…. and the milkweeds were tired.  It had been a long, cold winter.  It snowed, iced, froze and blew…. in the grandest of proportions.  A bitter season had long been upon them.

Their little milkweed hairs were matted to their little milkweed faces.  Their twigs were brittle.   As the pre-Spring sun began to warm their husks… they started to awaken…

“Holy Crap Nermal.  You still hanging in there buddy?”

“Oh yeah, Floyd.  I’m still here… although I feel more like a Stink Weed right now.  Crappy dang winter.”

“You can say that again.  That was crappy for sure.  Are you doing okay Nermal?”

“I am not sure I have the energy to go on Floyd.  I’m thinking about just dropping off the stem.”

“No, No Nermal  YOU mustn’t.  Nermal, there is so much to look forward to.  We are going to get our Fluffy Whites back… and then the Monarchs will come.  What other plant is visited every year by The Royals?  Just think about it Nermal.   Remember how much we love the Monarchs’ visits….?”

“It is too far away.  I’m tired Floyd.  I’m letting go of the stem now…”

“Wait Nerm.  Look up!   Look up!”

… and both of the milkweeds looked to the sky above them.  They saw The Magnificent Ball Tree.  It was still here too… with more orblets than ever. Thousands and thousands of sphericals.  Somehow… it made them happy inside.  It made them feel better.

So they rejoiced and… together… they waited for Spring.   And Nermal clung tightly to the stem….with his friend….   … ….his good friend Floyd.

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I was just thinking earlier, that each one of us makes a difference to someone.  No matter how small or how large…  there are times when we help others…. and we don’t even know it.  People help me all the time, and I am constantly amazed at the kindness of those people.

At some point during each day….    maybe all we need to do is look up….  or maybe left, or right…  but somewhere around us… we might catch a glimpse of the magnificent.  And there we will be… sharing the magnificent with someone who needs it.  And it will make us happy inside.

Gray.  It really is a good color.  Suits.  Certain nun’s habits.    Yet sometimes… a good color gets a bad name.

The Scarlet Letter… for one.  Black Sunday.  Blue Lagoon.  The Red Dragon.   Now whenever I hear Gray, one of the first things that comes to mind is the recent color association in literature….  “50 Shades of Gray”

I haven’t read the book, “50 Shades of Gray” and I have not seen the movie.  I don’t much plan on either.  It simply does not appeal to me…

Critical reception of Fifty Shades of Grey has been generally negative…. with most critics noting poor literary qualities of the work.   Sir Salman Rushdie said about the book: “I’ve never read anything so badly written that got published. It made Twilight look like War and Peace.” Maureen Dowd described the book in The New York Times as being written “like a Bronte devoid of talent,” and said it was “dull and poorly written.”

So, beside the bad reviews…. it is not a big priority of mine to learn about other’s escapades.  At least those kind.

I mean, I always dislike when I see two people slobbering all over one another in public.  That old PDA…. Public Display of Affection.   Sidebar here:   I think displaying affection is just fine in public.  I think having the next closest thing to intercourse… right there on the corner of 5th & Elm… is not so okay.  Just my little opinion.  There is no right or wrong here.

And holy smokes … THAT was my whole point when I started writing.  Gray.  That entire middle value between black and white.  If fact, I think there are WAY more than 50 shades.

For any topic, subject, controversy, or opinion under the sun…  there is a big  gray area.  No Black.  No White.  That’s what I think, at least.

I think once people quit drawing lines in the sand, once they quit seeing things as this way OR that…  we might have a big chance of living on this ball all together… . as humans first… and everything else to follow.

But …. we all seem to be right.  It is clear cut.  Black and White.   And therein lies the problem.  I am right for sure.  Oh….  and so are you.  Until YOU think you are right about something that doesn’t jive with MY right thing.    And there goes that stinking line in the sand.

The Planetary “Big Agreement” is…. of course… some sort of Utopian Dream State.  It will most likely never happen without the entire human race experiencing some sort of elevated enlightened awareness.

But until then… perhaps… all of us can take the time to see a little more gray.  More than 50 shades.    All it takes is shining a little more light on the subject…. and from all different sides.  You will see amazing shadows… amazing shades of gray… but also tremendous highlights.

