Friday

It is Friday, the 29th of September. 
Just before sunrise this morning the moon reached its full phase -- the Harvest Moon. 
The sun, the moon, the stars continue in their seasonal dance and we (in the Northern Hemisphere) move ever closer towards winter. 

We continue to have nice days to close out September (90F today, 32C) and I'm sure October will be nice, as well. Although the hummingbirds have mostly gone (I see an occasional visitor at the feeder) and the Monarch butterflies are also migrating southward, I am enjoying the warm days while they last and getting some new flower beds ready for spring. I'm not sure which is more therapeutic -- the working in the dirt, the promise of the coming beauty, or the actual spring/summer flowers.
Because of the size of this particular flower bed, it is a crazy amount of work and the project has grown from its original plan. A neighbor was walking to get his mail the other day and asked if this is a "Honey do" project. 
Nope. It's pretty much because I like flowers.
To be fair, the growth of the project (about doubling the work) is Chris's part. The 100'+ (30m) flower bed will now include a picket fence. It's taking a long time because I'm an easy boss. I let myself start work late in the morning and quit early in the afternoon. I take frequent breaks and long lunches.
The same neighbor (day 3 of walking by) asked if I ever thought that I should have just hired someone to do the job. 
Not really. I have more time than money and more brawn than brains, so...

Well, I'd better get to work. The day is warming up and I hope to have the last of the post holes finished this morning. I probably should have posted before pics and documented the progress, but I am sure to post finished pics with plenty of spring summer blooms next year.

Dig in the dirt.
Walk, run, or paddle through nature.
Enjoy the weekend.

John

Monday Meditation

I was reading in the Bible -- Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount -- and I have some questions.

First of all -- a disclaimer or warning:
I am a follower of Jesus. Much of my life's philosophy and perspective is taken from the teachings of Jesus. I also read other perspectives and I am sure that those thoughts (and philosophical truths) will find their way into my Monday Meditations, but most thoughts will be based on my philosophies of life that were formed in my Christian upbringing.

Back to the Sermon on the Mount --
Towards the end of this story, Jesus says that not everyone that calls him Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one that does the will of the Father who is in heaven.

Later, in the 21st chapter, Matthew records Jesus's teaching of The Parable of Two Sons. Here, a father tells one son to go work in the vineyard and the son says, "No," but later goes and does his work. The father tells a second son to go work in the vineyard and the son agrees to do that, but never shows up.
Which one does the will of his father? 

What is Jesus teaching in these two lessons?
I would think that evangelicals would wrestle greatly with these passages. A simple, bare bones explanation of their teaching is to pray this magic prayer, ask Jesus into your heart, and be saved. But don't these teachings of Jesus contradict that?
What about that person that never walks an aisle, responds to an invitation, or prays the magic prayer yet does the things that Jesus teaches (the second son)?
What about the person that goes to church and professes to be a Christian, but doesn't take care of the oppressed, poor, sick, imprisoned, etc.?

I think these things are worth understanding -- but not to apply to others. We need to understand these things for ourselves.
Another teaching from the end of the Sermon on the Mount is that we don't judge others. Jesus says that the way we judge others is the way we will be judged, and the measure we use is the same that will be used for us.
It seems that most religious people want to use the Bible as a standard for others to measure up to, rather than as a guide to live by for themselves.

These are my thoughts in self examination today.
Am I living according to what I claim to believe?
Or do my actions show that I truly believe something other than the faith I profess?

What about you?
Are you who you claim to be?
What do your actions say about your true beliefs?

John

Sunday Morning Contemplation

The other morning (a week or so ago) it occurred to me that I really haven't had a good meditation session in quite some time. I suppose that such things need to be planned out and scheduled just like physical exercise. Planning and scheduling aren't listed in my strong suits.

I still have my daily quiet time, but it isn't very structured and purposeful meditation hasn't been a part of it for some time.  Most mornings are spent just listening to nature and watching the hummingbirds at the feeder. I make my connection to God through creation. It's not exactly prayer time, but it works for me.
I believe that mindfulness practices are beneficial -- both as physical and mental/spiritual practices. 

