Thursday Theme -- no alliteration necessary.

I think it is time to move away from the Thursday Theology posts. 
Do I come up with a new theme for Thursdays, skip posting on Thursdays, or just post whatever and whenever?
Hmmm...

For today I am enjoying the many posts from visitors to the US during the North American World Cup. It is nice to be reminded of the vastness of our country and its diverse landscapes, cities, and cultures. One European visitor commented that back home Americans are criticized for never traveling outside of the country. He said we don't have to. We have so much to see and do in the USA that we really don't need to travel abroad to experience diversity.

While we do have so much here at home and even have cultural differences within the US, I think there is still a great benefit to be had from traveling abroad. And though there is much to experience from a visit to the US, there are still many things that are unseen as we deal with the realities of a capitalistic society that has gotten a bit out of control.

I think the posts that compare the food here to what is available in their home countries are the best. One post compared the college Freshman 15 to the World Cup 15 and complained that they would have to buy new clothes for the trip home as they are putting on so much weight that they won't have anything that fits them.
One British influencer has commented that Great Britain conquered many lands around the world for spices, but doesn't use any of them in their food! The flavorful varieties of food were a bit of sensory overload. 
It is true that there is such an abundance of food and portion sizes are extreme, but food insecurity is unfortunately very real for millions of Americans. Affordable food, affordable housing, affordable healthcare are all things that are challenging for many of our citizens.

I am happy that people can come and experience the beauty and diversity of the United States. We are truly blessed with an incredible country. We have bustling cities and pastoral farmlands, majestic mountains and beautiful beaches. There are lakes, rivers, canyons, forests, small towns and villages, country roads, and endless highways. We have crowded apartment buildings and rural homes on acreage.
And we have the foods of many cultures and the fusion of flavors as people add their own flair to the recipes of others.

Yeah, I love my country.
I am not really happy with our leadership right now. Frankly, I am embarrassed by it. And although I didn't vote for what we currently have, I'll accept my responsibility and own it -- this is who we have become. 
It's time we change that. 
We can be better than we are.

If you have an idea for a Thursday theme to replace the faux theology, please feel free to share it. Otherwise I may just leave this space blank for a time.

John

June 13, 2026: Just another day in the life of John

24,106 days
3,443 weeks and 5 days
792 months
66 years

However you choose to measure it, that's how long I've been living out my existence in this gig called life.

Although I believe I have learned a thing or two over the past 66 years, I doubt that I have left any kind of indelible impression in the vast timeline of humanity. Fortunately, that has never really been a goal.
Nor have I accumulated great wealth, nor achieved great power.
By any standard of comparative measurement, I have led an insignificant life. 

But here's the thing -- 
I am content.
We have a nice home and a quiet life.
Our kids are grown and doing well.
We have enough.

I really don't know what we should be striving for in life other than to survive.
I don't know if we should be conquering other people (whether that is locally or globally) or helping them to survive, as well. 
Should life be a competition to see who can accumulate the most things? live better experiences? control the most people? 
Should we dismiss the present in view of achieving some future reward in an afterlife?

At 66 years old, I have few of the things that would indicate I have had a successful life when judged by our US standards for success. 
I have no education.
I never worked beyond a small facility in my career as an air traffic controller.
I never owned a successful business, nor achieved any kind of celebrity status.
Outside of a very small circle of people, nobody knows nor cares about the existence of John Hill.
And that is okay by me!

Day #24,106 marks a new personal record for me. Completing it successfully will mean that I get to see Day #24, 107 tomorrow.
Success!
Hopefully, I'll see you then.

John

Morning Rethink

This getting started earlier in the day idea is only going to work if I get up earlier. For some reason I have slept later than usual these past couple of mornings. I don't know if I am going to need to adjust my bedtime to something earlier than midnight to 1 AM or set an alarm (not likely), but sleeping until 8:30 and having enough time to enjoy my coffee is always going to give me a later starting time when it comes to working in the yard/gardens. 
I am going to have to play around with this for a little while and see how I can adjust.

In the meantime, I am enjoying my iced cold brew this morning and listening to the local avian population, already busy with their day's work of finding food and feeding their babies.

