“The Unknown” and “Wonder” are a fine married pair.

I wonder.  All the time.

I don’t think there is too terribly much I know for sure.  For absolutely sure.

I am not a skeptic.  At all.  I would classify myself more as a believer.

I tend to believe all people are good.   I hope that is a positive part of my mindset.  Most of the time… it turns out to be true.  Every now and again it will fall through.  Temporarily, I always hope.

Concerning our mental awareness versus our physical existence…  well…. THAT…. I question a lot.

There are alternate existences I think.  I also suppose a lot of people call this by different names, but I bet is right up the same bowling alley.  Second verse.  Same as the first.

And how about this?  What happens when we aren’t watching?  Any where.

Do frogs stand up and walk heel-toe, heel toe?

All those missing socks… what about those?  AND.  In the sock world… do they put their loved ones on milk cartons?

Do bees really mean to sting anything… or does that protrusion just get in the way of truly being understood?

With that thought…. I have experienced fleeting pain.  Most people have.  But what makes it fleet?  Do fleets have paining people?

Who in the heck made the first fence?

Did people fence about the first fence?  And is that why it is called fencing?

Dang.  On any given night, this happens to me, and I miss the ending of NCIS.  I get so bustling with my brain….or it gets busy with me.  Some nights my head stays occupied right into my sleeping hours.  And I continue to stay busy in my dreams.  I don’t have much room up there as it is.  And at times like these… it really gets crowded.

My biggest wonder.. do all people wonder like I wonder?  If they don’t… I wonder why not.

Do people lose their wonder?  I hope I never do.

But I wonder.

“The frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.” – Mao Tse-Tung

“The difference between what the most and the least learned people know is inexpressibly trivial in relation to that which is unknown.” – Albert Einstein

We live in a very old city (1670) on a very old street.  In fact, in all of Charleston, there were only six original streets, when the town was first mapped out in 1680.

They were Meeting Street (our place of residence), King, Tradd, Church, Broad, and East Bay Streets.  There is a history lesson in every household positioned on these streets.

Across the street from us is the home of Thomas Heyward Jr.  He was one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Just up the street.. is the original location of Colonel Isaac Hayne.  He was a Revolutionary leader of the South Carolina Militia.  The Brits caught him, held him in the dungeon of the Old Exchange Building.  His little son went there and spent the night… before his father, Isaac was hanged by the British.

So many stories.  Some of them are charming, some devious, others are ghostly, or funny…. and some… just plain interesting.

Now this one is a beauty….

Right down the street is wonderful old, four story home… which was owned in the early 1800s, by a woman.  Elizabeth Martin Middleton.  She was widowed.  (The Middletons were a wealthy plantation-owning family here.  But Liz was born a Martin, and there was a large family grievance over a shipping dispute.)  At any rate….  another story… for another day.

So she took on boarders to help with living expenses.  Around 1810, or so, there were two artists living with her.  A portrait painter named Burton Larson Henry.  The other fellow, was a poet by the name of Burton Andrew Drayton.  Neither one of them were very successful.

They were always behind on their boarding fees.  In fact, they rarely paid.  Despite her prostrations, they continued with their negligence.

So, in 1813, she decided to murder them. Seriously.  Poison was very popular in the day.  So she invited them down for afternoon tea one day, served them homemade pastries laced with arsenic… and …. kaput.  That freed up a couple of rooms right now…. I’ll tell you.

Well.  Given the obvious motive, and the resulting deaths of both tenants…  Mrs. Middleton was arrested and charged pretty quickly for the crime.

Feigning innocence, she demanded to know why she was being charged.

The police captain replied….. “Well, it seems, madam, that you……  have killed two Burts with one scone!”

Arrrrrrrggghhhhhhh……   🙂

They say we can learn from history.  Blow off a little steam BEFORE you serve tea?

Or… eating sweets is bad for you?

Crime doesn’t pay…. if you have dead renters?

Okay, truth of the matter is, I am not sure what the real lesson is here.   But… feed a starving artist a pastry, and he dies of arsenic poising.  Teach him HOW to bake his own pastries, and he might open a bakery.

