Category Archives: Inspiration

The Totoro Wallpaper

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, Education, Entertainment, Family, Fiction, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social

May 12, 2026- Hana’s mother has been very busy, these past two days, receiving and arranging two boxes of books, and carefully putting a mural of the Japanese character Totoro and his friends on the wall of Hana’s play area. My curious granddaughter now has friendly faces upon which to gaze, when she looks upon the wall, while resting from all the crawling she’s been doing.

Above, are Totoro (bottom) and his two rabbit friends, who are called “Smaller Totoros”.

I am getting a quick education on popular Japanese cartoon characters. Others, who have their own plush toys, include Pompomporin, a dog who likes caramel pudding; Hello Kitty; My Melody ( a rabbit); Kerokerokeroppi ( a frog) and My Sweet Piano (a sheep), These are Sanrio characters. There are also many Pokemon plush toys, including the ubiquitous Pikachu, who is, of course, a pika. With these characters, and more, Hana will be able to let her imagination run wild. I look forward to her weaving stories, in her toddler and middle childhood years.

All this is actually a balm for me as well. Paying attention to the goings on outside these four walls, I almost think the anime world is saner. I know that all that is going wrong will fall away, in time, yet I want to keep my granddaughter’s world as innocent as possible, while her character forms.

The Beauty of the Lilies

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

May 10, 2026- There was a plenitude of delicious, healthful food at DiMatte’s Mediterranean Buffet, as we celebrate Yunhee’s first Mother’s Day. Hana is still a bit unready for solid food, but she was happy about us going to a large, clean and relatively quiet eatery. She likes people, but doesn’t like excessive noise or heat, which unfortunately are features of many food courts. Besides, this is the first of two special days honouring her parents. Today, and Father’s Day, next month, are on me.

Hana’s understanding of such things is, of course not certain, but probably limited to knowing that her father and I made a fuss over her mother-so she was even more affectionate than usual, towards Yunhee. It was a fine, if low key day, and my daughter-in-law got to do what she likes best, tidying up the common rooms downstairs, and making a nicer play area for her little girl.

In November, 1861, Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, to the tune of “John Brown’s Body”, as a means of lifting the spirits of those fighting for the Union cause in the American Civil War. After that conflict had ended, she was first impelled to organize the national observance of Mother’s Day, in 1867, Following the calamitous Franco-Prussian War, in 1870-71, Ms. Ward-Howe called for an international observance of Mother’s Day, in the hopes of generating a global movement of women for peace. The opening lines of the fifth verse of the anthem are intended to sanctify the giving of lives: “In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,[16]
While God is marching on.” It seldom has worked out that way.

Mothers have never, in their hearts of hearts, desired to see their children slaughtered for the sake of someone else’s agenda. Patriotism mitigates the expression of anti-war sentiments, when it is understood that liberty is threatened by an aggressive enemy, but I recall my mother’s grief when I told her I was headed to Viet Nam, in 1971. I told her at the last minute, as she and my father were saying goodbye at the airport. In the ten months I was there, I handled accountable mail and helped unload bulk mail trucks, but I never faced any real danger from the Viet Cong. There were too many, including two childhood friends, who were not so lucky.

As I write this, the cover page on my laptop shows a setting Sun, still casting an amber glow in the surrounding sky and on the ocean below. I get an odd comfort from this, and feel the strength and love of my mother, my late wife and all my female friends and relatives who have passed on I feel the ongoing love of those nurturing women who are still very much alive-and who tend to the children, animals and the sick who are in their care,

In whatever capacity you nurture, I hope your Mother’s Day has brought honour and solace.

Hands and Knees

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

May 9, 2026- Hana used her knees to move herself forward to day. She crawled forward without anyone serving as a backstop for her feet. This has been something she’s wanted to do for at least three weeks, and today, the connection clicked. She is not a quitter, and I told her I was proud of her.

Seeing the little girl keep at something, until it happened, brought me back to her father learning to ride a bicycle and, a few months later, how to swim. He was five. The earlier milestones he met all happened when I was at work: His first crawl, his first steps and his first unmimicked words. I will be around for Hana’s little victories.

Many times in life, both individually and as a community, setbacks are faced. I don’t know the cosmic reason for this. Maybe it is a matter of needing to revisit a situation and deepen one’s skill sets. Perhaps someone else involved in a process needs the same, and you are just along for the ride.Maybe those opposed to forward progress need to revisit the situation, in a position of power, and be shown, one more time, why their backward focus doesn’t work.