As for me, I will get busy without the usual internet/social media scrolling. Perhaps I will make a Wednesday Wisdom post later this evening. 

Have a lovely day!

John

Streaming Services

There are so many different streaming services that one could go broke in subscription fees. If I just wanted to watch my favorite sports teams or sporting events I could end up spending an additional $100 per month -- one for Cardinals baseball, another for Blues hockey, and a few more for different MMA promotions. Fortunately, I'm not that tied to any sport that I feel like paying extra for the privilege of following a particular team. 

Nor am I a big TV watcher in general. 
Living in semi-rural SWMO cable TV isn't an option for us. Satellite service is expensive and I have found it to be unreliable. Our internet is T-Mobile's 5g service, which is the best affordable option I could find. Through it we get enough bandwidth to watch two TVs and operate our phones and my Chromebook. We have a paid streaming subscription to Netflix, Prime Video that comes with our Amazon Prime subscription, and we get HBO Max as a perk to our cell service. Roku gives us access to several other services and news, but we still don't have access to local news or programming. In the past we have had paid subscriptions to Peacock (NBC), Paramount+ (CBS), ESPN+, and maybe a movie channel or two. 
Although there are shows that I watch on TV, I think I could get along just fine without it.

I had considered renewing my subscription to Paramount+ this year when the UFC signed their multi-year contract with them, but I don't like the idea of supporting a network that is so willing to sell off its integrity to a corrupt administration. I don't think I can say I'm boycotting it since I wasn't a subscriber before they gave me a reason not to be one.
I guess I'm just too cheap to pay to watch TV.

The one subscription that I do indulge in is Kindle Unlimited. I know that I could get free e-books from a number of other sources (including our local library), but I enjoy the "free with subscription" library through Kindle Unlimited. At some point, I may give that up as well, or trade it for a subscription to something else. I'll probably read around 60 e-books this year and could easily find more than enough material without the subscription fee.

What are your necessary and indulgent streaming services and subscriptions?
I feel like ours are relatively few, but they still add up to a significant monthly dollar amount.

John

My Plans vs My Expectations

In a few hours, Chris and a friend will be on their way to visit the Colorado kids and I'll be left home alone for a week. In spite of the cool, rainy forecast, I hope to catch up on the gardening and unending yard work in which I seem to have fallen far behind already. 
I may go to barchurch tonight and I have a ticket for Monday evening's baseball game. I am not expecting any other people gatherings other than those encountered while running errands or something.
I may decide on a coffee shop morning at some point. Coffee and a little conversation might be a nice change. Hit me up if you're interested.

While I truly would like to get lots of work done, the cool, damp weather may end up being a convenient excuse for not doing much. Some days it is just difficult for me to get motivated to do much.
As with most readers, my reading list is longer than I can complete in a decade and still growing, so sitting with a book and a beverage is always an option. 

Even as I make the plans to work a bunch, my expectations are that I will work more than I might normally, but not accomplish near as much as planning John would like. In the end, I know that I will remain a happy boy. 
I do expect to fire up the smoker at some point. I have a new meat thermometer that I need to try and a pork butt that will be good for a test run. I may also throw a turkey breast on the smoker while I'm at it. 

Big plans, low expectations.
Slow mornings. 
Easy working afternoons.
Quiet evenings with a cigar and a beverage.
Just another day in the life of...

John.

Sleeping

I would say I am a short sleeper, which is a relatively rare thing. I spent most of my career on 4.5 to 6 hours of sleep and a power nap (17 minutes) or two during the day and evening hours. Even in retirement, I still feel pretty good after 6 hours of sleep.
However, I don't fit the highly driven, energetic, Type A personality characteristics of a typical short sleeper, so maybe not.

I typically wake up once (after 1 sleep cycle) to go to the bathroom and then sleep through the remaining sleep cycles of the night. Last night I decided to not fight the yawns and went to bed a little earlier than usual and slept 6 consecutive hours. I feel good this morning. I am well rested and ready to take on the day.
As a retired guy, I generally say that I get up when I'm finished sleeping. 
This morning that just happened to be at 5:30. 

