Then And Now---Driving

Years ago when I was a teenager learning to drive, the rules of the road were written in cement. I attended drivers training classes at school, passed my driving tests at DMV (Dept of Motor Vehicles), earned a drivers license along with the privilege of driving my old klunker car up and down the main drag on the way to and from school.

During those times there was something called a "rolling stop" which was not making a complete stop at a stop sign. And guess what, there were consequences for not making a complete stop: A Traffic Ticket.

Today at least in the area of the country I live, most of the drivers do NOT make a full stop at a stop sign, in fact they don't attempt to slow down at a stop sign. I have to admit I have done the same thing myself at a corner that is very familiar to me and driving on a one way street and absolutely no traffic. One day I did the rolling stop at that corner in front of a local police person. And received a smirk from the driver of the police car and nothing else. The police these days have so much more to do than worry about a driver not making a complete stop at a stop sign.

Part of me is melancholy when I think back to the days of less traffic, less populace, simple rules.

Could it be that my memories are dim after all these years? I don't think so. I do remember riding in a car with other people who were pulled over and given tickets for not making a complete stop. That is why it is clear to me that there used to be interest in enforcing the minor traffic laws but like other things in this life there are way too many more things to do than the simple rules of yesteryear.

Driving Forward

Driving forward is a lot easier than driving in reverse.

In reverse, you can't see as clearly, you take the chance of running over something or hitting something head-on.

If the gear is in park, that means sitting still, not moving at all, not forward or backward.

As in my life, it doesn't get me anywhere constructive to look backward or live in the past and it sure doesn't get me anywhere to sit still and be stuck in the present even though I believe that living in the present is the healthy thing to do. But when I live in the present, it is healthy to be actively living there, to participate and BE present. When I do that, I am actually driving forward, seeing the road clearly and making wise decisions. I might have to stop once in awhile to clean the windshield and get focused again, and then the wheels begin rolling again in this earthly vehicle I call my life.

No Queues To Use The Head

Hopefully they cleaned the sinks first.

This is a pretty handy dandy restaurant.



Apparently the first Taiwanese Toilet Bowl Restaurant was so popular that they opened a second one … who knows, maybe this will become the next big global franchise. 10 years from now, instead of visiting the Golden Arches, you might just be stopping into the
Poo Poo Palace!

Dreaming In Multi-Color

Most of my dreams are in color. Brilliant colors. Brighter colors than on a television screen or a cinema screen. My life has certainly not been dull, so the fact that my dreams are such amazing colors seems as natural to me as having my first cup of coffee in the mornings.

I said most of my dreams are in color. There are a few stragglers from my distant childhood that remain black and white. Unpleasant dreams. Not of any actual events, but visions that were unnerving for the child experiencing the nocturnal nightmares.

Leftover dreams from my childhood are in black and white.

I don't have those dreams very often anymore.

Today's dreams feature people, pets, adventures. In brilliant color.

Missed Calls

This morning there were three missed calls on my cell phone. I am not one of the people walking around holding a cell phone to an ear or driving while trying to negotiate traffic. I don't begrudge anyone who uses a cell phone most of their waking hours. My lifestyle is different by choice.

To the best of my recollection, people used to use etiquette on the phone and this was taught to children in beginner telephone 101.

In the past, if I wanted to know if I missed a call I would install an answering machine to the home telephone and that way someone could LEAVE A MESSAGE. What a unique concept.

When I see the orange blinking light on my cell phone, I know I either have a message or there was a missed call.

If there is a missed call, I console myself with my standard approach of "hey, if it were important, they would LEAVE A MESSAGE".

Chili For Breakfast

We chopped green peppers, lots of onions, and opened cans of black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans while ground turkey and chili seasoning browned on the stove. These ingredients were placed in the crock pot and stewed tomatoes were added to the mix.

We awoke to the smell of chili.

We scrambled eggs and poured chili on top.

How's that for a hearty breakfast???

Like the shrimp in Forest Gump, we can do chili dogs, chili nachos, chili and cheese, chili on baked potato, chili rice, chili spaghetti, chili burritos, chili fries, chili casserole, chili macaroni, and chili and shrimp!

Guess that makes us full of beans!

This Baby Makes Sense

Lists, Lists, And More Lists

My life is ablaze with a myriad of lists.

Not just the standard grocery list. Or the Target list.

Nah, I have lists of chores to get done by next month. And then lists of chores to accomplish by two months from now.

I have attacked one of the lists this week and have put the items up for sale that will not go with us on our next move. The second car was snatched up in the first day. Only two other large items to sell and then we can have a yard sale.

Elimination can mean so many things.

Love and Romance

I Found My Heart In The Dust

On the tall dresser is a small box of gold leaf and etched glass. Inside are all my bracelets.

My dear husband casually mentioned that he had left me a note on the dresser. After searching later that afternoon, I saw something beautiful.

Written in the dust of the top of the etched glass was a heart and and arrow pointing to the heart. Since it was glass, it was not easy to see and did not stand out.

So when I walked back into the living room I said "I found my heart in the dust".

Ah, true love. It is so grand.

Scabs On My Knees

There is difference between scabs and callouses.

Callouses are like wearing a medal of honor to show continuous work.

Scabs show my inability to let it heal, my unwillingness to give up the pain and my pleasure in picking away at the sore and my enjoyment in the new pain.

Learning to live a healthy life is a circle of becoming aware of when I am picking at the scabs as opposed to building up the callouses.

Mushy Stuff

Valentine's Day is approaching. I am aware of that because of the advertisements in the newspapers strewn across the tables in the lunch room at work and hearing snippets of conversations between co-workers. There is an excitement akin to the Christmas holidays with people looking forward to presents, flowers, or at least a box of chocolates!

