Spam Stuff

So here is a little thing that was sent to me via email and I was encouraged to share. Rather than SPAM you all, I figured I would post it here. It is classic email fodder, but the analogy is good. I thought at least a few of you would enjoy.
Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers...
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with a unanimous yes.

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

LIFE ISN'T ABOUTWAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS......IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN !

First Assignment

I thought you all might enjoy trying this one. I have never really done anything quite like this in my schooling. I remember my creative writing class in high school. I wrote an epic about monsters from space trying to take over the world and only being able to kill them by throwing peanut butter on them. So needless to say it is difficult for me to expand writing in this way. I promise not to share all of Michelle’s assignments with you, but thought this one was fun for all if not to write but to think about.

1) Write 25 words you like and dislike on cards (this is harder than one thinks).
25 words I like
empathy finger really darn wowsers
seriously piñata perception funky technically
sunshine banana behooves asparagus Uranus
peace reality flush odor foul
nature spring fall growth why

25 words I dislike
right wrong should like quiet
smart change prick comb attitude
past know intention manager restriction
booger beat march obey impossible
sudoku poop wind chill can do glop

2) Pick 5 words, at least 2 you don’t like, and write a 5 line poem, one word for each line.
Empathy allows us to feel the way
It behooves us to pay attention to flow
There is no wrong
No other we must obey
We must smell the odor of intuition

3) Take the abstract words LOVE and BEAUTIFUL and make them concrete. What are the first things that come to your mind when you hear these words.

Love is a tree with huge branches reaching out and long roots going down. It ebbs and flows with the seasons, and may look dead at times, but always has sap, its life blood, flowing through the roots, branches, trunk waiting for the next season to arrive.

Beautiful is a brook with the sunlight glistening off the water as it flows over rocks. The appearance can constantly change, leaves, branches can obstruct the flow. Logs may fall in creating new ponds and water routes. But the beautiful water is always there.

4) Write a poem of any length, any style with no rhyming.

Birds chirping
Wind blowing
Sun behind clouds
We see the signs of nature around us
Organic, changing, yet staying the same
And ignore the nature inside us
Thinking we can make ourselves
Beyond nature
Like a building tall against the sky
Standing strong against the elements
Until the wrecking ball comes
To make way for a parking lot
Or a better, taller, stronger building
Would we be better off being a tree
Swaying with the wind
Losing branches that are weak
Conserving energy when seasons change
Providing a peaceful place in the world

Few Tidbits

I have devised a way to get (steal) wireless internet in our neighborhood since the one strong signal we used to get is now WEP protected. I did a little Google search and discovered an easy way was to take an external wireless adaptor, put it in a make-shift radar dish (I used some aluminum foil but think I will try to find an old metal strainer to use) and it becomes a directional finder. I tripled the strength of the signal that was too weak to stay on consistently and it works pretty darn good. I am going to keep working on improving the "dish" and see what I can come up with. Nothing like a good challenge.

I need to take more time for me right now. I don't feel I am doing my job well, nor do I care, which for me is a new and strange feeling. I have to find more or different things to occupy my work time, and take my off time to relax, meditate, read, etc. I think I have been trying to distract myself in down time to compensate for work, and I need to reverse that. Make my work day distracting, and concentrate on the internal during down time.

My friend Michelle is sharing her creative writing assignments with me. I will be doing posts occasionally with some of these assignments, which will force me to write more. I will share the actual assignment on the post, so if you want to play along feel free.

Lastly, I found this picture on the web. I don't know how I feel about it. It evoked laughter, then wonder on where they would need a sign like this, then frustration over the thought that there some places very close to my house where it wouldn't hurt, then laughter again thinking of how some of us have performed at least one of these functions somewhere inappropriate. Peace out dogs, I love you all.


F.Y.I. Trahv is fine in Estonian so it's 10,000 big ones for violating the rule.

