You can take the girl out of the city…. but you can’t take the city out of the girl.
I wonder if this is entirely true.
What happens when you take the city girl OUT TO the country?  Drop her off there.  And then she spends the entire second half of her life in the country?

Well… I’ll tell you what happened.

It is lot like when you bake that coarse salt on the outside of a soft pretzel.  It is still the same old soft pretzel underneath… but it isn’t nearly complete without that salty finishing touch.

I am still city underneath.  But I have a lot of country on the outside.

Now granted, I don’t own a pair of cowboy boots or anything.  I don’t know anything about planting crops… or building barns.   I’m not even sure what you would feed goats.   But I sure do love to be out in the middle of this rural-opolis.

I love to drive down the road, and see the fields full of corn, and beans, and cows… and such.  I love that the roads which connect my home to the grocery store…. pass pastures where horses gallop.  And large red barns, and streams, and wooded density.

It is healing to go outside and feel the nature surround me… entirely.  No concrete, glass, and steel, rising up to the heavens.  Just tree limbs, with an assortment of aviary wonders.

It seems nice that we don’t have an 89th Street, or a 54th Avenue.  Or 111,000 people per square mile… like in Manila, The Philippines.   Or how about the 24 million people in Shanghai, or even the 8.5 million in New York City.

I feel awful lucky to be out in these parts.   It feels easy to breathe the air out here.  To take a walk.  To lie in the grass.

Yes, I love the nature of it all.  The people are slower, and easier about most things.   Sure… the salt of the earth can be found anywhere… with any kind of people.  But the country has become the salt on my pretzel.  The thing that makes my life filled with flavor.  It truly has become my second nature.

And I like it here.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir (1838–1914)

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

I think people are a lot like chicken eggs.  But before I get into that… Let me say this.

And…. I know.   I’ve said it before.  I love chicken eggs.  In fact, I eat 2 to 3 every morning for breakfast.   I bet there a lot of mother chickens who would wring my neck about now.

But I’m not the only one who likes eggs.   They seem to be pretty popular the whole world around.  In fact, when we were in Amsterdam, they fixed a LOT of dishes with fried eggs right in them.  They would put fried eggs on any old sandwich.

And wouldn’t you know.  This whole egg-craze thing isn’t so new.   People have been eating eggs since there first started to be people, about six million years ago.

Here’s the thing…..  why early humans liked to get them.  Eggs don’t fight back – you can pick up a dozen just by climbing to where the nest is and picking them up.  Go Thor go.

Folks started wising up about the whole egg deal in years that followed.   By about 7000 BC, people in China and India were keeping chickens and eating their eggs, so they didn’t have to go hunting for wild bird eggs anymore.

The earliest way was to eat eggs was raw… but then sticks were rubbed together, and by golly…. we got fire.   And, once people began to use fire, about a million years ago, they often roasted eggs in the coals. I might try this at the next campfire.   It seems like the shells would break… not like the big old Teradactyl Eggs of yesteryear.

With the invention of pottery, about 5000 BC, boiling eggs gradually became more common.  Then people really started cooking with Crisco.  Eggs started showing up in all different cooked forms… And  also in breads, cakes, and custards.

And there you have it.   The incredible, edible egg.

Now how is that like people…?  Well.  If you taste the shell of the egg… It is really not that great.  Even once you figure out how to crack the thing open and find something very different on the inside… In its raw form… The egg still doesn’t taste that great.

But give it a little attention… A little effort… You know… A couple tablespoons of butter and some heat… The egg becomes a thing of culinary beauty.  A delight.  A joy.  A treat.

And so it goes with people.  Maybe someone we know.  Maybe ourselves.  What is on the inside may need a little coaxing before the true treasure can come alive.

And that is exactly, without exaggeration…an exemplification of our likeness.. To eggs.

Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.  —      Oscar Wilde
   
The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart. —  Maryanne Williamson

Memories are really something.  We can have all sorts of memories.   From very good to very bad… and everything in between.