“The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.” – Aldous Huxley

Tonight, I saw Lincoln.

Not the actual President.  Although, I wish I could travel back in time and talk to him.  No, tonight I saw the movie Lincoln, starring Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, and so many more.

I am not sure that words can convey the spectrum of emotions I am experiencing tonight.  The intensity therein.

Tears streamed down my face at least a half dozen times during the film.

He was truly a great man, with a sound understanding of human rights.  He stopped at nothing, to fight for those self-evident truths.

So if I could travel back in time.  Or.  If I could ask him some questions….  right here & now…. I surely would.

Mr. President.  Thanks so much for your time tonight.  It is my absolute honor to meet you.  I am SO happy to be here.

Polly… call me Abe… will ya’? And I am happy to be here too.  “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Well, thank you sir.  Let’s begin.
There are a lot of different views about religion in America.  What is your opinion on religion?

“When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.”

Holy Smackerels… that is profound.  Okay.  We have some big questions about equal rights these days for certain groups of people in the U.S.  What do you say to that?

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”

Our country seems to argue about everything now.  Some are calling for secessions, and Civil War.  Any advice?

More than 600,000 men died in the Civil War.  Long before me…. Mr. Benjamin Franklin said it best….“There was never a good war or a bad peace.”

“May our children and our children’s children to a thousand generations, continue to enjoy the benefits conferred upon us by a united country, and have cause yet to rejoice under those glorious institutions bequeathed us by Washington and his compeers.”

But both sides seem to focus on the differences….

“If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.”

Any suggestions for living the every day to day?

“…..  in the end it is not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.”

And how do we become better people?

“Whatever you are, be a good one.”  

I wish everyone in America would go and see this movie…… …. … ten minutes ago.

Oh to be a baby bird…. right out of the shell.

You know.  When WE were baby birds… the world was brand new.  There was so much we didn’t know.

So many things.

We didn’t know how to hate.  Or how to show prejudice.  Someone taught us those things.

At first blush, we didn’t fear anything.  We learned that too..  Most of the time,  it was with the help of others.

When we were baby birds, we thought we were able to doing anything we wanted.  We knew no limits.    Yet… we found that we DO have certain limits.  And sometimes it hurts.   Like the time I fell down the steps.  Or the time I put my hand on a hot burner.

Yet on other occasions… someone first told us we were not capable….   of this… or that.

Yes.  That is how it goes for us baby birds.  But one of the tricks to getting better at this thing called flying, is to figure out which lessons are good, and which are bad.

We spread our wings, and we fly.

But the when….   the how….

Some good bird lessons I have been thinking about tonight:

I am going to live by the three Rs each day.  Respect for self.  Respect for others.  Responsibility for my actions.

I will not hurt people.

I will forgive others and myself. To understand that no person is perfect is a fine thing.

Life is empty without happiness. I must do what makes me happy.

I will offer a helping hand to others.

Nobody else in this whole world is exactly like me. I am a unique individual.  I have something good to contribute to this world.

Yes, just a few thoughts tonight… from the wholeness of it all.  Growing more feathers.

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – Dalai Lama

You know me.  I like to jump back in history every now and again.  Especially  when the event has a perpetuating effect on me .  So today is one of stellar proportions.

It was a Monday night.  Cold, brisk, dark.  New York City.   But the city was shining bright on that particular night.  Yes… on November 16, 1959…. the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music” opened on Broadway.

Now the particulars of all this hoopla are interesting.  The show starred the wildly popular Mary Martin (aka Peter Pan in 1954) as Maria…. the original singing nun.

Yet, what about the real life-story … …did the young Austrian nun really flutter up to the hills surrounding Salzburg to sing whenever the bee stung, or the dog bit?   Did she nuzzle little kittens, and wear bright woolen mittens?  And how about that stiff-board future husband, and all those raucous kids?  Did they skip out of town with the Nazi Regime on their tails?

Well.  Truth be told. Not so much.  Nope.  The real-life Maria von Trapp did none of those things. She WAS a former nun…. that part is true.  And… she DID marry Count Georg von Trapp.  All the rugrats were about too.

