I believe in Guardian Angels.

I am not talking about the motorcycle gang. Although they do exist. No.

I believe in the ethereal type. I haven’t been reminded of them in a long time. But today I saw a painting…. which prompted all of this.

The story behind the painting is this.

It depicts a woman, kayaking down a stream which is canopied with trees from bank to bank. The sun is splintering through the trees and a light fog is resting on the water. The sunlight is falling every so gently.

There is a large area of heavy mist near the woman…. and in that haze…. there appears to be a figure of an angel. It is a beautiful painting.   The thing of it is…. the painting is a rendering of an actual photograph.

The woman in the painting had breast cancer. Her health declining. Her husband was the artist. On that day… he photographed her kayaking along the river. It was her last time out. She died shortly thereafter. When he reviewed the photographs with his brother, they saw the image of the angel in the mist. So he painted it. And that is what I saw today.

I don’t feel like I am describing it very well here. But the bottom line is… I was reminded of guardian angels. They’ve been with me my whole life. Some might call it luck. Others may say it is simply….. cause, effect, and outcome. They may be right. I can’t say for sure.

But what I feel in my gut is that a guardian angel has had a hand on my shoulder on more than one occasion. I don’t know how it works either. And I can’t explain it.

I can’t really explain infinite space either. But I have read many scientific accounts which detail its existence in our cosmos. There is a lot in life that I can’t comprehend.

I think it would be extremely vain and egotistical of me….. to even expect that my insignificant little speck of a human brain….. could ever be powerful enough to decipher all the mysteries of the universe.

So maybe something “is”…. or maybe it “isn’t”.   But it is our human right…. I think…..

…. to believe.

“You’ll see it when you believe it.”  -W. Dyer

Well, with the New Year comes an innumerable amount of resolutions from people.  I’ve heard them proclaimed in all shapes and sizes. “In the new year, I resolve to….. quit smoking, exercise more, lose 10 pounds, learn French, be a greater success at my job, buy more sardines, build a Lego replica of the Mona Lisa….” … and on and on.

It seems that I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions.  About 10 years ago…. I resolved never to make another New Year’s Resolution.   And by golly. It is the only one I’ve kept.

I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking about my list of resolutions for this year… so here is the bulk answer.
Again. Nadda.

That’s not to say I won’t try to be a better person in the year to come. I make that promise to myself every day. Some times I keep it. Other times…. not so much.  But that is what I shoot for.

It is a bit like driving on snowy or slick roads. The experts always tell you… if you start to spin out…. look toward the direction in which you want your car to go. If you do this… a lot of times you will instinctively steer yourself down the right path to a good outcome. But if you jerk the steering wheel in the opposite direction of your momentum… your spin will continue.  You’re wrecked.

Look to the place where you want to go. That is the direction you will travel. That is where you will head.

I know that when I have ended up in a ditch… is normally my own fault. It happens when I’ve steered myself there.

Stay on the road. That’s my advice to myself. If it happens to be the one that is less traveled… that is okay.  If it is the long and winding one… that is okay too.  Just so long as I stay on it.

So. That’ is my ongoing plan.  Be a better person each day.  To be kinder, more accepting, and to have a generous heart.

….

..  …. ….

.. …. .. especially when I think someone is being a total idiot.   (NOW do you see why I am pretty dreadful with resolutions?)

“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.”
Cavett Robert

“The way out is the way through.”
L. Ron Hubbard

On the road again. The winding road. The rocky road.
The road less traveled.  The one paved with good intentions.
You take the high one.  I’ll take the low.
We’re on the road again.

Recap of the twelve hours on wheels.

Woke early.
Medicated the spaz dog and the neurotic cat.
Neurotic cat bit Mary. Not once. Not twice. But three times.
We are as stupid as the cat is neurotic.

Load ’em up. Move ’em out. Drive. Drive.
Eggs at Bob Evans.
Shame on you Bob. You quit serving ham. It is pig Bob. Pig.
Shame on you Bob. You quit serving waffles too. Cracker Barrel takes the lead.