Or… you could just go see the movie.

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I am blaming on Sweet Polly Pure Bread, and Lois Lane, and Snow White.

Stay with me here for a minute.  You see… today is the Anniversary of The Barbie Doll.

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March  9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll.

Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts….. AND….  her parents’ names are given as George and Margaret Roberts … if you can EVEN imagine what they might look like.  They haled from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin.

So there you have it.  Now why am I blaming the likes of Sweet Polly Pure Bread, et al?  Well, I’ll tell you right dang now.  Those characters ALWAYS needed saving.  They were constantly getting in a big pot of hot water, and some hero would have to swoop in and save the day.

I wanted no part of that, I’ll tell you right now.  Nope.  I wanted to be on the team of the Heroes.  So I never played with Barbies.  I think I associated her as being the kind of gal who would fall for the antics of Snidely Whiplash.  And then she would be tied to the train tracks.  And then someone would have to save the day… or there would be big boobs splattered all over the B&O Railroad Tracks.

GI Joes.  Now I had a ton of them.  My sister and I used to play GI Joe’s for hours on end.  Until we grew out of that phase… sometime before college. 🙂

I am sure I wasn’t the norm.  Most little girls loved to play with baby dolls and Barbies.  I remember the first time I let the cat out of the bag with a bunch of little girlfriends.  They laughed and said… “YOU play with GI JOES????”  And there it was.

Of course now I know that neither one was right or wrong.   To play with Barbies or not to play with Barbies.  They are simply different.

I think the world is getting better at accepting differences.  But we have to teach our children early on.  We have to let them know that people who are different from us are simply different .  And that is all.  Like some people like mustard on their ham sandwiches… and others prefer mayonnaise.  Neither ham sandwich is wrong.   WHOOPS.  BIG apology to The Pig.  My bad.

At any rate, you must be getting my point here.  Accepting that which is distinct, divergent, or unalike in our lives.  We owe it to our fellow human beings to offer them respect for their choices.

We all can’t be right… all the time.  Or wrong.  But we can all be different…. every single minute of our lives.  And everything is right with that.

I started my good day with a whole bunch of Rock Lovers.

Yes.  Today was the Rock and Gem Show over in Richmond, Indiana.  I had a couple of great companions and away we went…. rock hammers in hand.

I have to admit, in all my years of being totally fascinated with rocks… this was my first experience with a “Show.”  I didn’t know quite what to expect.  Would they have people there… dressed up like Rock Hudson, Kid Rock, and Rocky Balboa?

Or would they pipe in music by the Rolling Stones?  Or would any Rock-n-Roll do?  Were they all going to be from Boulder, Colorado… or maybe Little Rock, Arkansas?  I took a quick survey… and not a one of them lived in a Glass House…. that is for sure.

But as it turns out… it was like a really like a big sale.  A dang big rock sale.  Rocks of all shapes and sizes.  Crystal, meteorites, gems, fossils, moon rocks, jewelry, trinkets, and more.

I was foaming at the mouth I’ll tell you.  I was like a kid in a candy store, a pig in the mud, a drug addict at pharmacy school.

My first mistake, was being a little TOO interested.  The first booth was devoted to meteorites.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I was completely interested in learning about those rocks.  In fact, just a couple of days ago, I was distracted with thinking about how one might tell a meteorite from all the other rocks.  I figured the meteor thing was scam-ish.

But low and behold, I REALLY learned about how to tell the difference between meteorites and all the other lowly breeds of rocks.   WAY TOO MUCH information, in fact.  I decided at that point, to curb my enthusiasm just a pinch.

From there on, it was Rock Heaven.  I walked out of there with about 20 pounds of crystals, fossils, and… well… rocks.  My favorite, is a little deal from Morocco.  It is Vanadinite on Barite.

Of course, I had to look both of them up when I arrived home. Vanadinite is an excellent crystal for writers who want to get a lot done.  Apparently…. it will stimulate an individual mentally …. and will help to improve energy levels in order to achieve  goals.

Good for me.  I think I am achieving goals as we speak…. ones I don’t even know about.

The other was Barite.  Barite is well-known for its great range of colors and varied crystal forms and habits.   I can only imagine what kinds of habits it has… does it drink and smoke… or leave its socks on the bathroom floor… or drink milk right out of the carton?