But the real Maria wrote a book in 1949.  It was called The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.  The actual particulars and details of her life were pretty much ignored by the creators of the Broadway musical.  Her memoir bit the dust.

The show’s writers were Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.  Of course…. the composer and lyricist….. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.  They all joined noggins and mapped out a much more entertaining version of the Von Trapps.

The real Maria von Trapp and her stepchildren were not too happy about this.  At all.  According to many later reports… they were all out peeved.  Their Lederhosen were all in a bunch.  Yet…. those liberties made The Sound of Music a smash hit and a huge success from the very night of its Broadway opening on this day in 1959.

Do Re Mi.  My Favorite Things.  Sixteen Going On Seventeen.  Lots of big hits came out of that show.

(However, one of my favorites is The Lonely Goatherd.  I love the yodel part.)

At any rate, I started all of this because of the “title”… … …. the “sound” of music.  The two are typically associated with one another.  Music=Sound.  Yet, how about our other senses and music.  Can we taste or smell music?  Not too often, I don’t think.

But we do “feel” music all the time.  At least I do.  Sometimes, we can even see it.

So this photograph I took looked like music to me.  I see music in a lot of different places.

At any rate… thanks for sharing this great anniversary.  The Sound & Sight… of Music.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Interesting addition… the REAL Maria’s Declaration of Intention.  Coolio, eh?

Once again, they found themselves surrounded by the Robot Brothers.  Unfortunately, they had just polished off the last of  the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches.

While Mr. Bill was well aware of the levity of the situation…. Gumby had no working comprehension concerning their circumstances.  He never worried.

The Robot Brothers were hungry.  And cranky.

But deep down inside, Gumby knew it would be alright.    Pokey would come and save the day.  Pokey always came to save the day.  And he always kept a baggie filled with peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches.

That silly little grin looked good on Gumby’s face.  And it was there for good reason.

“Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.” – H.J. Brown Jr.

Since we are on the topic of dogs…. and we were….

THIS is one of the reasons I love them so.

Today is National Dog Appreciation Day.

It is a little known American holiday-type-observance.  I don’t even think most people are aware of it, and Hallmark doesn’t print any Greet Cards as such.

The day has a bit of a colorful past.  It sort of began in 1856, by Frederick Theobald McKintry.

McKintry was a well-educated man, having graduated from Harvard with a degree in law.  He decided however, that the “stuffy” east coast was not for him.  McKintry packed up his family…. a wife and two daughters….. and decided to move west.

Months earlier…. he had received word from a childhood friend that “land was for the taking” in South Dakota.  Sooooooo……  they packed up the bus and they moved to Beverly…. Hills that is….

More like the Dakota hills that is.  And more like a wagon.

At any rate, on their way west, they happened across a little creature while crossing the Plains.  As McKintry wrote in his diary…..

“May 8, 1856.  Bessy saw a skunk in the brush as we were setting up camp at dusk this evening.  She said there would be no cooking on her part with a skunk so near in our midst.  I was implored  to take on the task of investigating the intruder.

“When I approached the tall brush, I spotted the small black and white creature.  It was none too quick to move away from me, and I proceeded with caution.

“With a closer look, I saw that it was a small mongrel, quivering and half starved.  I picked him up and brought him near the fire.  We have been feeding him scraps all night and he has curled himself by the fire as I write.

“I jokingly said he had seen a fairer day.  The girls thought I called him Ferraday, and have been referring to the little mutt that way ever since.  I hope they do not grow attached.  This thing will probably be dead by morning.”

As it turns out, the girls Elizabeth and Catherine, did become attached.   Little wiry “Ferraday” followed the family and became the family pet.

McKintry referred to his “little companion” in his writings….. throughout his entire life.  He even spoke of the time that Ferraday quite possibly save young Catherine’s life.  She was off playing in the field, away from their homestead, when a mountain lion came down out of those Dakota Hills.  Ferraday “barked so viciously at a mountain lion, that he “scared the beast right back into the mountains.”

