Winter

Winter has arrived in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri!
There is a light layer of snow covering the ground and it is cold out there -- 16f (-9c)!
Brrrr

It is said that if you let the winter weather steal your joy, you'll still have the cold weather, but you'll have less joy.
Today I am grateful and joyful about my warm fireplace and good coffee as I quietly type away on the Chromebook keyboard. I have what I need without having to venture out into the cold for today and I plan to enjoy staying in. I am extremely grateful that I no longer have to go into work every day and have been doing this retired thing long enough that I really don't remember what that routine was like. 

Today, like most days, will be quiet and pretty unproductive. I'll do some reading, maybe complete a Spanish lesson, spend a little time exercising, and might get some of the Christmas decorations packed away. 

After writing this post about who I am or who others perceive me to be, I've been thinking about it -- perhaps more than I need to be. 
Truthfully, I really don't care what most people think of me. Certainly, there are people that I don't want to disappoint and would enjoy having their admiration, but those are a very select few. I am really most interested in the personal assessment of who I am and I find that there are definitely areas that I need to work on. 

While I am genuinely grateful for and content with many areas of life, I know that I have been negligent when it comes to my health. Although I currently only take medication for high blood pressure, I know that being 100 lbs (45.4 kg) overweight is not a good thing and there are probably other health maladies in my near future. 
I'm working on it.

There are also other areas that I need to pay more attention to and some things that I just need to get around to doing. Procrastination has always been a problem for me. 
It seems that most of the problem areas of life are consequences of poor choices in our past and need to be dealt with as they are since undoing them isn't really possible.

One day at a time.
73 days until spring.

John

Celestial Irony

Today is the day that the earth reaches perihelion, the closest point to the sun in its annual orbit. 
From the Greek peri -- meaning near, helion -- meaning son.

It also marks the beginning of some extremely cold weather here in the US Midwest. I suppose we should be glad that we are not faced with the summer heat that our southern hemisphere friends have. It is a good thing that we humans are an adaptable species.

Although we use 24 hour days, the actual time of each day varies slightly as we make our elliptical orbit around our sun. And our earth's spin is slowing down! As the moon orbits the earth, its gravitational pull is actually slowing our rotation. It (the moon) is also inching farther away from the earth.
Science -- it is pretty amazing.

I may check and compare weather conditions for our counterparts on the other side of the globe from time to time. 37 degrees north latitude covers a lot of land and people around the globe, while 37 degrees south latitude touches relatively few. 
The line cuts through Chile and Argentina in South America, is farther south than the entire continent of Africa, just hits the southern most parts of Australia, and runs through the capitol city of New Zealand.

Currently it is about 1:30 on Sunday morning in Melbourne, Australia and 76f (24.4c).
Here it is just 8:30 on Saturday morning and it is just below freezing.
I doubt that Melbourne will be below freezing six months from now on July 4th!

It looks like it will be overcast all day in the Ozarks. In spite of the fact that we are closer to the sun than we will be all year, it doesn't appear that we will get to see it today. Groucho and I will have to count on the fireplace for warmth.

John

Friday Fun Fact

The year is 2025.
Our old blog friend, It's a Numeric Life would likely point out that 2025 is a perfect square -- 45 x 45.
It's not that big of a deal, but as numbers get larger, perfect squares get farther apart. The last one was 89 years ago -- 1936, and the next one won't be for another 91 years -- 2116!

John

Coffee Shop Theology

I'm at a local Ozark coffee shop this morning -- Urban Grounds coffee + plant lab.
It is a bright (glass on two sides) open place with lots of plants and planters. I'm not much for the sweet, creamy coffee drinks. A decent drip or a classic Americano is about all I ever get. The refillable mug of drip coffee here is just fine for my morning cup (or two) of coffee and time on the Chromebook.

If you've followed my faith journey over the past several years, you have probably figured out that I'm not a big fan of church nor religion in general. The greatest downside to that is that discussions about faith and interactions with a faith community become quite rare.
I miss those faith centered conversations and sharing of thoughts. 

So I am wondering...
Are there others that feel that way and would there be any interest in a small group/regular gathering to talk about faith, theology, philosophy, etc.?
I'm thinking of a morning coffee shop meeting, but --
     not everyone is a coffee drinker
     and a weekday meet is difficult if you're not retired
I'm sure we could work around a couple of objections, but I don't want to make it complicated.
An afternoon brewery meet would also work, but I know there are more and more people that are non-drinkers. 

In my head, this is a group of men, but it doesn't have to be that way. I'm also thinking of a pretty small group -- six to eight at the most. I have no interest in being a teacher and I don't want it to be a class. I see a need for a moderator or facilitator to keep things on track, but also want it to be flexible enough to adapt as life happens for those in the group. It's a pretty loosely formed idea and would need some work that the actual group could help with.

Right now it's just a thought and I'm going to be gone until mid-February. 
However, if you are in the Springfield/Nixa/Ozark area and have any interest in such a small group beginning sometime around the end of February, let me know.

John

Ready or Not -- 2025 is Here!

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions.
This year, I'm making three:

1)  Get healthy (and off the blood pressure meds)
2)  Plant flowers
3)  Enjoy life

For more on #1, you can check out my other blog.  
The others are pretty straightforward and simple.

I'm not ready to put purposeful people interactions at a resolution level just yet, but I'll keep it in mind as a "things to do" item.

Get healthy
Plant flowers
Enjoy life

I think that'll work for Wednesday Wisdom!

John