Some time ago I wrote about sharing meditative practices and haven't really done that. Maybe if I did a weekly post -- Monday Meditation -- or something, it would keep me more focused and also provide a mindfulness reminder for some others. 
I have no research to support this opinion, but I don't believe that mindfulness or regular meditative practices are very common in the western world. 

Do any of you have a regular (or even irregular) meditative practice?
It can be anything from dedicated prayer time to mental contemplation on a long distance run.
Where do you get your mental rest? ...your focus? 
Where do you find your peace?

John

So long, Summer!

This is it.
The last day of summer '23.
Shortly before 2am in the US Midwest the sun's path will reach the equator in the earth's annual orbit and fall will begin in the northern hemisphere, while spring begins in the southern hemisphere.

sigh

In order to offset the end of summer blues, I am working on building a flower bed for next spring/summer. It started out as a large flower bed across the front of the property (96' x 4') to a large flower bed with a picket fence running through the length of it, to a much larger flower bed (96' x 10') with a side panel of fencing at each end, and now is expected to be somewhere in between. (104' x 6' with additional 4' x 4' squares at each end for a corner turn for the fence)
Rain last night will mean no work this morning. I might get some work done this afternoon if it dries up enough. I really am looking forward to seeing it filled with flowers next year. I believe it will be well worth the work I'm putting into it.

I put my bird feeders out about a week ago. Today is the first time I've seen the birds eating from them. 
There are still a few hummingbirds at the hummingbird feeder, but far fewer than there have been and I haven't seen a ruby red throat for a couple of days. I wonder if they sense the season change from the temperature or more from the fewer hours of daylight. I would tend to believe it's the latter since that part is always consistent. 

On the subject of feeding birds, I'm thinking about feeding crows. I've been reading about crows and am pretty impressed with their abilities. There are many mornings when I see a few of them searching for food in the back yard or field and think it would be cool to get to know them. It seems that a regular time and place for feeding them is best and dry pet food or fresh nuts are good choices. Once they've found the feeding place and are used to the time, I may sit close by and eventually get to where I can hand feed them.
Just a thought for now. I'll let you know if that changes.

John 

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Taking Things for Granted

What's something you've recently taken for granted?

That was the beginning of the prompt for my gratitude journal a few days ago.
Even though I do try to practice gratitude daily, I don't always respond to these prompts as they come up. This one resurfaced to my thoughts this morning.

I do take it for granted that I get to sleep each day until I'm finished. This morning that was well past 9 o'clock. I knew I was tired when I turned in last night, but -- wow! I was really surprised when I looked at the alarm clock on my night stand and saw the time. (I should probably just call it a clock at this point. I rarely use the alarm part.)
This morning I am stiff and a little sore from the work I have been doing around the yard (another privilege I have). I am tempted to give myself the day off, but with rain in the forecast for the next couple of days I had better get some more work done today. 
Having had to do physical labor for work in the distant past, I rarely took the benefits of using mental skills for granted in my work as an air traffic controller. Working in lumber yards and factories without heating or a/c was a world away from the comfort of working on my butt in a tower or radar room.

Retirement and its freedoms are not to be taken for granted. I am so grateful for the career I had and what it is still providing for me and Chris today.

What is something that you have recently taken for granted?

John

A Hard Lesson: People are just people (Philosopher's Stone)

What lesson have you learned the hard way? A long winding path almost always teaches us more than the short, straight one. Embrace the struggle.

Yes, I'm cynical. That's my nature.
And yet it took me most of a lifetime to learn this lesson. For the most part, the teachers have been pretty decent people -- some of them are even friends, Most of them I no longer keep in close contact with. Sometimes that's my choice. Sometimes it's theirs. 

