Giving the world in a morsel

As a teenager, he apprenticed in a candy factory in Italy, and learned, among other things, how to make chocolate. At age 20 he moved with his wife to Uruguay and a year later to Peru and started his own coffee and chocolate store. For 10 years he was a successful coffee and chocolate store owner, but stories of a Californian gold rush got the best of his risk-taking spirit, and he moved to San Francisco in search of gold. He started his coffee and chocolate store there in 1849 out of a tent for all those who had come to Sutter's Mill seeking their fortune in gold. 4 years later he established a second store and dropped the product that was dragging his other sales down - coffee. That left him with two very successful chocolate stores. In 1892, Domenico Ghirardelli retired and left his stores to his 3 sons.

In that same year in Switzerland, Rudolff Sprungli left his luxury confectionary stores to his two sons. They in turn merged with a fellow Swiss entrepreneur's luxury chocolate interestes and established a chocolate conglomerant known as Lindt-Sprungli Chocolatier. By the 1990s Lindt-Sprungli Chocolatiers wanted a world-wide market so they bought an Italian chocolate interest and they bought Ghirardelli's in the United States. Now truly, there was a worldwide luxury chocolate people could depend on as having that luxury the best of Swiss taste in chocolates.

The luxury Swiss chocolate for the Lindt-Sprungli network retained the Ghirardelli name because of its quality and excellence. It's the best in the world, the most special chocolate candy made on the face of the earth. It's made for that one amazing person in someone's life. Anytime is a good time to give this very special treat, but birthdays are a great occasion to give excellence in sweet taste to such an amazing individual.

A world class person deserves world class confections.

Deep night peace

In the deep night hours, silence is the currency. Sounds are meaningful since everyone is asleep. But there are no sounds tonight. The neighborhood households are in slumber. These hours are for thinking tender thoughts... Thoughts of what has brought contentedness, peace, and purpose to the otherwise mundane routines... Thoughts of a Godgyfu.

Thank you.

I'm a Hopi

The Hopi Indians have a myth that they came from the star constellation the Pleides. The Hopi ancestors have recorded their Star People by drawing them on rock cliffs on their reservation. Star people came from the Pleides to show them how to live and to protect them in a time of great catastrophe.

That sounds outrageous on the surface to a modern, average person. Who knows about the truth of that myth. But, in literature a myth is a story generated by a people to aid in telling their origins or stories to answer the great questions of why certain aspects of the world are the way they are, such as "Where did evil come from?" and "Why do we have two kinds of humans, male and female?" Such stories are presumed to be rooted in truth even if most of the story is metaphorical in nature.

Star People are a great concept. We all need such a story in our lives... people who teach us things about living we might otherwise miss on our way through life. We could name the star people that have helped us stretch our horizons and enjoy life in a way that we otherwise would have missed had those unique people not intersected with our lives. That helps us in living beyond ourselves. And we are eternally grateful.

Sparkle in your life

Snowflakes are in abundance at this season of the year. They appear on Christmas trees, in windows, as glitter, on backs of card decks, and dangling from ceilings. Kids love to make them in school and hang them or tape them on doors and walls. They are fun to see everywhere you turn.

Actual snowflakes stick to your clothes, coats, tobaggans, and scarves. They catch everyone's attention as they glisten in the light. They melt into shiny pearls of water on your articles of clothing to let you know you're a star.

Love those snowflakes for their fun, cheerful, shining effect! And if snowflakes were people, you would love them and notice them for reflecting light into your life through all those little things they do just like those little shiny pearls of water glistening on all your articles of clothing. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Spotting great value

On the Science channel there is a show called the Meteorite Men. The premise of the show is that a pair of men go to sites where meteorites have fallen and gather them to sell. Big chunks of meteorite material bring in from $500 to $1500 per chunk. The whole show is about how the men select the sites and then go gather the meteorites. The commentator on the show tallies how much the men make at a site as they gather the meteorites. The pair are fairly rich by now.

But I like the principle of what the men are doing... culling meteorite material from regular or even beautiful rocks. The meteorites are different, so it is nearly always easy to spot them. However, the two men still use a Geiger counter to locate the rocks since many of the meteorites are buried.