I've been sleeping out on the deck this past week as it has been really nice weather for that. One night I woke up and saw the constellation of the Scorpion directly in front of me. The back deck faces about 10-15 degrees east of due south and I thought -- Hmmm, must be about 3 o'clock.
I looked at my phone to check the time and it was 2:59!
When I woke up in the morning, the sky was getting light with the rising sun and I thought -- 7 o'clock. It was 6:56.
I was so impressed with myself that I decided to share that here!

I think that sleep is a bigger deal that most people make it out to be. Most people do well on around 8 hours per night, but just as some of us can function well on considerably less there are those that need more. And honestly, most people (at least in the US) don't get enough.
Healthy diets and exercise get most of the dialogue time and good sleep gets very little. 

There are plenty of studies and much has been written about how to get better sleep, but most people pay little attention to that and assume that out bodies will just figure it out. Unfortunately, not all sleep is good sleep. I consider myself fortunate that I am generally a good sleeper as well as a short sleeper. Maybe those two things go together -- I don't know.

How well do you sleep?
Do you get enough sleep?
What can you do to improve your sleep quality and/or quantity?
Do you prioritize getting enough good sleep?

Sleeping well is a very passive part of good health, but it is also a very important part. We should definitely give it more attention than we do.

John

Monday Meditation

Today's meditation comes very late in the day.
I think my working days (nights) for this cold weather season are over.
Although the shelter may still be open on some nights in March, there will be other people to cover those shifts and I will return to being one of societies non-productive (maybe the least productive) members. 

Naturally, I've been thinking about this past year.
I'm glad that I worked again this season. I am thinking that I would like to be gone for a portion of the winter next year, so I may just go back to volunteering during the parts of the winter that I am at home. 
There is a lot of time between now and then. Who knows what I'll be thinking next fall?

But...
This has been a good season.
I am glad that I was back working regularly this year.
Although it seemed that finding volunteers was more difficult this year, the ones that did show up more than picked up by doing extra work. Everybody was so willing to do whatever needed to be done.

I really feel fortunate to be associated with the coordinators and organizers of the city's shelter program. There is certainly much more that can be done, but we are doing what we can to help a few people make it through the coldest nights. The coordinators of the Fairbanks shelter are the best of the best and I believe their work is truly appreciated by the people that come seeking shelter for themselves and their pets. 
Last night one of the long time shelter users was telling me the reasons why this shelter is his favorite and why so many people want to be at our shelter. It said so much about the real care that people feel from our small part of the overall shelter system.

There have been a number of wonderful, personal interactions with our guests this year. And I have enjoyed the conversations I've had with our volunteers, especially the ones that spent an overnight shift with me.

Good people give me hope.

John

Another Beautiful Day in the Ozarks

It looks like today will be a beautiful day, but winter is returning for a short appearance beginning tomorrow. Today will be sunny and warm with the temperature reaching 73 (23c). Tomorrow the temperatures will begin to drop, reaching 21 (-6c) by Monday morning. We'll probably even get a little snow.
Winter is like that angry person that you think is finally leaving only to turn back and yell, "And another thing ...!"

The local seasonal meme making its rounds is this one:

Even as it warms back up in a few days, it is still early enough that we shouldn't be surprised by a few more freezing nights. 

I managed an afternoon of sitting in the sun and enjoying a cigar, a drink, and some reading yesterday. I hope to do the same again this afternoon. Tomorrow afternoon I will be getting ready for another night (or two) at the shelter. 

I've missed a couple of days posting something on Facebook with the #40DaysofGoodShit tag. That doesn't mean that I haven't recognized the good stuff in life. It just means that I have been spending less time on that site and hope to continue to do so. 
I am starting to explore Substack a little bit more and think I will like it once I figure it out. When I think about it, I've been sharing this blog over there, as well.

I hope to get back to my conversations with spiritual leaders on deconstruction next week. This has been a weird week as far as routine goes.  
But still -- I have a good life.

John

Wednesday: How is your Lent going?

Good morning from the front porch of our home in Highlandville MO!
It looks to be another overcast day and this morning's 62 (18c) degrees could be the high for the day. 
No worries. 
We'll likely get a little rain this afternoon, and I am confident that we are not completely past the winter weather, but I am happy to see the signs of spring all around me.
Today we will have 11 hours and 29 minutes of daylight in Highlandville as we continue to add minutes approaching the spring equinox.