If given the choice between doing what is right and what is best for themselves, generally speaking, people will always choose to do what is best for themselves.
Recognizing that has given me the freedom of not being let down by people. While it might appear that I am not a very trusting person, I believe that I am very trusting. I trust people to always look out for themselves even if it isn't always the right thing to do. 
Don't get me wrong -- I know there are people that sacrifice a lot of time and energy serving others and doing things that make the world better for all of us. They are certainly exceptional people and they are pretty rare.

Allowing people to be people may seem like a sad kind of existence, but really it's not. It reminds me of the line in The Eagle's song -- "...I know you won't let me down, 'cause I'm already standing on the ground."
In my world, you are free to be yourselves.
A few of you will always choose to be exceptional people.
Most of you are good, decent, and very likable people and I trust you to generally do the right thing in your eyes. Examining behaviors from the perspective of the person doing whatever action often leads to a better understanding of why they did it.
And some of you (far too many in my estimation) usually choose to be assholes -- and that's okay. You get to be you.

That's my hard lesson.
What's yours?

John

Philosopher's Stone

I was going to write about this morning's prompt from my online gratitude journal:

What lesson have you learned the hard way? A long, windy path almost always teaches us more than a short, straight one. Embrace the struggle.

As I thought about what I was going to write for the blog, I was thinking about how I would label the post and didn't think that any of my current labels fit it well. I thought that maybe it was time for a new label -- or maybe even time for a new, separate blog all together -- one that expresses different philosophies of life.
Nah, I don't need that. I usually just write that crap here but haven't really labeled it as such.

Like most people, I borrow philosophy from others and adapt it to my own personal experience. I also have my own philosophies that I have arrived at through experience, contemplation, and observation.
Different faith communities and faith leaders have given us many good philosophies of life. Christians and Buddhists have many books and practices that have gone beyond their own followers' lives and influence the general public in many ways. I imagine that the same is true for Islam, but I am less familiar with those teachings. There are also a great many atheist philosophers that give us deep insight into the workings of humanity in relation to each other and to the world around us.
While philosophy isn't truly a science in that it relies more on observation and logical analysis rather than on empirical evidence, I still find it a fascinating study. 

The philosopher's stone is a reference to the ancient alchemy of searching for a tincture or powder to change base metals into gold or silver. It is (or was once) believed also to give long life or immortality and its roots are both ancient and diverse. I don't know that the alchemy of the past and the philosophies of today hold much in common, but I think I'm going to use Philosopher's Stone as the new label for my philosophic ramblings.
I'll get around to sharing my answer to today's prompt on another post. For today I'll leave you with a link to an old favorite tune by VanMorrison -- The Philosopher's Stone

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 Context matters

John

Tell me a story...NOT!

What about me says, "Come sit next to me and tell me your story?"
Friday morning I went to have my oil changed. It was a nice morning so I took my book and sat on the bench outside the front door to read while waiting on my car.
Pretty soon, some old guy  (I say old guy, but he was probably around my age. He just looked old -- wait a minute -- nevermind.) 
Pretty soon some guy comes out so I grab my book bag and scoot to the end of the bench so he can sit down and wait out in the morning sun, too. He says it's alright and doesn't sit. He lights up a cigarette and starts talking to me.

He was late.
He overslept.
He was supposed to be there when they opened to get something done so he could get his car registered.
Then he was going to be at the DMV when they opened to finish what he started to do yesterday, but couldn't.
I'm sure he told me what he was having done, but I wasn't really interested and don't remember.
He moved here from Ohio a year or so ago and they messed up on his registration then. Somehow he got his MO plates, but the registration didn't go through properly and so renewal was turning out to be a hassle. 
Then this morning -- blah, blah, blah.
WTF?!

At some point, someone from the shop came out to ask him a question. I buried my head in my book and didn't look up when he finished. He sat down, lit up another cigarette, and thankfully let me read.