A few years later, McKintry founded the small town of Hartford, South Dakota… and became Mayor.  He deemed November 14th “Dog Day”…. to celebrate little Ferraday… and also to break the monotony of the South Dakota Winter.

And that is how National Dog Day got its start.

Well…..

uhhhmmmm…..

….. not really.  I just made all of that up.

But I think we should still celebrate all the little… and big… dogs in our lives.  Not only on November 14th… but every day.

We “rescued” all three of our dogs.  But the truth of the matter is…. they have helped us far more than we have helped them.  A Fairer Day…. indeed.

“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”  ― Muhammad Ali

Some things about technology aren’t so good for us… here in modern society.

But that is for another conversation.

Tonight, I would like to consider a thing or two which are fabulous.  Technology has brought us instantaneous knowledge, if we care to seek it.  Yes.  Internet University.  IU.  I love it here.

The answer to virtually any question…. lies right beneath these keys at my fingertips.

How many ounces in a long ton?  Uhhhhnnnn….. 35,840 ounces.  Of course, there are 32,000 in a short ton.

When was the CIA founded?  Quietly & discretely …. it was September 18, 1947.

Who invented the first toilet?  Not Thomas Crapper, as most think.  Nope.  You see….  Sir John Harington beat Crapper to the punch nearly 300 years earlier with his revolutionary water closet design in 1596.

This is priceless information, I’ll tell you!

Here’s the thing though.  Sometimes, it knocks your socks off.  Several of my childhood familiarities have recently come to light.

I did not play with Barbies.  No.  But I had friends who did.  Little did I know, Barbie’s real name is  Barbara Millicent Roberts.  Get this.  Ken’s last name is Carson.  Barbie Millicent?  Yikes.

Now, I never really got to eat cereal as a kid.  The only times I really had it was at friends’ houses.  When I did get it… my favorite was Cap’n’Crunch.  And how about the Captain’s real name?  Horatio Magellan Crunch.  Yep.

Gilligan’s Island was my go-to show.  One of them, at least.  I never heard The Skipper’s name before tonight.  Jonas Grumby.  I guess that would have been Captain Grumby in the proper form.   Not such a great name for a cereal.

Since we are on names.  My later childhood days found favor with the cartoon…. Scooby-Doo.  Old  Shaggy, the scruffy pal of Scoob….. had a fine and fancy name.   Norville Rogers.  He was also one of the early supporters for the legalization of marijuana, I betcha’.  Scooby Snacks, after all.

So what’s my point?    Only that I like this.  I like to seek and find.  To dig and discover.   To know what I did not know before.

I think it is a good thing…. to see what I can see…..

Right after I get my eyes checked.    Because…..  the eye chart with the big “E” on top is called a Snellen Chart.

I want to be a good pupil, after all.

Some ding-dong out-of-towner guy was out driving one day….. out near our house in Ohio.  You know, on little curvy country roads.  Well, this fellow  accidentally drove his car into a deep ditch on the side of our road.

Luckily, for him…. our next door neighbor was home.  He is an old-timer-farmer-guy.  I won’t name him… to protect the innocent.  But I will name his horse.

Our Farmer-Neighbor has a big old horse named Benny.

So… the driver asked for help.

The farmer said Benny could pull his car out.

So he backed that big old horse up…. and hitched Benny to the man’s car bumper. Then he yelled, “Pull, Nellie, pull.”

Benny didn’t move.

Then he yelled, “Come on, pull Ranger.  Dang it Ranger… PULL!”

Still, Benny didn’t move.

Then he yelled really loud, “Now pull, Fred, pull hard.” And sure enough….Benny just stood there…. swishing his tail.

Then the farmer nonchalantly said, “Okay, Benny, pull.”

Benny gave a little head nod…. and pulled that car right out of the dang ditch.

The out-of-town guy was very appreciative…. but of course…. he was also curious. He asked the farmer why he called his horse by the wrong name three times.

Our Farmer-Neighbor said, “Oh, Benny is blind, and if he thought he was the only one pulling he wouldn’t even try.”

“Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” – Henry David Thoreau