I do know what it is like to see common material everywhere and then spot great value amidst the regular. Once you spot essence of great value, there's no way the regular holds your attention anymore no matter what kind of material the regular is made of. What is celestial is simply more valuable because it is rare, uncommon... something of splendor!

Missing Macy's

This week I think Imust have seen no less than 50 commercials for Macy's. I haven't lived in an area where a Macy's exists, but I know it is a really good department store. And a year and a half ago I was shown the merits of Macy's.

The first two weeks of December last year I was in New England. Just 10 blocks away from where I was staying was a beautiful, three-story Macy's. It was beautiful with all the Christmas trimmings and glittering displays. So, of course I visited the store. I ended up buying the gift I was proudest of last year from Macy's.

This year is different. I'm not in New England 10 blocks away from Macy's. I don't live in an area close to a Macy's. So as I watch these 50 commercials for Macy's it takes my mind back to the beautiful, three-story store with sublime Christmas trimmings and glittering displays and the gift I was proudest of buying last year.

I'm through buying my gifts for this year. With every commercial for Macy's I see, I wish I could have shopped there. I miss buying from Macy's and choosing the gift I would be proudest of this year.

No saying

Last night I went to get a couple of gifts for Chrsitmas. I was thinking that the crowds would be horrendous this close to Christmas. That's why I couldn't believe it when I went in to make the purchases and not many people were in the store. This was a mall store where one would expect to see many shoppers this time of year. But, no the crowds were not there, and I was in and out in 25 minutes. My kind of shopping.

Sometimes I am surprised like that in life. Things you think will be long and arduous turn out simple. Other things that I think will be simple turn out to be long and arduous. In a world where you have to learn to anticipate what will happen in order to survive and live decently, it's noteworthy whenever you guess wrong or anticipate something different from what turns out. You try to minimize the missed anticipations as you go through life because sometimes it costs you. But as the saying goes, "Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgment."

It's the decision based on good judgment that has an ending different from what is desired that I am still working out in my mind. I don't think there is a saying for that.

Long overdue

I cleaned out a room today. I have six trash bags full of throw-away items to show for it. Evidently the cleaning was long overdue. But now the room is ready to place new items in it. The new items fit me better. The items from the past served a purpose for a while. But, that "while" is gone and the items have had no purpose for some time. The opportunity to replace what had fallen into disuse with things of relevance represents fresh steps on the path.

Believing, then adjusting

In the background tonight I am hearing the wind chimes on the back porch. I didn't think the wind was blowing, so I checked the chimes to make sure my ears were not making anything up. No, the chimes were moving in the wind. So, I peeked out the front door to verify that trees were blowing in the wind. The tops of the trees were moving slightly. So, I checked the Weatherbug app on my phone. Yes, the wind is blowing 13 knots.

That sounds like much ado about nothing. Why all the double and triple checking? I have to be sure, of course, because I didn't think the wind was blowing. It wasn't the last time I had been outside.

We all filter our information and make adjustments as we go based on the information we gather. Especially if it contradicted the last condition we knew to be true. But, adjustments have to be made. I came in the house about 2 1/2 hours ago in calm air. Now I still hear the wind chimes' beautiful ringing due to the wind. I have to admit the wind is blowing now.

Making those types of adjustments on more important matters goes through the same process. One of those important matters is my happiness. Some of the things I gave much time to and received satisfaction from have changed. Maybe at first I didn't believe it, but now I certainly do. I have verified that too. Definitely what makes me happy now has changed from what it was earlier in my life.

The chimes in the background sound really beautiful tonight and would be even if I had not done all the checking on them. Ditto for the adjustment on the root of my happiness these days.

Stock phrases gloss meaning - but who cares

Most people would say that languages have equivalent meanings with stock phrases. Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad are two examples. Stock phrases are a type of idiom that people have just said for ages and not really stopped to think about their sense. They are not interchangeable with other ways of saying the same phrase either. For example, no one would say Happy Christmas or Glad Christmas even though happy and glad are synonyms of merry. And no one would change merry even though the term is archaic and not used in modern English. In Spanish, no one would say that Buen Navidad is a good substitute for Feliz Navidad, and no one would switch out Navidad for another word even though the term is archaic in modern Spanish.