My Lenten practices are going -- meh, okay I guess. I have enjoyed the couple of spiritual leader conversations that I have had and am looking forward to more of those. My reading of Merton's diary is going slowly. It's not really what I was expecting, but it does give me some insight to his person and I think it will help understand his perspective should I read more of his writings. I have not done a good job of keeping up with my own gospel reading and diary.
Since it has only been two weeks, it is difficult to measure if I have been more purposeful about being around other people. One or two scheduled meetings with others is a significant step for me, so I guess I have done quite well. I've already had two people meets this week and have two more scheduled!

I have generally managed a #40DaysofGoodShit post to my Facebook page, even while spending much less time on my Chromebook or smartphone. I did miss yesterday, but posted on Sunday (not counted in the 40 days of Lent) so I guess I'm still good. As with most days, yesterday was good -- nothing special, but still a good day. I expect today to be the same. 

John

Good Stuff

It's weird to realize that you haven't been on the internet much in the past few days. After a couple of days (nights) at the shelter I am on the Chromebook for the first time since Sunday afternoon. Admittedly, I do access several sites with my phone on a regular basis, but I am still a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to using everyday tech gadgets. 

I have worked with a few new volunteers or with people that have been volunteering on different nights recently. Our volunteers have such varying and interesting backgrounds and come to serve for different reasons. Several have been on the street themselves at some point and have a firsthand knowledge of how important shelters like ours are.

Over the years, I have worked with a couple of people that are fulfilling court mandated community service hours. One woman continued working past her hours because she said she liked doing the shelter work. Some volunteers are retired (like me), some are business owners, some are well educated and teach at a university, others are blue collar or service industry workers, some are between jobs. It is quite a variety of people we get to help our community through the coldest nights.
One of our regular volunteers gets clothing donations from friends and fills the closet every week when he works. 
It really encourages me to see so many good people doing good work and following in the path of loving our neighbors.
 
Each year, as we draw close to the end of the cold weather shelter season, I find myself saying that I am not going to be back next year and think of spending the winter months someplace where winter isn't really a thing, But the need will still be here and something compels me to return and serve in some capacity. There is a part of my brain that keeps telling me that I am getting too old for this shit, but then my regular overnight helper that is five years older shows up makes me realize that it's just an excuse to justify not doing it. 

I really don't know what next winter will hold for me. The draw to be warm pulls me southward. But if I am here, I will likely be back at the shelter for part of that time.

Today, I am satisfied and encouraged.
I am happy that there are good people doing good things in a world that makes so much more of the bad stuff.
#40DaysofGoodShit

John

Current contemplation: To Lent or not to Lent?

I haven't been very religious for the past decade or so. I haven't been a practicing Catholic for much, much longer than that. I generally don't even think of myself as "Christian" anymore. I'm just a guy trying to follow the teachings of Jesus and figure things out.
However, I find myself considering a somewhat traditional observance of Lent this year. I'm not talking about a give up something/suffering for Christ thing, but I am trying to figure out some kind of daily practice to help me to grow spiritually.

Naturally, I am thinking about things like daily reading of the Bible or other writings of a spiritual nature (currently reading some early Merton stuff).
Regular mindfulness practice like meditation is something I need to get back to doing.
I'm thinking about maybe contacting several pastors or religious leaders to meet with them and discuss practices for spiritual growth and perceptions that they have towards it.

But I am also thinking that 40 days of purposeful exercise and healthy dieting is a worthwhile and mindful spiritual practice. Taking care of the temple is an area that my entire being has most definitely neglected for most of my life. 

I am hopeful that whatever I decide in the next few days will be something that incorporates both the physical and the metaphysical aspects of life and will give me something to continue beyond the 40 days of Lent.
Ash Wednesday is this week, February 18, and marks the beginning of Lent.

How about you?
Are any of my more religious readers planning any kind of Lenten observance?
Just wondering.