Tonight I was thinking about our school cafeteria lunches, when we were growing up.  I have lots of fond memories of this.  I loved our school lunches.  The cook was Mrs. Brandenberger… or something like that.  Boy oh boy… we lucked out at Our Lady of Mercy, when they found her.

She could cook up a storm.  I can’t hardly remember a single lunch that I didn’t love.  Of course… I had my favorites.  Everybody loved pizza day and hamburger day.  But a lot of times, we would have some sort of casserole something or another.  They were always just lick-your-lips good.  Friday was always mac and cheese… or fish sandwiches… or grilled cheese.  Catholics.

But probably my favorite thing… at the end of the lunch line… right after the fruits and desserts… and right before the milk… were these big huge boards stacked with buttered bread sandwiches or peanut-butter bread sandwiches.  Always white bread.  And always cut in half on the diagonal.

I LOVED them both.  But my favorite thing was to eat PB Bread with chocolate milk.  You could have as much as you wanted.  But here was the catch.  You had to eat what you took.  This included the food that you nabbed when you went through the line.

I was a pretty big eater as a kid.  I burned it a mile a minute.  But one day… I really had the hankering for the peanut butter bread sandwiches.  I procured an entire stack.  I even took two chocolate milks.   As foreshadowing does in these types of tales…. you may be guessing that I couldn’t eat it all.

Not a problem.  I was clever too.  I stuffed my Johnny Marzetti Noodles… and the remainder of my PB Bread into my half-drunk-chocolate milk carton.  All I had to do was slip that tray through the  exit window, and I was free and clear.

When I had arranged everything on the tray just so… I began my clever exodus.  It was the perfect crime.  But then.  But then, but then, but then.  Just as I got to the window… Sister Adriana took over as the tray – monitor.

Yes.  “Sister-I-will-slap-you-down-Adriana”… the Principal of the school.  She knew.  I knew she knew….. but What The Flunk….???  Were there cameras?  Was she a witch?  Was there a rat at my table.  WHAT?

No turning back… no turning around.  Just pop it through the window Polly.

Just as I stepped up… she grabbed the over-inflated chocolate milk carton and put the big stop hand in my face.  She opened the carton and scooped the container clean on to my plate.  I then felt a painful tug on my ear… and I was “placed” back at a table to consume my swill.

So as you can see… memories are something.  They can come in many forms, shapes and sizes.  The good, and the bad memories can even co-mingle.  And… such is the case here.

I think it is important for us to remember.  We can… and probably should… learn from our memories.  Both the good and the bad.  It is how we grow.

I certainly learned a valuable lesson that day.

Nuns are a lot stronger than they look.

A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen. ~Edward de Bono
 
 The existence of forgetting has never been proved: We only know that some things don’t come to mind when we want them. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

If I were Queen of the World… or even the Czar of North America, I would come up with a few new rules.

Actually, I would integrate about a gazillion new edicts…  but these would be some of the easy-peasy-domineasy-rules…. which would take effect immediately.

1. Shows like 60 Minutes would not be permitted to show reruns.  Even in the summer time.  Sure, I know summer time is the land of the the repeat on TV.  But News & Reporting Shows… like 60 Minutes ought to find some schmucks around the office who will work in August.

2.  Chalk and blackboards would forever be mandatory in classrooms.  Kids these days have screens, and white boards, and electronic classroom devices.  The chalkboard is becoming a thing of  extinction.   I will tell you this much…. there is nothing like the smell of chalk dust in the schoolroom … or having the responsibility of cleaning the boards after school….  Long live the chalkiness.

3.  Along the same olfactory lines….   The people who make baseball cards would have to put the bubble gum back in the packs.  They stopped putting that really hard-nasty-unchewable-piece of gum in the wrappers a few years back I guess.  Now the baseball card smell like ink and cardboard.  They used to smell like bubble gum.  It was better that way.

