Reading and Writing in 2021 and '22

Friday, December 31, 2021.
It's time to say goodbye to '21 and usher in a new year.

This is my 217th post at Out of My Hat this year. That's the most I've ever posted in a single year. I guess that's what isolating from a pandemic will get you. I think the majority were just posting memes for Monday Motivation or Wednesday Wisdom. The rest were mostly meaningless drivel that runs through my head from time to time.

I read a lot more in 2021. My Kindle app says I've read for 130 consecutive days, 55 consecutive weeks. I finished 50 books on the app plus a number of actual books from the library or other sources -- around 70 total for the year. 
I'm going to try to keep better track of the off-app books I'm reading this year and will try to post more in the way of reviews and recommendations. I don't typically do book club or small group book reads, but I'm beginning 2022 with a group read of Profit and Punishment: How America Criminalizes the Poor in the Name of Justice by Tony Messenger.

One of the things that has been on my mind is to be more involved in righting social injustices. So far, I've only been involved in volunteering as a way of response to social needs, but haven't done anything to address what is causing the need. The quote that has been shared often recently from Desmond Tutu is a favorite of mine and speaks to this need -- " There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in."
The timing of this read by a local book club is perfect for getting me started on this track for 2022.

I have quite a lineup of books to read on the Kindle app and have stopped adding free reads and cheap reads to the already formidable stack. Most of them are fiction and I usually have at least one non-fiction book that I am reading along with whatever fiction book I'm cruising through.
I'd be interested to hear your non-fiction recommendations. 

The US falls pretty low on the list of countries in the average time reading per capita. This reading includes news stories and online reading as well as books and magazines. India tops the list at 10 hours and 42 minutes per week. The US is 22nd at nearly half that -- 5 hours, 42 minutes per week.
A 2016 study showed that Americans read on average (mean) 12 books per year, while the typical American (median) reads just 4 books in a year.

I'm guessing that Americans get more of their stories from movies and TV series than they do from reading. I've never been a big movie goer and I don't watch much TV. I do tend to read much more than I used to.

Where do you fall on the reading scale?
Do you prefer to read news or watch news?
Do you prefer to read stories (books) or watch stories (TV shows and movies)?
Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction? Or a mixture of both?
What are your 2022 reading plans?

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

December Sunrise, Climate Change, Pandemic Effects

It's a little weird to be sitting on my deck as the sun rises on this, the 27th day of December. Yeah, it's cool enough that I'm wearing a sweater, but it is 60f (15c) at the end of December in the Ozarks. While I understand the negative and disastrous effects of climate change, I have to admit that I am a fan of warmer winters.
Recently I was reading some stats on Covid. Here in the US we have become so used to people ignoring the science of vaccination and prevention and dying of Covid that the current 7-day average (in the US) of one person dying every minute of every day isn't even newsworthy anymore.  There have been more than 4.26 million deaths worldwide from Covid so far and the actual numbers are assumed to be higher due to poor counting in many countries early in the pandemic. Deaths are expected to reach Five million in the coming months. The practical John wonders if there is a positive side to so many (seemingly) senseless deaths. 

Numerically, five million fewer people on the planet is pretty insignificant. The restricted international travel and people working from home instead of commuting to and from work probably plays a greater role in reducing carbon impact on the environment. I suspect the travel part is returning to near pre-pandemic rates, but I think that remote working is here to stay. Hooray for technology!
Maybe more adaptations using technology and practical sense can reverse some of the damage we've done to the environment before it's too late. Maybe not.

Just some weird thoughts as I enjoy my coffee and the sunshine this December morning.

John

What's Next?

It's the final week of 2021 and 2022 is just around the fast approaching corner. I suppose this should be a time of reflection and consideration of the past year, but I think I'll just put it behind me and look ahead. I wonder what 2022 will hold for me in particular and for all of us in general.

At the moment, I don't really have much in the way of plans or goals. I do want to have a better garden than last year and have plans to get an earlier start on the planting. I'm thinking that flower gardening and landscaping will be as big (if not bigger) of a project as the vegetable garden. 

My motorcycle has been parked in the garage for all of 2021. I really need to get back to riding. There is a part of my thinking that says riding to be riding is a bit of a waste -- a waste of resources and a waste of time. It doesn't cost or use anything to sit on the deck and read, or to do a little work in the yard -- and I enjoy both of those things. I need to get back to using the bike as my main means of transportation and just ride whenever I need to be out. I also need to plan a round about trip to Colorado Springs -- maybe OKC, Amarillo, Albuquerque, CO Springs, and something equally round about for the trip home. I might need to upgrade the bike for the mountains. Just thinking for now.