John

February

It's February!
I am looking forward to some warmer temperatures, although I think the snow covered ground is keeping them a little cooler these first few days of the month. I think (hope) most of that will be melted away by the end of today. I realize that we are just at the mid point of winter and there is plenty of cold weather ahead, but I am ready for spring.

I got some fabric planting containers that were delivered yesterday. I am excited about that and ready to get started on gardening. 
I am looking forward to spring gardening as much as I have ever been. I don't know if it's because I'm looking to do more in the way of vegetables or if it's just that I am really tired of winter and ready to be doing something in the way of working outside. I am ready to stop with the sweatpants and long sleeved shirts and get back to shorts, t-shirts and bare feet!
I don't believe that I suffer from SADD, but the desire for longer days and warmer temperatures is real.

It's the third today
A bit late to begin now
I'll skip haiku month

John

Stuff and Nonsense

Here are a few things that happened in the past year that you may not have known about:

The moon moved 3.8 cm away from the earth
The sun lost 174 trillion tons of its mass and the earth's orbit increased by 1.5 cm
150 billion stars formed in the visible universe
Andromeda Galaxy moved 3.5 billion km closer to us
and the Universe expanded by more than 60 trillion km

Closer to home and not nearly as significant:

I managed to read 40 books in 2025
I finished the year 15 pounds lighter than I started it
I learned a little bit more about smoking meats and enjoyed experimenting with the smoker

I expect that universal stuff will remain constant in 2026, while John stuff will remain chaotic.
All-in-all, I have a pretty good life.
I should probably work on being more social, but honestly doubt that I will. Maybe I'll just throw out an open invitation for anyone to join me on the deck for a drink and a cigar and see what happens.
Then again, maybe I won't.
Why take a chance on ruining a good thing?

For better or for worse, 2026 is underway.
My plan is to enjoy each day and to focus on keeping my little world a good place to be. 
Let's do this!

John

It's the little things...

I never really realized how much I miss the little things of summer.
Yesterday it was 60 (15c) degrees here. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day for the second shortest day of the year.

I decided to take advantage of the warm December day and fired up the smoker for some burgers and good quarter pound Angus beef hot dogs. 
I sat in the sun with a bit of bourbon, a good cigar, and played an online game of Wordfeud with my son, Aaron while the burgers and dogs slowly cooked on the smoker.

That was it.
That's all I did yesterday.
And yet I felt like it was a really good day.
Sipping bourbon and smoking a cigar while sitting in the sun doesn't seem like it should be the highlight of any day, but when you live as simply as I do -- well, it sure felt good.

I know that the slow pace of our retired life in the Ozarks of SWMO isn't what most people would consider to be the good life, but it suits us quite nicely. 

     * * * * *

In just a few minutes the sun will reach its southern most point in the earth's annual orbit and we can turn this planet around and begin our journey back towards spring and summer. For those of us living in SWMO, yesterday had just 9 hours, 36 minutes, and 4 seconds of daylight. Today will have 9 hours, 36 minutes, and 3 seconds, while tomorrow will have 9 hours, 36 minutes, and 5 seconds of daylight.

I know.

I'm a nerd for knowing this shit, but I am also amazed by the order of our little corner of the cosmos.

Happy Solstice to anyone that observes the annual event.
Winter is here, but spring is on its way!

John

Post #200 for 2025 -- Gratitude

For only the fourth time in the nearly 20 years of posting at Out of My Hat I have reached 200 posts for the calendar year. I have tried to avoid long stretches of not posting this past year, and rarely go an entire week without a post of some kind.

This December has been weird. Going back to work at the shelter has disrupted my rhythm more than I expected it to. I think I'll re-adapt to the 12 hour overnight shifts okay, but for now they're more difficult to recover from than I remember. Or it could just be that another year older is making a difference.

There is a certain rhythm at the shelter. The energy can change from night to night depending on the severity of the weather and the individuals that stay with us on any given night. Personality conflicts between guests or disruptive animals can quickly change the energy of the night. I think that as the winter progresses people are finding their places and the shelter that works best for them. 
Ours is the only shelter that accepts pets, so that is a draw to the pet owners. We do have a cap on the number of animals we take, so there are also pet-less people there that choose our shelter for other reasons.

