Category Archives: Inspiration

In Memoriam

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Spiritual

May 25,2026- When I was a child, each Memorial Day was spent visiting the graves of both of my grandfathers and, starting in 1961, that of my maternal grandmother. Helping my parents place flowers at the sites was taught to us as a form of respect, and more importantly, of gratitude for the love that the departed elders had given my parents and, in Grama’s case, to us. I would, in time, do the same at my wife’s gravesite on Memorial Day weekend. On visits to Saugus, I would pay my respects at the grave of my parents and youngest brother, stopping at my grandparents’ and godparents’ tombs, along with those of a childhood friend or two.

This year was the first time in many years that I was not at a cemetery at any time on Memorial Day weekend. My honouring of my ancestors, and of Penny, came in the form of what I’ve done each day since January 2-spending quality time with my children and grandchild. I took care of Hana, so that her parents could pick up a playpen. She crawled intently, as she is now given to doing, and is lifting her torso off the ground, as she engages hands and knees. She is slowly demonstrating more confidence.

I see Penny in her granddaughter, who is also her namesake. Hana Penny will answer back, when she understands a request and doesn’t agree with it. She pushes herself quite hard and needs to be persuaded to take a rest. She has a winning smile and infectious laugh, along with a quick temper. She has a laser focus.and wants to examine something thoroughly, once it gets her attention.

The departed souls never really leave us-and I’m sure that the idiom “present in spirit” is more real than many imagine. Indeed, a few times, we have observed Hana looking up towards the ceiling, smiling and laughing at whatever, or whoever, she sees up there.

May all the departed rest in paradise.

Solid

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Education, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving

May 24,2026- Hana began her transition to solid food in earnest today, A simple meal of rice porridge accompanied her liquid feedings. She was quite happy about this, and recognizes, on some level, that this puts her on the path to being a bigger child. Food items, pureed of course, will be added gradually, one food at a time, according to a nutritionist’s plan that her mother has adopted.

My granddaughter is generally a cheerful little girl, who laughs easily. She also has a serious side and when she is crawling towards something, she does not like being distracted. She puts her attention on doing a certain task-usually on pressing buttons on an educational toy, to elicit a spoken instruction or a little song, to the tune of which she will kick her legs, even while lying prone. She carefully lifts up a section of her crawling mat, to see what is underneath and examines the tags on a quilt or other fabric.

I want to help her build on both of these aspects of herself-the gregarious and mirthful, as well as the purposeful and focused. All three of us read to her, show her the pictures in the books and have her turn the pages, as much as she is willing to. If she wants to linger on a certain page and absorb the illustrations, that’s okay, too.

There is no day off, or holiday, in raising an infant or toddler. At the same time, it is a labour of joy. A solid human being is in the works. The days fly by; with the sameness of each day’s schedule intertwined with the growth that each new day brings. It’s said that this will all “be over” too soon. Maybe so, but in the interim, I will savour every step forward and every inch grown taller.

Transactional

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving

May 23, 2026- Two people contacted me, earlier today-one for a small amount of financial assistance and the other, to cover a meeting tomorrow. In both cases, I had to decline. I have to tighten my belt, at least for a week or so, and family obligations conflict with the second request. Both were more understanding than I had expected-and will seek other options for their needs. There should be no one solution for any problem, no matter how “unexpected” it is. I have been in both situations, as well as far worse. Sometimes, family or friends have been able to help. Other times, i was on my own. I got through the situation.

I read, this morning, of a leading participant in the January 6, 2021 incident at the U.S. Capitol, who was complaining that his life was a mess because of his having been tried, found guilty and incarcerated for his involvement. Now, he is free, due to having been pardoned, but he wants money, with which to get a fresh start. Some wishes are best not granted, in the way they are requested. The money would have to come from Congress, and that body is not inclined to honour the request.

The surest way to overcome a transactional mentality-or even the appearance of being transactional, is to build a treasury of options. I have been the one with his hand out, often enough, to know how humiliating it feels, and how powerless. Yet, once again, I made it through. Loans were either paid off in full, or were forgiven. Being stuck somewhere, either a ride was arranged, I waited the night in place or, in a few instances, I walked to my destination. I have even bartered goods for services. There is always a solution.

Five Months In

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 22, 2026- This afternoon, we set up a plastic mat as a ramp that covered the small ledge between Hana’s play area and the dining room. She crawled up the ramp, with my bracing her feet and her mother on the other end of the ramp, encouraging her. Hana made it up into the dining room, looking surprised, as she looked down into her play area, then quite happy that we helped her.

Earlier today, she crawled over to the bookshelf in her play space and touch several book spines, babbling insistently, until I took a couple of books out and read them to her. When one of us reads, Hana looks attentively at the pages, and has taken to turning the pages herself and looking through the books.

