I was sitting in my office today…. in the quietest of quiet.  And my computer “dinged.”  Someone had sent me a message.    And in that message was the best quote ever.

It embodies the standard I have in my head, and my heart…. for my own life.  Sometimes I don’t live up to it.

At any rate, here is the quote by Sai Ali Baba.

Before you speak ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve on the silence?

This is profound, in so many ways.

But perhaps, that which we do not often consider.

“Does it improve on the silence?”

How often do we try to be in our own silence and experience how that feels at any given moment.  Perhaps, this moment.

With that, I have no more words of my own tonight.

So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
T. S. Eliot

Silence is a source of great strength.
Lao Tzu

The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.
Albert Einstein

If you were a marijuana smoker, and you wanted to buy some Hashish … you might find yourself in a Pot Store.  In which case you would want to know the prices.  You would probably look at the Hash-Tag.

Or, let’s say you LOVE Corned Beef all fried up with potatoes.  And you love games like “You’re IT!”… and such.  You may find yourself combining the two… like a big game of Hash-Tag.

Forget all that.  I am feeling a little bit like the Pied Piper.  And a tiny bit like The Yellow Brick Road.  You can “Follow Me @_yellowpiedroadpiper.

Hash Tags.  They are every where.  I don’t want my life defined by the hash tag.  I’ll tell you that much right now.  And I am not sure I want to be followed…. like I have stalkers.

I don’t want to be known as @_pollyk either.  #are-you-following-me.

That is the thing though.  I love technology and all that it affords us.  But I totally get tired of some of the trends.  #over it.

And, while we are on it.  When did it become the Hash Tag?  I wonder.  To me, it has always been the pound sign, or the numbers symbol.  I guess saying… “Follow me @pollywollydoodle hashtag up-in-arms-pollyis a LOT cooler than saying…. pound sign  #up-in-arms-polly.

The technical term for a hashtag is “octothorp,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary; octo, in reference to the eight points in the figure, and Thorpe, OED says cryptically, from “the surname Thorpe… perhaps even Olympian Jim Thorpe.”

Or it takes a village….. In cartography, the octothorp is a traditional symbol for village.  And here is how it goes.  Eight fields around a central square. That is the source of its name. Octothorp means eight fields.”

(From octo- (“eight”) and thorpe (“field or small village”).  Are you following me here?  If not… you can always Hashtag THAT…….  #octothorpe.

As I mentioned, I say all of this with a push me / pull me attitude.  I love the world of Geekdom.  I truly think many of these technological advances, are just that.  Advances.

On the other hand, certain parts of it bug me.  Like all the acronyms instead of actual language.  IDK it bothers me.  LOL.  I mean… it REALLY shouldn’t bother me so much because  … I use those acronyms sometimes.

I guess, as with so many different things in life, there are two sides to every coin.  There are positives and negatives, to almost any situation you consider.  Sometimes, it just depends which side of the table you are sitting.

Perhaps it is best to get as much as we can from the positive aspects, and try to leave the negative behind.  Think in the upside of things… and let go of the down turns.  As… @Monty_Python so aptly said… #always look on the bright side of life.  That is advice I WILL try to follow.

Positive anything is better than negative nothing.
— Elbert Hubbard

Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
— Zig Ziglar

Sometimes.  Things do not always go as we hope, or wish, or dream.  But the day in and day out of it…. is what happens.

Pretty much… every day.  Sometimes others don’t want what we want.  That too.

Sometimes there are no bells and whistles, or sparklies, or pink unicorns, dag nab it.  It is reminiscent of watching reruns.

But it is this moment.  What we have.  Not that which is past, or that to come.  All we have is the now.

And the best we can do, in any given moment…. is to be our best.  To be true and authentic about life, and about living.  Listen. Watch. Learn. Act.  Lift up our voices.

Not only is it what we should do… it is what we must do.

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.
Buddha

Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.
Art Buchwald

Home.

What is it, really?  In the red book…. with all the other words in it….  a home is purported to be…. “the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.”

I think this is partly true.  But HOME is so much more, I think.

Home is not really where we live.  It is more…. perhaps… HOW we live.

Okay.  Say for instance, you live in a little cracker box of a place, with the love of your life, and all your beautiful children, and your dog named Joe.  (And even your little cat… who calls itself  “Dark Lord of the Universe”).

Then one day… someone plucks you out of that tiny-walled-place, and drops you in the middle of a marble mansion in the middle of the Kingdom of Cuz.   But there is no Life-Partner.  No kids.  And heck NO… not even Joe or his fleas.

You can never see them again, but here is this spectacular mansion.  Are you home?  I would guess not.

Home is that warm bowl of oatmeal in the morning, and the flowers growing in the garden.  Home is the pictures on the wall, and the apples in the bowl on the dining room table.  It is Jessie’s “A” in reading class, and Martha’s big win at the soccer field.  Home is the song on the radio, and ceramic jar from last year’s festival.  The summer pickles in the fridge.