Snow. Ice. Mountains.
What more?
Oh good. High winds.

Lunch at Wendy’s. Wendy’s with a leak.
My Single was soggy. That can’t be good.
Drive more. Drive more. Drive more.

Snow quit. Yeah.
Sedative not working on dog.
Cat has started squawking like Roseanne Barr.
Sign. Sign. Everywhere a sign.

Game of trivia.
Tutti’s name is Dorothy. Saints said “Who Dat”.
Snickers bars are named after a horse.
Enough trivia.

Curse of the slow left-lane driver. I think it is the fast lane.
Curse of the slow left-lane driver. I think it is the fast lane.
I think it is the fast lane.

More road.
Dinner at Burger King.
We asked to see the King.
They gave us Whoppers, and turned us away.

Record time on the road, despite the winter storm.
Dog is still acting like a fart in a skillet.
Home again. Home again.
Good to be home again.

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” – Matsua Basho

Urban sprawl and techno-gadgets. The internet, gaming, and social networking.

As we said goodbye to 2011, and hello to 2012, there was yet… another report on….. the expanding waistline of Americans. Too many sodas, fast food, white pasty foods… blah, blah, blah. I think they are missing the bigger picture.

Yes….I think the problem has settled into place…… because we quit doing things for ourselves.  These days, it seems….. we need the faster, sleeker, effortless way to get that “something” accomplished.

But tonight I am NOT writing about that topic at all. It just reminded me of things I miss. If I were King of Everything… I would bring a lot of this stuff back.

We used to have push mowers. Those were neat. There were little blades that twirled around the axis when the wheels would move. Give a push and looky there. The grass would fly.

Same with raking leaves. The old way was a lot of hard work. It could take all afternoon… and when you were through…. your muscles would really ache. A hot shower and some warm stew afterward was one of the best feelings in the world. Now we have leaf blowers.

Shoveling snow.  The heavy wet stuff was the biggest challenge. But the hot chocolate with marshmallows tasted SO good when the walks were scraped clean of all frozen precipitation.  Now….. Snowblowers.

We would chop our own vegetables, knead the dough for bread, wash dishes by hand.

Food processors, bread makers, dishwashers.

From pounding nails by hand….. … to writing letters by hand.    All those things are slowly fading away.

I liked playing stick ball in the street with the neighborhood gang until the streetlights came on.

On Saturday nights….. it was fun to spread a jigsaw puzzle out on the fold-up card table…. and pop the popcorn in a pan… with oil.

I liked that we only had one phone in the whole house when I was growing up. It had a really long, stretched out cord. If the phone rang, and it was for you…… you actually had to get up from what you were doing and walk in to the kitchen to take the call. I liked standing there, talking to my best friend on the phone…. twisting myself up in the cord… round and round. And if there was something you didn’t want anyone else to hear… you’d have to walk into the other room and stretch to cord really far.

The phone was all black, had a rotary dial, and hung on the kitchen wall.  We don’t see those too much any more either.

We would walk to church on Sundays. Heck, we’d walk everywhere. Urban sprawl has squelched that.

I really don’t want the gadgets on the infomercials to take over the world. Or the video games…. or even the social network.

Yet……the truth of the matter is…..  I like a really good gadget….. and yep…. I love technology.   I am constantly amazed at its expanding  capacity.  I’m a freak for a fun video game too.

But at the same time…. I miss a good typewriter, and a wristwatch that you have to wind yourself.

It is kind of like missing Steve Jobs…. and Andy Rooney….. at the very same time.

“We change, whether we like it or not.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“That was the BEST New Year’s Eve Party ever. Is it time for bed yet?”
– Ollie, Canine Philospher, 21st Century

A late night… happily celebrating time… with dear friends.

2011… good bye to another year.

2012….hello to another year.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
– Senacca, Roman Philospher, 1st Century

Happy New Year Everyone!

Let’s hope the Mayans got it wrong…. 

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faith
noun
1 complete trust or confidence in someone or something: this restores one’s faith in politicians.
2 strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
• a system of religious belief: the Christian faith.
• a strongly held belief or theory: the faith that life will expand until it fills the universe.