She will now be slowly introduced to solid (pureed) foods, and watches us very intently as we eat, and how we use utensils. She will be shown how to use the soft rubber spoon, when we begin the feeding schedule (one solid food, for one meal, per day.), starting on Sunday.

Most importantly, her speaking and eye contact are acknowledged and affirmed. Insistent and enunciated babbling can be reasonably interpreted, given attention to body language and where her eyes and body are pointing. When she is acknowledged correctly, her face lights up, so we know we’re on the right track.

This is where we are as a family, five months in.

Agency

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Posted by on in Social, collaborating, Assistance, Spiritual, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Family, Striving, children

May 21, 2026- Hana came up with a simple game today. In her play area, there is a multi-coloured arch. As I was in front of the arch, she pushed it gently towards my head. I nudged it back with my forehead. She pushed it towards me again, and I returned it. Back and forth, we did this, ten times. Then, she changed direction and began crawling towards her multi-tasking cube,with its alphabet blocks, animals making sounds and the numbers 1-10.

I let Aram have his own agency, in matters that did not present any safety risk. He learned, early on, that his opinions, and methods of doing simple tasks, were as valid as anyone else’s. I got some push back on that, from some family members, but I pointed out that no one of us can be around for him, all the time. He kept and grew his agency.

The three of us are equally at home with Hana having her ability to choose what she wants to do, within her play area. If she wants to leave the area and watch whoever is in the kitchen, from the safety of her bouncy chair nearby, she will look in that direction and focus on it, while babbling insistently. My granddaughter is curious over just about anything. She also notices when I have removed something that might be an attractive nuisance, and crawls towards the area to which I have moved it. The important thing, to me, is that she is processing what she sees and is making decisions about how to handle it. We will provide the safety and the guidance, but it will not come at the expense of her agency. When she can’t be allowed in a certain area or be near certain things, we will take that responsibility and explain to her, when she is old enough to understand.

There are two primary schools of thought about agency: Empowerment and acquiescence. The former seeks to build the decision-making capacity of the individual and teaches risk assessment, self-confidence and networking skills. The latter teaches trust in authority, deference and obedience.

Most of us use a mix of the two. This is especially true when one wants a child or underling to be able to make some decisions on their own, but does not see the value in either too much independence or in relegating oneself to an advisory role or mentorship. It depends a lot on one’s personal sense of security and self-confidence. I made the decisions that I did, regarding my son, with the conviction that he would honour his own agency. Life threw some curve balls at us, and in his teen years, the choices we made backfired somewhat, Fortunately, the military helped him, as it did me, and his agency is on track.

That brings me back to Hana. She is a bright little girl and seems to listen well, so I have confidence in giving her a limited measure of independence, based on her developmental level. This would include both limited choices and, once she can walk and talk, some small responsibilities.

Loyalty

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 20,2026- My granddaughter kissed me on the shoulder, when I picked her up from the crib, after her first nap, this morning. She will roll over to get next to me, when I lower myself to her crawling area. She holds onto my shirt, when I am rocking her, at the end of a play period. A baby is motivated by survival instinct, and gravitates to the person(s) who show her/him the most consistent positive attention. That is the beginning of loyalty.

My own loyalties are very specifically ordered: Family, Faith, Friends, Humanity, Planet Earth. I am loyal to government when it treats the common people with love and respect. My loyalty to the Human Race requires standing up, when there is a widespread disregard for dignity and worth-no matter the source of that disdain. Furthermore, I see no conflict between standing up for my family and standing up for the planet. My family’s survival needs a healthy environment. I don’t want my granddaughter, or anyone else, ingesting a host of microplastics or breathing in Diesel fumes, generated by someone who is angry at Elon Musk, or at the environmental movement.

I am loyal to the Baha’i Faith. That also means that I show reverence and respect towards all creeds that are based on the Golden Mean. All knowledge comes from the Divine, else it is contrived, and is not true knowledge at all. We have never been left alone, nor will we ever be.

I am loyal to my friends, no matter how long it has been since we’ve seen one another or how often we may communicate. Many are overwhelmed by life and have both my daily blessings and constant thought. My loyalty should never be measured by how much money I spend on a person. I have a few in my circle, who are transactional. The only time I hear from them is when they are short on cash. I occasionally help one family with the basics, but generally speaking, I prefer my charity to be that which helps larger groups of people.

My loyalty to Humanity reflects a conviction that “all means all.” I don’t make a distinction between “rightwingers” and “leftwingers”, Christians and Muslims, citizens of one country as opposed to those of another. My only guidepost is to be discerning, as to the basic human rights of a given person. Even a tyrant has inherent dignity. If he/she chooses to squander that dignity, that is not a choice made by me. I will not harm anyone, but neither will I allow them to harm me or anyone close to me.