Home is what grows in our hearts.  Like warm green moss on the side of an Oak Tree in the forest.  The two seem completely different, but completely inseparable.

Today, I went to a reception hosted by the HIT Foundation.  Which, by the way, stands for Home Is The Foundation.  It was honoring all their volunteers and donors, and participants, in the Senior Home Repair Program.

Because once you find your home….. you never want to leave it.  Not really.  There is no place like it…. in the world.  So you always go back home.  Or at least… you hope to.

That continues when we get older.  Maybe even more so….. that need, that longing…. to be home.

So this program does repairs and such, for Seniors in our community, to assist them in keeping their homes longer.  A happy longer.  I can only say that the people who donate their time to this cause, are amazing spirits.  Some of them give tirelessly.  Endlessly.  From Construction Companies, to Church Groups.  Incredible giving.

It is an amazing grace, this thing.  Just like home is an amazing grace… in our hearts.  And that…  is why we call it “Home.”

“Home is where I want to be… Pick me up and turn me round.”  – Talking Heads

The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.  —  Maya Angelou

Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need.  —  Sarah Ban Breathnach

Understatement.  By definition, we know the understatement as this:  The presentation of something….. as being smaller… or worse, or less important …. than it actually is.

Yep. Trivialized. Reserved.

Today, it rained here.  UNDERSTATEMENT.

Holy pair of cows.  Where is that Noah fellow when you need him?  Yes, it rained here today.  And rained, and rained, and rained.

I don’t know how many inches we got today, but I can’t remember see our pond THAT high, and overflowing that rapidly.  Big water.

And that rain, gave me cause to write my first Country Western Song.
“I was out catching chickens in the rain.”

I know it will be a big hit.  That too, is an understatement.

People will ask me at the Country People’s Choice Awards…. “Polly!   How did you ever come up with the lyrics for “Catching Chickens in the Rain?”  And I will have to tell them the long drawn out story…..

Which I am about to subject you to.  Right here and now.

You see it was my big idea to fix our Orpington Chicken Area, into integrated condos.  The baby-er New Hampshires are still much too small to mix in with the Orps.  PLUS…. you have to do these things in stages.

So for the past couple of days, our friend Mike has been fixing the Kronenberger Chicken Ranch.  Yesterday…. in the later afternoon… it was ALL ready.  So bright and early, first thing…. I moved those four little New Hamps to their new abode…. from their confines of our garage Chicken Coopishness.

Oh… Happy Chickens.  They loved it.  They were scratching, and moonwalking all over the place.  Like chickens do.  Again.  Understatement.  Catching bugs and pecking the ground is Chicken Nirvana.

And then the rains came. And came.  And came.  At 5 p.m., I put on my rain slicker and walked out to assess the situation.

Oh… Unhappy Chickens.  Everything was five inches under water… … … okay… maybe 1 inch.  But nonetheless.  They couldn’t even sit down in their new confines.  (The Orpingtons had the nice wooden walled dry chicken coop)

So.  We switched horses midstream.  Literally.   As a result… I had to go out in the pouring down rain… and catch four little chickens, while the Orpingtons watched from the safety and shelter of their coop.   I moved the New Hampshires back to the garage, where Mike had quickly set up their old pen.  Soggy chickens… no more.  In fact… dry… Happy Chickens.

“And there you have it Taylor.  That is where I got the idea.. for the song… now #1 on the billboard for 15 straight weeks.  Who knew?”

As I am walking down the red carpet, while the flashes from the Paparazzi’s Cameras illuminate my skin, it will dawn on me….

1.  Thank GOD we didn’t have miniature donkeys.  Can you imagine me carrying four donkeys in the rain?   And….
2. Sometimes in life… you have to take a different course.

It is true.  There are times when you think you have a clearly defined path, or way, or purpose.  But then something unforeseen happens.  If you are lucky enough, smart enough, or aware enough, you realize that it might not be the right way.  And that it is time to adjust the sails…. on a rainy day like today….. and head in a different direction.

Oh, it is called by many different names, it is.  Sensitive. Over-sensitive.  Thin-skinned.  Delicate.  Easily hurt.

Which brings me to….. Like.

In my case, “the need to be liked.”  This is something very true about me.  I like to be liked.  Maybe that’s why I get along so well with dogs and little kids.   But, I can tell… pretty much right away…. when someone doesn’t like me.  In that way I am hypersensitive.  And then I let it bug the heck out of me.

I can tell by their body language, the look on their faces… or lack there of.  I can tell by the tone in their voices…. the sketchy eye contact.   I rarely get this one wrong.

Today… I ran into this a few times.  As I mentioned earlier, it affects me pretty deeply.

