Overriding the default

101 Theory Drive is the name of a book about memory. The title is derived from the address of the science lab where a number of researchers work on memory. Gary Lynch is the driving force behind the research. One of Lynch's discoveries is really shocking (certainly counter-intuitive to what has been heralded about memory in the past) in one sense, but really good at explaining some memory phenomena in another. Our brains have so much stimuli going on that it would be impossible to remember much of it. That led Lynch to hypothesize that "forgetting" is the default setting in the brain. Something has to happen out of the routine to create a memory. That's astounding that the default setting of the brain is to not remember.

That explains a lot, though, about disesases of longevity and memory. Part of the deterioration process in aging is the loss of the mechanism to create memory. So, the default takes over - forgetting. Now researchers can focus on reversing the condition, that is, finding drugs that can recreate the chemical reaction to cause memory to happen. It also explains why children remember events or instruction in school so differently. The default is to not remember unless something in the instruction causes a memory.

Just from a memory standpoint, the first 3 1/2 years of the last 5 years for me didn't have much in them to create memories. Time passed without many mile markers to offset the default setting of the brain. But, the last year and a half has been different. Mile markers line the brain (figuratively speaking) creating a host of memories. The default setting of the brain has been overridden a great number of times for the brain to record very happy memories. Life's routines were not so mundane any longer. Solid memories resulted. And another finding of Lynch's research is beautiful. Long term memories are permanent. The last year and a half will last till I die.

A caption about memory

Memory is quite the enigma. Funny. I thought that psychologists had had the workings of memory figured out in 1980. But I read the most recent book on memory that says otherwise. It was, of course, not by a psychologist but a physiologist - who has been working on memory for 30 years. The evidence is pretty strong that memory has still not been fully figured out.

And even though memory may not have been finally detailed in its machinations, certain matters have started coming to light, especially regarding memory and longevity and memory and education. Memory seems to be outstanding during the middle years of a rat's life, but fading during latter years. The same seems to be true of humans, but this trend seems reversible now that the physiology of memory has been studied for 30 years. And as far as memory leading to academic prowess goes... the book on education needs to be rewritten.

In particular, having expectations for kids to progress from one grade level to the next in a lockstep manner is such a charade. Any teacher will tell you that kids learn unevenly. 30 years of study on memory tells a person why that is true. I hope that soon educators will take the time to learn what makes kids remember and turn education around. There's probably a snowball's chance that that will happen. Results for learning will not improve until educators act to turn the tide, however.

The upside is that memory works especially well when theta wave bursts open receptors to receive information. That means that the most pleasant events are the ones most likely to stay around. That could help reverse both problems with memory in longevity diseases and problems with memory in education's application to learning. I know that the principle of memory formed under pleasant conditions, or at least satisfactory conditions, is true. I have certain memories that are painful. They short-circuit my mind. Pleasant memories, on the other hand, flood my mind on a moment's notice and as often as I want to recall them. One of my favorite recent memories is of a picture given to me of a number of beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountain scenes captioned so appropriately as "A Place Within." The scenes and the giver of those scenes create a theta wave burst fiesta!

It's inside the head

I am sitting here watching TV. It's my favorite time of year. The NBA playoffs are in progress. It brings me peace to watch the best teams play basketball. The timing is good. I have just put in an entire weekend of work. Paperwork deadlines had to be met. It puts beans on the table.

That's the mundane part of my life. The exciting part of my life happens inside my head. My thoughts swim around about a recent book I read about memory. It was a fantastic read and taught me a lot about how memory is formed. Thoughts also rumble around about work that could be forthcoming in an area I love - courtroom deception. I recently saw my siblings, so I think of their lives. And it reverberates all through my gray matter to think of and hear a familiar voice once again.

The mundane part of my life goes from intense to peaceful and back again. It repeats. No, it's the reverberations through my gray matter that keep me going.

Fortunate to be blindsided

Sandra Bullock plays an outstanding character in the show Blindside. Her character is generous, determined, caring, discerning, and beautiful in every way, physically and mentally. I was emotionally touched when I saw the movie. Bullock's character was so well written and performed, words are not adequate try to describe her.