This Barite sounds a little more complicated to me.  Time will tell.

Which just goes to show you.  I had no idea what I would find going in…. and as it turns out… I am a better woman for it.  A Rock Show can really open up your world.  Sort of like cracking open a Geode.

Perhaps every situation can teach us something… about something.  In fact I am pretty sure that is true.  We just have to be willing to figure it out.    Sometimes those lessons will be hard as rock… other times… they will be crystal clear.  You just don’t know what to expect at the Rock Show of Life.

Have you ever put your foot in your mouth?  And if so…. well……  you know what I mean.

But where did the phrase come from?  Some sources say it comes from the cattle disease… foot-and-mouth.  The name of the disease was then metaphorically applied to humans who’s verbal utterances got them in to big handy trouble.  Dag nab it.

Other sources say it comes as a result of a politician named Sir Richard Roche, in the late 1770s.  He was always saying the dumbest things… like Dan Quayle.  He got the nickname “The Mouth”.  The other popular phrase of the day was “Putting your foot in it”… meaning stepping in poop.  Hence the phrase somehow transcended from there.

It really makes no difference.

I bet you it comes from someone who bites their toenails in public.  Everyone is obviously embarrassed for this person, because they are sitting there, in the middle of public, biting on their gross toenails, with their foot is in their mouth.   That is what I think.

Nonetheless.  Today, I put my foot in my mouth.  I felt horrible about it.

This seems to happen to me frequently when I am in public.  You see… my mind is always spinning things in a hundred directions.  Honest to goodness.  You know…. when I am by myself … I can spout these things out without it really falling on anyone else’s ears.  But SHOOT!  When you put me around people… you know… in public…. I sometimes forget to strap my filter on my face.

And out it comes.

Part of my cloth is to make amends immediately.  So today… after I said my dumb donkey thing … I got up from the room…. and stalked the guy all the way to the john.  I didn’t follow him in… but I thought about it.  See what I MEAN?  At any rate, when he came out, I apologized, and I started crying.  Great.  Now I am an idiot with a foot in my mouth and snot running down my face.

He was completely understanding.  A complete gentleman with the utmost character.  And he was quite forgiving.  Although, I think he might have thought I was a little bit on the crazy-spindle when I followed him to the men’s room.

So what is my point?  I was reminded to use that Silence of the Lambs strap-on-mouth-gag …. a little more often …. when I am out in public.

On the serious side.   It reminded me to:
1. Be present in the moment.
2. Pause before I react.
3. Speak and act kindly, always.
4. And for Pete’s Sake… hit the REWIND Button …. OR the SHUT UP Button.

Life’s lessons.  WE can’t live without them.  And if we do… we haven’t learned a thing.

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Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.  –  Plato

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Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!  —  Lawrence G. Lovasik

New experiences.  They can go either way really…. good or bad.   Or even somewhere in between.  But I believe it is a necessary part of growth for us to take part in new experiences. But setting that aside….

Tonight, we went to a hockey game.  Is it a hockey game, or a match?  Whichever.  The Miami University RedHawks played North Dakota.  I have been to two hockey games in my life, prior to this.  The first was a long time ago.  The Dayton Gems played someone…. at Hara Arena.  I think I was in the 2nd or 3rd game, and I went with my pal Jana and some of her family.  A hockey puck almost hit us that night.  It scared the snot right out of my nose.  That is all I remember about it… other than it was noisy and busy.  The second game was less remarkable.  Adulthood.  Professional hockey game… where we watched  people fight and drink.

This evening was a lot more fun.  The venue was great.  We went with our friends Mike and Donna Simpson.  Not a one of us is a hockey fan, but I think we would have enjoyed ourselves no matter what we were watching.

But we all liked to watch different things.  I like NFL and College Basketball.  Donna likes high school basketball.  Mike is a baseball fan.  Mary likes to watch anything he family is watching.

All of us are fans of different things.  Not necessarily sports either.  Some people love Broadway Musicals, other like Garden Shows, and some people might just be crazy for Chocolate Souffle’.  We could all be fanatical about something or another… that is for sure.