It's not the first time something like this has happened to me. Maybe people think I'm some lonely old man that needs a friend. I guess I need to work on my Why-the-f@#k-are-you-talking-to-me? face. 
Normally, I like a good story, but his wasn't that good and I had a book.
It's not like he didn't have someone else to talk to in his life. He was missing biscuits and gravy at his uncle's house because of having to be at the shop that morning (a part of the blah, blah, blah). I guess he just didn't have someone else to talk to at the moment. 
Ugh!
Well maybe I made a part of his story at the DMV. He was waiting his turn and telling the person sitting next to him the whole oversleeping story and I was the nice old guy he talked with (to) at the auto shop.

sigh

John

I wish people knew...

"What simple fact do you wish more people understood?"
That's the gratitude journal prompt for the day.

Hmmm...
Facts can be tricky things and are generally based on perspective. I'm not sure I know what a simple fact is or looks like. I could certainly share my perspectives on what I perceive to be simple facts, but I don't know if I really want people to be as cynical as I am.

I guess I would want people to know that they matter, that they are important.
I really don't know how to go about convincing them when they may have been told by so many others that they are not important or simply ignored by society, friends, and even family. Truthfully, I sit here on my deck most of the time completely oblivious to those that are oppressed and ignored by society. I suppose that I am as much a part of the problem as anyone. 
Maybe that's not even a fact -- maybe it's just my opinion. Surely there are others that would claim that certain segments of our population don't matter. We see that everyday.

Maybe the thing I would want people to know is that opinions are not facts.
That might make all of us examine what we truly believe and base our lives and decisions on.

"What simple fact do you wish more people understood?"

John

Comet Watch

I was up early on Sunday and Monday mornings. Tuesday was overcast so I slept in. Up again early today (Wednesday).
I really don't understand reading that one could see this comet without binoculars, a monocular, or a small telescope. It appeared to be much too faint in the early morning sky from my home in Highlandville MO. Although I do live in a rural area, looking to the east near the horizon is pretty much littered with light pollution from the billboards along US 65. Plus, it is just before sunrise so the sky is getting brighter as morning approaches.

I had no luck on Sunday morning, but was not discouraged from doing a little more research and trying again on Monday. I'm pretty sure I found it Monday morning. I was using binoculars and my Sky Eye app. Although the app didn't show the comet, I didn't see a corresponding star for what I was seeing in the vicinity where the comet was supposed to be.
Confident of what I was looking for and adjusting for the two day difference, I was able to find it again this morning. It will pass at its closest to the sun on the 12th and then head away from the solar system and back into interstellar space, never to be seen again by us mere earthlings.

Next on the overnight watch will be the opposition of Jupiter in a couple of weeks. The giant planet of the solar system will be at its closest to earth in nearly a century and full bright due to being in opposition to the sun. Even with a pair of binoculars you should be able to see the bands of the planet and several of the four largest moons, depending on where they are in their orbits. They will appear as pinpricks of light in line with the planet's equator and may be farther away from the planet than you might think. You should be able to observe the dance of the orbiting moons throughout the fall.

It is a little sad to see the summer constellations leaving the night sky and even though I am not looking forward to winter, the winter sky is pretty amazing. Orion, and Canis Major are already high in the morning sky, as are the Gemini Twins, Taurus the Bull, and the Pleiades star cluster. Leo is rising just before sunup. Our winter night perspective faces us away from our galaxy's center and the overhead view of the Milky Way will vanish for a few months.
Currently Mercury and Mars are not visible at night, and Venus rises in the early morning. Saturn and Jupiter rise at around 9 and 10 o'clock at night (Jupiter is the brighter one) and you can see them all with the naked eye. Neptune is between Saturn and Jupiter, and Uranus is just to the left of Jupiter, but you will probably need a small telescope to find them. A small scope will also show you the rings of Saturn.
Grab a pair of binoculars (or not) and check it out.

John

Christianity and Sharing My Faith

Yeah, I still think about it even though I rarely do it as I once did. There was a time when it was important to me that you believed in the same things that I believed; that you accepted my beliefs as true and put away whatever misguided beliefs you previously had. 
The truth is that I still would like to share my faith with you, I'm just not as convinced that it is so important that you accept my beliefs as your own. As a matter of fact, I'm just as interested in hearing what you believe and what motivates you to live the life you've chosen to live. 

