I decided to give this blog thing a rest, once and for all.  So this time… I figured I would just stop without the long “goodbyes”… which never manifest anyway.  But in two days, I’ve had a lot of people ask me to reconsider.  So, Kid Wednesday is back on a Friday.  And here is what we missed….  a big DANG day I’ll tell you.

Yesterday, I got my first farm animals ever.  Now, imagine my joy and ultimate exuberance.  You see, as I just mentioned….this is a first for me. A brand new day…. with FARM animals in my life.

Which has given me cause to reflect on a couple of things.

When I was a kid, I used to tell people we were pig farmers.  I have NO clue in my little brain…. as to the “why” of this.  We lived in the city of Dayton, Ohio.  House by house by house.  Sidewalks, streetlights, and traffic. The only popular pig of the time was Porky.  And he was really none-too-popular.  (I think it was the stutter… coupled with his obesity.)

So why did I fabricate this pig-curly-tale?  I just don’t know other than the fact it was a precursor.  A foretelling of my future in the Land of the Famous Pork Festival, Farmers, and Field Corn.

Psychic Child?   Well, I doubt it.  I couldn’t see the nose on my face most days.  And as it turns out, the prophecy was upended.  We are not currently pig farmers at all.  On the contrary, we happen to be chicken farmers at this point in our lives.  Yes, yesterday morning, 15 Orpingtons came to us in the mail.  Chipping and a-chirping and pecking and scratching.   We have named two.  Nellie and Tawny.  This name selection could prove to be quite the arduous process.  How do you put a name on “cute and fluffy?”

But here’s the thing that hit me.  We are new at this game.  Beginners.  There was a time, when I didn’t like being a beginner at anything.  There is that whole “awkward period” of making mistakes, and letting the ball roll through your legs, or slamming the oven door shut and deflating the souffle’. The faux pas.    The blunder, the gaffe, the mishap, and the falling up the altar steps in your wedding dress.

Yet, there is a beautiful thing about being a beginner.  It is your big chance to learn, and grow, and find something new, unique, and unknown.  It is a time when your brain is allowed to explore new heights, where your senses are widened.  It is your fresh chance a developing some mad-skills in life.  I love having mad skills.

But isn’t this each day?  When our eyes open?  We are beginners every single day, with new opportunities.  New possibilities.  Each morning we are given the gift of life.  And we, in ourselves, are miracles.  We have conscious minds, and bodies which work without any help from us.  We are marvels.  And each day, we can make choices to begin again, and again, and again, and be marvelous.

Each day.  As chicken-scratching-corny-on-the-ground, as it may sound… today, is in fact a new day for us.  Beginners.

This world is filled with one thing after another.  The good, the bad, and yes, even the butt-ugly.  And I notice, dag nab it.

Here are some things I have reckoned upon.

The Good.  The Beautiful.  As you very well know….there are some crazy-good-talented people out there.  Some of them are so incredibly creative, it just astounds me.  Yesterday, I was watching Sunday Morning on CBS.   One of the stories was about an artist named Johannes Stoetter.  He sounds like he might be from Germany, with the peanut-butter-thick accent.

At any rate, he is about as creative as they get.  He creates this camouflage-people art. For instance, he makes people disappear in his photos, with bananas, or feathers.  There are photos of frogs, and lizards, and birds, and on… but it is really a person or people.  It was amazing.

But here is the deal.  The reporter asked him, what the heck he could possibly do next?  And he deftly responded… “I want to create hotdogs which….”

WHAT?  HOTDOGS?  What is this guy talking about?  Like what in the world could he possibly do with hot dogs?  I didn’t hear one more word of that interview.  I just kept thinking….. Hot Dogs????  That is a step in the wrong direction Johannes.  I can see that from sitting here.

The rest of the day it bugged me. Off and on.  Hot Dogs?  I am always trying to figure out what make those creative-types tick.   Was he related to Oscar Meyer?  Or was he starting from scratch… and switching careers to be a Pig Farmer?

Last night… I still thought… Hot Dogs?
Maybe he is going to open an Alaskan Husky Breeding Farm at the Equator… and create Hot Dogs.  Or… did he land a job as a Food Vendor at Fenway Park?  So today, I had to ferret out the video online.  I listed to it again and again.  Finally, I figured out he wasn’t saying “hotdogs” at all.  He said “artworks” in his very dense accent.

And there you have it… Ye’ Of Little Hearing.  HE said ARTWORKS.  So… …. busy brain of mind…. never mind about the hotdogs.

Sometimes… I just have to shake my head at myself.  At any rate….

Guess what we are having for dinner tonight.

I am pretty sure she said Hat Bogs.  Or maybe it was Cat Clogs on Buns with mustard and latched up.  Or something….

This day was full of it, I’ll tell you.  The good full of it.