Stock phrases are in all languages for the most routine or the most recurring events. They help us keep our psychological energy focused on other nuances in a sentence for the way things are being said with the other words. And, although stock phrases have the same function in any language, they are not very good at expressing equivalences. In the example above, the focus in English is on having a good day following a mass (or ceremony with a message) of Christ. The Spanish equivalent is not on the kind of day surrounding a ceremony about Christ so much as it is centered on the happy accident of a special birth in the world.

Whatever. People don't pay much attention to differences. And in this case, the date of the occasion is the same. Generally speaking, both phrases refer to the time of year when people are happy and festive for the same good cause. So, I'll just be merry and feliz and not worry about the semantics.

Joyeux Noel everybody! Regardless of what the focus of that is. (LOL)

Godiva's lasting gift

The story of Lady Godiva is an interesting one. She was quite the wealthy benefactor historically. She gave land and gifts to help the cause of religion in the fading years of Anglo-Saxon England, c. 11th century. Her husband also was a great benefactor for the cause of religion.

But that historical glimpse is different from the popular story that circulates about the good Lady. Her Anglo-Saxon name was Lady Godgyfu, which means God-gift (God=God, Gyfu=gift). The legend says that Godiva's husband was an oppressive lord of the people subservient to him, making them pay both money and crops in taxes to him. The people appealed to the good-hearted Godiva to give them relief. She approached her husband and made the deal with him that if she could ride the length of the road through the town naked without being seen by its denizens that he would lift the heavy taxation. She made a procalamation for everyone to stay indoors during a certain time, the time needed to ride through the town and not be seen. She rode through the center of town hidden only by her long golden hair. It worked. No one saw her naked. Taxes were lifted. The people thanked her for being a gift from God for them.

It is not a quantum leap to see how a box of chocolates named Godiva is considered the zenith of gifts if it is chocolate you are giving. You can let someone know what a gift that person is in your life.



4 u Godgyfu...

Monumental shakeout

I often contemplate the slogan I see so often these days by a number of school districts. They say they are educating for the 21st century. But the words of the slogan are just words that blow in the wind. They are merely rhetoric given to a public that would like to hear it since they are paying tax dollars to fund the so called 21st century education.

But if people were to go into the classrooms, what would they see? They would not see their tax dollars at work. They would see their tax dollars misrepresented. They would see 5-8% of the students absent on any given day. They would see a steady stream of students (2-5%) in the office any given hour of the day for disciplinary matters such as sleeping in class, being combative to teachers, or simply trying to miss a particular class. They would see the tremendous unpreparedness of the students for class to the tune of 25-50% any given hour of the day. They would see students sittting in their cars in the parking lot (about 2%) while class is going on. They would see 5th grade students telling their teachers to go to hell. They would hear 4th graders telling off their vice prinicpal and shouting, "?*# off." They would see from 1-4 computers for student use sitting on the walls of the classroom. In reality the computers would be used less than 10% of the class time. They would see junior high teachers trying to be friends and pals to the students to get them to behave. They would go into a class with a substitute and see continuous talking by students because it would be considered an off-day for them. No work would be accomplished that day. They would see 3rd grade teachers who don't know how to teach the math required for instructing 8-year-olds. They would smell bathrooms that stink and graffiti on mirrors and stall doors if the stall doors are still in place. Many toilet stall doors are missing because students smoke marijuana behind them when they're closed or use them as weapons if a fight breaks out there. Certainly there would be no toilet paper or paper towels for hands.

My idea of a 21st century education is vastly different.

I see pockets of it once in a while, but seldom. I know what it would take - an encounter with a 6-mile wide meteor that would wipe out the dinosaurs in the education system. We need a KT boundary to look back on through which only 5% of life made it through. Then, we could believe the slogan if a school were to use it.

It's about to happen. By 2017, those who have tried to keep books and reading and writing alive will have been buried for the most part. A new breed of teacher will have replaced the dinosaurs - ones who know that the visual is a quantum amount more powerful than the written word - that the holograph is more experiential than the artificial words loquaciously presented by the dinosaurs. A new kind of school will be leading the way out of the darkness for the 3/4 of the 21st century that is left. It will not be run by public tax dollars. It will be backed by a global economy that requires production from kids instead of the small amount of work produced by the lazy, entitlement kids of the dinosaur schools.

