Today I watched some animals.

You see.  I was feeling a bit of stress and angst about a few things.  From the minute I woke up this morning, I knew I had a busy day ahead.  And a lot of things that were pressing on my brain-of-little-calm.  And it snowballs when I think too much.

I tell you about the start of it.   Early in the day, I was off to my first appointment,  and my mind was everywhere but on driving.  Then my phone rang. During THAT conversation, the person needed a couple of phone numbers from me, and some direction for our next plan of action.  I decided, for once, to be smart, and pull off to the side of the road.

And as I sat there, flipping through my phone, I noticed a beautiful white horse in the field in front of me.  The early day sun was shining on the open plain, and the horse stood proudly in the center.  He then, gracefully, nonchalantly, peacefully, leaned down and began grazing.  A few more steps… a glance around… more grazing.  This continued indefinitely.

Yes.  That was his day.  His inner-essence had transcended far beyond what most of us could ever hope of achieving.  He was perfectly content in his own being.  In his own existence.  Everything was… for this horse… exactly as it was supposed to be.  He didn’t fight it.  Didn’t worry about.  He didn’t  get worked up about being better than the other horses, making more money, losing weight, finding success, winning the approval of others.

Nope.  There he was.  At peace.

Later in the day, I noticed this same thing, in a large group of deer that visit our place each day for a meal or two.  They had the same look in their eyes as that beautiful horse.
They too, seemed to be  in compliance with the universe.  Those deer were also content in their who, what, where, when and why.

Some of you are probably saying… “They are just dumb animals.  We humans are evolved.  We have thinking brains.”

I wonder.

I wonder who truly has more wisdom here.

And as my day got more complicated and jumbled, and disturbed… I continued to wonder.  How many times will my nose get bent out of shape before I learn a lesson.  Someone mentioned today… If only we could practice what we preach.  Yes.  So true.  I wish, I hope, I write about the prospects of finding this peace.  But I haven’t figured it out yet.

And chances are, I never will… completely.

But that horse and those deer sure did make me think.  The made me think hard.  And therein… lies the Catch 22.

The final wisdom of life requires not the annulment of incongruity but the achievement of serenity within and above it.
— Reinhold Niebuhr
Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.
–Thich Nhat Hanh

Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness.
Khalil Gibran

So.  True Story.  Or, at least I am told it is so.  Oh, oh.

Alright.  It is a story from a long time ago, actually.  It happened in  ancient Greece.  There was this pretty smart dude, named Socrates.  Yes, in fact, in his day, he was “da man.”  Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.

One day, old Socrates was probably sitting on a big marble stone somewhere, and another fellow approached him.  The other fellow… let’s call him Melvin…. met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?”.

“Yo. Yo. Hold on a  little minute there,” Socrates replied.

“Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”.

Melvin was like…. mouth open wide… and uttered….”Triple filter?”.

“That is correct-o-mun-do,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test.
“ The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

Well.  Melvin scratched his little bald head with his little stubby fingers.  ”Nope.  Actually I just heard about it and…”.

Socrates nipped him in the bud.  ”All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

Again, Mel sputtered a little…… ”No, on the contrary…”.

Once again, Socrates cut him off… right at the knees.  “ So….you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true? You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

As you may have guessed, Melvin was about to strike out. ”No, not really.”

“Well dag nab it,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

And then, I am sure Socrates threw up his right palm and started waving it..  like… “Talk to the Hand.”

There it a big lesson here, from our man So-Crates.  Not only should we hold our friends in the highest esteem, we shouldn’t talk about them.  Especially gossipy-ness.    And of course, the old triple filter… who could ask for more.
Is it true?  Is it good?  Is it useful?

The other thing, no matter who we are… large or small, white or black, thin or thick… we all need other people.  Friends. Loved ones.  Someone to watch over us.    And, we all want to be loved.  Plain and simple.

And this, my friends, is a common denominator among us.  Just one more thing that makes us all alike, on a very fundamental level.  And with that, we should try to be kind.  To the ones we love, and the ones we don’t even know.

I mean…. Even snakes have friends.   And  so it goes.

Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.
— Lao Tzu

I took a few moments to sit quietly in my meditation garden, late in the afternoon. The sun was making its final appearance for this day. As its light filtered through the trees, it reminded me of child, peering around the corner at Christmas time, with a look of delight and anticipation. As if to say “I am so excited to see the brilliant surprise which awaits me.”

So. There was the sun. Looking at me. And what surprise had I been on this day? What magic did I make? Where was my brilliance? How did I make this place better in the last 12 waking hours?

