Lisa Braun Dubbels writes and I agree: “I wholeheartedly disagree with almost everything this administration does and says, but I am really committed to not using dehumanizing language in discussing any of it. It’s easy to default to namecalling and it’s more important now than ever that we don’t. It lowers your discourse and your vibration in the world. It loses an argument for you before you even begin. We have to move conversation into a less destructive space. It’s exhausting.”

I’m always interested in someone else’s opinion on something that is important to them, but you NEVER have to name call someone else in comparison. Talking about what an asshole someone is isn’t adding anything productive and it’s taking precious time from the actual issues. Already there are so many mocking and shaming memes that everyone is tired of them, few read anything on the topic at all because of it. Stick to the issues. Better yet, if you’re that ticked, get off the topic altogether, spend time with loved ones in nature. That’ll fix a lot of what ails you.

You know how you come online to do one thing, then look up and realize you’ve just played on Facebook for 4 hours? Or you dash into the mall for a red jacket and come out after nightfall having bought everything but?  That’s because no matter what you thought you set out to do, as you became IN THE MOMENT with where you were, your attention was directed to another thing, and then another until it became a free flow of moving from one place and situation to the next and you lost time with the flow of it all.

That’s what the DEATH experience is like also. You close your eyes here and open them elsewhere. Wherever you find yourself, there will be something catching your attention, then something else, then something else. There is no dark hole of nothingness where you’re wondering WTF? You will be met by loved ones who have passed before. You will be comforted by familiar surroundings.

RELATED: The End of Death As We Know It: What The Crossing Over Experience Was Like As Reported By Those Who Made The Transition

Her perception upon dying
Hard as it is, get used to death
How to forgive and find closure if the other is unwilling, absent or dead
A Friend and I Talk About Dying and Easy Transitions
Why pretend loved ones aren’t going to die? Let’s get over the fear
It’s comforting to know we get more than one lifetime

RELATED: Thich Nhat Hanh on death
RELATED:  Rumi on Death

Meet Your Happy Brain Chemicals  (How to Naturally Boost the Feel Good Chemicals in Your Brain)

I have a bad habit of not always looking at my calendar on my days off, then being surprised when I get a notification telling me I have something scheduled.

I just had a brainstorm to set the lock screen on my phone with an image of the next day’s calendar, that way I’ll see it at least a dozen times the day before so no surprises.

Problem solved, plus it motivates me to get back to work.

These chairs were untouched when Hurricane Irma passed over

84f degrees but only 68% humidity so it feels nice out there, a light breeze, no mosquitoes. I cut some of the giant pothos that’s hanging down around the west woods path to the fire pit, otherwise it turns into a wall that blocks the breeze. You can see a few strands of it to the left here but the leaves at that stage are very small, they grow to the size of a Thanksgiving platter. I find it interesting that before hurricane Irma I had forgotten to pick up these four plastic chairs from the fire pit area. Yet they were absolutely untouched. This was taken the day after Hurricane Irma. Not even a lot of debris on the ground. My Turk’s cap bushes all still had red flowers on when neighbors just blocks away did not even have leaves left on their bushes. It was as though the storm completely skipped my property. I can’t wait for the temp to drop just a little bit more and to cook sweet potatoes in the fire pit and sit out there in the cool night air.

I’m always asked what do I watch since I cancelled cable in November 2015. Here are my Watchlists as of October 15, 2017.  I did not include the home improvement and cooking shows.

AMAZON PRIME

Bored to Death
Catastrophe
Covert Affairs
Dead Like Me
Family Tree
Girls
Goliath
Hand of God
Hung
Magic of Belle Isle
Morning Glory
One Mississippi
Red Oaks
Royal Pains
The Newroom
The Wire
Transparent
Veep

Continue reading →

One difference between men and women. A gal pal tells of driving clear across the state to meet in person someone she met online just days earlier. The gentleman had grossly misrepresented himself and bore no resemblance to the photo he’d sent. He was 20 years older, 18 inches shorter and 200 pounds heavier. She felt tricked since his profile pic was “her type.” She excused herself and left. So after she tells this story, my pal — the man — pipes in and says “Now that’s the difference between men and women. A man would have thought, well I’ve come all this way and the night is young…“

To friends who love and respect and support our country and our Constitution and all it stands for: Don’t be dismayed by the current situation, the Powers That Be are handling the matter. The mills of the gods grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine. Stay hopeful.

Find something beautiful in life, even if it’s only for a moment. Enjoy that moment as much as you can. Remember that moment and bring it to mind often. Find something beautiful in life, even if it’s only for a moment.

It’s been a long, hot, muggy (ie, typical!) summer. Finally last night the temp dropped below 75f and my world changed. I can go outside! I can start again doing all the outside things I love to do, hiking, biking, just walking outside or sitting at the firepit, camping in the woods, cooking outdoors. The April thru September heat and humidity saps my energy but boy do I thrive when the temp and humidity go below 70! It makes me feel frisky!