Stand-up People

11
Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Poetry, Striving

April 5, 2018, Prescott-

The question was raised,

yesterday,

Will we see the likes

of MLK,

of RFK,

ever again?

I say yes,

and in droves.

There are glimmerings

of such people

arising.

They have much to learn,

yes,

but they are learning fast,

and will learn more,

even faster.

It’s been written,

that people are

at their best,

in a crisis

and at their worst

in a run-up to crisis.

What makes now

different from then,

is that ears

and hearts are open,

to, as the tv announcer

of my youth said,

opposing points of view

from responsible spokesmen.

White noise and blather

need not apply.

This may, indeed,

be known to history

as a Generation

of Founders.

Refuge

11
Posted by on in Uncategorized

April 4, 2018, Prescott-

I might have renewed my library card,

some time ago.

So, with my laptop

in the shop,

I determined

to the refuge

I would go.

A kind soul

recommended

Internet Cafe,

as well.

I used those,

in Europe,

but there are

none, in cities

like Prescott.

Our wonderful Library

system, though,

offers plenty of time

and space,

for catching up

on the mandatory,

like e-mail,

and the pleasantries,

like this network.

There are people on here,

who will be glad

I’m alive,

and others,

who will be relieved

that I won’t be

as ubiquitous,

for the next few days.

I see the latter aren’t

around much, themselves,

anyway,

so no matter.

I’m just glad to have

reconnected,

with a lifelong friend,

the Public Library system.

Fifty Down

4
Posted by on in Uncategorized

April 4, 2018, Prescott-

Fifth years gone.

How have I changed?

I have come to know

many more people of colour.

I have grown to know them

as complete human beings,

instead of just

sympathetic figures,

on a screen.

I have learned to listen,

rather than pontificate.

I have felt the pain,

not just of the victims,

but also,

of the oppressors,

both witting and unwitting.

Fifty years down,

where are we,

as a people?

We are more inclusive.

We are, in many cases,

more willing

to have neighbours

of demographics

other than our own;

to welcome

new family members

who don’t look like us.

Left to overcome:

the suspicion;

the blame-shifting;

the false equivalency;

the name-calling;

the residue of Jim Crow.

He is yet an inspiration,

and that some ask

how can a man of colour

be a role model for

a man of pallour,

is itself proof

of how far we’ve yet to go.

The boy, named for an archangel,

and renamed for a flawed,

but powerful, change-agent,

remains one of my heroes.

Day by Day

6
Posted by on in distraction issues, Education, Poetry, Service Activities, Spiritual, Striving

April 3, 2018, Prescott-

A friend referred to things being too crazy.

Yes, we can see it all around.

The President supports this bill.

No, wait, he’s against it.

There will be negotiations with a foe.

“Are you kidding?  We can’t possibly do THAT!”

The stock market is headed for an epic crash!

Oh, well, that was yesterday.

Maybe again tomorrow, though.

“The Constitution says that mentally ill people

are entitled to possess a firearm,

for their protection.”

So much for a well-regulated militia.

Day by day,

it’s enough for me to love,

educate

and safeguard

our four charges.

It’s enough for me to serve

the Lord of the Age,

and work to unite

the human race

against the Forces of Darkness.

It’s enough for me to tend

to my own healing

and  that of my community.

The craziness will run its course,

and our Sun will continue to shine.

Are You Aboard?

13
Posted by on in Community, Poetry, Striving

April 2, 2018, Prescott-

We are entering a Spring,

when our institutions

seem ready to let us down,

big time.

Are you aboard the train

of friendship?

Are you riding in the car

of community?

We, the people

stand a chance

of surviving anything

the powers that be

throw at us,

if we ride together,

if we stand together.

Are you aboard?

Questions Answered

18
Posted by on in collaborating, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social

April 1, 2018, Prescott-

I rarely post twice, in the same day and do not, as a rule go in for the online awards activities.  I have, however, promised the lovely Syllabic Symphonies that I would answer her questions.  So, here goes.

1.What is your blog about and what made you to decide to share your work?

My blog is about my life, primarily:  My Faith, my work, my travels and my take on things, large and small.

2. What is your dream ?

My dream is to explore my world, near and far.  More broadly, I dream of a world where everyone feels included and is productive, based on their interests and skills.

3. What is love to you?

Love is seeing God in all things.

4. What do you think should be a very crucial change in today’s society?

People of all ages and walks of life need to actually be included, in the overall planning and execution of civic affairs.

5. What is poetry to you?

Poetry is a versified means of expressing one’s thoughts and feelings.

6. What is your view on reincarnation?

I do not believe we continuously re-inhabit a physical form, after death.  I do believe our consciousness enters the Greater Field of Consciousness, and keeps in contact with those souls to whom one is close or to whom one is drawn.

 

7. Who is your inspiration?

Children and teens, because of their energy and because these generations will have a unique role in replenishing our planet.

8. What will you do if you’ve got only a week to live? ( Assuming everybody and everything remains exactly the same, I mean alive)

I would walk in the San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff.

9. What was the most depressing incident in your life?

My late wife’s second head trauma, which set in motion her decline and eventual death.

10. If you are to choose between, living an eternity and spending a year with a person who can never be yours, what would you choose?