I have heard some people say that they don’t care one way of the other…  if someone likes them..  or NOT.  Whew.  I just don’t know how that could ever be possible for me.  It is completely out of my realm of understanding or capability.

Try as I may to NOT let it bother me… it has a way of bothering me.  Like a fly on a horses rump.

And in that analogy… I would be the horse’s ass.

Intellectually, I get this.  It shouldn’t matter.  Just treat people kindly, and it is up to them how it is received.  Yep.  I’ve read the Self-Help Jargon on all of this.  But.  That is like telling a jar of cream puff marshmallow topping… not to be sticky.  It is sticky.  No way around it.

I guess I can garner one positive aspect of this.  That affliction of sensitivity is a part of my personality.  Perhaps, though, it is a quality.  There are times, I think, when we need to be sensitive, and delicate….. and even vulnerable.  It is a piece of being human.   Just like marshmallow topping needs to be sticky.  And like Donald Trump needs that Furby on his head.

That sensitivity may lend itself to compassion.  And in that way.. it is a positive attribute.  We should try to find grace in our ability to act with love, tolerance, kindness, and tenderness.  (Okay… so I slipped with the Donald Trump comment.)

So.  I will try to work on being compassionate…..  with those who don’t like me.  I just wish my feelings didn’t get hurt so easily.  I wish things didn’t stick to me like marshmallow goo.

“Wherever there is a human in need, there is an opportunity for kindness and to make a difference.” —Kevin Heath

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”—Jean Jacques Rousseau

My busy brain.

I am glad to have a busy brain. No.  Ecstatic.  There is so much to understand about our existence as human beings. On this planet.  In this universe.  I used to say…. “If only I could understand it all.”

On revisiting that statement, I respond,  “What the heck was I thinking?  NO way.  NO how do I want  to understand it all.”  Holy smokes.   You want to talk about a busy brain?   It would be absolutely overwhelming to have an assimilation of the deal.   I’d be like one of those cartoon characters, where there head starts turning round and round, and steam comes out of their ears an nostrils.

I think it is much better that I get little fleeting glimpses of how I think it works.

Okay.  Here is a little for instance.  I think the Human Race is evolving.  But at the same time, I think we are rapidly declining.  In some ways, we are getting too complicated.   My example is this.  Years ago, from time to time…. we would get “antsy.”  You know, that figety, jittery feeling… like you “had ants in your pants.”  Commonly, you would hear someone say… “I just feel a little antsy.”  And that was that.

Today… oh today… we have named it a hundred different things, from “Restless Leg Syndrome” better know as RLS…. to ADHD.  Or perhaps it is just your run of the mill Generalized Anxiety Disorder.  Nonetheless.   The game is the same, but the names has changed.

I know, that scientific advances have allowed us to discover the physical, emotion, mental & psychological causes for these “conditions.”  But that is the thing.  We have adopted these conditions as a common practice.    When sometimes, the truth of the matter is… people simple get restless, fidgety, edgy.

It seems every few weeks, there is brand new poster-child-disorder…. that becomes a societal norm.

The runaway train.

Now I’ve got my Wheaties soaked through and soggy.  I need to take all of this down a notch.

My point started out to be this…. there is a LOT to think about in the infinite universe.  Like… how do the Smurfs keep their little boots so white?  Or…. Was it live, or was it Memorex?  And how about this… Just because I can’t believe it is NOT butter… is it truly NOT butter?

Around ever corner of the day, there is something new to consider.  Why pink erasers on the ends of yellow pencils?  WHY?

Life’s mysteries continue to abound.  And our brains stay oh so very busy.  Trying to figure all of this out.  But ….. just maybe….. it isn’t OURS to figure out.  As I mentioned… a least not the whole ball of wax.

Maybe it is better for us… to learn one little lesson at a time.  And become better people with each little lesson we learn.  One little busy-brain-thought at a time.

“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.”
― Bertrand Russell

“You meet a new person, you go with him and suddenly you get a whole new city…you go down new streets, you see houses you never saw before, pass places you didn’t even know were there. Everything changes.”
― Samuel R. Delany, Dhalgren

“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.”
― Erol Ozan

“Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.”
― Albert Szent-Györgyi

Hi everybody.

How are you today?   I sure hope all is good your way.  I really don’t have too much to say.  It was just another typical day.  Another day at the races.

Nothing in particular happened.  I didn’t go anywhere or do anything out of the ordinary.  Just my normal routine.   I noticed a lot of different things.  But nothing of consequence.  At least nothing that anyone would care about.  This day was no different than any other in my life.  It was just…. there.

As the illustrious Beatles once said,  “Oh blah dee, Oh blah dah.  La, la, how the life goes on.”

Some days are like that.  No words of wisdom, or funny quips.  Today just felt a little bit like paste.  At best.