I am ready for a 21st century school, and I am applauding those who have the vision already. I see reform trying to start. I know public school leaders who are doing their share of trying to oversee 21st century schools. They will live past the KT boundary experience. They will lead in the world after dinosaurs have died out. I support them 100%. The generation they lead will truly end up prepared for a globally run world.

Hang on for the ride. True 21st century schools are right around the corner.

Fascination with destiny

I was watching a television special earlier this week about the 10 most fascinating people of 2010. I think the title of the show was a misnomer. It should have been called The Ten People Destiny Smiled on the Most in 2010. For example, there is really not that much known about Kate Middleton to be fascinated by. She was determined to become the next queen of England, so Destiny smiled on her. And as special an actress as Sandra Bullock may be, how she handled her husband's infidelity is not so much fascinating as it is how Destiny thrust her in the lime light at a time when one aspect of her life faltered and she was determined to make it better. A lot of people respected her actions in getting past such a public smear.

The number one most fascinating person was General Petraeus, the new general in Afghanistan who replaced General McChrsytal, the general who allowed an interview in Rolling Stone magazine. Destiny smiled on Petraeus or you would never have heard from him again. He had been blackballed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and demoted in position from someone with power and limelight in Iraq to a behind-the-scenes, never-to-be-heard-of-again, menial position in the Pentagon. Then McChrystal made his gaffe, and bingo - Petraeus is suddenly liked for his beliefs by Obama and promoted back into the limelight. Fascinating - I don't think so. Destiny merely created an opening for a man with his particular beliefs and background because his overall personal story was rather routine. Many people go to college, distinguish themselves in the work force, and move up the ladder, whether military or corporate.

Petraeus became "fascinating" because of his ability to hang on to some philosophical beliefs that weren't always popular until the time came that favored his ideas. So, with that definition of "fascinating," I offer the words of a great mathematician and British philosopher, who influenced both mathematics and philosophy at the turn of the 20th century by mentoring Bertrand Russell and William Quine.

"But you can catch yourself entertaining habitually certain ideas and setting others aside; and that, I think, is where our personal destinies are largely decided." Alfred North Whitehead

'Tis the season

This is a festive season. People seem to smile more. There is a lot of well-wishing. Energy in stores and places of work appear to be at higher levels. Almost everywhere a spirit of goodwill is in the air.

And it is the season of wishing. Retailers make sure that you see nothing but glitz in their windows and doors, luring you in, inviting you to indulge in fulfilling your wishes. Children are encouraged to write letters to Santa asking him to bring them what they want. Trees in living rooms blink the message to passers-by that presents are under them for the residents at these houses.

So, I'll join in.

Dear Santa,
I have this wish...

Knowing why the smile

Once upon a time is a phrase in English that signals that the story about to be told will be about one character who will come into conflict with someone, but by story's end will have worked everything out and ride happily into the sunset.

If life were only that predictable and that simplistic. But, it's not. It twists and turns, goes up and down, and doesn't always create a sunset to ride happily into. But people nontheless live it valiantly. Elizabeth Edwards was one of those people. Good for her. She is a sterling example of life being what you make it.

All of us start our lives in our hometowns once upon a time. As our stories continue, our paths encounter many a conflicting moment. The trick is to always make lemonade from lemons. I, fortunately, know the master magician of that trick. That fact alone puts a smile on my lips every single morning, noon, and night.

Sirius(ly)

The night sky is replete with stars, planets, and galaxies. Charting them requires a person to understand distances in light years. Everything is far-flung in space. There are hundreds of galaxies, even more stars, and even more planets. Myriads upon myriads of frozen planets, scalding planets, moons for many of the planets, frozen or bare meteors, stars whose light has not reached the earth yet, and galaxies of shapes far different from the Milky Way.

That's a macrocosm of the little sphere we as humans travel in. Everything for us is more miniscule. Charting our movements is easy comparatively, in miles not light years. We meet a great number of people in our lifetime but far fewer than the neighborhood of galaxies and celestial bodies in space. And because humans are unique, we in our micorcosm experience the myriad of personalities and appearances exhibited in the people around us, those that are frozen and scalding and bare.