Wouldn't it be nice, if in life a person could know such a character as Sandra Bullock played in Blindside? For me that is not a rhetorical question. I do know someone who is that character and much more. There is not gold enough on the planet to replace this Blindside person. I am the most fortunate person on the earth.

For good mothers

I look around at the youth today, and it is easy to tell those who have been brought up by a mother who cares deeply about them and who enhances the genetic qualities they start with from those who do not have such mothers. There really is no substitute for a good mother.

My mother was one of those good mothers. She cared deeply about me and showed it. She still does. She enhanced the genetic qualities I started with. She still encourages me to continue to enhance what I was created with. I was fortunate.

There are so, so many kids today who get little or incomplete attention. They are not shown what deep affection a mother might have. These kids receive words, sometimes, - no action. They are not given the opportunities to learn on the internet or to play outside or to watch their mothers interact with other men and women. They live in a raise-yourself world without motherly modeling.

I am looking at a picture right now, however, of a young girl at play in her back yard, grinning from ear to ear. Her mother is an amazing mother who models, cares deeply, and provides opportunities for enhancement. This is one fortunate little girl.

So, here's to Mother's Day. I wish for the children of the world more mothers like mine and the one of the young girl at play!

I just love it

I have been with some people my age who have come back from the battle front. They are usually reticent. If they do talk, it's not about the war they have returned from, not about being in an environment when you are among enemies, even among enemies that appear as friends. Usually it's about a time before the war... a time when they were themselves... a time when they had an identity, a voice.

I have also been with some young men who recently have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. They are usually reticent. If they do talk, it's not about the battles of Baghdad or of Kabul, not about the Taliban or Osama, not about the feeling that no one is covering you their rear guard. Usually, it's about a time before they went to the middle east... a time when they remember their identity... a time when they had voice.

Today I heard from a very close friend. The message was short, but so encouraging. I just loved it. Lately, it seems that I have been on a battlefield every day among the enemy with no one to cover my back. So to receive a short, but very encouraging message was like a battle-worn soldier finally getting to take a leave of absence at the end of a long campaign. Thank you, my very close friend, for helping me find a voice.

Seeing the key

Clarity is an attribute that I admire a lot. I don't see it in people too often. What I see is a lot of opinions based on notions that don't appear to have a base in reality or truth. I see people who don't plan because they can't see the end. They end up plodding along, and they never really catch up from being behind the curve. I see people acting out of fear of what might happen. I see people saying what they believe, but it is rooted in wishful thinking or based on the power of positive thinking.

What I try to do is put myself around people who exhibit clear thinking. They don't always have life figured out, but they have a good grasp of how reality works, or what research says are the odds or the true behaviors of something or some group. They have a direction, yet they are flexible when the occasion calls for that. They know how to work with others, but they don't let others get in the way. If they have notions about something, they recognize its being different from the truth or reality, so they are willing to mold their notions to truth and reality as the two become clear.

I tend to trust those who have clarity. I love being around them. They take you where you are going. It's so much easier to see the key to life with them in the circle with you.

The Sahara cycle

I am usually fascinated by the history of the earth. Sometimes I think I missed my calling because I like geology so much. The Sahara Desert's interesting history is a good example of why I like geology. The great Sahara Desert hasn't always been a desert.

The Sahara has a varied history, but it also has a rhythm to it. At one time, about 300,000 years ago, it was a sea bottom. There was more water in the Mediterranean Sea area than there is now so that about the top third of Africa was a part of the ocean that is now the Atlantic. Old dinosaur crocodile bones have been found in the desert to verify this along with other shells.

But after the disappearance of the ocean, the Sahara has been through several 20,000 year cylces of going from swamp and jungle to being a desert. I would love to have seen it when it was green. But the most recent change to the cycle, about 13,000 years ago, insures that I won't. The Sahara is desert now, and for the next 7,000 years.