First and foremost, it is days like these that make you want to do something that makes you happy.  I for one, feel so incredibly glad for the warmth and beauty of Spring.  The birds were not only singing, they were rapping.  Heck, the geese were a laying, the maidens were milking, and there were seven swans a swimming.  At least that I could count.

It makes me wonder what the heck is wrong with those people who say they prefer the bitter, cold, nasty, frozen weather over a day like today.  You know the ones… you see them on the news when it is minus 20 outside, and we have grimy snow piles and ice up to our butts… and there they are on camera saying… “Well, Mark, I actually prefer the cold weather.”

Clearly, they do not get outside on days like today.

There is just something about feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin.  The longer days.  Daylight for all.

Maybe those cold-loving people are a cross between Vampires and Abominable Snowmen.  Yeti-Vamps. That has to be it.

Anyway.  Back to the birds, and the bees.   They were all out today. Flying high in the friendly skies.

But part of the goodness today was taking my first swim of the year.  It felt incredibly good to get in the the pool today. I splashed around, did some laps, but most of all… I was in water.  I love to be in water.

I can only guess that is the feeling of having a different molecular density around my body. It is that feeling of being in another world.  Gravity seems different.  There is no breath to be had underwater.  The body is weightless, and sound is completely distorted.  All of our senses enter into an altered state.  And I like it.

It seems I have been preoccupied with gravity lately.  I think it is because I am reading a book on anti-gravity.  It is impossible to put it down.

Any way… back to the pool.  I invited a friend over to swim today.  She is a Psychic I met recently.  She knew I was going to call and invite her.  (See what I mean).  But she really loves to swim too.  Her name is Claire Buoyant.

One of these days, I am going to visit all the pools on my list.  Every time I hear a Sportscaster say that a college has a really big talent pool, I write it down.  I want to swim in all the talent pools, and see if any of it soaks in.

Finally, the most important lesson of the day was this:
Start somewhere.  And whatever your decide to do… make sure it makes you happy.

“You cannot change what you are, only what you do.” ― Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass

Here’s the thing about me.  I always wonder if I am doing it right.  This thing we call life.  There are somedays when I walk around, with my feet stuck to earth by that old gravity… and my mind in the sky… a million miles away.  I probably look like Mrs. Incredible when she gets all stretchy from here to there.

Yet….I go to places which are everywhere but where my feet are currently touching the ground.  Not necessarily day-dreaming places… like when I was a kid.  Nope.  I go to past experiences; situations where I have already been.  Most of the time, they are those incidents which are bothering me somehow.  And I say in my head what I certainly SHOULD have said in that moment.

But dummy me.  That moment is gone for good. It serves no purpose to revisit that instant again, and again, and again.  Instead… I should be looking out for the wonder right in front of me.

Other times my head goes to those far off places in the future.  The events of the day which are coming around the bend.  Or the week, or the month… or just any old possibilities.  And I worry about them going right, or how I am going to fit time in…. to do this or that.  Again… all that worry serves no real purpose.

I am getting to the point that I think what really does matter, and matters the most…. is…. that we do our little bits of goodness right where we are. It may not be saving the world, but it is taking someone’s grocery cart back to the corral for them, or smiling at the Slurpee-Meister behind the counter.. and telling him what a good job he is doing.

I think those little gestures of kindness may start to add up.  And… as Albert Schweitzer said…”Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.”

As it is, I know some truly beautiful people.  They are the ones that radiate goodness, and wholeness, and strength. My guess… is that they have gone through a crap-storm or two.  And as such…. because of their struggle, and endurance…. they have this keen appreciation for life.  It fills them up with compassion, or concern, or genuine love. They do not discount anyone, it seems.

Those are the beautiful people I am talking about.  The ones who have nurtured their beauty like a prize-winning flower at the Fair.

I want to imitate them.  Just like Albert said.

I can only hope to keep my feet on the ground… and my head in the clouds.  But in those particular clouds…..  which remind me that the world is full of magic things.  And the Universe is just waiting on me.. and my dull senses… to finally sharpen up.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” ~Albert Einstein

“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A.A. Milne

We live in infinity.

Do you believe there are other civilizations, elsewhere in the Universe?

Higher Intelligence?

What about the unknown things right here on the planet?

Scientists finding “newly discovered” species of fish at the bottom of the ocean, which are tens of thousand years old.

Or new movements in medicine?

Smaller particle schematics are unraveled under microscopes as we speak.

What about animals?  Deep thinkers?  Or nothing there?

I have my guesses on all of it, I’ll tell.  As the world continues to unfold around us, there are new discoveries, and advanced information every single day.  The amount of energy which interconnects everything is…. well… infinite.

The all of it is fastened together, yet independently enduring.