As we get to know one another, what we truly believe about good and evil, right and wrong, heaven and hell, etc., has a way of showing itself in what we do more than in what we say. Often we find ourselves having to reconcile our beliefs with contradictory actions. That's never good.
I sometimes wonder how long it would take someone just getting to know me to come to the conclusion that I am a Christ follower. It might be an embarrassingly long time.

Maybe I need to be (once again) more open about asking people what they believe in or what guides them through life -- not to say they are right or wrong, but just to get to know them and what motivates them to be the person they are hoping to be. 

How do you feel about sharing your beliefs?
Does it make you uncomfortable?
Do you feel like you have to justify or defend your beliefs?
I don't want to make people feel defensive and I don't really feel it is necessary for me to share my faith unless they ask. 

What do you think?
Do people know what you believe simply by how you live?
Or do you have to convince them with your words?
Are you open to faith discussions where you are not expected to defend yourself?

Just wondering.

John

Labor Day 2023

No special holiday plans today and I didn't do anything on the weekend, either. Quiet and simple is the way I like it.

I'll water the new plants today so they can get their root systems well established, but the other plants should be fine. I need to figure out where I want to plant my recovering rose bush so I can get it in the ground soon. I am also thinking about what fall bulbs I need to be planting and where I want to put them.
I know that the plans in my head are overly ambitious based on how much work will need to go into them, both in the creation of space and in the maintenance of the new garden space.
Tilling a space for a larger wildflower garden won't be too bad other than the fact that the tiller can give a pretty good beating on the wrists and arms. I'm also going to need another large space for sunflowers as Chris wants them on the other side of the house next year. I can probably wait until spring for those. The bulb gardens will need to get figured out this month.

Yard work and gardening is the extent of my labor these days. 
A good federal job and representation by perhaps the strongest (though not the largest) government workers labor union has made a comfortable retirement that allows this privilege. I was fortunate enough to get to serve, both locally and on a couple of national committees, with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). The people that I have kept in touch with from my work world are mostly people I met through NATCA and not so much the people that I actually worked with. Some times I think about going to a national event to see some of them, but you already know that big gatherings aren't my thing.
I am hopeful that labor unions are making a comeback as workers get more and more fed up with the ever widening pay gaps that exist between corporate executives and the people that provide the actual labor for companies to make money. Many workers -- like air traffic controllers, teachers, first responders, etc., -- don't produce a product, but provide much needed services.  

If you are one of the many that will be working today, thank you.
If you are enjoying the day off thanks to organized labor, be grateful.
If you are retired -- well, it's just another day.

John

It's Just September -- step away from the pumpkin spice!

Okay.
Pumpkin spice is fine if that's your thing. 

I will admit that I am enjoying the cooler nights that we've had these last several days, but we're back to daytime temps in the mid to upper 80s for the next week or so. That's fine with me. I plan on continuing to work in the yard as September is an ideal time for planting to allow plants to establish a good root system prior to winter. We generally have a long fall season and roots will continue to grow even after the foliage has stopped or dropped. Continued watering to what appears to be a dead or dormant plant is important for new stuff.

This is the rose bush that I thought didn't survive last winter and I mowed it down. Apparently it was just late getting started this year as I started to see some new growth on it in mid July. I dug it up and potted it so that I could take better care of it and will need to find a place to replant it in the coming days.

I have several other plants that I am caring for in pots and may winter them that way. I really need to build or buy a greenhouse. All of our deck succulents come in for the winter, too. 

In other September stuff --
Over the past two days, I've posted about some September fitness/weight goals over on my other blog, Healthy Living (by an unhealthy guy). This healthy living stuff is going to cut into my sitting and doing nothing time. Hopefully, the pay off will be a longer (and healthier) life to sit and do nothing later.

Time to walk.

John