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There are a lot of different kinds of faith. But, this topic seems to have come up for me, more than once this past week. The question of having faith in something or someone….

But tonight I had a very philosophical discussion concerning different beliefs in the world and spirituality.

Here are a few of my personal observations of this life existence.

Some people are very religious.
Some people are very spiritual.
Some people are both.
Some people are one, and not the other.
Some people are neither.

There are those who believe in a god, or a higher power.
Those who do not. And those who think it might be a little of both.

So.

Who is right?

Well…. I for one… just don’t know for sure. I also postulate that none of us can really KNOW for sure. (That is why the people who believe in a god… are said to have faith.)

I am not sure how it is, that one person, or group of people… …. then… …can be absolutely “right” about their religious beliefs. If that person knows for sure… and can pass judgement on others…. they are much smarter and more powerful than the rest of us….  I’d have to say.   Way smarter than I am…. at least.  That much I know.

I…. for one …..would not want this distinction… nor this responsibility. Nope.

Which brings me to the next good definition for the night…..

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benefit of the doubt
phrase | noun
1 a favorable judgement given in the absence of full evidence.
2 to decide you will believe someone or something

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I like that phrase. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt…most of the time. (Oh. I like to be right.  I am very flawed that way.  But I trust people an awful lot too.)   I think the world would probably be a better place…. overall…. if we trusted each other just a little more than we do. To believe in each other… and have faith in one another…

It might be good…. not to discount others… just because they think differently than we do.  But perhaps to learn and grow from them. Instead of always thinking “I am right.  And you are wrong”…. every once in a while… saying…
“Hmmmm. It could happen.” OR “That is a possibility.”

We can’t all know it all. In fact… as I sit and write… I am reminded that I don’t know much at all.

“I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.”
– Oscar Wilde

I miss nicknames.

When I was a kid… we had nicknames for everyone. Well… just about. It was really a term of endearment… no matter how rotten the nickname.

Stinky Atherton is the first one that comes to mind. Not the greatest epithet.  But we all liked Stinky.

In my little circle of friends… I was Krony.  I guess I’ve kinda’ held on to that one a little.  But there was Krony, Tuck, Strit, Mick…. and more. Sometimes it would just be there person’s last name… like Snyder, or Quinn. It just doesn’t seem like we used our first names all that much.

Yep. I loved nicknames.

My family called me Cec growing up… pronounced “cease”…. because of my middle name.

I was the youngest of seven kids. When we’d get a neighborhood game of touch football going in the street… things would get confusing.  All my brothers’ and sisters’ friends called them “Krony” too.  So there was a lot of “Hey Krony… throw it over here.”   And on.

But nicknames were fun.  It perpetuated a sense of camaraderie….. the feeling that there was an “inside joke” or a secret handshake.

Jim Bullen Sr., (Mary’s dad….I think he was the senior)… was the master of nicknames. I think he mostly did it because he had a hard time remembering people’s real names. Bonzo. Bongos. Pal. Buddy. Chumbo. You name it… he might call you by it….

Which brings to mind another thing.  How come when somebody is the ‘the senior’… no one uses the nickname “Senior”…..  but if you are the first born ‘junior’… people WILL call you “Junior”??

I see people on Facebook who had nicknames their whole lives… but now they go by their more refined birth names. I know at least 3 Missy’s from childhood…. who are now… Melissa.

I had a few different nicknames throughout my life… like… Bullseye, Ohio, Copper, and Sheriff. Krony was persistent through the years.

But my point is… as adults… we need to bring the nickname back. I think it would keep us less serious about everything. People get too stressed these days.

Like… if you are eating out… and the waitress is terrible…. I think it is easier to be upset with her if her name tag says “Debbie”… than if it  said….. maybe….. “Skippy”. Who could be ticked off with someone named Skippy?

I would label some of my current friends with the following titles… in no particular order…. Plucky, Finster, Thumbs, Slowboat, Toto, Volley, Buzz, Neon, Nails… oh….. just a few.