I believe my soul is eternal, but I would not want to live in this body forever.  If THAT was the choice, I’d spend a year with someone who can never be “mine”.

11. In one word, how would you describe yourselves?

Loving

 

And So On

13
Posted by on in distraction issues, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

April 1, 2018, Prescott- 

Happy Easter, and Passover, one and all.  I have spent much of today, fighting with my WP feed, trying to go back to those posts I missed, last flipping weekend and onward.  I have hit upon keeping one window open for my Reader- and one for this side of my site.

This laptop will need to go in for repair soon. To do that, I will finally re-open my account with Geek Squad, the Best Buy Technical Support arm.  This will do one of two things:  Either my 7-year-old laptop will continue to support my photo posts, or it will need to be replaced.  Either way, it’ll be a week before I post any photos on these pieces, as Windows File Explorer is constantly in buffering mode, which tells me my old friend is very sick.

I haven’t done much today, but then again, yesterday found me in Phoenix, walking with three other people around a neighbourhood called Sunnyslope, which is an important place in the annals of Penny’s and my last ten years together.  I am glad to have helped install 13 smoke detectors, in 7 of the 25 houses we visited.  6 went in one house, alone. The most important were those placed in the bedrooms of youths.

Visiting a friend in Superior, and finding her working alone, on a Saturday afternoon, was bothersome.  I stayed long enough to enjoy a nice lunch and to help her just a bit, with tidying up and offering moral support.  This person is going through something similar to what I endured, with a spouse suffering debilitation.  I hope her co-workers will get a grip and start pitching in more.

Today, though, I am thinking of someone,  very far away, whom I have never met face to face.  Something about her, though, has drawn me in.  Like anything else of this nature, we’ll see.

I watched a short video about the Sumerians.  It challenges conventional wisdom about our origins as a species.  I have one question, though:  If there are some beings that are responsible for our intelligence, and they “civilized” us, then left, why aren’t they back?  Perhaps, they know better.  I think I will stick with my God, and the God of us all.

My Memorial Day to Independence Day travel schedule is mapped out- Nevada, Colorado, eastward through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, Montreal, New England, Pennsylvania, down the Delmarva, Hampton Roads, across Virginia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, before an I-40 zip, back to Home Base and Prescott’s fireworks.  Most of this route is to see friends and family-some of whom I have not seen in a very long time.  Good Sam Parks and hostels will be well-researched and penciled in, beforehand.  There will be a birthday party or two, a family wedding and a Xanga/Facebook gathering.  If this sounds like a lot, it’s because it is.

In the meantime, we have a month of standardized testing at our high school, which means unusual schedules.  Then, there is Graduation Month.  In both April and May, I will also be occupied with Baha’i activities, to boot.  I would not miss any of this, or rush through it, for all the world.

“Be Bigger Than Your Small”

14
Posted by on in collaborating, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Striving

March 31, 2018, Phoenix-

I just completed “Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant”, by Robert T.  Kiyosaki, also well known for his previous book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”.  He reviews his own struggles with finances and concludes that the world of finance is comprised of four quadrants:  E (Employee); S (Self-employed); B (Business owner) and I(Investor).  The upshot is that the path to ending financial struggle ultimately lies in investing- using other people’s money to create wealth for oneself.

Mr. Kiyosaki goes far beyond dabbling in the stock market, though he does give several pointers on how to be successful in that aspect of finance.  He is not as big on diversifying, as I would have expected.  His emphasis is on intensive financial education, especially reading financial journals-and The Wall Street Journal.

What I’ve taken from this first reading of a powerful book is that I need to continue on the course I have set, though part-time work (which he says to make as temporary as possible, whilst saving and, bit by bit, investing) is likely for the academic year to come.  He says to learn from mistakes, not to try to bury them.  “Be bigger than your small!”, meaning to not let mistakes define oneself.

This is perhaps the greatest lesson that I have learned from the past seventeen years.  It’s reassuring to see a “high marker” corroborate it.

Harold, Maude and What Makes Friends

6
Posted by on in Personal Values, Social, Spiritual

March 29, 2018, Prescott-

Bud Cort turns 70, today.  He is best known for his role as the death-obsessed young suitor of a spry elderly woman, in the 1971 May-December black comedy, “Harold and Maude”.

After I moved to Prescott, following Penny’s passing, I provided transportation to out of town activities, for  a long-time friend of ours, a woman my mother’s age.  This led to another local acquaintance snarkily referring to us as “Harold and Maude”.  There was no similarity, except in his jaundiced mind’s eye, though it ranked me a bit.  Then, and now, I have no romantic interest in anyone, least of all a person many years my senior- or junior, for that matter.

Friends, I have found in all ages, shapes, sizes and walks of life.  It’s always been that way.  As a child, I would on occasion, visit much older men and women, and ask their views on a variety of matters.  Not having the presence of my grandfathers contributed to that, perhaps, but I have always been a soul who does not identify with a specific time element.  It’s been all about commonalities of interest.  Young, old and in-between will remain my friends.

So, being neither “old” nor “young”, in that regard, I go on, and wish Bud Cort a most happy entry into the dignified strata of Septuagenarian-hood.