I'm not really making any life changing plans nor resolutions for the coming year; just more of the same movement towards a more healthy and less consuming life. I like traveling, but am also happy staying home. I'm thinking about cutting back on the cigars a bit. I seldom smoke more than one in a day and don't smoke one everyday. There is something contemplative and relaxing about cigar smoking. It's like everything stops for an hour or so while you just enjoy a simple pleasure. But it certainly doesn't make it on the healthy living side of life's habits, so...

I feel like a bit of a slacker by not having any goals for the year. If I come up with something in the next few days, I'll be sure to let you know. If not -- well, I'm okay with that.

How about you?
Any plans, goals, resolutions for 2022?

John

Christmas Day, 2021

It seems weird to be sitting on the deck this afternoon. The thermometer next to me shows the temperature at 74f (23c), which is a little warmer than the app for local weather on my phone shows (67f). Chris is working on her homemade dumplings for our evening chicken and dumplings Christmas dinner.

Christmas is different this year. Our kids are both away and celebrating on their own. We had a brief video call and opened a few presents with them this morning. Most of the day has been pretty much like any other day. Well, sort of.

Personally, Christmas is less about celebrating the birth of Jesus and more about reflecting on how the presence of Immanuel (God with us) has impacted humanity over the past 2000+ years and how the presence of God dictates my own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors from day to day.  I wonder what God thinks of the current celebrations -- both the secular, commercial, consumer driven celebrations and the Christian/Christian churches celebrations that bear little resemblance to the meek and simple beginning to the life of Jesus. 

It's been around four years since I bade farewell to religion in general and have been looking for a way to walk this journey in a way that honors God and shows what I believe to be true about God, Jesus, heaven, hell, and how we are to live with God and our fellow humans. Nearly half of that time has been during a pandemic and has both allowed me the time to contemplate and showed me sides of humanity that I had forgotten existed. Some are beautiful. Some are quite ugly. I'm sure that I exhibit some of each, myself.

All-in-all, I think the practice of celebrating a religious event that happened a couple of thousand years ago is semi-senseless. I would much rather see us learning to love each other a little bit like the Christ of Christmas teaches rather than the annual pageantry in churches and Santa parades and greenery decorating everything from homes, to businesses, to the downtown streets of cities and towns across the land. 
I don't mean to be a Scrooge. I'm just trying to be more practical and contemplative about what motivates us to be joyful and generous to a few more people for a few weeks at the end of each year.

I do wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. However you celebrate the season, and for whatever reasons you celebrate -- be joyous, generous, and kind for a few days. Maybe we can all choose to be kind for a few days longer this time around.

John

Merry Christmas to Me!

I am giving myself a Christmas present this year.
In the coming days I will be cleansing my social media accounts and resetting my security settings. My Twitter and IG accounts have a bunch of bot followers. Facebook isn't too bad, so I may leave it alone for now.
I also have several celebrity accounts that I follow that I'll probably drop. Some are doing and posting some cool things and I'll continue to follow them. Most are just posting the same kind of BS as the rest of us and I can do without it.

It's windy and warm here in the Ozarks of SWMO on this Christmas Eve. I may have to spend some quality time on the deck with a cigar and a book this afternoon. 70f (21c) isn't bad for the fourth day of winter (except for that whole climate change thing). 

What are you doing for yourself this holiday season?

John

When Everything's on Fire: Faith forged from the ashes

When Everything's on Fire: Faith forged from the ashes by Brian Zahnd is a book that every follower of Jesus needs to read. It isn't just for those that have gone through (or are going through) a recent deconstruction of their beliefs. It is for everyone. We all need to critically examine our personal faith from time to time.

All too often, deconstructionists tend to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I'm one of those that has come to accept the term "deconstruction" while not really liking it. I've thought of my own work more as a remodeling job. Sure--some parts of my faith practice had to be torn down, but the beauty is in what is being rebuilt in its place.

When Everything's on Fire isn't a how-to book on deconstruction. If anything, it's more of a cautionary warning of where things can go wrong. It very much encourages you to examine what is at the core of your faith before throwing it all out. In all honesty, many Christians need to throw it all out since their faith is more centered around church, tradition, or even a particular pastor rather than being centered on Christ. 