Maybe, just maybe, that is how we should greet each day. When our feet hit the floor, perhaps it would be pretty grand if we asked this question: “What picture can I paint today?  What goodwill do I have in the works….  with every little thing I do? What bit of splendor can I create today? What beautiful thing can I put in the world?”

And, then as we step through the day, we keep laying those beautiful colors on the canvas. One stroke at a time. Perhaps we can be compassionate. In just one situation. Or. Maybe we smile more, or listen better. It could be…. we slow down, and let the other guy be a jerk while he’s driving… but not us. Or we let someone else have their way about something. Who knows? But what if we try to make peace? What if we try to make good.

And when the sun sets, it can look down on us. And there we are. A magnificent surprise. Yet one more day. One more day at a time.  A beautiful work of art.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
— Thomas A. Edison

Your destiny is to fulfill those things upon which you focus most intently. So choose to keep your focus on that which is truly magnificent, beautiful, uplifting and joyful. Your life is always moving toward something.
— Ralph Marston

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Unfortunately, as Abe Lincoln, once said… you can’t please all the people, all the time. Which really translates into….  not everybody likes us.

Oh it is true.  Hard to believe.  As coolio as we are… here in our little circle of friends.

But the cold hard truth is this.  There are a lot of people out there who’d like to crack an egg on my beak.  Ahhh. Well.  Such is life.  It happens every where.  Even to the nicest of chickens.

All I can say is… Thank God for Friends.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
― Rumi

Chicken Wars:  Return of the Phantom Hen / Quest for the Final Contact….

I have a lot of favorite phrases.

My life can be summed up with the enduring and vernacular expression…. “Little did she know….”

If that isn’t all encompassing of my existence… I don’t know what else could be.  Yes.  Little did she know…  I walk the walk, and talk the talk, with that one.

In fact, I roll out of bed, each and every morning, and have the grand understanding of its impending forecast.   I don’t know one thing for sure about the day ahead of me.  Not one thing.

Really, it is true for all of us.  Sure, we can make plans, and have appointments scheduled.  We map out our moves.  After waking, we can pretty much count on  putting on our slippers, and making it to the restroom within the next couple of minutes…. to have our first pee of the day.

But we don’t know it for sure.

I wish we had guarantees.  Assurances.  But we don’t.  Life is uncertain, and most-certainly ever-changing.

Which brings me to another favorite phrase.  Lo and Behold.

Lo and Behold, she was on her way to the bathroom, tripped on the iPhone charging cord, and twisted her ankle. However, she was able to hobble in, and still managed a successful “first pee of the day.”

Lo and Behold is an old phrase.  It has been around since the 1700s.  Lo, I found out… stands for the Middle English “loke” — meaning look.  So. The literal meaning of the expression is “look and see.”

Look and see.  Well, that in itself is pretty profound isn’t it?

Again, that could pretty much summarize everything which happens to us…. and all that we perceive….. in the greatest spans of the entire universe.  We simply have to …. look… and see.

And when you put the two together.  Holy smoke-a-roley.

Little did she know….
Look.
And See.

And so, once again.   There you have it….   What? I don’t know… but there it is.

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

“At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are
and you know what you want.”
― Lao Tzu

“The only journey is the one within.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

We went out this evening.  We were invited to our friends’ home in  Yellow Springs for dinner.  It was a really nice evening…. filled with lots of conversation, great food, and warm company.  AND…. they have dogs… which is a bonus.

At one point in the evening, we got on the subject of backpacking.  Three out of four of us, love to go backpacking.  I’ll give you one guess who the odd woman out was.  Try an OCD writer who grew up in Dayton, Ohio.

They were telling their backpacking war stories.  All of the trials and tribulations they had experienced in their ongoing escapades.

There was the mosquito infestation, the running out of food, the scaling dangerous rocks, falling, filtering water, the 3 1/2 hour seasick boat ride to an island, the horrible rain storm, the wet down-sleeping-bags and ensuing frigid temperatures, the spider bites, and on, an on.

Finally, I had to break in with the question, which was just begging to be asked….

“…. AND…. what part of this sounds remotely fun?  Or even mildly attractive as a vacation idea?”

“Oh…”  they quipped.  “You will see things no other people get to see!”

Okay.  But three minutes earlier they were talking about the overcrowded camping spots along the trail.

Another observation I have made. Studies have shown that people who get too much oxygen, can experience damage to the frontal lobes of the brain which  in turn, directly manages cognitive reasoning.

I like to call them, Fresh-Air-Heads.

And there there you have it.

 “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
― Mark Twain

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
― Coco Chanel

Whew.  Sometimes, the news of the world really makes me sad.

I just read the newest article about the teenager who was beaten to death, by his own parents, and fellow congregation members at the Word of Life Christian Church, in New Hartford, NY.