Yep… the grand old NICKNAME.   Let’s bring ’em back.

But don’t call us….. we’ll call you.

Oh, and I just remembered this. I was on the girls’ swim team growing up. One year we got a new coach who acted like she knew everything. Her name was Claire Buoyant.

Most of the time… she just liked to float around the pool.  So everybody called her Bob.

Today, we took my Mom & Dad to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Dayton Art Institute. After the art, we ate dinner out at Tumbleweed’s Restaurant.  Not only did they make us wait a very long time for our meal…. they presented to us some a very disappointing imposters…. masked as buritos, burgers, and chicken.  But… back at the museum.

Mom & Dad are 90. Not collectively. Each.   After walking through the art show, my Pop commented…”I sure did learn a lot today, about Norman Rockwell and his paintings. Things I never knew before.”

And there you have it.

When I am 90…. I would like to be found sauntering through Art Exhibits… and still learning things. How awesome is that?

But when you think about it….. there is an awful lot…… about a big flipping lot…. that we don’t know. Hard as I try… I will never be able to figure it all out….. but it is fun trying. I read a news report this morning which state that only 55% of all Americans know that the sun is a star. Youch. Somebody light a candle.

So in the spirit of learning… I thought I would mention a few little dollops of trumpery here tonight.

Q is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the United States.  I think we need one more state.  We’ll call it Quaddle…. or something.

The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards. And… that little crazy bird… manages to keep her weight down…. to less than a penny. Have you heard of a penny for your thoughts? Hopefully they weigh more than the hummingbird.

In Greek mythology, the goddess Hera spilled her breast milk after refusing to feed Heracles. What is said to have been the result of that incident? The Milky Way. Now this one bothers me. There are an awful lot of things named after the Milky Way… one of them being a very popular… and delicious candy bar.

Rhode Island, the smallest state, has a larger population than Alaska, the largest state. BUT, you can’t see Russia from Rhode Island.

A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours. Sad, but true.
The Galapagos tortoise has the longest lifespan of any animal, up to 200 years.  Diet and exercise I’ll tell you.  Diet and exercise.

To this day there are still 3 golf balls on the moon.

There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. (I will not list the various ways here…. Buddy, can you spare a dime?)

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. I would think airlines would quit giving out peanuts on plane rides. Maybe they have.

Some Ribbon Worms will eat themselves if they can’t find any food. Dumb, hungry worm. I vote for an official name change.

The average American drinks about 600 sodas a year. Not me.  Ante up Polly K.

One in three dog owners say they have talked to their pets on the phone.  Guilty as charged… …. and you should SEE my PHONE BILLS!

A whale’s penis is called a dork. You know…. this really explains a lot.

Which brings me to the last bit of trivia for the night….
In West Virginia if you run over an animal, you can legally take it home and cook it for dinner!

I’ve never had a Possum Loaf I didn’t like…..

We are all really something, aren’t we?

Each one of us… so very different. Yet, at the same time…. so very much alike.

A great example of this: Some people love to try new things. Others, do not. I think I fall at the middle of this scale.

Now when it comes to food…. I will try just about anything. Most of the time, I am glad I did. Like Pig Trotters at FIG. Better known as pigs’ feet.  Really good piggly wiggly toes.  I have sampled a wide range of things….different kinds of bird eggs.  Beef Tartar. Frog legs.   I think I was born with palette which likes to say…”Oh, what the heck. Bring it!!”  From a very young age, I enjoyed things like Limburger Cheese on crisp rye crackers, Braunschwieger, Bleu Cheese, Turtle Soup, and on.

But there are foods… I don’t particularly care for. Escargot is one. Sweet Breads (I haven’t been able to get a straight answer on what THOSE really were).   Calamari. My family loves Calamari. I keep trying it… and I continue not to like it. However… if you put enough Cocktail Sauce, Tarter Sauce, or Dipping Sauce on dead squid…. it still tastes like warm fried rubber bands.