Out of all those heavenly spheres one shines more brightly than any of the others. That has to do with proximity to the earth, the phase in the life cycle of the star, the type of galaxy playing home to the star, and a number of other factors. From the Earth, Sirius is the brightest star in the sky... 8.6 light years away. And from each of our own little hubs of people, we also have a Sirius shining brightly in our skies. A number of factors play into that, personality compatibility from the galaxy of personalities around us being one of them, but always one heavenly, brilliant body appears.

Splendor in the sky

Imagine a really cold environment. The high mountains are snow-covered. The water in the alpine lake feels like ice. The chunks of leftover glacier litter the lakeside. The ground is frozen.

BUT between the peaks shines a brilliant sun. Sparkling rays of warmth splash across the entirely frozen alpine surroundings. It is so impossible to see the ice when the golden spray of rays in the sky is so beautiful, so warming, so filled with splendor.

My every morning could be ice except for the golden spray in my sky that is so beautiful, so warming, so amazing!

Meaning in frames

In literature there is a technique called a framed story. An author creates a setting and a cast of characters to start a story, but then selects one of the characters to tell the tale that the rest of the story is about. At the end of that tale, the setting switches back to the one from the beginning of the story with the original cast of characters. Switching back to the original frame allows the author to then place a purpose or moral to the story in this original setting at the very end. It's a story within a story... thus, a framed story.

In life we have so many experiences for the mind to mull that it seeks to associate experiences so that it can store them in networks rather than discard them. Many times the mind will assign an experience to a broader one, placing one experience inside of another experience... a framed memory.

This summer I had a very serene Sunday on an island off the coast of Maine. I loved it because I was alone and could focus only on what I wanted to. Now the experience is framed inside a wider experience. And, the thoughts I had are further framed inside that experience. The beauty of framed memories is that they are not buried. They are meaningfully framed. They are not forgotten. They are contained within a vivid frame as if they happened yesterday. So, when I think of my time spent in the Northeast, I single out the frame of that serene Sunday spent on Peaks Island. And when that frame comes up, I single out the thoughts I had while staring out at the beautiful sister islands surrounding Peaks, dotting the Atlantic Ocean... thoughts of the one who stirs my heart... still...

Sandwiched between unknowns

In South America lie a good number of enigmas. On the top of one of the highest ranges in the Andes is a flat-topped mountain in the Nasca region. There, long, runway-like lines are drawn in the rock. Perfectly straight lines. And a few perfectly round lines. And they form the shape of monkeys, birds, and human figures. Which take shape from an aerial view only. Now how did that happen ages ago?

In the plains around northern Chile stand some precision cut blocks that are 6 feet high. Where did the blocks come from? And how were they cut to such precision dimensions and with such sheer, flat faces? How is it that they interlock as well? 6 X 6 feet interlocking blocks... from a really long time ago... that form a town.

Those kinds of findings are unexplainable.

There are dozens of enigmas in South America and dozens more around the world. It makes you know we don't know the whole story of humans and life on earth. Plus, it makes you skeptical about modern explanations of life in the past. There's just not enough evidence for you to know what happened. You're left to wonder.

Enigmas from the past... Blinded from seeing the future... I should be content in the moment... Which I can be if I am not void of hope.

Let the thunder rumble

Volcanoes shake the earth, spew out molten rock in lava form, fill the air with glass-like particles that keep planes from flying into the jet stream path, cover the countryside with pyroplastic flow, and rumble with thunder to let scared countrymen know that the world around them is about to change.

Most of the volcanoes on the earth are in one spot. They form a horseshoe around the Pacific Ocean. The spot is known as the Ring of Fire. It is comprised of both volcanoes above and below the ocean. Those on the ocean floor end up forming islands like the Hawaiian chain. So, even though volcanoes are gripping in their appearance and behavior, they also give life that goes on after they finish erupting.

I love that Ring of Fire... active, erupting volcanoes... beautiful, fascinating to watch... and soooo caliente! They are a gripping adventure to follow. They change your world. They shake your world completely with awesome power. They give life for eons past their rumble of thunder (love that part). Long live the Ring of Fire.