I think, as I look back on my life, that it reflects the cycles of the Sahara Desert. It has certainly been through cycles that have reflected both the lush green times and the times of brown desert dunes. I have just been through the desert dunes phase. I see the lush green ahead. I welcome it. I hate intense heat! The Sahara only took about 200 years to change when it passed from one cycle to the next. That is fairly quick in light of its 20,000 year scheme of cycles. The last year in my life reflects that period of cycle change. I am ready.

It's J ust L ike S ahara...

Cave paintings speak

It seems that in many places around the world there are cave paintings of ancient people. Some date back to an age before the most recent ice age. A lot of archaeologists believe the paintings show where to find game so they could stay well fed. However, just 2 years ago one archaeologist has a really good case for some of the paintings to herald what is in the heavens - the movement of the stars.

It is fascinating to me that ancient people knew so much about the sky and our planet's role in the universe. But, even with the knowledge they had, they still are ancient people and did not have near the vantage point that we do today. So with life... our most recent vantage point should be the one that guides us because it is the one that has the wisdom, the accumulated experience and knowledge, the applied living principles that work.

While cave paintings are fascinating and intriguing, they do not represent current reality. So with life!

(Mental) natural selection

Barnes and Nobles is a good book store in that it offers many, many books in all kinds of genres both fiction and nonfiction. They have just about anything a person would have an interest in. I seldom go to Barnes and Nobles to browse, though. I go there when I know more or less what I want. But even when I have narrowed the field, I sometimes go up and down several of the aisles just to browse titles of books for which I have no interest for that particular visit. This helps me appreciate the book or genre that I came there for, knowing that I have chosen one from such a wide array choices.

Life is a kaleidoscope of people with more choices than Barnes and Nobles can offer with books. It's kind of amazing to me that I can go through life meeting all kinds of people, experiencing a whole range of events, and still end up with a finite set of preferences because of the natural selection process. People have preferences so they approach

life like going to the book store. They know their preferences, so they don't really waste a lot of time browsing; they might notice the various titles on occasion, but they know what they came to the book store for.

So, as I travel through life, I choose to remember the events I have

preferences for. I don't always forget the sad times or the travesties that have

occurred, I just sort them into a life philosophy that I can live with and move

on. However, I do select some experiences or persons to bring to the front of

my consciousness that propel me to push further in life. It is nice to have people and events as a catalog to draw from in shaping my future, but it is equally as satisfying to have that one event and person to help in painting the picture of what lies ahead.

Winds of change

Tonight the wind is blowing rather ominously. A cold front is moving in that will lower the temperature for tomorrow by 40 degrees and the wind chill temperature by 55 degrees. That's an effective change!

Life blows through sometimes and changes things radically. Not all change is bad and some matters in our lives need something effective to turn them into something new, exciting, and hopeful. Life can become mundane sometimes, or it can imprison us to certain life views. If I look back a year, I find the mundane and the prison view. But the wind changed direction and effected some changes of major proportions. What a welcome change of scenery!

A Waterford person

The box above may look like an ordinary box to keep valuables in. But it isn't; it's very special. It is made by one of the premier designers of glass in the world - Waterford. I didn't hear of Waterford until I was an adult, but I clearly understood then that Waterford didn't produce just ordinary crystal objects.

Waterford headquarters is in Ireland about an hour from Dublin on the top of the world, so to speak, near the Arctic Circle. It's location makes it special if nothing else since it is way off the beaten path. But, beyond its location, Waterford is special because of the extreme care its artisans take in crafting each glass object it makes.

First a mold is made for each crystal piece out of beech or pear wood. Those are the only woods that withstand the heat needed as the crucible for the molten glass. Next, the glass is a product of the furnace room where the molten glass is blown then shaped and cooled over the mold made just for it.

http://www.waterford.com/images/product_enlarged/1350755600lg.jpg

The link takes you to Waterford's virtual visitor center for pictures and explanations.

Beautiful crystal objects are produced from this hard to reach spot on the earth. What a great analogy for the people we surround ourselves with in life - Waterford people. They are those people who are generally amazing. They inspire us, challenge us, befriend us. They are special, having been formed by the master artisans of life's molding forces.