I have followed Zahnd on social media for a while. This is only the second of his books that I've read. Although we have much in common, he challenges me -- not only in what I believe, but in finding out why I believe it. Earlier I wrote that every follower of Jesus needs to read this book. I'd expand that to say that every person of faith -- any faith (even atheism) needs to read it. 
Challenging what we believe and why we believe it should be standard practice for every critically thinking person. 

I'm off to the library today. I need to return this copy. I have a feeling that I might be purchasing my own copy in the future. Maybe not. Not preaching/teaching anymore has its advantages. One of them is a lesser need of marking up books for messages. The public library is working out well and our already overcrowded bookshelves are grateful.

What are you reading?
I'm also on Book 3 of some dystopian humanity series and slowly making my way through a deeply science and physics book on creation, the universe, and the end of time.
It looks like I'll end the year at around 70 books read -- a mere slacker compared to my sister and many of my more prolific reading friends.

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Winter

At 9:58 AM CST the sun will reach the Tropic of Capricorn on its southward journey and then begin its way back north towards the Tropic of Cancer. Daylight hours will begin to lengthen in the Northern Hemisphere and shorten in the land Down Under.

I wonder why our year doesn't coincide with an annual solar event.
It seems to me that the year should begin or end on an annual solar or astronomic event. Why don't we begin the year on the December Solstice? 
Who decided to just pick a day--say around 10 days later--to begin the calendar year?
Why not wait a few days later when the Earth reaches perihelion--its closest to the sun point in its annual orbit?
That day should always be "Sun"day and should always be January 1st. That would mean that every holiday and every calendar date would always fall on the same day of the week. That would certainly make long range planning easier.

Just some silly thoughts that roll around in my head from time to time.
In any case, I'm always good with a little more sunshine.

Happy Solstice Day!

John

It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas

It doesn't feel like Christmas this year. The truth is -- I seem to have become somewhat of a Scrooge over the years. Maybe it's not having kids home for the holidays. Maybe it's a subtle feeling that Christmas has become a way for people to claim they are Christians in a big way for a season while they ignore everything their Christ teaches the rest of the year. 
I don't know. It just doesn't feel joyous or festive any more.

In an uncharacteristic move, I bought a Santa hat. I thought maybe it would help move me along toward being in a festive, holiday spirit. 

Maybe I'll throw on a Christmas tie for barchurch tonight!
Chris has started putting up some decorations. Maybe that will help. 
The tree, some presents, maybe a little bourbon and egg nog will help.
Somehow those things seem to be a pretty poor substitute for peace on earth and men of goodwill.

sigh

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to get me into the Christmas spirit.
Share a story that shows that there is still peace, joy, and love in the world.
Or you can buy me a present or meet me for coffee or something with its own "spirits."
You have nine days.

Ready....
Go!

John

It's Quiet Here

Quiet.
I never really noticed just how quiet our house is. And it's spacious -- not spacious as in big and spread out, but spacious as in open and plenty of room for the two of us. Even the sound of the traffic from the highway not far away is muted.

Maybe it takes traveling and getting away from the peace and comfort of home to really appreciate it. I really did enjoy our time with the kids in Puerto Vallarta. I enjoyed being close enough to walk everywhere we needed to go -- beach, restaurants, grocery store, laundry, shopping--all within 6-700m (less than a half mile).
It's hard to think that in the distance it takes us to walk the length of our rural country drive past the twenty homes that line both sides and back home, they can walk to spend an evening on the beach, then go to their favorite brewery for drinks and dinner, and stop at the store on their way back home. They'll pass numerous hotels, restaurants, businesses, shops, and homes, and encounter hundreds of tourists, local residents, and business owners. They'll experience the sights and smells of the restaurants as they weave through the seating set up on the sidewalks or make their way past the line of people waiting to get a taco at Pancho's Takos (definitely worth the wait!). Oh, and don't forget the ocean!
On our quiet street, we might encounter a neighbor or two as we stroll along, and we are more likely to hear a distant coyote pack or the cry of a circling hawk than we are to hear taxis beeping, music playing, or other people in conversation.

I like traveling.
And I certainly love visiting our kids.
But coming home is nice, too.
It is simple, but it is more than enough.
It's home.

John

Home

It was well past midnight when we pulled into our driveway last night, and around 1:30 AM before I laid down to sleep. I slept well and late, getting up around 9:30 or so. Although it was sunny out, the 40 degree temp was enough to keep me indoors this morning. 