This is not a Bah-Humbug post. Not at all. In fact, I am one of the proponents of romance and love and mushy stuff. But in my case, I like that mushy stuff throughout the year, not on one day a year.

At our house we do not give each other Valentine's Day cards or presents or flowers or even chocolates. The reasons for this are:

We sneak little notes to each other several times a week, in a cupboard, in the medicine cabinet, on a pillow, inside a book one of us is currently reading or in an odd place that presents us with a happy surprise. There is no need to buy a card and sign it or even make a card when we do that all the time.

We do not buy presents for each other because we are at an age that we have what we need and want and the more important reason is that we have been the loveliest gift to each other and we are thankful for every day we have together. We are a gift to each other every day, not one day a year. Even when we argue, we don't want to hurt each other, we just want to be heard and get our opinion recognized as important.

Flowers are lovely and we each appreciate the glorious beauty of nature; however, seeing a smile on my beloved's face and the twinkle of the eyes brings more joy than a roomful of flowers could present.

Chocolates are not out of the question completely, except that we do not use any sugar; not natural sugar or synthetic sugars. The only sweeteners we have used for a year and a half are honey and pure maple syrup. We make our "candy" using carob and natural items and we share a piece of candy in a loving, peaceful atmosphere throughout the year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day and maybe some of the sweetness of this particular holiday will find its way into your life more often throughout the year and not be absent in your life until the next Valentine's Day.

Little Red Wagon

A neighbor has a sweet older red wagon on her front porch.

Her name is stenciled on the sides in white paint.

I think we all should have a sweet little red wagon with our names on it to remind us of a time to play and laugh and run and share rides.

I never had a sweet little red wagon, and never had a childhood of laughter and play and shares. I do now though. My goal is this year to find a small sweet little red wagon and put my name on it.

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Music, Music, Music

"Guitar strings are the toner cartridges of the guitar industry"

explained James Winningham, guitar play extraordinaire, as he was relating the guitar playing business to a full time office employee person.

"Guitar players hate to change strings, so there are new tech strings coated or wrapped in something, called Elixir Strings, that are twice the price of regular strings."

Listen to the clip of James' music in the sidebar of this blog. He is currently finalizing 7 original tunes for an upcoming CD.
I found some info on the Elixir Strings on Guitar Talk:

"If you like the smoothness of the Elixir strings, I highly recommend the D'Addario Flat Tops and D'Addario Chromes. I exclusively use Flat Tops and Chromes, and have never experienced breakage or defects with any of them. Two of my instruments actually had the same set of Flat Tops on them for nearly three years, and they never broke or sounded "old." I finally changed the string sets on both instruments, out of sheer embarrassment that I left the same strings on my instruments for such an insane amount of time. D'Addario Flat Tops were the obvious choice for the new sets!"

At Key Note Music:

"Strings are not just strings. They are the connection between you and your music. When strings go dead, so goes the inspiration to play. After all, who wants to play when strings feel crusty and their sound is dull and muddy? It's a curse we lived with for years.
With a vision to change the world one set of strings at a time, Elixir set out to develop the cure for the common string. Strings that deliver great tone for a really long time. Strings that stay feeling clean and smooth."

Living with a guitar player has its rewards: He plays for ME!! He sings to ME! He is marrying ME! And I am learning more every day from a wonderfully talented musician/composer.

Beautiful Women

Put your sound on, relax, enjoy the many faces through the
progression of earth time.

Good Neighbor Policy?

Found
the
graphic
at
rottenneighbor.com.

Cute idea, huh.

Also found some good words about neighboring at can you hear me now:

"All of us have a neighbor or two that is less than desirable.
They say that one out of three homes are owned by rotten type neighbors.
Look around you. If the neighbors on either side of you are OK;
GUESS WHAT?

If you find out that such a site exists for your area, would you be afraid to go there and check it out?

If you answered YES! to that question perhaps some radical changes are needed on your part.

Have you noticed this awful odor and it's pretty strong where you are sitting? That's another clue that there's something wrong and it's closer in the mirror of life than you suspect."

Taking A Personal Inventory

It is taking a long time for me to take a personal inventory. This is something I want to do and that I think I will benefit immensely when it is completed. I am writing down a few significant people in my life during different age groups up to and including the age I am now. And then I am building upon that by writing about an event that I remember that was significant to me at that time. And then I am writing what was my part in it and how did it impact my life; what behaviors did I begin or what reactions did I reinforce.

This didn't sound like a difficult task. Until I started doing it.

There were so many different people who have been significant in my life, so picking the top three or four for each age group was the first challenge. Then for me to really be honest and to see my part in each incident requires some soul searching.

I know that many other people have done this same type of personal work and have lived through it and gained insight into their past. I know that many people have done soul searching work and benefited from the honesty and self evaluation. To do this kind of work on myself and fly through it and not do a rigorous personal inventory would be like calling myself an honest thief or an anorexic chef or a blind bird watcher. I have to give it my all. I want to. This is taking more time than I thought it would. But I have lots of time. I have the rest of my life. And the rest of my life is looking healthier and happier and serene.

Memories

I found a wonderful post on The Art Of Intimacy:

"A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen."by Edward de Bono.

Our memories are what keeps us connected to reality. Read this post and the rest of her blog. Very encouraging and enlightening.

Kids Will Eat Anything If It Is In McDonald's Wrapper

According to this story in the New York Daily News, young children think

"anything in a McDonald's wrapper - even a vegetable - tastes better than the same food in a plain wrapper."

...and...

"It's not just burgers and fries. Carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids when they were wrapped in the the Golden Arches.

The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost the taste test. Robinson said it was remarkable how children so young were already so influenced by advertising.

The study involved 63 low-income children ages 3 to 5 from Head Start centers in San Mateo County, California."

I raised my kids on McDonald's. Yikes!!!