I have important people in my life - business partners, profs who have taught me so much, friends who help professionally. But besides the deep bonds that tie family together, there are those Waterford people. They are Just Like Sparkling gems!

Trans (across) + spire (to breathe)

The turn of a new year brings with it the chance to see with a little clarity from a distance all that has transpired and a look ahead to the hope of what can transpire. Although you don't hear the word transpiration very often, that is what New Year's Day and New Year's Week is all about, seeing what vapors might escape once they are breathed out.

In one sense, what transpires on the first day and week of the month by a lot of people should transpire, that is, setting goals and planning to achieve them. Some activities do work best that way. In another sense, some activities should not have goals attached to them. Life requires spontaneity, passion, excitement, hope, and change. There is no goal for these. They just happen. Sometimes they take work or include work, but you can't plan for them necessarily or give quotas for them.

I do have some goals for this coming year, especially in my work. But, I also have high hopes that my life will be filled with spontaneity, passion, hope, and change. You can't plan for what is around the next corner. But life with purpose and passion anticipates that the next corner will be exciting even if it includes change, having horizons stretched, or inhaling new vapors breathed across my path. So, I will strive to achieve my goals while at the same time be excited about the transpiration of life around the next corner.

Viewing the tracks

Bringing in the new year is sometimes about looking back to see the tracks in the snow in order to better make new year's resolutions. A science magazine I was reading was looking back over the last 150 years at the advances that had happened and some of the discoveries in geology that had shaped modern thinking. A column in the newspaper was looking back over the last decade at some of the best stories printed. Tiger Woods was named the athlete of the decade. The financial magazines were taking this month's edition to look at the track of the stock market and the performance of some of the up and coming companies.

Looking back is important at times so that one can appreciate the events of the path behind. Some years are better than others for looking behind. But, this year was a very good year, so I don't mind at all looking back at this one. This year yielded a job change, one that led to a change from public education to self-employment. It had been in the planning phase since last January, but came to fruition on November 1st. I also got to spend more time at the lake than I have ever done before. And, I got to travel to Canada for two weeks. I was in phenomenally beautiful country for an extended period of time. What a good time!

This year also spawned some changes in stretching my horizons. Can anyone believe that this non-reader read 6 novels this year, encountered 5 new musical artists or groups, wrote original poems, and wrote more blogs this year than in the last 5 years! Call it a change of heart. Thank you, my heart!

So, this year has been good. It is a springboard in every way for the years to come. It was a change in direction and a change in heart.

Precious gems

Gems are precious sometimes not for their color or sparkle, but because of the "character" they have due to what it takes to make them into a gem. Diamonds and pearls have such character.

Most people know the story behind diamonds. They come from deep within the earth. They are only made over a long period of time. They have to undergo great amounts of pressure and are born of pressure and heat. Even after their birth, they have to go through additional cutting and polishing. It takes a lot of time, effort, and equipment. That is part of the reason why they are the chosen jewel to represent relationships.

Pearls have an equally interesting story. Pearls come from within clams. They start as foreign material that has slipped into the clam while it is eating. The clam protects itself by producing a membrane-like material to protect itself against the irritant. This material eventually turns into a pearl over time. Not all clams make pearls, so that makes the pearl an envied object of affection.

I would like to add a third gem to this list. I was watching a National Geographic program not long ago. Scientists have found a cave in which giant crystals have formed. These are so rare that only in one other spot on the earth is there another instance of a giant crystal cave. The crystals form over thousands of years like diamonds, but not quite as long. They also form if they are immersed in water that is over 120 degrees F. To mine these crystals scientists have had to drain the water and take their lives in their hands while breathing heated air that could kill them.

People love diamonds and pearls partly because they know the pain of the oyster or the rarity of diamond mines. These are gems of character. But, I would like to add a third gem - the giant crystal. I wish I could buy a chip from one of these crystals and mount it on a ring to capture its rare quality and its born-of-pain story.

I have a friend who wears a diamond and a pearl. I would add a ring of giant crystal to this collection if I could, for this friend is of rare quality and has much character, some of it born of adversity, some of it inherent. Don't we all need friends of such high quality and character!