My loyalty to Earth lies in being as responsible a steward of what is in front of me and of the planet as a whole. Minimal trash, maximum recycling, regular maintenance and proper use of my motor vehicle, respect and kindness towards all life forms, to the greatest extent possible, conservation of resources-all these add up, when practiced regularly.

Loyalty begins with self-respect and is reflected outwards.

Worlds Within A World, Part VI

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 19,2026- My granddaughter, Hana, has taken to spinning a couple of little wheels on her multi-level “School House” toy. She likes to press the colour and shape buttons on another toy, and is trying to figure out how to push the tiny “Menu” lever. That would put some snappy music on, but she doesn’t seem sure how she feels about snappy music. She can listen to it for a few minutes, then looks at me and says “Not”. She blows kisses at us, and carries a wiper cloth around with her, as she is crawling, then wipes her mouth, if there is any spittle. She laughs heartily, sometimes at a silly story one of us is reading. (I think she is good at reading our faces, as well, and laughs along with us. She will be five months old on Thursday.

Plano world began on January 2,2026, when I moved my necessary belongings into the comfortable home that I share with Hana and her parents-my son and daughter-in-law. I kept everything else in storage. Plano world is small, even more so than Low Desert world was, while I was Penny’s caregiver. but not as small as Saugus world. Tending to Hana’s needs, when her parents are otherwise occupied, is my raison d’etre. There are, though, some Baha’i activities and Red Cross Blood Donor Ambassador shifts-the former mostly in the evenings and the latter on weekends only. I visit Plano Farmers Market, on Saturday mornings, but there is no need for volunteers there, so I just buy what attracts me. There are a few coffee shops, restaurants and book shops that I go to, now and then. Mostly, though, my granddaughter, and her parents, are my life.

Son asked me, some time ago, whether I wanted to keep certain items in my car-for when I travel. This Sagittarian has no plans for travel-at least until October, and that will depend on Hana’s needs and her parents’ work situations. If I have two weeks to myself, I will go either east or west. If I don’t have that time, it’ll suffice to enjoy the growth of my precious little girl.

It’s different now. I still correspond with a dear friend in the Philippines and with several others, across the continent and across the globe. It all feels so far away, though. Even Arizona, so embedded in my heart for so many years, feels like another planet; thus, my series being entitled as it is. Prescott felt like that at first, then I threw myself wholly into the community and into traveling. As Hana grows, there may well be an expansion of Plano world-but we’ll see..

Worlds Within A World, Part III

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 16, 2026– As Penny and I settled into our temporary digs, in Osan, South Korea, the most compelling concern our American host had was that we not cross the chopsticks. It turned out to not be a problem for either of us-we knew how to use the implements already, having dined in several Chinese and Thai establishments in Arizona. There were aspects of Korean society that took more adjusting, but I learned to put the group first, to master the art of saving the face of anyone with whom I might be in conflict and to properly bow, in greeting a social equal or a superior. I adored the music, both traditional and pop, the eagerness to learn of my students, and the reverence for nature shown by most Koreans.

Most of our Korea years (1986-92) were spent on the holiday island of Jeju, a four season paradise, which had yet to attract the intensive Chinese and Japanese investment that has led to overdevelopment in the southern and north central parts of the island. It was another place that, in retrospect, was a five-year blessing. We were each Visiting Professors of conversational English, and taught our students in a holistic manner, linking speaking with reading and writing in our native tongue. We came to learn “market” Korean and to be able to read words written in Hangul. Our son was born there, and was blessed with a lifelong love of the country and its people.We spent a fair amount of time in Seoul, Daegu and Busan, as well, and before I left, I made a bus trip around the periphery of the country. We visited the island of Taiwan, also, establishing heart connections with both Han Chinese and Native Taiwanese people, while teaching the Baha’i Faith and engaging in community service. There are people in both countries who, while I am unlikely to see them again, will be deep in my heart always.

Baha’ullah admonishes His followers to choose honouring our parents over even direct service to His Cause. In January, 1992, Penny’s parents made it clear that they were hurting, both physically and emotionally, from not seeing their only grandson but once a year. So, we moved back to Arizona, where they lived in Prescott, six months of the year and in Bedminster, NJ, the rest of the time. We spent six months in Prescott, and I each worked as a substitute teacher, while Penny remained home with our toddler son. “Home”, during this time, ranged from a motel room to a townhouse. I admit to having been a bit shaky, emotionally, going from a high status position, where I was revered by many, to starting from scratch, as a temporary instructor. This was saved by a return to the Navajo and Hopi Nations (1992-99).