When it comes to physical feats… I am a bit more reserved. You won’t catch me jumping out of planes, or bungee cord jumping, or anything extreme. I have tried snow skiing time & again,  and I still don’t care for it. But our interests change too.  I will hold a snake now… or pick a spider up.  I wouldn’t have done this ten years ago.  Now… I think it is sort of neat-o pete-o.

We all have different ways of moving through life. Which is good, I think.  At times…. it can be tricky. But on other occasions, it can be interesting, and meaningful, and filled with wonder.

Yes. Different families, friends, politics, religions… jobs.

I tried a job once in the food industry. I got hired as a Food Tester. I liked it for the most part… but it seemed I always had too much on my plate.

…… ohhhhhhh……  but enough about me.

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”  -Henry David Thoeau  (Same goes for women too!)

There are some vacuous minds in the world. Oh… what the heck.  I’m just going to come out and say it.  There are some really dumb people walking around. Okay, maybe they aren’t totally dumb. That is not very nice of me. But some of those folks sure do some idiotic things.

Like this.  An 18-year-old man in Pittsburgh has been accused of burglarizing a market (with three other teens). They allegedly stole $8,000 worth of cash and cigarettes and such. They may have gotten away with it…. but they posted picture of themselves… with all the loot and all the details…. on Facebook. Now there’s some power-thinking for you.

Another Facebook incident…. this one in Georgia. The police there say Trevor Jones broke into someone’s home. While in the house, he used their laptop to log into Facebook. The problem for Jones, allegedly, was that he forgot to log out of Facebook before he left.

What is wrong with people… really?

Two nurses in a Utah hospital’s intensive care unit were fired this week for taping a patient’s mouth shut and laughing about it. The woman’s teeth were chattering and she was moaning and shaking. The nurses told her her to shut up, taped her mouth closed and joked they would be fired if they were caught.  Not only dumb….. heartless.  Remind me not to get sick in Utah.

I am going to offer up the benefit of the doubt here.
It must have started out sounding like a really good idea.

I’ve had them in life…. those moments when it all rushes over me. All of a sudden I am struck by a flash of genius. “Yes Polly. This is the best dang thing you have ever thought of in your entire life. Forge ahead!” Sometimes those spontaneous moments of brilliance don’t turn out to be so sparky.

For some reason, my bouts of stupidity have been mixed with just the right amount of enduring common sense…. and LUCK.

Most of my debacles are a result of me thinking I am bigger, stronger, faster, or more agile than I really am. None of them have been associated with crime… I can assure you of that.

I learned that lesson very early in life.

I was probably eight or nine. My neighborhood chum, Jana, talked me in to giving the old “shoplifting” thing a try. We rode our bikes to Woolworth’s. On that particular day…. I sported my Chuck Taylor high tops,  shorts, a t-shirt, and knee socks.  After much deliberation…. I decided to steal a large red rubber ball. The adrenaline raged after making my choice. I grabbed it from the bin….. “Oh no! No pockets!” No problem. I was really thinking on my feet. I would hide that ball in my knee sock. Yes. Brilliance in Motion.  That would work!   And out past the main counter I ran….

I had locked my bike out front. (More revved-up thinking.)   I just didn’t want anyone stealing the darn thing… I mean…. you never know about people.  So…while scurrying to spin the numbers of the combination on that padlock… I felt a hand on my shoulder. Store manager. Crew cut. White shirt. Tie. Dark-rimmed glasses. All of which spells…… big trouble for little missy.

Thankfully, those times were a little different. I was crying like a baby…. he scared the holy-moly-guacomole right out me. But I was spared any time in the slammer.  My life of crime… started and finished… on that very day… at the Woolworth’s on North Main Street.

I am glad that particular idea didn’t pan out. It was shear stupidity from its inception.

Yet… there ARE other times we manage to come up with a blue-ribbon idea.   I think it is important to give them a go.   To Try.   The trick for me… is to remember to take my time… and to attempt to keep my compulsive behavior in check.

Yep. Sometimes it is good to go out on a limb. But it is also some fine thinking to make sure it is attached to a really sturdy branch.

“No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered with a searching but at the same time a steady eye.”  – Winston Churchill