A park gift

This is the time of the year when gifts are on a person's mind. I have been able to enjoy the gift of a park close to my house that I have walked in for the past 7 years. I walk there many mornings of the year. Over the 7 years it has produced a number of scenes for me to think and write about. The park is a gift because it spawns such generative thinking power.




Today even in the cold part of the day, squirrels were gamboling from one tree to the next. They ran spryly, crisply so that it looked like they enjoyed the movement as they chased each other or paused to crunch a nut off the ground. They gave life to the park. I have seen this scene over and over, regardless of the time of year. It's a gift from the park.



Sometimes the park seems a little sinister. During the winter months, many days the sun is not up when I walk, so I walk in the darkness. But, even if the walk begins on a sinister note, it ends giving me comfort because my eyes adjust to the darkness, and I know every crook and cranny of it. So, I lapse into the familiarity of its places.

And, on a number of occasions, pictures emerge in the park that strike me as something to write about - the moon over the trees, the trees dropping their leaves, its winter wonderland look when it snows. It gives me a certain amount of energy.

And finally, the park revives my mental energy. This is especially true if one facet or another of my life is out of whack. I get to concentrate on what is happening and try to figure out an answer or an approach that will yield happiness. Walking there helps me sort out thoughts as to the priorities in my life, or lets me see a direction that I need to take. The last few months, time there has allowed me to think of the new direction I need to take and the priority I need to have. Just recently some interesting ice formations in the park resembled a crown. It gave me pause to apply that symbol to the priorty of the one who has the regal position in my life.

The park has been a gift. I am thankful for my long time walking buddy.

Knowing what's real

Kangaroo leather is characterized by its flexibility, not its stiffness. So, when I bought a hat made from kangaroo leather, the fact that it came folded in a small bag only to bounce into form after taking it from the bag made me know that it was authentic kangaroo leather. It's been a great hat because of its viability ever since.

No doubt there will be a number of caps sold across the United States touting the Olympics in North America this February. There will be caps with the multicolored rings across the front. There will be caps with the word Vancouver 2010 on them. There will be all kinds of insignias on caps, but there won't be one that has the emblem of the Indian nation from the British Columbian area of Canada unless it was bought in Vancouver or in British Columbia. I have one of those authentic caps; it will be a novelty in the area I live in since I live a long way from Vancouver.

Authenticity is important in an age in which one can wear faux furs or sport faux mohawks or buy faux purses. "Knock-off" is a common word these days. So, when it comes to relationships, people are satisfied with "faux" relationships, knock-offs. There are a number of reasons people accept partial relationships rather than complete ones, but one of the reasons is that there are not that many people willing to offer a complete or authentic giving of themselves.



It is a felt emptiness to experience faux relationships. However, one gets to expecting them since authentic ones are few and far between. How refreshing it is to cross paths with someone who brings authenticity, who is transparent, positive, proactive, cheerful, probing, encouraging, energetic, caring, interactive, and enthusiastic. To use an old phrase, "I want to stake my tent" with such a person, not merely to be around them, but to experience authenticity that is just not available anywhere else. It's the difference between wearing silver or wearing gold in a ring.

Nothing like a good ruse

Somewhere around 850 BCE, Trojan and Greek armies had been engaged in warfare for a long time, maybe 10 years. Whatever the length, both armies were worn completely down. Death tolls were high. Important people had been slain. The war seemed like it would only end with the death of the last warrior in the siege. Then, the Greeks did the unthinkable – they offered a peace offering to the Trojans, a gift for being such a formidable foe, loaded their boats for Greece and withdrew from the harbor in front of Troy.

Oh, but that isn’t the end of the story. Literate people know the phrase, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.” The Trojan horse that had been given to the town as a gift was a ruse. It contained soldiers, who would wait until nightfall to leave the horse, open the gates, and let in the Greek army whose ships had returned to the bay and unloaded for the final assault. It’s a well known ploy. The Iliad just made the trickery famous.