I was again a counselor, and Penny taught Second Grade for two years, then became a literacy specialist, using the Collaborative Literacy Intervention Program (CLIP). During this time, I was elevated by my second building principal, herself a seasoned counselor, to providing a holistic counseling program that included vocational and leisure time skills, as well as psychological and emotional counseling. I also completed my school administration credential, and in 1998, left Jeddito, where we had become settled, to try my hand at running a Navajo Community School. I had become a strong presence in the lives of many students in the Cedar Unified School District, and helped save a few lives. Ambition became a trap, though, and I learned. once again, in my year at Chilchinbeto, that there are people working in a school and living in the community, for whom the actual well-being of children is a secondary concern, at best. By the spring of 1999, Penny was starting to show signs of physical and cognitive decline, I was let go by the Governing Board at Chilchinbeto, and we found ourselves in the small desert town of Salome. As with Tuba City and Jeju, there are people in Jeddito and the Hopi Mesas who I will cherish.always, even if I don’t see them again.

Worlds Within A World, Part II

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 15,2026- From the Saugus world, I got a work ethic, respect for family and tradition, a sense of place. From the Army world, I got self-discipline and awareness that people everywhere are more alike than different. From the College world, I got respect for my female peers and a sense of personal independence. From the Maine world, I got the joy of making it through a few harsh winters, and savouring delightful summers, yet I also came to the realization that not all who work with children have their best interests at heart.

After Maine came the Arizona Central Corridor world (1978-1981)-which brought me first to a private boarding school in Eloy, then to Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. During this time, I made peace with Mathematics, for many years my bugbear, and for two years at the Villa School, my livelihood. I know that, out of my own struggles, there came an affinity with those in my classes who were having a hard time with the concepts. It made me a credible teacher. I came to see troubled teens as worthy of respect. It made me a better human being. I came to see, and know, the majesty of Arizona, and made the acquaintance of the Pacific coast, as far north as Portland and as far south as Guaymas. I went across country, by bus or by thumb, three times.

The Flagstaff years brought the first real sea change in my life-realizing that my globalist self had counterparts in the Baha’i Faith, which I adopted as my own, early in 1981.I met the woman I would marry, waited out her sorting of her life and tossed aside a major obstacle in mine-saying goodbye to alcoholic beverages. I lost a few friends, but made hundreds more-and found myself oriented towards our country’s First Nations.

The firt Navajo-Hopi world (1981-86) put my newly acquired Masters Degree, in Education (Counseling), to full use. Tuba City, on the western edge of Arizona’s Painted Desert, struck me as close to being a Third World place. There were, at the time, a couple of trading posts and several small cafes. While I was there, a grocery store and small mini mall opened up. The small cafes gave way to well-appointed restaurants. I married Penny, we went on Pilgrimage to Israel and the West Bank, getting a fine guided tour of Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and the Galilee from a retired IDF officer. We spent nine days total in the Holy Land, six of these in Haifa and Akka, There may never be such a consecrated time as this again in my life, but it gave me a foundation to go forward. We would stop in London, for three days, afterward, and I would have the bounty of speaking before people of whom I was in awe. We also would attend a Council Fire of First Nations, in Alberta, teach the Baha’i Faith in Houston, in Guyana and on the Omaha and Pine Ridge Reservations, as well as keeping the home fires burning on the Navajo and Hopi Nations. We buried a good friend in Tuba City and we buried my father, a year after he and Mom had visited us and toured Arizona.

A phone call, in the early morning hours, in January, 1986, was the inception of Korea world (1986-92) That, and the second Navajo-Hopi world (1992-98) will make up Part III..

The Fable of the Carrots

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Family, Fiction, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

May 13, 2026- I read this to Hana this afternoon. “Once there was a rabbit who had gathered so many carrots, that he had no room in his house. He went about, asking his friends for a place to sleep.” Long story short, he crowded a turtle, a bird and a beaver out of their homes, as he brought many of his carrots along with him. Eventually, he brought his friends with him back to his house, and shared the carrots with them.

She will hear this story again and again, as her parents and I teach her about the importance of not hoarding, and of sharing. She sees us sharing, constantly, so it will not come as a surprise to her that this is expected.

I thought, after the activity, of the dynamics of hoarding; of how it reflects the insecurity of the person amassing, whether it is of money, land, or physical items. The rabbit in the story had so many carrots with him that the branch, on which the bird’s nest sat, broke and the beaver’s house became top-heavy from the overload, and fell into the river. Is the excess of wealth that we see among the oligarchs not the same?

To a certain extent, no one can assess for another, as to how much the other person needs, but billions of dollars are like the carrots in the fable: Both an unwieldy burden and a nuisance to those around the owner. The rabbit ends up deciding to share his excess, to make it up to his friends. Some billionaires have made similar decisions; others give a fair amount of money away to charity, each year, and share with loved ones. The hoarders, though, are going to be faced, sooner or later, with the sky high pile that poses more problems than it relieves.

I am waiting to see who will end up in which group-sharer, or hoarder?