I Was Surprised

This week we spent some time on a retreat. All the volunteers were there. I was anticipating a relatively frustrating experience, but as the days went on realized that we all have come a long way in understanding a bit more about our situation here. It created a cool experience, and again taught me not to anticipate. Luckily I didn't hold on to that anticipation and was able to thoroughly enjoy the company of those on the retreat. We stayed at a spectacular house overlooking Creede and I posted several pictures of the view and the interior of this house. Hope you enjoy seeing them.

Joe and I created a great sled run down the hill. It was insane the speed one could accumulate going down the hill right outside the house. I haven't laughed over just pure insanity for a while and it felt good, even though my legs were gone after the trek up the hill.

I am looking forward to being home and am hoping that I can stop in and see many of you at Wells Fargo on Thursday, with maybe a little happy hour after. I am feeling more and more comfortable now with my life here, and have no doubt that where ever I go in the future I will be ever more present and enjoy each little interaction for the peace it can bring a life.

Happy trails dear friends.

Lessons Learned But Not Known

I feel like a new person. I feel like there is something fundamentally different in how I look at things. Thing is, I don't know why. I believe all the same things I used to. I still don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life. But I feel like there is something new inside me.

I no longer really worry about anything, or if I do the worry seems to go away quickly. I don't care that answers aren't jumping out at me. I don't really care if I find them or not. So maybe that's it for me. Coming here was a means of letting go. I think I have. I look forward to what each day will bring, and am not concerned with the outcomes.

I am enjoying the process of living more than I ever have. I use my hands and my mind doing the most mundane of tasks and am starting to enjoy it. Where ever this journey takes me, I believe I am willing to go.

Enjoy your life people. It is a remarkable quirk of nature that each of us has the ability to think, reason, love. The more I live life on a daily basis, the more I see the beauty in creation.

Thanks to my daughter for the header. She did a great job. Love you all and peace to the world. Remember when you hurt others you are only hurting yourself. We are all one.

Coming Home

I have decided to celebrate my first 6 months in Alamosa by taking a vacation and coming home for a week. I will be flying in (weather permitting) 02/18 and flying out 02/25. Hoping to catch up with some of you out there during that time. I am looking forward to seeing Manhattan Transfer at the Dakota also. I have been listening to them since the early 70's so it's kind of exciting for me, though I have seen them already many years ago.

I do believe that I have actually let go of worrying about my future. I heard a quote from David Milch yesterday, though I can't quite remember it. The gist of it was that humility is a key attribute in being able to see all the roads available to us. It causes us to lose our expectations of the road, and therefore allows the roads to expand in ways we can't conceive of. That is not the best summary of what he said, but it captures the essence. I like the thought. Believing we can determine our path, thinking we can actually control the magnificence of creation around us, limits what we can do. But by being humble, and recognizing the magnificence, we can actually become more than our selves limited by mind.

Hope to see many of you in February. Love you all.

Lost my Stolen Internet

So I have been lucky in that my neighbor's wireless is unsecured. Unfortunately I haven't been able to connect for the last few weeks. I am hoping that he is on vacation and that a reboot of the router when he gets back will fix it. If not, I will have to figure out another way to get internet at home. Of course this has impacted my frequency of posting. I normally write when the spirit moves me, and now I would have to do it in word and email to myself so I could post at work. Not too bad, but does cramp the spur of the moment feel to the whole thing.

Anyway life has been good. I have settled into life here in the valley, and the way things work it has forced me to live more in the current moment. I do tend to have those moments when I start something, get side tracked, start something else, get side tracked, for perhaps 5 or 6 iterations before I realize that I really didn't get the initial task done yet. I believe this is a phenomenon of age, and if it gets worse as I get older I worry about ever accomplishing anything. The advantage of this is that I will have lots of unfinished tasks so if I remember one that I had started, it won't take as long to finish.

I have been doing lots of miscellaneous things around the La Puente family of services. It is good to see what each group does, contributing to the community in a variety of ways. The organization does a lot of good things in the valley.

Hope you are all well and happy, survived the holidays, and are looking forward to the new year. Peace and love to you all.