War is good only if you win it. I have been engaged in wars with co-workers before and in larger office politics as well. The one event that wins it every time is the ruse that is created. Some people play by the adage that luck is always better than preparation. Thus, if they win a war, “There’s nothing like dumb luck,” they say. But I want to weigh in on the side of another saying, “There’s no substitute for preparation.” And that preparation is the ruse that makes the enemy feel confident of a winning outcome when really they are about to be brought down to deafening defeat because they have unwittingly exposed their fatal flaws to the opponent.

Fight well, my kindred spirit!

A work of beauty

Sometimes we assign importance to an object or to a person by saying that the object or person is the "heart and soul" of something. It would seem that the terms are redundant, and English, in general, resists redundancy (although it has its fair share built into its grammar). I guess the two terms could be considered redundant simply because they are synonyms. Someone could be the heart or soul of a company, for example, because (s)he feels so passionate about what the company does, and passion is represented by both heart and soul.

But, I think the terms could also be seen differently so that they are not repetitious. Heart is used sometimes to refer to courage, and soul is sometimes used to refer to the personality exuded by someone. So, if a person is the heart and soul of something, then perhaps (s)he is the courageous one and the one that everyone thinks of first because the entity is best represented by the traits of that one person.

I love meeting people who provide heart and soul. I know several of these people. One stands out. I love the sparkle and glitz, the courage, passion, and social networking this person provides for everything and everyone. It is sheer beauty to see.

Hooking

One thing I really like doing is finding what is under someone's layer of words. Usually people lay themselves bare with the language they use or written language habits they have developed. Some people are harder than others in determining what intentions lie under the verbage. But eventually people reveal themselves. It's a little like going fishing and trying to use a hook to catch someone. At first people like to present themselves through the frame of a picture, but eventually they can be hooked so that what does not appear in the picture can be seen. Language study is the perfect hook. It has certainly served me in good stead.

Not an illusion

"The grass is greener on the other side of the fence" is a saying of warning. If it is said, then the one saying it is trying to warn the listener that really nothing is truly greener... It just appears to be that way.

This can certainly be true. And there's a sister saying, "If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is." Another warning. And I heard both of these sayings within a two day span just over the weekend.

But I also know that sayings are just that... They are based on the usual or average experience, the typical way things turn out. It is so sweet when the grass really is greener and something really is truly good and doesn't just seem that way. I guess I am fortunate, but I am trusting my experience this time, and it is telling me that what I am seeing is really greener and what seems good, truly is. I have been wrong before, but that experience has led me to know that pure gold is unmistakably pure gold.

The best lemonade you have ever tasted

Dante wrote one of the masterpieces of the world around 1315 A.C.E., The Divine Comedy. The first section, called The Inferno, describes a descent into the depths of hell. It is an awful place. Many readers of Dante's day were frightened at the description, thinking that it was real.

I have written several blogs about escaping the hellish environment that I worked in until last month. Yes, I feel that I have escaped the inferno. The people that ran the place were crazy, inconsistent, brutish, mean-spirited, and ghoulish at varying turns. I am thankful for the escape, but I really, really find my spirit diminished to know that I left behind a very close colleague of mine in the inferno. The two of us often mused how she had to make lemonade from lemons from the misfires caused by the craziness of the place.

I feel her great pain and wish mightily that she could also find a way of escape. I know how the pressure of the place wears on a person. It drains one's energy beyond belief and never is one led to believe that she is competent, talented, used according to her strength. I feel for her greatly!

What is little known is that the Divine Comedy ends with a section called Paradise. It is all about the heavenly spheres that the main character is led through. It is my earnest belief that her talent and competence will very soon lead her away from this inferno into the "heavenly spheres" of the work world that will showcase her strength for all to see and appreciate. She will soon have an angelic taste of success outside of the inferno.

In the meantime, she will be making a lot of great tasting lemonade simply because she is talented and brilliant.

Thanks giving

I didn't know that when this year started that it would yield a number of events to be so thankful for. What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time, I was not at all enthralled with what was happening in my life. This year I have been given hope... and laughter... and vibrancy... for which I am so very grateful. And I thank the one who has caused such a turn-around.