With both men and women, couples or singles, pets and pet less, and other differences, our place can be a bit more chaotic than other shelters. 
As you can imagine -- it's a lot of people-ing for a guy that enjoys solitude as much as I do.

I will say that I have noticed more gratitude and help from our overnight guests this year than was present in the past year or two. I don't know if it is just the luck of the draw with the people that have been coming to our shelter or if there is a trend of gratitude and appreciation returning to the homeless community.
Whatever the case, it does make serving them throughout the night much more enjoyable.

And, as always --
We have some wonderful volunteers that give of their time to help make the shelter successful. 
We have faced some challenges getting volunteers in this beginning part of the season, but as more continue to step forward it does reduce the stress on the ones that have been serving so often. 
There are people or organizations that provide food for evening meals and for breakfast every day and there are volunteers that come in to serve the meals and clean up the kitchen. 
Every day there are people that show up to clean the facility, to haul laundry, and to transport pets.
And there are our coordinators that recruit and schedule everyone from the sign-up people at the beginning of the night to the clean up people after everyone leaves.

I am truly grateful to everyone that contributes to making our little shelter successful.
Thank you
Thank you 
Thank you!

John

Extra Words for Wednesday

It is rare that I would post twice in a day, but it is almost noon and I find myself sitting on the deck enjoying a second pot of coffee (decaf this time), listening to some easy listening classic rock, and writing seems like a fine thing to do.

I've got plastic covered panels up to enclose the deck for the winter. It isn't an air tight enclosure as there are some gaps at the ends of the panels (I might work on those) and the decking has normal board spacing. But it does stop the wind and trap the sun's warmth a bit. My phone app tells me the current Highlandville temperature is 46f (8c) while the deck thermometer shows it nearly 10 (5c) degrees warmer. That works for sweat pants and a flannel shirt. Even when it is colder, the deck is still a good place to be and I am a happy boy.

Do you have a safe place; a happy place?
The deck is a place I go for quiet. I can meditate, read, enjoy a cigar and drink, listen to music, or just sit and relax. I can watch TV if I want to and I can sleep for an afternoon nap or for the night. Most of the year I have deck plants to care for and a hummingbird feeder to tend to and observe. Through the spring, summer and early fall I can look out at some of the flowers that I've planted for the birds, bees, and butterflies.

It is definitely a place of refuge and I have missed it for the past six weeks.
It is good to be home.

John
 

One week later...

It was just a week ago that I arrived back home after 4 weeks in Puerto Vallarta. 
In some ways it seems like the week has gone by very quickly. In other ways it feels like a long time since I was enjoying the sunshine and warmer temperatures of the tropical beach community of PV.

The cold weather and schedule has had me working extra nights at the shelter so this week was mostly divided into working and sleeping times. Yesterday and today seem more normal and I'll just have to get used to the couple of days per week that I'll be overnighting at the shelter for the winter. 

Last season I wasn't on staff and didn't volunteer as much as I had planned to, so I am kind of getting reacquainted with the people and the process.  The thing that strikes me most as I re-enter the shelter system is that there are fewer volunteers than there have been in the past. I am curious as to the reason for the significant decline in people that are available and willing to help, and I am wondering if it spreads across volunteering for other services or is centralized with the unsheltered community.
Whatever the reasons are -- we have a great need for help. I have a feeling that is true wherever crisis cold weather shelters exist, so please contact someone in your area if you have time to give.

In other news -- It's cold!
Okay, so that's not really newsworthy for SWMO in December and it isn't going to change much for a few months, but I try not to complain too much and this is my primary outlet for venting. For the sake of my few remaining followers, I will try to keep the cold weather comments to a minimum.
As always, I am #readyforspring !

John

New Routine

I'll be re-establishing my home routine in a new way for a few days. It is almost 5:30 in the afternoon and I am just getting up after spending last night at the shelter. Due to an unusual situation I will be working four consecutive nights so sleeping all day and getting up in the evening to go to work will be how I spend my week.
I guess I'll get back to my regular routine later.

There were light flurries when I left the shelter to come home this morning and the temperature was somewhere around 20f (-7c). That's a pretty big change from the mornings of walking in shorts and sandals to sit at a sidewalk cafe for my coffee. 
We will have several days of below freezing weather.
Life in the Ozarks.