At any rate… the Miami University Redhawks… were defeated by North Dakota University.  1-2.  But the saddest thing about the night, falls with North Dakota.  They don’t have a dang mascot.  Nadda.  Zero. Zippo. Zilch.  So cheering for the team is a heck of a problem, by my estimation.  Gooooooooooooo North Dakota University.  Like…..  every time they have to say this.    No catchy phrases, or goofy hats.  Just go North Dakota University.

Miami lost to North Dakota.  By a score of 1-2.  Apparently, the no-name-mascot-thing hasn’t hindered them any.  They are ranked number one.

But I am off track.  As I looked around the arena this evening, and saw all those fans, cheering wildly for those teams…. it reminded me that world is full of people with unique perspectives and passions in life.  And that is a good thing.  It makes the planet an interesting place, and full of diversity, and life.  It might put us in a good spiritual space,  to embrace others’ interests, likes, and dislikes.  They do not have to match ours…. to be grand.

And that is all I am thinking of this evening.  Hockey, Ice Skates, Body-Checks, and Spiritual-Checks.

So now… I think it best… If I make like a Hockey Player…. and get the Puck out of here.

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.  ==  Henri Frederic Amiel

Tonight, I have consulted a panel of experts concerning some pretty big questions.  For your viewing pleasure, here is an overview of the interview, brought to by Kid Wednesday Productions at The Big Can Do.

PK: What is the meaning of life?
Confucius:   Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

PK: I’ll just say….. hecky-dern.  Confucius just cleared things up nicely.  Would anyone else like to chime in on this one… the meaning of life?
James M. Barrie: Life is a long lesson in humility.

PK:  Well I am certainly getting a big dose of humiliation here.  Third time is a charm… anyone else care to weigh in?
Albert Camus:  You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

PK:  Okay.  I guess that is my queue to move on to the next question.  Happiness.  If we can’t search for what it consists of … then how will we ever know what happiness is?
Mahatma Gandhi:   Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

PK: Like a song?
Dale Evans:  Who cares about the clouds when we’re together? Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.

PK: Alright.  Who in the heck let Dale Evans in here, for crying out loud?  Will somebody show Dale back to the sound stage for The Roy Rogers Show?
Albert Camus:  I know of only one duty, and that is to love.
PK:  Camus… could you do a duty of love right now, and show Dale Evans to the door?

PK:  Okay everybody, settle down.  Let’s get back on task.   Does anyone have anything to share about life’s purpose:
William Feather:  One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.
PK:These panel answers are becoming quite an adventure!  Any one else?
Martin Luther King, Jr.:  Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’

PK:  Marty.  Thanks.   Now those truly are some great words of wisdom.  So…  at this point…. I will do something really good for others… I will put an end to this night’s (mostly) fruitless segment.  It just seems like the right thing to do.

PK: So…….. Thanks for tuning in tonight.  We’ll try this again soon.
Mark Twain:  Yes. Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

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And here it is.  Misao Okawa, the world’s oldest human being….. has completely and officially turned 117.

This grand Dame was born on March 5, 1898.  The date struck a chord with me.  My grandpa, Ed, would be that old.   He died in 1978.  Smoked cigars and loved to talk.  He taught me how to play Poker, Black Jack and how to fish.  I did not like to fish… and I still don’t.  Some days, he would follow me home from school  in his car… just to make sure I was okay.  I always knew he was tailing me.  Every now and again, he would pull up … like by chance… and ask me if I wanted to go to Baskin-Robbins.  I didn’t like to go fishing … but I loved to go get ice cream.  That was a lifetime ago.

But I digress…. speaking of lifetime’s ago..

This woman…. this 117 year old woman lives in Japan.   She lives in a retirement home in Osaka.  And…. on her birthday she ate cake, sat around… and had her picture taken with family.  Her son is 92 and he is squatting down in the photos like a Major League Catcher.

In a news report last year, Okawa said her longevity might come from her love of sushi and sleeping.  Now… they either caught her off guard in all the AP photos… or she was chewing on Sushi…. or she was ready for a nap.  At 117, it might have been all three at once.

Apparently… her favorite meal is Sushi…. and to be concise…  she really likes mackerel on vinegar-steamed rice.  She has it at least once every month.  I for one, am going to stock up on my mackerel and vinegar-steamed rice.