One of my favorite movies is Dead Poets Society with Robin Williams.  Everybody loves the line from that movie, where John Keating says… “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys.
Make your lives extraordinary.”

Well…. dang it John.  Some days… there just seem that all that much to seize.

So.  There you have it.   Life goes gone.  Oh Blah Dee.

“Depending on the reality one must face, one may prefer to opt for illusion.”
― Judith Guest, Ordinary People

Yesterday marked the start of Summer.   I normally don’t miss such a monumental event.    I knew the Summer Solstice was yesterday.  But I forgot to write about it.   You see… it is by far… my very favorite of the seasonal phases.

A solstice happens twice each year…when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days.

And an equinox also happens two times a year… the time or date  at which the sun crosses the celestial equator.  This means the day and night are of equal length (mostly).

I like the Summer Solstice the very, very most … because it means it will probably by hot.  And I love to be warm.  I also like the memories it awakens in my mind.

The Summer has a way of thrusting me back in time, hurtling my senses through past years…. and back to the sweet memories of youth.

Things like eating watermelon in the back yard, handed to us on cheap paper plates.  And then the seed-spitting contests which ensued.  It reminds me of playing “Pickle” in the middle of Bruce Avenue, until the street lights came on.

Things like swimming at the local pool, and having frozen candy bars for treats at the Concession Stand… when we had to sit out for those grueling 15 minutes of every hour… during the “Adult Swim.”

Summer reminds me of hots dogs roasted on our rickety-old backyard grill, with the old-school charcoal briquets.  Hot dogs with both ketchup and mustard, served on a Wonder Bun.  Always… smelling a bit like lighter fluid.

Laying in the cool grass, and watching the sky as elephants, and cotton candy, and fluffy bunnies rolled by in the clouds.

Oh, the times, they were.

Tonight, we sat out with our Orpington Chickens…. as good Farm Girls do.   We simply spent time with those chickens…and watched.   They sat on Mary’s lap, and I talked good Chicken-Speak with them.  Tommy ran after me as I was walking out… like he was sad to see me go.  We notice Chuck has feathers on his legs… like hairy legs. Funny Chuck.

And as they scratched about… and did their little versions of The Moon Walk… I sang the melody of The Chicken Dance.

And somehow… all of this propelled me back to my early youth… and finding little joys in the warmth of summer.    Sleuthing for four-leaf-clovers, slurping popsicles on the front porch steps,  sitting very still and listening to the sound of dusk.  The beauties of summer.  How I wish they were with me the whole year through.

Well.  Well, well.  That Johann Wolfgang Goethe was a wise fella…. and said some big things.  Like…“A person hears only what they understand.”  Oh how true.  I wonder how many people will hear this next one…. AGAIN?  Maybe you should grab some breakfast… before you did in to all of this.

First… here is something to chew on while you are enjoying a bowl of Rice Krispies this morning.  A group of international researchers claim that the Earth is entering a sixth mass extinction.  How’s that for snap, crackle and pop.

Okay.  Forget the Rice Krispies.  Have your English Muffin.  The research report goes on to say….that the demise of its species is about 100 times faster than the average rate of previous extinctions.  Whoops.  Toast.

Better put some butter on that toast… because that is what we are….

The major drivers of the sixth mass extinction are mainly triggered by human touch: land farming, logging and settlement, introduction of invasive species, increased carbon emissions and man-made toxins.

It appears we humans are a messy bunch, wouldn’t you say?

The Study was conducted by Paul Ehrlich, the Bing Professor of Population Studies in biology and a senior fellow at the Stanford  Woods Institute for the Environment… and colleagues, of course. I guess this is a pretty big environmental entity, founded by the Woods’ Family at Stanford.

I don’t know what the heck a Bing Professor is though.  The only Bings I know are Bing Cherry, Bing Crosby, and Bahda-Bing-Bahda-Boo.

ANYWAY.  According to Ehrilich and his gang of merry men….   to date, 41 percent of amphibian species and 26 percent of mammals are on the list of threatened and endangered species.   Pass the bacon.  And the frog legs.  That’s a lot.

Even if you combine the number of species lost from earlier mass extinctions, which includes up to 280 species, the current period is still way above that number. Earth lost 396 species between 1900 and 2010, according to the International Union of Conservation of Nature.

Again, I say.  That’s a lot.

I don’t really have an end point, or a story, about any of this.  I just keep thinking back to the profound words of wisdom given to us by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe…. in which he said…. “Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.”

Smart guy.  Extinct now.  But back in his day… I’ll tell you.  AND.. .he was RIGHT.  All we had to do… us humans….. is clean up after ourselves.

I can only hope we smarten up… and start doing this now.  Everyone.  Each and everyday.  I only hope it isn’t too late to start.   All I know is that it can’t hurt.

“What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” -JWvG

“Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action.” -JWvG