Regardless, getting through the situation, with the equivalent of the hands and knees working in synchronicity, is always essential. Whether the cooperation involves two people or a thousand, commitment, consultation and mutual understanding are the keys. Whether it entails the use of hand tools, power tools or electronics, making sure the devices are appropriate to the job, are in good working order, and that the instructions for their use and care are read, understood and followed, is imperative.

Every task comes back to the hands and knees.

Not Erasable

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

May 3, 2026- My granddaughter showed a bit of sass, this evening, telling me in babble and gesture, that she had done her business, with no difficulty, so there! This was because her mother and I had been checking her constantly for bms, all day, and she was getting tired of it.

I have no doubt that when Hana puts her mind to something, it’ll get done, to the best of her developmental ability. I will advise her to make sure her sassiness doesn’t create more problems than it solves, as time goes on. That understanding will increase, as she grows and learns what works with people and what doesn’t. She already listens to me and to her parents, about staying within the boundaries we have set for her crawling practice, and lulling herself to sleep when it’s nap time. She also has very tender heart, and already shows concern for us, if we cough or sneeze too loudly. Sass, however, is to girls what swagger is to boys, so they and I will work to help her channel it into a useful tool of self-defense.

I am not one of those who believes in extinguishing the fire within a human being. People have, to some extent or another, been encouraged, or expected to show subservience to those in positions of power. I believe in a system, as the best way to insure continuity and progress. That system however, to borrow the cliche, is one “of laws and not of men”. Human beings are never going to be perfect, and need the guardrails of codified law. The law, when growing out of the Golden Rule, will serve to channel the impulses and behaviour of human beings in a positive direction.

This brings me to the implications, in some circles, that a pecking order should be restored to our society. The problem I have with that is: Most people I have observed, over the past fifty years or so, seem to know what they’re doing, have the best interests of self and others at heart and don’t need to take a subservient role. No group is replaceable, nor is anyone erasable.

People who say otherwise are invariably looking for one of three things, in their worldview: Power, purity or convenience. Not all such people are Fascists. The naturalist John Muir looked for serenity in nature. Towards that end, he convinced himself, and others, that no one of consequence was living in the areas of Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, when in fact, the Ahwahneechee Nation was quite established in those areas and was physically removed by the National Park Service, in the early 20th Century. There are, a sit happens, members of that Nation who still live in the area, and who have even taken employment with NPS, in order to maintain stewardship of their homeland. People cannot be erased.

Brevity and Longevity

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Education, Entertainment, Family, Fiction, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

May 2, 2026- If I live to be 100, or longer, it may well be partly due to the things in which I invest time and energy. Certainly, being fully involved in the life of my grandchild has a part to play. So does any exercise or even resuming travel again, once Hana is of school age and her parents have earned vacation time. Diet also comes into play.

Then, there is the reading material in which I invest time. I am rediscovering classics, in my choice of what to read to Hana. I have read her “Heidi” and am currently reading her “The Red Pony”, by John Steinbeck. It’s a bit tougher than Johanna Spyri’s classic,and shows a different way of looking at life’s challenges. She will only have a slight sense of the mood of the story, so I am not concerned with its effects. I will revert more to more conventional children’s works, going forward, as her awareness grows and she actually starts asking questions. That day is coming faster than some of you may think.

My personal reading, both print books and long form Substack pieces, is also going to keep the gray matter oiled and lubed. Both media are comprised of thought=provoking pieces. I am presently reading “The Beginning Comes After The End”, by Rebecca Solnit and “The God of the Woods”, by Liz Moore. Substack sites range from “The Hungary Report” and “Life Intelligence” to “The Gut Check Guy” and “The Good Men Project”. There are a total of ten sites, not all of which show in my feed every day.

Many people opt for the fast food of journalism: Reels and clips. The problem I have with high brevity is that only part of any given story is presented. Then there is a hint, “Click to continue”, which the one time I fell for it, I was asked to subscribe to the reel’s host site-big bucks for the equivalent of a Big Mac.

Brevity has its place, but the maintenance of a well-oiled thinking machine needs a considerably higher-level investment. I may not be digging into “War and Peace” anytime soon, but long-form is a better investment of time and energy.