Yep.  A kid named Lucas.  Nineteen years old.  They thought he was practicing witchcraft. So, they started their “counseling” session on a Sunday evening, and didn’t stop until Monday.  When Lucas was dead.

At the Word of Life Christian Church, in New Hartford, NY.

Conversely, I am reading a couple of books on spirituality.  They both talk of “higher” elevations of energy.

One book says that we are all the same, connected by one thing, an underlying source of love. That we are all of the same mind. The analogy follows:  “Just as the wave can’t separate itself from the ocean, we cannot separate ourselves from one another.  We are all a part of this vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind.”

And none of this makes a bit of sense to me.

To read one.  And then read the other.

Maybe I feel too deeply about things. Because tonight, all I can feel is hopelessly sad for all of it.

There is no part of what happened to that boy… that seems like love to me.  I feel like I HAVE to disconnect myself from that.  From them.

The other book just said to take part in experiment of practicing unconditional love.   I’m not sure about that right now either.  But just now, as I looked down… Frances was standing right beside me… beaming up at me with her “puppy eyes” from her very old face.  She knows what it is.  And then there’s me.

I’m not sure I will ever understand any of this.

I guess the one thing I know, is that my life is filled with many beautiful abundances.  Good things abound.  And for those many, many gifts, I am grateful to the spirit of life.

So I give thanks.

As for understanding?  Maybe I never will.   And maybe its not for me to understand.

I guess Pliny the Elder once said: Hope is the pillar that holds up the world. Hope is the dream of a waking man.

So, with that.  I can always hope.

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
Desmond Tutu

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division.
Jesse Jackson

It is all how you look at it.

What is the highest spot on earth?  Most people say Mt. Everest.  But it is not.

If we define the “highest spot” as that which is closest to the moon, stars, etc., then Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is an incredible 1.5 miles higher due to the oblate spheroid shape of the earth.  Since our heads are way up in the clouds, we might as well continue with some lofty thoughts.

Another little item.  Again, it is all how you look at things.  Do you ever feel like you know someone, or have been in the same exact situation before?  The same exact time? Perhaps had a Deja Vu?

It seems I have this notion quite often, in several different circumstance.   For instance, I am the Queen of Clean.  I like it clean.  It doesn’t matter what “it” is really.  IF it is clean, it is better.  Pig sty?  That would be better without that mud and grime and dirt.    I was just thinking about “Cleaner Shrimp” — You know.  They are any of those decapod crustacean that feeds off parasites living on fish.

They are kind of cool.  Those little cleaner shrimp will do a little dance to attract their dirty fish.  And wouldn’t you know?  The fish are taken in by the choreographed moves.  So then, the fish “strikes a pose” which signals the cleaner shrimp to start washing and waxing like an underwater car wash.  I was probably a cleaner shrimp in another life. Pretty sure of it.
Not only do I like to clean, I like to dance.

Here is another.  The length of your ring finger in comparison to your index finger indicates the amount of testosterone you were exposed to as a fetus. Longer ring fingers equates to more testosterone.   Oh oh.  My Mom must have been chock full of testosterone when I was in the womb. Go figure.

It is all how you look at it.

We don’t see many fold out maps any more.   Or really, any maps in the printed form.  Dab nab it anyhow. I like paper maps. There used to be tons.  Treasure maps.  Floor plan maps.  AAA maps…. with yellow highlighter on them.

These days, about the only maps we see… with the exception of computer generated Google Maps and the likes…  are those which are displayed in zoos, and museums, and on large city streets.

They are the ones with the “You Are Here” icons.  Did you know it has a name?  The small “You Are Here” sticker that indicates your position on a map has a name indeed — it’s called an Ideo Locator.

You are here.

Thanks for being here.

The Ideo Locator is on me.  Literally.

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
— Wayne Dyer

Hold the Vision.  Trust the Process.
— Unknown

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.
— Henry David Thoreau

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.
— Jonathan Swift

I would love to tell you about my incredible patience.

I would.

But I can’t. Because I have little to none.  You see, when it comes to patience, I am my Mother’s Daughter.  She has zero.

Now my Dad on the other hand, had the patience of Job. And then some.  Seriously.

But not Moi.

If I had read my Horoscope today, I am sure it would have said… “You will be on the phone from morning until night.  Get your ear warmed up now.”

And there it was… just like my Horoscope would have said.

I had to be on the phone, for a lot of different reasons.  Mostly business-type issues.  But not a single call was of personal enjoyment.  And as it turned out, that phone was on my ear the better part of the day.

Heck, when it comes down to it, I don’t like talking on the phone. Period. Even when it is a family member, or friend, or someone I care about.  It just isn’t something that rocks my world.