I want to share some of the thoughts that are in my head this morning, but I also want time to process and organize them a bit more. There are so many cultural differences (both subtle and obvious) between life in the Midwest and life in Mexico. Some of it was as much about city life vs rural life as it was about national culture, and some of it had to do with infrastructure and economy. It is difficult to process it all and write well about it.
I think I'll give myself some time on that. 

Today, I'm just going to enjoy being home and in my house and my space.
And I may think about where we might go on our next journey.

John

Last Day

Today is our full day here in Puerto Vallarta. That means we'll be getting our mandatory day before departure COVID tests this morning. Interesting that the US government puts off the responsibility for checking this on the airlines, and "What about my rights?"
Really it's not that big of a deal and although we have to pay for the tests, I've seen it suggested to submit the receipts to our insurance for reimbursement. We may try that.

Puerto Vallarta has a mask mandate. All shops, stores, restaurants, bars, etc., require employees and customers to wear them. You wear them to your tables at restaurants and bars and anytime you get up from your tables. There doesn't seem to be much resistance to it from anyone. It's just the way of life. 
Too bad we're not as progressive about stopping the spread of COVID in the US. Chances are high that we will top 800,000 COVID related deaths before the year ends. Most of them have been avoidable, simply by masking, following safety protocols, and getting vaccinated.

Here in PV, it is the kids' standard practice to breakfast and lunch at home and eat out for dinner. That works pretty well as there are plenty of inexpensive local places to dine out. However, it looks like we'll be dining in tonight at Chris's suggestion. Jenny has requested that I make some -- wait for it -- fried rice.
Fried rice is almost a staple in our household. Others in my family make it, too. Although, I'm not sure anyone else has it as frequently as we do. We'll need to make a store run today. The kids are well stocked on rice, but we will need to pick up some other stuff to put it all together. 
Tomorrow we head back to our SWMO home and our simple, retired life in the Ozarks. I'm sure the kids will be happy to have their home to themselves again. And it will be nice to be back to our routine, as well. 

John

Cool Morning

It's a little weird how easily we adjust to the temperature and climate of an area. I'm sitting in front of the kids' apartment with a long sleeved shirt on this morning because it feels a little cool. It's 64f (17c). If I were at home, I'd probably say it was warm and be in a t-shirt. It will be 89-90 (32c) before the day is over.
As I people watch from the balcony, I see locals wearing jackets or sweatshirts as they walk past and tourists in shorts and t-shirts. I generally have a pretty wide comfort zone and am comfortable in most any moderate temperature. It's weird that I think it's cool this morning.

We only have a couple of days left before returning home. It is great to see how well the kids are adapting to their new home and know that they are making friends and building their own community of people. They are definitely here for the long haul. I am sure they'll be happy to be able to get back to their new routine of life when we leave. 
Temps back home have been pretty nice for December and, other than a couple of days, it looks like that will continue into next week. Hopefully I'll be able to finish my deck project of closing it in to be comfortably usable through the winter months. 

Although I have checked my social media accounts from time to time this week, I have been a bit disconnected from the news. I feel pretty good about that. Maybe I'll try doing the same when we are back at home.

All-in-all, I have to say that 2021 has been a decent year and I have a pretty good life. We'll be home alone for the holidays, but that's okay. We know that our kids and their spouses are doing well and living their lives in the places that they have dreamed of living -- Aaron and Jenny in Puerto Vallarta and Hannah and Daniel in the mountains of Colorado.

I hope today finds you well, happy, and at peace in the world.

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Simple Life

It was an interesting and educational weekend.
Saturday morning we took the four hour drive to Tepic in Nayarit. This is where Aaron worked in the spring of 2020. We met his boss and coworkers at the office where they cup and grade the coffee that comes in from the different coffee growing associations around the area. They showed us the some of the work they are developing to help the coffee growers with natural pesticides and new plants. 

These are new plants (about 3000 of them) that will be planted in the fields on the mountains surrounding Tepic. 
The drive to the coffee fields took a little over an hour. Much of the trip was on winding , rocky, mountains roads. It was slow going and dusty. The fields are on mountains and really not accessible to any kind of machinery for harvesting. The coffee cherries are all picked by hand as they reach the proper ripeness. These green cherries won't be ready for picking until spring.