Perhaps you are drinking a cup of coffee right now.  Think about  that.  How it got to where it is in front of you.  And all the people and energy which went into its creation?  What country did the bean grow in?  Who picked it?  Think about the farmers, the drivers, the workers in customs, the captains of ships, and postal workers, the box makers, the truckers, the shrink-wrap companies, the water-treatment-plants, the city planners, the heat to warm it, the ceramic makers, coffee-pot factory workers, CEOs, and air-traffic controllers.  All that “energy” working in tandem, in co-existence, in all the necessary steps to get that cup of hot coffee in front of you.

And that is just ONE little part of your day.  Of ONE little you.

Oh, it is a wide, wide, world.  And even a wider universe.

I can’t really doubt the possibility of anything, when you consider just that.  The possibility of anything.

Today, maybe we should try to look at it all with a fresh eye.  And consider… the possibilities.  Of the infinite.

Oh the wonders of nature.

Oh the wonders of the world.  There are way more than seven, I can assure you.  Some Jack, somewhere in time, just thought it would be keen to name “The Seven Wonders of the World.”

But if you ask me.. .that ListMaker sold the world WAY too short.

Heck, every time I turn around, I can see a wonder.

The magical design of a dandelion.
The sense of engagement in the eyes of a ferrel cat.
The leftover body print of a bird who hit a glass window a little too enthusiastically.

Blame it on the Windex.

But as history goes here are some of the Sevens.

The historian Herodotus (484 – ca. 425 BCE), and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca. 305 – 240 BCE), made early lists of seven wonders. Their writings have not survived, except as references.  As such, the classic seven wonders were:
•    Great Pyramid of Giza
•    Hanging Gardens of Babylon
•    Statue of Zeus at Olympia
•    Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
•    Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
•    Colossus of Rhodes
•    Lighthouse of Alexandria
The only ancient world wonder that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Since that time, many “other” Wonders lists have been formulated.  The most popular being….
•    Stonehenge
•    Colosseum
•    Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
•    Great Wall of China
•    Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
•    Hagia Sophia
•    Leaning Tower of Pisa

Similar to the other lists of wonders, there is no consensus on a list of seven natural wonders of the world, and there has been GREAT debate over how large the list should be. One of the many existing lists….
•    Grand Canyon
•    Great Barrier Reef
•    Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
•    Mount Everest
•    Aurora
•    Parícutin volcano
•    Victoria Falls

So again, I go back to my opening thoughts.  Don’t get me wrong.  There is a whole big whopping heapful of crazy-goodness in the Grand Canyon.  They don’t call it Grand for nothing.  But.  A few moments ago I cut a Honey Dew Melon in half.  You should have seen the inside of that thing… it was wondrous.  AND… don’t EVEN get me started on Chicken Eggs.

I’m simply saying that wonder is everywhere.  And as the old saying goes… “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  If you care to find it… the formula is simple.

The Wonder is in our Hearts.  And all the wonder that WE can SEE in the world… starts right there.  From our hearts. As such… we see it everywhere we look…. if we care to.

On this day in history…

True Story.  About five decades ago, maybe a little more…. ON a Wednesday…. a baby girl was born in a hospital in a Midwestern city.  It was much like any other hospital in the Midwest, except for one thing.  The Queen of Denmark had been visiting the city, and she was pretty pregnant.  As it turns out, she went into labor prematurely, was rushed to the VERY SAME hospital, and gave birth to a little girl, on the VERY SAME DAY.  Both of these events transpired within an hour or so of one another.

Now, the first girl to be born was me.  Early in the day.  The second child was the Queen’s.  I weighed 9 pounds 10 ounces, and was a pretty dang healthy baby. Chubby.  Like a Walrus. But the Queen’s little girl was premature.  Spindly. Sickly. Not in very good shape.   The Queen was dismayed, and felt she could not return to the Homeland with such a poor specimen of a Danish child.

So… that fine Queen… Margrethe II… summoned her three of her best bodyguards.  They were to go to the hospital nursery, and switch babies.  They were to find the girl who looked most like her little Baby Ingrid, but much healthier.

And I entered the scene.  Yes, I was switched at birth, and taken back to the Royal Palace in Denmark.  As it turns out, they kept me for about 2 months.  I was Little Princess Ingrid. Yet…. they decided early on… there was something very odd about me.  It could have been the over queued reserve of energy, even as a newborn.  Or the constant chatter.  Or the fact that it appeared that I was seeing things, and pointing randomly at this and that… as if something were really there.  I would gesture my hands, and laugh.

So. In late June of that same year, the team of bodyguards flew back to the U.S., problem-child in tow, and in the middle of the night, put me back with my birth family.  And they took Princess Ingrid back to Denmark… pleasantly plump at this point. Like a Dutch Princess.