So you might imagine… that I don’t care to talk to the likes of the Automated Menus, and all that ensue.  In today’s case… it was the tech support team at Apple. AND…. The billing department at Time Warner Cable.  The internet specialists at Verizon.  The people at Direct TV.  And even the 17 minutes on hold with CenturyLink only to get disconnected when the “agent” attempted to answer my line.   But the entire time I was on hold… CenturyLink assured me that they value ME as a customer.  I love to be loved, I’ll tell you.

Of these calls, only one issue was resolved.  Apple.  But I had to tell the Tech Support person what we needed to do.  She had to check with her supervisor.  When she got back on the line, she concurred.  Thanks Mr. Big Apples.

So why do I tell you all of this?  Why have I put you through this harrowing tale, when I am supposed to be uplifting, funny, and insightful.

I tell you all of this for one reason only.

Misery Loves Company.

I am Misery.
You are Company.
I love you all.

“There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.”
― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

“Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.”
― David G. Allen

“And sure enough, even waiting will end…if you can just wait long enough.”
― William Faulkner

You just never know.

Today, after my normal set of “visits” in town, I decided to wash my car.  Not by hand, mind you.  But I like to go into one of those bins, where the big arms automatically move back and forth, spraying the vehicle with the soapiest soap, and the wettest of water.  Moments later, you come out smelling like a rose.

But you have to put money in the little slot to make it work.  I was in the middle of such action…. when the following event transpired.  Truly.

Of course, my window was rolled down, so as to operate the money-taking-car-wash-machine.  I heard, at a distance someone yelling… frantically.

Finally I could make it out.  “Lady. Hey Lady.  Are you alright?”  Over and over again.  I checked my surroundings, and my mirrors, but I could not locate the voice.  Then, I thought I heard what sounded like running footsteps.

Suddenly, and I mean SUDDENLY… a head popped into my window.  “Lady!  OH my GOD!  Are you okay?  Can you hear me? Are you ALRIGHT?” the head squealed, as its pop-bottle-bottomed glasses blinked wildly at me.

“I’m just fine, thanks.  And you?”  (Of course, the look on my face probably looked ANYTHING but alright….. because I was in a state of semi-panic-fear with this sudden talking-head in my car window.)

The woman in my window, WHO was not THAT much younger than I… then started a scattered explanation… about 14 decibels too loudly.  “Oh, OK.  I just… well.. we were driving… and it was a car identical to yours… and we were right at that intersection over there… and an old woman in a car just like yours… ran right into the back of us… and then she kept driving…. and I … I was just making sure she was okay… and she hit us pretty hard…right into the back of our car… and we are all okay. But she kept on going.  I wanted to be sure she was okay.”

WHOOOOAAAA.  Back up there a minute… little Nellie.  Did you say OLD woman?  OLD dang woman?  Is that what just came out of your babbling-brook-of-a-mouth?  OLD WOMAN?   And you are confusing me with her?

I am sure my mouth was wide open at this point.  My jaw had dropped well bellow my knees.  I’m sure of it.

I could not speak at first.   And then I uttered…” I’ve been visiting my Mom at Greenbriar Nursing Center.  And I just pulled into this lot, from over there.  It wasn’t me.”

“Oh.  Okaaaay.”  And the head disappeared from my window, just as quickly as it came.  I looked in my side view mirror, and noticed the woman was wearing a rather sturdy back brace as she scampered away.  No doubt, a result from the last time an old woman rear-ended their car.

Way too much drama, drama, drama… for one little car wash… I’ll tell you.   Somebody asked me the other day why I liked to keep my car so clean?  Well frankly, I am beginning to wonder if it is worth it.

And tonight, when I arrived home from my last meeting, I checked my Google News Feeds, as always.  Apparently an MIT professor says that cars  should never be fully driverless.  He continues… “If the problems that robotics encounters in extreme environments are any indicator, then self-driving cars are a bad idea.”

The guys is David Mindell.  He is a professor of the History of Engineering at MIT.  And now… he is the author of  Our Robots, Ourselves: Robotics and the Myths of Autonomy.   And Davey-boy said his argument against fully autonomous vehicles isn’t based on principles, but on history.  There have been a lot of mistakes and a lot of errors.

Based on today’s history, I would say this fella’ is right.  If we can’t sit motionless while waiting for a carwash without being accosted while scouring our purses for quarters… … .. how can we EVER expect our robots to?
But that is just one OLD LADY’S opinion.

I have to go to bed now.  Right after I have my warm milk.

There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.
— Napoleon Bonaparte

I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.
— Thomas A. Edison

Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
— Mark Twain