But I am not sure I would want to live to be 117.  That puts me slobbering on my floral-print shirt… in the year 2081.  I just don’t know if it is all that is cracked up to be… at that ripe old age.

YET… as Einstein so aptly suggested…. everything is relative.  Ask me that same question… when I am 116 years, 364 days old.  And I will most likely say… “Well hell yes.  I want to be 117 years old.”

Yep.  Everything in life is relative.  It is all a matter of where you are standing, and when you are standing there.  And of course, you and I could be in the same spot at the exact same moment, and experience two entirely realities.  I have seen this happen, time, and time, and time again.  Perspective and relativity.

I guess as long as I can write and draw when I am 117… I’ll be happy as a pig in the mud.   Or a Japanese woman with raw mackerel.  If I can stay awake long enough to notice.

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Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years.  —    Ausonius

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Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein’s general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out.  —  Stephen Hawking

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In 1905 Albert discovered Relativity, in 1906 he invented Rock and Roll.  —  Yahoo Serious

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Some days hold more meaning than others, it seems.

This usually occurs with a birthday, or an anniversary date.  Sometimes though, the universe opens up and we have a big dang day… right out of the clear blue.

Those are days to remember.
And on this day ….. I do just that sort of remembering.  It marks one of the days in my life when I began learning some new things.  About myself.  About life itself.

It is one of my favorite times or the year.  I have mentioned it before.  It is 03/04.  Or… if you say it out loud.  March Fourth.

March Forth.

And that is what I did.  Since that time I have learned a bunch of good little lessons.  A whole bunch.  I am still trying to live by them all…. but as hard as I try… sometimes I miss a step.  Sometimes I fall flat on my goofy face.  Yet…. the BIG lesson has stuck with me.  That what I have held on to.  Like an adorable little pig.

The simplest questions in this world…. are the most profound.   Some of the questions I continue to ask….. Where were you born?  (We can be born over and over again…. you know.)  Where is your home?  (Home has a lot of meanings….)  Where are you going?  (Not in my Hot Rod of a car… but on my life path.)   What are you doing?  (And this one is HUGE.)

Our only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to ourselves. If we lose that… we have lost our own person.  Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the sure sign of a false message.

We are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true. If we wish it…. it can come true.  We may have to work for it, however.

We are led through our lives….. by that little inner being that is longing to learn new things.  In that…. we should try very lovingly not to turn away from possible futures…… unless, of course…… we’re certain we don’t have anything to learn from them.

We are always free to change.  It is a profound freedom.

And…. all of the above may be completely wrong for you.  But for me, it is true, and I strive to march forth with it.  May peace be with each of you.

Patterns are everywhere.

In your Mom’s sewing drawer.  In a woodworker’s toolkit.  On materials for dresses, and couches, and rugs.  In the way your house is made.  Birds have patterns in their flights.  Beavers in the way they build dams.

There are so many great patterns in nature.  Nature has a way of repeating itself.  I like to look at those repetitions in the natural world.  They are everywhere.  In trees, and snowflakes, and corn.  You name it… just about.

History.  Yep, there are patterns in history too.  It definitely has a way of repeating itself.

But there are patterns in us too.  Not the physical kind.  Sure, there are plenty of those.  Our fingerprints, in the flecks of our eyes, on our tongues, and on and on.

We have behavioral, emotional, psychological, and intellectual patterns as well.  Sometimes these can be good, and other times… not so much.

The difference is….. figuring out which are good… and which are bad.

And THAT can be a heck of a lot harder than what it seems.  Sometimes we can’t see our own patterns, but others can spot them like a bad, bad floral print on a Lay-Z-Boy Rocker.

I’m not sure what the best way is to break bad patterns.  But I know it means being truthful with ourselves.  You know…. figuring out our authentic selves.

And those times we identify a good pattern… we should fly with it.  Like a bird.  Or grow with it.  Like a tree.   Or build on it.  Like a beaver.

Maybe with the bad ones… we should apply similar analogies.  If we know it is a harmful pattern…..    Like a bird.  We should peck away at it.  Like a tree.   Leaf it alone.  Or like a beaver.

Dam.