the fall I will harvest enough seeds to plant in the spring, but leave most of them so the birds can feed on them throughout the winter months. They will be picked clean by spring.
My hummingbird feeders have been dry for a little while. I don't worry about it this time of year and often see them feeding at the flowers. I tend to pay closer attention during the spring before the flowers bloom and in the early autumn weeks before they begin their long migration back to Mexico.
I often work while barefooted. I must have startled or stepped on a little critter this week and took a stinger of some sort in my foot. I didn't see what stung me, but did dig a bit of stinger out of the lower side of my foot. I've been surprised at how long I can still feel the effects of that little sting.
I have to admit that I laugh at myself when I think about how much I enjoy observing the smaller side of nature. One the one hand it does make me feel like an old guy. But on the other hand I wish I would have been more observant of the life around me all along.
Spiders hunting moths, dragonflies hunting mosquitoes, birds munching on dragonflies -- nature can be pretty violent and unforgiving even at this small level. It really is a privilege to be able to observe and learn.
John
On this date in 2006 I published my first post here at Out of My Hat.
I no longer do magic as a profession, hobby, nor ministry, so the name doesn't make as much sense as it did back in the day. And most of the post seem to come from out of my --, well, from somewhere else.
I am a much different person today than I was 19 years ago. Not only am I no longer a magician, I am no longer working as an air traffic controller, I am no longer in ministry as an evangelist or kids' camp pastor, and am happily retired and pursuing new hobbies like gardening, smoking cigars, sipping bourbon and tequila, and staying the hell away from people.
I do still enjoy writing and using Out of My Hat to share my thoughts, but no longer care as much as I once did that other people actually read them. I should probably challenge myself to write more often and to take on a greater variety of topics from time to time -- perhaps I will in year #20. I suppose I could find a random topic generator or accept suggestions from the few readers that I still have. Or I can (and likely will) just keep doing what I have been doing for the past 19 years.
It has been an interesting evolution.
I wonder what the John of 19 years ago would say about the person that he would become. He would probably look at what has been posted recently and wonder -- Who writes this crap?
From the other perspective -- I am glad that I have grown and am no longer the person that I was. I truly wish more people would constantly question what they believe and who they are and challenge themselves to grow rather than to just blindly follow the same well worn pathways.
I do hope that you will stick around for another year, and I hope that you might occasionally benefit from some of my posts and rantings.
Maybe I'll celebrate the milestone later today with a cigar and a tequila cherry limeade.
It will be -- Just another day in the life of John
But each day is a day worth celebrating.
John
I could use a good human story.
There is far too much bullshit being posted on social media platforms and so much fake stuff that I am ready to retreat to the deck with only a drink, a cigar, and a book.
Forever.
To be fair --
I have a good life and recognize the joy I find in simple things -- blooming flowers, singing birds, dragonflies hunting in my backyard, etc. Nature provides me with many hours of pleasure just by observing what is going on around me.
However, human nature often brings me down.
I seem to find far much more corruption than kindness among my fellow humans. People seem more hurtful than helpful.
Please convince me that I am wrong.
I need some good human stories.
Good human stories don't have to be anything spectacular. Simple kindness is enough for me.
Tell me something good!
John
Hmmm...
I just noticed that I missed the milestone 3000th post.
This is post #3003.
Damn! That's a lot of nonsense that has been put out into the world by a single person.
One week from today will be my 19th blogoversary.
Now that is a milestone! There are only a few of the blogs that I was following from back in the day that are still around as blogging has given way to podcasts and other more advanced forms of social media.
I'll have more thoughts on that next week.
Today I am thinking about flowers.
Some time ago I read about a farmer that used a road side portion of his field to plant flowers and made them available to anybody that wanted them. He set up a small stand that had hand held cutting shears and a number of small, inexpensive vases. Not only did many people come and cut flowers to take home, they also left vases and shears for others to use.
Maybe I can do something like that with a portion of my yard.
We don't have much traffic on our road as there are only a dozen or so homes and it ends in a cul-de-sac. Nevertheless, neighbors and their friends might benefit from a free flower stand. The local birds, bees, and butterflies certainly would!
And I could always cut flowers and give them away myself.
I mean -- Who doesn't love freshly cut flowers?
For now, it's just a thought.
Also a thought -- Do I really need one more outdoor project?
Truthfully, flowers make me happy.
Being outside and working with them makes me happy.
Seeing them make other people happy makes me happy.
Maybe I do need one more outdoor project.
John
It's late in the day (8 PM) and I'm just getting around to opening the Chromebook for an evening post.
It makes sense that today's wisdom is simply that some days you just go with the flow.
I have been enjoying some cold brewed iced coffee in the mornings for the last week or so. I was out of cold brew and didn't feel like brewing a pot of coffee this morning, so I went out and cleared the last of a Starbucks gift card and bought a trenta iced coffee.
I enjoyed the coffee on the road and did a walk-through at Harbor Freight. Then I came home and did my time weeding the flowerbed, dead-heading plants, and watering stuff while listening to Pandora's Classic Rock Radio. I don't know if I'll get to finish that section of the flowerbed tomorrow because I have a luncheon to attend. I may work during the afternoon hours; partly cloudy and 92 (33C) is doable. Or I could mow tomorrow afternoon instead of Friday.
I guess I'll take my own advice and go with the flow. There isn't a real priority other than the mowing needs to be done in the next day or two and the weeding, mulching, watering, and dead-heading are pretty much ongoing daily projects -- forever!
It was a good day.
Now it is time to read a book with the night sounds in the background.
It's a simple life.
It's a good life.
It's just another day in the life of John.
John
I've been behind in my yard work lately. I really left my flowerbeds unattended for too long and now there are quite a few weeds and grasses that have taken root where I don't want them. For the past few days (and for the next several to come) I have been spending a couple of hours pulling weeds. I had a few other things to take care of yesterday morning, so I was pulling weeds during the hot part of the day.
I found myself looking ahead at how much work was still to do and had to remind myself that having a yard this size to take care of is a privilege that few people have. And besides, there really is some joy to be gained from digging in the dirt and producing some colorful flowers. I love having a vase of freshly cut flowers on the counter and easily visible to anyone that walks into our home (even though no one ever walks into our home).