May Day

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

May 1, 2026- As another gray day dawned, yet in a new month, Hana and I looked out at the squirrels frolicking on the lawn and in the trees, as they went about their day of climbing and parkour. (Squirrels are premier roof-vaulters.) For her part, my granddaughter was focused on army crawling and semi-crawling, as she is now able to move with her hands and knees in sync, though not yet with her torso fully off the ground.

Several people, across the country, and in some other nations,observed a day of protest. Many were on strike. May Day is traditionally a day for Organized Labour to call attention to its grievances, and on this particular day, concerns are many. We did our shopping earlier in the week, so it was not hard to honour the call to refrain from discretionary commerce. Son and daughter-in-law had light work schedules, and I, being retired, had only my labour of love to engage, as I have done every day for the last four months and two weeks. So, we were, in a de facto sense, in sync with the day’s mood.

Protest and criticism often rankle their targets. A parent may take umbrage at a child’s refusal to go along with a directive. Government officials, increasingly these days, don’t like it a bit, if citizens stand up and voice a contrary opinion. I watched a program this evening, in which a judge ordered a witness to break confidence, and the witness refused, thus invoking a contempt-of-court citation and time in a holding cell. (The judge’s move backfired, as the witness’s confider took the stand and spoke truth to power. The jury then convicted the defendant-who was a friend of the judge.)

We are all made different, distinct from one another, right down to our basic building blocks. Even identical twins have differences. So, there is no way that any two people are going to agree, 24/7. Yet, there is, especially among insecure people in positions of authority, an increasing intolerance for criticism, either public or private. The operative word here is insecure.

A better course of action is always to hear out the criticism, find points of truth in it, and examine how those points of truth could help one improve. That requires reflection and trust in one’s basic abilities.

His Declaration

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 29, 2026- On the ninth day after His and His family’s arrival in the Garden of Ridvan, Baha’ullah summoned His eldest son, Abbas*, into His tent. There, He announced to His son that He was the Promised One, mentioned by His immediate Predecessor, Ali Muhammad, known to posterity as al-Bab (“The Gate”). Baha’ullah would make the same announcement to four other people, later that same evening, under a promise of confidentiality. This was due to the tight surveillance imposed by their Ottoman overseers and to the presence of operatives of the Persian Qajar Dynasty, which had initiated the exile of Baha’ullah and His family from Teheran, some ten years previous.

Baha’ullah, like the Great Teachers Who came before Him, intended His Teachings to redound to the benefit of all humankind. Coming as He did on the cusp of global connectivity and accelerated communication technology, His words can have an enormous impact-for the betterment of the world. Indeed, studied carefully, without coercion, the Teachings of Baha’ullah can lead to a greater understanding of the forces of change that have been extant in the world since the middle of the 19th Century and which are accelerating today, even as many of the institutions that have underpinned both Western and Eastern civilizations,for nearly 500 years, are fading away.

It is a given, that when one system draws to an end, another rises to take its place. This does not have to be frightening or debilitating. Rather, careful study of Scriptures, both past and contemporary, can offer solace that the Age in which we live is a period of birthing. There is no one who needs to be left out or excluded, in the civilization that is slowly rising, even as many time-honoured institutions are falling away.

Take your time with understanding all of this, and hang on-the world needs you.

  • Known to posterity as ‘Abdu’l-Baha

Well-Tended

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

April 27, 2026- My four-month dental check-up and cleaning, by a new provider, touched all the bases that the team at Desert Dental, in Phoenix, did for thirteen years. New Bite is our family’s dental care provider, so I helped Aram get a small sign-up bonus, and I get one as well. The practice is state-of-the art, checking sinuses and thyroid, as well as teeth, tongue, gums and jaws. I will be well-tended.

Hana had her four-month physical this morning and is on track in all her growth areas. This morning, she greeted me with “Hi” and when I asked her if she had a good sleep, she answered “Yeah”. It happened that she slept through the night, so things are going well, for her and for Mom and Dad.

The house is far more comfortable now, then it was last week, before the HVAC work. There is still a little left to straighten out, here and there, but we should be in good shape for the height of summer. The three of us share every task pretty much equally. Whoever comes upon something that needs doing, does it first. I even whipped up some pancakes, yesterday morning, like my Dad used to do on Sundays. Yunhee covered the lettuce bed with a “critter proof” mesh, so the rabbits will take what is theirs and leave our greens alone.