4. Everyone would have to write at least one term paper on an old fashioned typewriter.  No corrector ribbons.  The old hard way.  I think this might create a greater appreciation for current technology.  In addition … the individual  would have to use a paperback Webster’s Dictionary all the way through.  No iPhone app for spell check.  They might be surprised by what they find inside that little book.

5. There would be a two mandatory 5 minute silent periods each day.  Silence and reflection.  No talking.  No phones, computers, or electronics.  Five minutes of stillness and contemplation, each day… at 1:07 p.m.  and 1:07 a.m. or something.   You can hit on either one… but you have to check in for one.  It is a mere 5 minutes out of 1,440 minutes each day.

6. Fried Baloney and the essential white pasty foods would be mandatory items on every restaurant breakfast menu.  They are good for you.  The Gluten thing is a myth for most of the population.  Each your white bread, fried baloney, and grits.  Joy to you and yours.

7. Cow Racing would be the new National Sport, all over the world.  There would be a World Cup of Cow Racing.    The main event would be the 100-Meter Saunter.  The winners will surely be celebrated!  Milk Toasts will abound.  Cheers.  Go Heifers.  Stomp your hooves.  Swing your udders like there’s no tomorrow.  Run for the gold Bessie.  Dream and Believe It.    (I’m telling you.  This would catch on like hot cakes and maple syrup.)

That is…   ……. if I were Queen.

“The object of government in peace and in war is not the glory of rulers or of races, but the happiness of common man.”  —   William Beveridge

Today I was a Guest Host.   Not like a gameshow Guest Host.  I was a Guest Host in the literal sense.  We had guests, and I was one of the hosts.

Now, guests can come in many forms, shapes and sizes.  There are good guests, bad guests, those which you know, and total-stranger-guests.  Sometimes they are friends, or family, or perhaps the Pope himself.

This time we were lucky.  Our guests were both good-guests, and good-friends at the same time!

It is easy with people like these.  We talked and laughed.  This whole entire shindig was supposed to be a pool party.  However, the weather felt more like late October, than mid-August.  Nonetheless, the younger kids swam and we older kids watched.  We talked about things like how our bursitis had been acting up, and it sure would be a drag to need a hip replacement.

Like I said.  Us older kids.

But the weather did not deter our spirit of the day.  We just moved our little party indoors…. as the rains came down.

And.  That is the thing about good friends.  It is easy.

You can talk…..pretty much endlessly….about all sorts of things.   From the finer points of puzzle solving, to daycare woes….. and more.

We all agreed that we didn’t want a Pit Bull.  Not for a pet, or for a neighbor’s pet.  With all the fatal pit bull maulings of late, it makes you wonder about the breed.   I know you Pit Bull defenders will say it all depends on how you raise them… and your Pit Bull is as sweet as can be.  Yet, that is exactly what the last women said, after her mother was killed by the family pit bull.  I can’t remember a time in recent history where there was a death by Pomeranian.  Or even death by Shih Tzu.

At any rate, the conversation when from  things like heroin addiction, to kitty leukemia,  to crop conditions, to prize winning roses.

We managed to make time for eating lots of spaghetti, and chocolate cream pie, and such.  It was all good.

And then….. like the frosting on a cake… ….. those good guests helped to clean up.  They did it with an air of the nonchalant.  Like they felt right at home.

And I guess that is….. the one big point of this tonight.  Good friends are certainly fun.  But at the same time, they are also comfortable.  Like your favorite chair.  And.  It always feels like you are right at home.

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.  –Jane Austen

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. — Douglas Pagels

Today, my Mom asked me why I didn’t grow a garden.  I told her I was a chip off the old block.  No green thumb.  I said I couldn’t grow a flower if Mother Nature herself promised to pee on it every day.

So tonight, I figured I bring you a few thoughts… from some folks who seem to know about the true nature of things.

“Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower” – Unknown

“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.”  — Victor Hugo

“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.”  — Rabindranath Tagore

“Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.”  —   Albert Schweitzer

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.”  — Albert Einstein

….and then…..

“He fell out of the Stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down”

Compromise.
Now that is really something.   It has a few different meanings, by definition.  Mostly, it is an agreement …. or even a settlement… of a dispute.  But the agreement is made by each side making concessions.    It is sort of a “middle state” which often requires modifications of a “something.”  Sort of like the two-headed llama in the Dr. Doolittle movie.  The Push Me – Pull Me thing…

And of course, you must have an ability to listen to two (or more) sides when something is in question.

Compromise is relative too.  It all depends how strongly you feel about the outcome.  If you are sharing an ice cream cone with someone, and trying to decide on the flavor,  “Fudge Nut Brownie Deluxe” may be what you REALLY want… but “Triple Peanut Butter Chocolate” will do just fine.  So THAT compromise was easy.  Now… let say you and yours….. are deciding on whether to buy a pick up truck OR a convertible.  And you haul around a lot of wood.  Well… the compromise becomes more weighted for you.

Tonight, Mary and I came to a compromise on a fairly big decision we’ve been working on here at the property.  We arrived at a pretty good agreement.  But…. when we couldn’t quite iron out every little detail, we decided to let it all rest, until… as Mary put it… “the dust settles.”  Now that is a good phrase.

“When the dust settles.”   Pretty wise advice in a LOT of cases.  Just let things be still for a while.  Let it all just sit where it is… and maybe we can draw funny pictures in the dust layer tomorrow.

But me oh my.  I am the Queen of Clean …. I have a heck of a time letting dust settle anywhere.  I sweep, and dust, and wipe off counters.  I like things neat and tidy.  No dusty dirt anywhere.

This carries over whenever I try to negotiate or compromise.  I like things “just so” and everything in their place.  I like to get things all buttoned up.

Yet… when it comes to compromise… it is often not possible to get things finalized.  Mary is really good at discussion, and solution-finding.  Me… I am like a bull in a china shop.  Especially when I feel strongly about the outcome.

But tonight, we are letting the dust settle.

I think compromise is a good thing.  And I have a lot to learn…. about compromise… a whole lot more.

As the old saying goes….. “Compromise is a lot like a Chihuahua in a cow field.”   I am not sure exactly what this means… but like I mentioned earlier…. I have a lot to learn.

“Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break”  — Jane Wells

“The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.” — Bertrand Russell

When we flip the switch on the wall, the one that magically provides light to the kitchen…. we never stop to ponder everything that goes into that little switch.

Now… here is the deal.   We have been led to believe there are miles and miles of wire that connect that little switch to it great power source.  It’s master controller.  Its big kahuna.

We have been led to believe that once your finger and the little switch makes a “call for electric”….that the power travels from the power plant to your house through an amazing system called the power distribution grid.

Which is sort of true.  But not what you think.  There are tiny little people in there… called jolts.  They ride all through the system… on tiny little motor scooters and also on distribution buses.  They get off and on at differnt stops.   Most of us see those big Power Lines…. and we think wire is in there.

But it is really one big bus route.  It happens… in what is called Phase Three Electricity.  Phase 1.  The little dude in you house gets the message that you need light.  2.  He takes the message to the power plant, riding his really fast little scooter and hands the message to the bus driver.  3.  Then a whole bus full of little dudes come rushing to your house… and light up your room, or turn on your blender… or whatever.

Seriously.  The little people all have bright yellow hair.

If you don’t believe me, try cutting into one of those “wires” that you think is really just a wire.  You will get the poop knocked out of you.  It is a special security system in place for the bus routes.

Every once in a while, a bus breaks down, or a little dude wrecks his scooter.  These are called power outages.

But those little people love their work.  They get really charged up about it.    In fact… they never re-fuse a job.  They are very well grounded folks, I’ll tell you.  But at night, when they want to relax and have fun… they go to little night clubs.. and watch Wire Strippers.