How nice to get a raise in level

In Great Britain an elevator is called a lift. I like that idea a lot. It takes the weight of people and lifts them from one level to a level higher or more.

Today I was on the first floor of my day and had been for the whole day... until about 1:15. I couldn't get off the first floor. What a dull day. Then the phone sounded. The door to the lift opened. I got on and went up a floor. A couple of hours later the phone sounded again. The door opened again and I went up another floor. A third ring, a third floor. By four o' clock I was looking out the window from floors above where I was before 1:15.

Who would have thought that a phone call would equal a lift... but how my spirits were lifted! I don't take lifts for granted any more. I just enjoy them to the hilt when they occur.

A lesson from late fall

Life comes in seasons and flavors them with characteristics all their own. The very late fall characteristics were evident this morning in the park I walk in. One characteristic is that the leaves are all off the trees. It's not the prettiest time of year, but leaves being gone are a necessary function for the season. When the leaves are gone it allows everything in the biological cycle to take place like the scattering of seeds and the relegation of diminished sunlight to be for the main part of the tree without having to supply ever-needy leaves with nourishment.

Trees without leaves reveal the structure of the tree without the masking of the leaves. Leaves tend to distract one from the structure because of their beauty. But when the tree loses its leaves, mistletoe and nests are no longer protected from view. In late fall and winter the nests are empty. Life is latent. Observers get in touch with the structure of the tree again.

So, in our personal lives we have seasons during which we can lose the masks and see the structure of the events and relationships that make up our lives. It's a perfect time to lop off branches, prune, and reinvigorate trees so that when the beauty of the leaves returns it can sustain life better and make the beauty more vibrant.

I believe that time has come to prune and reinvigorate. Some limbs are cracked and dead. The leaves are gone to expose this. It's time to knock out the nests and get rid of the mistletoe that are leeches on the tree. When the spring arrives the beauty of the tree will be more vibrant and stunning.

I see light in the forest, not losing the forest for the trees

A confluence is when a number of events come together usually for some reason or another. Pessimists see confluence as a time when evil happens or events turn sour. Optimists see confluence as a time when events turn for the better or have a chance for new beginnings.

I want to stand with the optimists. There is a confluence going on with me right now. It's a turn for the better. I know it's true. I just check out the number of times I smile in a day, or the number of times Xanadu, the land of enchantment, enters my mind.

Higher levels

I find myself being more creative than I have been in a long time, maybe a decade or so. I wonder why?

Of course, I know why. And when I am at my highest level of creativity, I am most content. What a gift! And I am thankful to have had my horizons stretched.

Magnifique nouvelles

Buena suerta, mi corazon. Estoy contigo por todo el camino.

Stunning... life-giving

Walking in the park this morning was pure pleasure. A refreshing wind was blowing just enough to whisk leaves from the trees that encirlcle the park... littering the ground with their flaming yellow hue. The sun had been over the horizon by about an hour and was pouring its rays into the park... like a pitcher fills a bowl with liquid. It was stunning... life-giving.

The park has provided many moments to reflect on for me over the last 6 years. But this year it has provided visuals for me for the priority in my life. Today was no different. I have been given new life this year. I guess that is why the park scene this morning meant so much. It was a life-giving scene representative of this year. And it was a stunning scene this morning... because this year has stunned me out of my dull routines into a horizon that has been stretched and adventurous and beautiful!

I look forward to more stunning scenes from the park because I know it will represent new horizons of sheer beauty... full of laughter, excitement, energy, and happiness... a horizon reflecting the pure gold of the piority in my life.

A bright sign

I am not much of a believer in signs. I guess they could happen... but so many people just interpret events as they want to. They just match their desires to happenings that reflect those desires.

So... when I was walking in the park the last two days I was mystified by something I saw. Monday, as I entered the walkway in the park, I looked up at a brilliant moon... yellow in color... flooding the park with light, providing those who walk on the path all the light they would need to walk by. Again this morning, right over the top of the trees the full moon was again standing right over the top of the trees... light pouring over the pathway.