This would explain my affinity for Dyrlægens natmad…. which is dark rye bread, a layer of liver pâté (leverpostej), topped with a slice of saltkød (salted beef) and a slice of sky (meat jelly).  Gawd, I can’t get enough of the things.

And here we are.

Today as I sat with my birth mother, I reflected on my childhood, and all she must have sacrificed to be my Mom.  All the love and car she gave to me. All the band-aids and “There, there’s.”

She had no idea today was my birthday.  Midway through the visit, my brother called, and they sang Happy Birthday, in tandem, to me.  She was so excited and wanted to have a party.  Then, about 2 minutes later… she had no recollection that this had just transpired, or that it was even Spring.  She hoped it wouldn’t snow today.

As I changed her diaper for the second time, she said “Look who’s the baby now.”  But 5 minutes later, she commented that she’d like to go out and buy a new car this afternoon.  By the time we got back to her chair, she asked for her third snack of the morning.

I am glad for all of this. It is a tremendous birthday gift, to be with her, and have our moments of laughter.  And we do.

Had things gone the other way… I’d be in some incredibly huge castle in Denmark right now… looking out over the Rhine River, counting the sapphires in my crown…. ….snacking on liver pate’ with little birthday candles in it.  With my dog named Dorit.  In a golden gown made of silk and diamonds.

Okay… truth be told… in ALL sounded pretty good until I had to put on a dress.  All bets are off there……  Queen Mum of mine.

You see…. I am exactly where I am supposed to be… and I love being right here.  Concisely  where my life has led me.  On this birthday of mine.  I am thankful for it all.  I am thankful for you.  On this Wednesday.  Some five decades later.

We are born wet, naked, and hungry. Then things get worse. ~Author Unknown

Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. ~Frederick Buechner

There is just so much in this world of ours.

From the amazingly good, to extremely sad.  The  range is wide and far.

On any given day, I can span through a whole range of emotions.  Some times more than others, and today was one of those days.
Yes, there were times when I felt very, very happy. And other times when I experienced such sadness, I could feel nothing but the pit of my stomach growing deeper and wider.

I saw pregnant deer tonight.  Flowers blooming.  Glorious food.

I saw terrible things on the news.  Anger and hatred.  Death.

I heard good things about people. Today, I felt incredible gestures of love and friendship.  I experienced times of healing today, and other times of complete peace.  Then hours, or even moments later, learned of things which were devastating.  Or came in touch with brushes of life’s unfairness to others.  Things which had gone terribly wrong in many corners of the planet.

I don’t know how to explain any of it. Other than, once upon a time, we fell to earth…. and we are humans.  Here we are.  Gravity pulled us right in to this existence.  And some day it will put us back where it found us.  And this…. my favorite friends…. is the “everything” in between.

Each day, I must figure out a way to be thankful for all of it.  It is how the universe has transpired to each given moment. Each moment, resting and relying on the previous moment.

As we wake tomorrow, I hope this sun ball at the center of our universe will shine.  And in the night the moon will find its way back into the sky.  For there is nothing certain about this place here.  And we can feel that ever pressing existence of the gravity, holding our feet to the surface of the earth ball. As we hurl 67,000  miles per hour through space.  No need to hold on.  We stick all by ourselves.  At least, for now.

Tonight… I don’t really have a lot of hot air in me.  So… instead I will tell you a short, but very true story.

I for one, have never ridden in one.  I am not sure that I ever will.  I’d probably like it.  But there have been some pretty unsuccessful stories concerning the Hot Air Balloon.

When they were first invented and launched, they went up and came down… without a soul in them.  But the first “manned flight” was NOT really manned at all.  It was anim-ated.  Yep.  Filled with a couple of animals.

On the 19th Day of September in the year 1783 a guy name Pilatre De Rozier scheduled a launch.  His hot air balloon was called ‘Aerostat Reveillon’.  Now, this guy was a scientist and he had a very good reason for the choice of his passengers.   Most of which came directly from his boss.

You see, scientists back then, typically did not have a lot of money.  So they sought out “sponsors” for their explorations.  Pilatre De Rozier, (let’ call him Pat) was no different.  He found a very rich Jean Picot. (How’s John sound from here on out.)

So the morning of the launch, John and Pat were getting the basket ready, testing early hot air fills.  They tethered the basket to the ground with stakes, and such.  On the second air fill, they were discussing “WHO” should go up.  Well… the basket started to drift a bit… and Boss John said to Pat…. in his French-ness….. “Duck you cock.”

Well, the basket hit Pat and knocked him down, but that was neither here nor there.  However, an hour later, during the real launch, Boss John thought Pat was taking the thing up for a spin.

Much to his surprise, up went a duck and a sheep, and a rooster.   John yelled to Pat… “You idiot. What have you done?”

Pat replied… “Exactly what you said.  Balloon! Duck! Ewe! Cock!”

And history was made.