We brought all of the deck plants into the house before we left for Mexico. Now they are just sort of spread throughout the house. I'll need to move them to the basement so they can get some natural light. We really don't get much direct sunlight in the main living areas of the house due to the large front and back porches. It works well at keeping the house much cooler during the hot days of summer, but isn't great for indoor plants.

While I may struggle to find my winter routine, at least that struggle won't include having to find a place to stay warm at night or looking for food. Our un-sheltered neighbors are very grateful for the people that volunteer at the shelters and provide food. I fear that the high cost of housing is driving more people from their homes and we are going to see an increase in numbers this year.

If you are in the area here, we could really use your help. There are plenty of volunteer positions available.
If you are not in this area, please check local shelters or food pantries where you live.
Homelessness is not a uniquely American problem, but it is unique in how we tend to ignore or criminalize it.
Have some compassion.
Be kind.

John

NaBloPoMo Success!

I made it!
Yay, me!
Thirty consecutive days of posting nonsense!

I do realize that Out of My Hat doesn't post much in the way of valued content anymore. While I do still check on things like views and look forward to any comments, I now mostly write as a way to organize my own thoughts and converse in a way that preempts the interruptions of actual conversation with people that don't really care what you think or have to say. 

     * * * * *

It is November 30 and it is cold in the Ozarks of SWMO. Sometime around sunset yesterday the temperature dropped below freezing and it will remain below freezing until sometime Tuesday afternoon. It is a bit of a shock to the system for a guy just returning from the tropical beaches of Mexico.

With the cold nights comes dangerous conditions for many that have no permanent shelter nor safe, warm places to sleep. There are a number of places that offer overnight shelter, but there are too few of them and there is a great need for volunteers. 
Tonight begins my sixth season of volunteering/working with one of the shelters that is a cooperative effort of three local Springfield churches. The coordinators from the three churches are compassionate, caring, and truly hardworking people. I am honored to be a part of the work that they organize and do on top of their regular day job duties. 
Please consider being a part of our work. There are volunteer duties that vary from very little contact with people like setting up, cleaning, and hauling laundry, to full on spend the night watching over and caring for 30 or so people and their pets. 
Let me know if you are interested or have questions. I will happily point you to the people that can help you to be involved and fulfill a great need this cold weather season.

Today will be a lazy day and a long overnight.
I am glad that I won't feel the need to post tomorrow. 
On the other hand, I will have plenty of time to do so while our overnight guests are sleeping, so you might have more useless reading waiting for you tomorrow.

Be well
Be warm
Be grateful
Be kind

John

Community

On several occasions in the past, I have mentioned the overall feeling of community that I sense here in Puerto Vallarta. The more I think about it, the more I wonder what it would take to duplicate that feeling back home -- or if it even could be.

Unfortunately, I think that most of it is cultural and would take a generational shift in how we take care of one another. Also -- and I fear this for my Mexican friends -- I can see or sense that capitalism and its evil characteristics are making slow progress into the culture. While still a generational shift that will take time, I hope that they will see the signs from the corruption in the US and take great precautions to prevent such things in this country. I have hope that the strength of their communities will stand well against the few individuals that will wield power and wealth to attempt to overtake and control them.

On a much smaller scale, I am again realizing that I have a very small personal community of people. I also realize that I bear the responsibility for that. However, I am unclear about just how I feel about changing that. I may need to take some time for self-evaluation. 
Or maybe it's something that will take a little outside input to determine just how important a personal community (is that an oxymoron?) can be. 

In the past, church has provided most of the community for me. Church as I once knew it no longer exists for me and I really haven't found a community to take its place. I thought something more progressive might work, but I have found that, in many ways, even more progressive churches are still church. I just need to figure out how many allowances I can make between what I want and what I can accept.
Perhaps I need to be more purposeful in my search for community.

I don't think it is unusual for older men to have little or no community. That doesn't mean it is a good nor a healthy thing. It's mostly just a typical thing, but a thing that needs some attention. 
Hmmm...
Maybe a winter project to work on.

John