Any one who has read the KronyTown Projects, for any amount of time…  probably has picked up on my likes, dislikes, beliefs, and such.  Right or wrong…. who knows.  But that is me… for all to see and read.

One of those things is the fact that I like to believe in the magical.  I always seem to “entertain” the impossibilities which may exist in the universe.  I find it difficult NOT to contemplate the unknown, and the phenomenal.  That which cannot be explained.

Occasionally something will happen in my own life that is other worldly.  Like the lady I encountered at the Preble County Fair today…. but that is another story.

The thing I am thinking about mostly is a guy I’ve seen on TV a few times here and there.  He is a psychic, I guess.  His name is John Edward.  And every time I see this guy, I get chills.  Quivers.

He either has the best smoke and mirrors show going…. or the guy can speak to people on the other side of life.  He ALWAYS seems to tell people very specific things, that he could not possibly know… or guess.  Things about the person who has “passed” or things about the person still living (which the “other side” people are “telling” him).

I don’t know if it is real or not… but this guy sure seems authentic. And.  If it is true…. it sort of goes against what I believe happens after we die.  Maybe.  Or maybe not.  Perhaps it fits in just right.

Oh that pesky “unknown”…..  it is like a double-edged sword for me.  I love to imagine the impossible… but at the same time… I want to know the answers.

I want to know how it all works.
How it all lines up.
I want to know where the Magician keeps the rabbit when it isn’t popping out of the hat.

But…  the fact of the matter is….. it is all a big and wonderful secret.  And I guess that’s what makes me love it so.

“The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” – Bertrand Russell

A couple of friends of mine are getting married soon.  They are around my age….  and they have been together for 25 years.  So now… they have decided to get married.  I am so happy for them.
But.  Why the wait?
Well.  Up until recently they weren’t allowed to get married.  They are the same sex.  Now those equal rights are coming around.  But unfortunately, many people still don’t understand that all of this is not an abnormality, or a sin.  It is simply… being a minority.

Let me take you back a few years.  About minorities.
People used to think it was perfectly okay to keep black people as slaves.  To beat them and treat them cruelly.
People also used to think that women were inferior to men.  They were not allowed to own any property or vote. And worse.
And sadly. Not so long ago… 100,000 people saluted Adolph Hitler as he presided over the 1936 Olympics.  It happened on today’s date…. just 77 years ago.
Thank goodness those things have, for the most part, changed.

You see, as we evolve, we understand.
At least that is my hope.
At least that is what gives me hope in the goodness of the human race.

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.” – Carl Rogers

Maizy had had enough.

Oh life in the pen was making her crazy.
When she was just a little goat…. she started running with the wrong Herd.  You know how kids are….. hanging out near the feed bins…. eating whole ears of corn, and chewing on tin cans with the tops still attached.

She was a good little goat at heart.  But she ended up with the wrong pack of does and bucks.  One day, Billy talked her in to getting on the hood of the pick up truck, and doing the Goat version of  The River Dance… will ALL four hooves.

That was it.  It made such a racket… with all the stomping and pounding.  Farmer McDonald came out… and…. wellllllll…….. that was the end of that.

In the Pen.  For life.  Milk Goat.

And now… Maizy couldn’t take it for another minute.  She wanted to be like her cousin… Annie the Antelope… running free in the wild.

Tomorrow she would put her plan in motion and bust out of this place.  She had eaten all the hay… so there was no hope of making bale.

So… a breakout it would be.  And with her new found freedom, she promised herself she would be an outstanding goat.  A noble goat.  A kind and generous goat.

A good goat.  Not baaaaaaaaahhhhhhdddd.

No kidding.

“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.” – Albert Camus

“May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” – Peter Marshall

When I get a camera in my hand, I just feel different.  When I put the view finder up to my eye, and look through the lens, I get a certain “feeling” from time to time.  I can’t so much describe it… other than it feels good.

Like hearing a great piece of music, or getting a foot rub, or eating a bowl of ice cream.  It is just a nice place to be.

So for me, it doesn’t so much matter what I am shooting.  It is just the feeling I get when I make photographs.

But here is the thing.  Sometimes, when you shoot the “obscure”… people become extremely curious, and amazingly brazen.  I was taking very close up images at the fair.  I can’t tell you the number of people that came by…. leaned down by my face….. and said…. “Earl.  Look!  She must see a bug on that thing or SOMETHING.  I’ll bet ya’ any money she’s takin’ a pitcher of a bug  on that there thing…..”

Lady.  No bug.   Earl.  Honest to goodness.  No freakin’ bug.

Just me.  Seeing what I see. And doing what I do.

“Grace has been defined as the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul.” – William Hazlitt

I think this might be true.

No matter what you have in life… whatever “thing” or subject…. person, place, or thing…. there is ALWAYS more than one way to look at it.

No matter what it is.

However “right” we may think we may be about something… there may be…. just maybe…. another possibility.

Another outcome.  Another way of doing.