Then we drove to one of the mills where the coffee cherries are brought to have the beans separated from the fruit and sun dried on large concrete patios. The patio at the mill we visited will hold about 3 tons of dried beans. 
Some of the coffee associations are farther out and higher up and bring there ripe cherries in and dried, green beans out on pack animals. It is absolutely amazing that I can buy a pound of good coffee for less than $15 US! 

The agricultural fields are interesting as the are used for multiple crops at the same time. Banana plants grow next to coffee plants, orange trees, and avocado trees. Each fruit is harvested in its due time, and all are harvested by hand. The farmers and workers live a simple, but hard life. 
Personally, I would probably gain much from living more simply and a little less privileged.

We spent the night at the Hotel Real de Don Juan across from the Governor's mansion. It is a beautiful and old hotel and the views from our room were spectacular. I'm sorry that I am not more of a shutterbug. Although I often look and appreciate the sights as I see them, I seldom take pictures to remember or share. My bad.

Yesterday we took a slow boat in a river through a crocodile preserve. We saw several crocs along the river and more in the zoo/breeding area. The river was fed from mountain springs and was beautiful. 
We visited San Blas, the old fort there, and then had a leisurely lunch on the beach on the way home. 
It was a lot of car time for a weekend trip, but it was very enjoyable and probably not the kind of sightseeing that most US tourists get to do. 

I'll try to share some of the pics that Chris or Jenny took. You'll have to check my Facebook or Instagram pages in the coming days.

John

Interesting side note: This past weekend was an election weekend in Nayarit (special election of some sort). Elections are held on weekends and the entire state is dry (that's right - don't drink and vote. Just vote!) during election weekend.

Books

I just finished reading Daylight by David Baldacci. It turns out that this is book three in a series. It was good enough that I should probably look for books one and two when I take it back to the library. 

It was good as a stand alone read as far as not needing the prequels to understand what's happening, but it definitely leaves you kind of hanging at the end and knowing there must be another book in the series. As a matter of fact, it was that unresolved ending that led me to investigate into whether or not it was a series. 

Long Road to Mercy and Minute to Midnight are books one and two. Book four is Mercy.
Mercy is the name of FBI Special Agent Atlee Pine's twin sister that she hasn't seen since they were six. In Daylight, Agent Pine is taking leave from her duties in the FBI to track down some of the clues she's discovered in her search for the truth about what happened that night when she was nearly killed and her sister disappeared. I'm a little more interested in moving on to book 4 than I am in reading the back story to what I already know. I guess I'll see what's available at the library when I return home next week.

For now I'm on to a new fiction series, The Humanity Series by Seth Rain. It's a 5 book dystopian series that was stored on my Kindle app and seems like a good way to spend time by the pool on on the beach.
My current non-fiction reads are Until the End of Time by Brian Green and The Abs Diet by David Zinczenko. 
Until the End of Time is a lot of science for me and I'm pretty much reading it in small bits. It's subtitle is Mind, Matter and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe. Reading it in chapters or even in smaller parts of chapters works well for my uneducated brain. I can only absorb so much at a time. 
The Abs Diet is a re-read that helped me in the past and will hopefully help me again as I work toward better physical health as we head into 2022.

What are you reading?

John

It's a Numeric Life

 This is the kind of thing our old friend from It's a Numeric Life might have posted.

I miss her blog.

John

December

I'm sitting in the same place as I was yesterday morning and thinking it's a little weird to hear a rooster crowing in a very urban, heavy traffic (both cars and pedestrians) area, and yet he is proudly announcing the presence of the morning.
The sun rises a little bit later on the western side of the mountains, but there is already much activity in the busy little port community of Puerto Vallarta. 
Most of the time I'm just watching the people make their way into town. Early, most are locals heading into work (my guess). Later the tourists (most tourists are obviously tourists) making their way into the business district for shopping, a day at the beach, breakfast, or an all day excursion of some type. 

A cruise ship is entering the bay. It's about the same time as the one that came in yesterday morning. I imagine the city is happy to have the money from the cruise ship industry flowing back into the local economy. 
I think we are going to do a beach day today. We'll find a local beachside cafe or restaurant and set up to enjoy the afternoon with occasional drinks and food. I'll have my books and phone to pass the time as well as taking time to walk along the beach and wade into the ocean. Temps are forecast for the mid 80s (29c). I like the December temps in the tropics. It's still very green and the flowers are still blooming. We spent yesterday by the pool and will be on the beach today.

Did I mention that I think I could do this?

John