10 November …
I’m a day early this week because our next medical appointment was changed from monday to wednesday at 0830 in Redding. We will be leaving the house at 0615 tomorrow.
Weather has definitely turned.
The tree in the courtyard which was given to me when Michael died is glorious …
and there is snow on the Eddys …
however, Daddy’s green rose is still in bloom …
(These pictures are from last weekend)
Then this morning is foggy …
foggy …
foggy …
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Many years ago (actually more than 70) my BFF was Nora Mae Smith. She was an artist. She loved jewelry. She introduced me to George (but that’s beside the point of this memory).
I don’t recall the art teacher’s name (I posed for the figure drawing class and dated the teacher’s son … once … however, those are stories for another time), but at one time she taught the students how to use metal for jewelry. Don’t ask for details. Nora was the artist, not me.
I clearly remember a pair of earrings Nora made. She rolled a piece of metal around a very small elongated piece of a second metal. They hung from a wire for pierced ears. I loved them. I have no idea whatever happened to them.
Imagine my surprise when I saw this for sale on the net.
I guess good ideas, like good musical phrases, never occur just once.
~~~
My post about “Do” vs. “Don’t” elicited responses indicating others have the same type of questions.
The initial reason for the post was that I was pondering the question because of the upsurge in some quarters of sometimes rather hateful anti-Islamic rhetoric and other “anti-” positions … anti-black, anti-immigrant, anti-law enforcement, anti-women, anti-gay, anti-you pick it. It seemed that society is becoming increasingly “us vs. them” with us and them being defined quite narrowly.
The secondary reason was to see if others have ever pondered the subject and what conclusions they formulated.
For instance … because the Islamic version of the “Golden Rule” is one of the Do versions and extremists want to be brought into the fold of what they perceive as truth and ultimately arrive in paradise, what does that do to our perception of their actions? Is it possible at least some of them think they are doing others a favor? Maybe if it were a Don’t, there would be fewer beheadings.
Maybe …
And another for instance … someone I have known for a long time and know to be a good man began posting rather hate-filled items on Facebook against Muslims and Arabs as stereotyped, undifferentiated units. I know he is a proponent of one of the “Do” groups and I was having trouble aligning the “do it if you want it done to you” with the teaching to honor, love, and not judge others.
That made me realize I was judging.
Some of the responses point out that I am being judged.
Maybe that is inherent in being human. We can’t help making judgments. Nor can we avoid being upset by, hurt by, or resentful of what we perceive as the judgments of others.
That line of thought led to thoughts of how often what is intended is not what is perceived.
There was a post on Facebook about an experiment in which six photographers were asked to do portraits of a man. Before each photographer was introduced to the man, each was given a backstory about the man. No two of the stories were the same and none were true. When the resulting portraits were lined up side by side it was the same man, dressed in the same clothes, yet the pictures could have been of six different men.
Being a philosopher may be one of the most difficult of occupations. Even thinking about it is difficult. I am not a philosopher, but I realize I will be thinking about this for some time to come.
~~~
Downton Abbey will begin their recap of season five on PBS next sunday. George and I plan to watch season 4 via Netflix to be ready for the season 5 recap leading into the final season which begins in January. That gives us less than a week. Binge time … followed by three months of sundays in Yorkshire and London.
~~~
Recently, when sorting a pile of papers, I came across a photograph which I knew was taken somewhere around here, but was unable to place.
On the back was written “Mark and I took a walk on Sat Mt Shasta ’85” I recognized the handwriting of my sister-in-law who died nearly three years ago. Back in the days of the photo she would come to Cold Comfort to stay for a couple of weeks every year. Yet, even with that hint I wasn’t able to place the view.
Then, for some unknown reason, I rotated the photo
and instantly knew where it had been taken … in spite of the changes which have occurred in the thirty intervening years.
Point of view, perception, is everything.
~~~
I had avoided the mystery novels by JKRowling writing as Robert Galbraith. I’m not real sure why but it probably had something to do with Harry Potter. In addition, I have a “stable” of mystery writers on whom I can depend for a good light read.
Then, last week, I heard an interview with Rowling on NPR in which she said she used the AKA precisely so the mysteries wouldn’t be compared to Harry. So, feeling a bit “caught”, I asked for the first of the books at the library. It had to be ordered for me and is waiting now.
Since ordering it I’ve been told that in the opinion of someone whose opinions I value, Rowling is a great story teller but only a mediocre writer.
I will pick up the book later this week and I’ll let you know what I find.
In the meantime I am reading a James Patterson and a history of the Tudors.
~~~
I had a nice surprise last week. I have a white holiday cactus which was given to me as a cutting years ago. Each year since it has been a nice contrast to the fuchsia one.
Last week I watered it on thursday. It looked healthy but nothing special caught my eye.
Then saturday …
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I have read about small, for free libraries which are popping up in neighborhoods. Someone revamps an old phone booth, or builds a box to hold books which someone has read and is ready to pass along to other readers.
I would welcome something like that here … maybe out at the mail boxes on the paved road. It would need to be weatherproof and not too small.
I am not a carpenter, so I will have to wait to see if the idea catches someone who is.
In the meantime, I donate books to the local library.
~~~
Please … everyone continue to affirm lots of deep, wet snow on all the Sierra Nevadas. Thank you.
~~~
So, ’til next week …
If you help someone and expect something, anything, in return … you’re doing business, not a random act of kindness.