This is not a normal scene. True enough that I have seen the moon a number of times brightly shining on the park... but none where the moon was positioned right over the trees providing the park with brilliant light... So I took it as a sign. It would be easy to look at an event in my life and attach the moon's lighting to it. I am starting a new phase in my career... so the moon represents celestial blessing on this new endeavor... the new endeavor has a bright future.

Maybe that's true. But if it is a sign, I think it represents something else... not a sign that the future is bright for a new endeavor. I look to the source for the brightness, happiness, vitality, hope, and anticipation in my life... and that reflects not a job but one who provides such joyful essence. I should be so lucky as to have a sign in the sky devoted two days to showing me how bright my life is to share this one's essence!

I love it when that happens

Some days just start out a little crisper than other days. I love it when that happens. There's more spring in the step, more nimbleness in the mind, more anticipation to the day ahead.

I guess the real question is why a day starts that way. A number of reasons I'm sure. But one would certainly be what the mind must have thought during the night. Dreams can happen because of the subconscious mind arranging events and people in various scenarios for the mind to play with. But, I remember no dreams from last night.

The subconscious can also produce feelings. It can trigger glia to flood the brain. Glia, in turn, changes the chemical make-up of the brain to experience pleasure even if pain or displeasure is present. So, when I start my day like I did this morning, I know that my subconscious has been at work triggering glia to flood my brain.

Of course, that is mere scientific language. In literary language terms, I know that in the most inner sanctum of my being, the deepest place in my heart, that I have made an adjustment in my fabric. My work place has changed - yes. But other pictures and voices have changed as well and blended into my soul. And that is the reason that this day started out a little crisper than normal. And I love it when that happens.

Brilliant facets

TV had a long-lasting soap opera called Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. That title tells the truth about love. People in general who have a relationship find that the other person has parts to her/his behavior that all fit together. But the package comes as a whole, not as a bunch of parts. So, we have in our language a saying we use when someone's many facets combine in such a way that they "fit" a certain job or skill set. It's called the "complete package." You hear in athletics, for example, that someone is the "complete package."

I don't know if complete packages exist in a relationship between two people, but I believe I have seen it. It also would be a high probabilitythat it occurs once in a lifetime , so carpe diem and eureka are the watchwords if a complete package is seen in a relationship. I'll be listening to the echoes of these two phrases from people who have experienced complete packages. Shouts of these two phrases will happen intermittently, probably, and some people may experience the complete package early in their lives, others late. But, I am certain the echo of these phrases sounds beautiful as the cries waft through the air.

Let me join them. Carpe Diem! Eureka!

Road of happiness

One thing I really have liked this weekend was feeling the cold air of the Rockies again. I grew up in Wyoming, so I developed a liking for the cold. Moving around in freezing temperature was different for a change since I haven't lived in cold air for quite some time. But, it was easy to rearrange my thinking about cold air since I reverted to childhood habits fairly easily.

And speaking of adjustments to thinking, I believe a person has to do that when looking at life. Sometimes, what makes for happiness for a person presents itself when least expected. I am very thankful for such a presentation of happiness - so-o-o-o thankful to the one who brought it to me.

Climate change

This morning I woke up to record temperature lows. This evening I am going to sleep with record temperature lows again. I am not much of a low temperature person. So, walking on the streets in 18 degree weather at 8:30 in the morning was noticeable and uncomfortable. I was dressed warmly enough for it, it's just that it was so cold that my face was cold, my hands were cold inside gloves, my legs were cold despite two layers, and my torso was cold under 4 layers. Snow, 18 degrees, and a little wind made for unexpected change.

Since last January, a change in the weather occurred; it is a change for good, a change for beauty. Now I anticipate days with energy. I look forward to them - all due to one unexpected, beautiful change.

Moonlit

On a recent trip the moon shone brightly enough where I could see the countryside while driving even though it was very dark and late. And like the Earth with its singular moon shining brightly down upon it, a person is so very fortunate when rays of encouragement, care, and affection are felt shining in on him from someone close.