There is no need to thank me for all this information.  I enjoy sharing what I know.

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”  –   Aristotle

I used to be a lot more competitive when I was younger.  Boy, did I ever love to play ANYTHING… And I loved to win at whatever it was being played.

On the block where I grew up, we used to have foot races down the middle of the street.  The finish line would be at the fire hydrant, in front of the Mailey’s house.   We would run our little hearts out.

But not every one could win.  Not everyone does.

And I am not sure that there are too many situations in life where we either win or lose at all.  I think most of the time, it just is.  There simply is….. more than one way about anything.

Sure… When you go to Vegas and lay it all out on the table… And take home the big pot… You feel like the winner.  But who really comes out on top at those Casinos ….in the bigger scheme of things.

You see.  There is always a bigger scheme of things.  That is how life is.  We go through a certain situation, and we may think we’ve “won” or “lost”.  But the truth of it is… However it comes out may or may not meet our expectations.  And that is when we start to put labels on it.  Without the projections, we don’t have disappointments, let downs, and the like.  Life just turns out no matter how it turns out… Despite our very best efforts sometimes.

Today…  I was talking with my Mom, telling her that Mary played in a ball tournament.  “How’d they do?, she asks.”  I responded… “Not so good Mom.  They finished fourth.”

Mom thought for a minute and said, “Welllll.  Somebody has to finish fourth.”

And there you have it.  Somebody has to finish fourth.  We all can’t be winners all the time.  As much as we’d like to be.

Sure, there are times when we draw the Ace of Spades and the One-Eyed Jack.   Or score the goal.  Or even pick the RIGHT line at the grocery store.  But life has just as many fourth-place finishes.

Even still.  You haven’t totally lost it all.  There is something to be thankful for in most any case.  (…. as long as there are more than four teams… )

And believe me… There are ALWAYS more than four teams.  Always a bigger scheme of things.

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them. “Every day begin the task anew.”
– Saint Francis de Sales

There were a lot of really good things about this day.

I mean… who doesn’t love a good heaping plateful of Tuna Surprise for dinner?   And I found a nickel in the driveway today.  Not only that, when I was in the checkout line at CVS…. I got a coupon for $2 OFF my next purchase…. As long as I don’t buy any food items, soaps, shampoos, or conditioners, vitamins, household goods, dental products, or medications.

So…. I guess I can get some cat litter… or…maybe some poster board?

At any rate, there were certain things about this day…. Which were spot on.  Like the beautiful mist that began rolling through our meadow at dusk.

But…..as with any given day…it is  also able to hold its fair share of lows.

And such was the case this evening… When I heard that Robin Williams committed suicide.  It truly made me sad.  He had a big old fight with alcoholism, and depression, for probably all is his life.  We can’t possibly know how hard this may have been for him.  Robin Williams’ comedic brilliance always blinded us from what may have been happening on the inside with him.  Highs, and lows.  Struggles that we never saw or knew existed.

This is probably true of a LOT of people that we know…and come in contact with each day.  Not necessarily alcoholism and depression. But everyone has internal struggles.  Every single one of us.  The clerk at the grocery store.  The lady in the car in front of you.  Your kid.  Your best friend.   Your spouse.   Everybody has a something.

And if a person doesn’t have a something….  They are quite lucky and blessed.  Or oblivious.  But none-the-less.

As we navigate through each day, I think it is a good thing to try and be understanding of this.  That we all have a battle, or a trial, or a tribulation.  It is probably always a better thing to offer someone a helping hand, or a smile…. to help them travel through their day.

Compassion may be on of the most beautiful attributes that any one can have in life.  I hope that someday… I can remember this ALL the time.  I hope too, I can always off someone a smile… Or something to help them through their day.

Like Robin Williams giving all of us…so many laughs and smiles.

 “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” – Robin Williams