The country can be well-tended, if people work together. A few days ago, the governing body of the Baha’i Faith in the United States, our National Spiritual Assembly, put forth a reasonable call to action. I leave you with a link to this document, in the hopes that it might inspire some to take concerted action of their own, for the good of the nation-and of the planet.

https://www.acommonendeavor.org/

The Knowing

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 26, 2026- Virginia Roberts Giuffre died a year ago today. In that year, halting progress has been made in finding justice for her, and the thousands of other victims in the Epstein Network. There is a long way to go. In that year, justice was found for Gisele Pelicot, as 51 males were found guilty of raping her, while she was drugged by her then husband. In that year, CNN brought a “mainstream” website to light-it being openly called “Motherless.com-Rape Academy”, viewed over 62,000,000 times. In that year, serial abusers from across the political spectrum were called out-even one, Cesar Chavez, who is long dead.

I have shared a Substack post about the meaning of the term, “motherless”, on Facebook, and can only hope it gets read and taken seriously. I was raised by an exemplary mother. The idea of denigrating her infuriates me. I would have done anything she asked, even though I was a difficult child at times. My son was raised by an exemplary mother. He treasures her memory to this day, even though he was a difficult child at times.

I don’t know many openly misogynistic men, but many men I do know have areas in which to grow-as do I. Suffice it to say, those who hate women also harbour self-loathing. Many tell themselves otherwise, weaving fantasies of greatness and irresistability. They project themselves as monumental figures, as men of consequence, legends in their own time.

I once was deep among them, always wondering why I had no success in finding a mate. When I did find a woman to love, it was only because I had begun to rein myself in, take stock of my behaviour and put sexuality in its place-not as the be-all of life but as one aspect of a committed relationship. My wife initiated the process of my maturation. It took until she passed on, for that maturation to fully take root.

All those who viewed “Rape Academy”, and took its misguided message to heart, are only fooling themselves, damaging their own lives and those of any women hapless enough to become their victims. Humans, our animal form aside, are primarily spiritual beings. What one does to another person, to another sentient being, even to another life form, affects the spirit. It is not a matter of Heaven or Hell, but a matter of behaviour and consequence. Some of those men who have been publicly exposed as rapists and abusers have also done good, even great, acts for the betterment of humanity. Yet, in the end, Christ’s admonition-“Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto Me”- refers as much to the harm we do others as it does to what we do that is of help.

The physical, however enticing and pleasurable it may be, is as nothing in the eternal realm. Power, the driving force behind most rape, does not carry over into the next world, but the lessons one must learn in this life are put off by the reckless pursuit of power-and must be learned, with considerably more difficulty, in the next.

Growth can come only with the Knowing, and its practical application to life.

Threads

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, Community, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

April 25,2026- “Where have you been?”, fumed the Farmer’s Market assistant director, as she was sweeping up a pile of vegetable refuse. In the next breath, she said “Oh, that’s right, you moved to Texas to be with family,” At that point, I woke up and realized it was the day for Farmer’s Market, alright, but I was going to the Plano market-and I am not a volunteer there, The vendors all have their own tents and chairs, which they keep with them. There is no set-up/breakdown crew here, as there is in Prescott.

I read the newsletter from Prescott Farmers Market, so I know they are doing well and have a sizeable group of volunteers. Threads of nostalgia come every so often-and mostly in dreams. It seems like a healthy way for good memories to intertwine with a good feeling about my life here.

A Navy colleague of Aram’s stopped by this afternoon, with some of his family members. Turns out they live in West, TX, which is one of the places I visited on my first real Texas jaunt, in 2012. The place where they live now is a stone’s throw from the site of the fertilizer plant explosion that devastated the town in April, 2013. The town has recovered quite well from that tragedy. This is just another thread that keeps me connected to places that helped me re-establish my sense of equilibrium, after losing my wife.

At one point, this evening, there were ten of us in the house: Our family of four, the four visitors from West and two HVAC workers, who were on the last portion of the installation of a new heating and cooling unit. Hana had never seen this many people together in the house, and was actually quite happy. She smiled broadly at the visitors, while being uncharacteristically quiet. She is usually quite vocal, when we are sitting around, or when she is involved in an activity.

The threads of belonging are fashioning another fine quilt-like the ones in Arizona,in the Northeast, in the Philippines, in Canada and in parts of Europe.