But.  These things matter.  Sometimes we may think they are large, or at other times…. we may see them as nothing at all.  But they matter.  And they will change.

That is what I think think tonight.  But who knows… I could be right on…. , or…..  maybe I am wrong.

“There is nothing insignificant in the world. It all depends on the point of view.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Tonight, I watched a little bit of 60 Minutes on CBS.  The segment I viewed pertained to Bill Gates.  (Yes, Microsoft Bill Gates.  But you nay-sayers…. say nay no more.  He has turned out to be quite the generous Philanthropist and Humanitarian.)

Anyway.  Like him or not, Bill is pretty smart I’ll tell you.  Yep.   They don’t come along like that every minute.   And this TV segment sparked my thinking about how those kinds of people think.  Throughout history, we have had a wealth of brilliant people.

They are phenomenal, each in their own way.  Leonardo da Vinci.  Rosa Parks.  Albert Einstein.  Martin Luther King Jr.  Marie Curie.  Socrates.  Eleanor Roosevelt.  Michelangelo.  Abraham Lincoln.  Georgia O’Keeffe.  Mahatma Gandhi.  Mother Theresa.  And on…. and on.

Each one of them Spectacular.  Ingenious. Exceptional.  Luminous.  Unusually Gifted.  They are crazy-smart in their own ways.  They figure things out.  They see something that needs to be done.

And they do it.

They could have been dangerous minds.  But instead.  They have Genius Sparkles.

I believe this phenomenon also happens in every species on earth.  The dog who rescues an entire family from a burning house.  The cat who walks 1,000 miles to get back home.

And then there is our Pool House Mouse.  Margaret, the Pool House Mouse.

Margaret apparently, wanted to build a nest.  And…… she noticed a roll of toilet paper that looked like great nesting material.  So she managed to climb the toilet paper post….. unroll the roll…. and feed it under the utility room door.

And behind that closed, protected door, Margaret reeled in that toilet paper to build her little soft and safe nook.

Smart Mouse.  Genius-Sparkly-Mouse.

The Preble County Fair opened today.  It is a big deal for a lot of people… in this corner of existence.  People  here get things “ready” for the Fair.  All sorts of things.  They raise animals, sew, bake, grow, paint, create, work…. and on an on.  They are members of organizations and clubs and groups.   Young and old are involved in everything from 4-H to volunteering.  It is a great “coming together of community.”

A lot of work goes in to all of this.  People do it, because they love it.

There is so much more to be had at the Fair, than carnival games, and amusement rides….. but those are fun too.  Truck pulls, and horse races…. singing concerts, and exhibits.  Oh my.  And don’t forget the food.  A great place to be… and to explore.

So yes.  The Fair opened today.  And so did the skies.

Things got soggy.  But the Fair played on.

And so did the People of the Fair.  I think…..  it is… because they believe in what they do.  And there is no stopping that.  Especially not a little (um… maybe A LOT) of rain.

“It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Life keeps teaching me things.
Beauty is where we see it.  It truly does matter how we see something.  It could be ….. anything in life.

How we look at things makes all the difference.  Our perceptions. Our opinions.  Our estimations.

If we think something is an ugly weed, it is an ugly weed.
And if we think that same plant is a majestic thing of beauty….. it….  is.

What you see, truly is what you get.
Decide what is beautiful in life.  Then, see it.

“It does make a difference what you call things.”   –Kate Douglas Wiggin

People who have never had a “connection” with an animal…. well….. have never had a connection with an animal.   I can’t fault them for it.  They just don’t “see it” or “have it”.

But it really bothers me when I hear someone say… “Oh, it is just a dog.” or “Who cares? It is just a cat.”

There…. they seem to be barking up the wrong tree.
Those types of statements would never come from a person who has been lucky enough to figure a way past  the human/animal barriers.  We all have the potential to make connections with all beings, I think.  It is just a matter if it is important to you, or if you put energy into those types of interactions.

Folks will relay stories about their good friends with fur coatings.  I can’t tell you the number of people who have cried as they talked about a “pet” who has died.   You see….. they have lost a member of their family… a part of them has been displaced …. a piece of their lives is gone.  And an emptiness exists… where there once was companionship, joy, and love.

Tonight I talked with a friend.  She has a dog…. who happens to be the youngest son of one of my dogs.  Yep.  One of Frances’ boys.  She talked about him with fondness.  She also shared a story about their other dog who had recently passed.  She had tears in her eyes as she spoke.  She gets the connection.

Lucky her.
Lucky me too.

“A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.” – Elbert Hubbard

There are all sorts of things to see on this amazing planet of ours.

People travel far and wide, to see the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, the Pyramids of Giza, and such, and so on.

But sometimes the greatest wonders of the world are right in our own backyards.  While they may not be as grand, or as majestic…. they are every bit as unique and spectacular.

If we just take the time to notice.

Plus…. you’ll save a bundle on airline tickets and hotel rooms.

“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” – Albert Einstein