The Road to Diamond, Day 126: Reset

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

April 3, 2025- The bandage that was placed on my left facial cheek, to stay there for 48 hours, is still there. It will come off tomorrow and a short period of going about with a sutured face will continue until next Wednesday. Then the true healing, the reset of sorts, will begin.

On Monday, I will pick up my two guests from the Philippines, at their home-stay in Las Vegas, and bring them to Arizona for 6-7 days. We will enjoy a variety of experiences, many of them in natural beauty and several that will involve gatherings with friends of mine around the state. It will also be a reset of sorts.

This evening, I attended a crowded dinner meeting of Prescott Indivisible. I had more conversation with my table mates than I have had there in the past. There were also two calls for a show of hands, as to who will attend a protest march in a few days’ time. I will be working at Farmers Market, at the time of the march, so my hand did not go up. Though the door monitor glared and loudly cleared his throat, when I left early to attend another meeting, I owed neither him nor anyone else an explanation. The speaker at the gathering said it best: “None of us has a monopoly on the truth”. There is a nascent reset of attitude, among those on both sides, who have viewed others with disdain. The pain that the nation is beginning to experience will humble a good many people.

After attending an online discussion of Baha’i Teachings, I went to return to my other online sites. The browser was undergoing a reset, and so I had to re-enter a few accounts. Rebooting seems to be a part of life everywhere today.

The Road to Diamond, Day 125: Carcinoma-free

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving

April 2, 2025- Three of us walked into the Dermatology clinic, at the same time this morning. One went straight for the freshly-brewed coffee. The second wanted only water, which she got from the small refrigerator. I was the third, and took nothing-as I’d drunk water at home and find that drinking coffee before a surgical procedure makes the medical staff’s work harder-as it often increases bleeding.

The procedure, to remove a basal cell carcinoma, went smoothly. The surgeon, grim-faced and all business, did not take long to remove the infected tissue. The longest part of this process is the analysis of the tissue, to make sure all the cancer has been removed. That usually takes 45 minutes to an hour. It took the latter, for my case this morning. The four Licensed Practical Nurses, who helped the surgeon and the plastic surgeon who sewed me back up, were fairly congenial and methodical in their work. All the staff explained each step, as they went along.

I am again carcinoma free. The process of staying that way involves continuing to apply sunblock, of 40-50 SPF and wearing a broad-brimmed bush hat, even when I am not in the desert or in the tropics. The sunblock I use is either Alba or Badger Balm. These are zinc-based, rather than loaded with toxic chemicals. I can get Alba at Sprouts, but have to order Badger Balm online. Of course, in the warmer months, it’s necessary to re-apply the cream in mid-day.

This is all part and parcel of remaining active and largely outdoors. I will continue to have a full-body scan, twice a year and take these precautions even more diligently going forward than I have even up to now. As one ages, and there are fewer layers of dermis, the care taken of the skin, our body’s largest organ, needs constant upgrades. I aim to stay steady.

The Road to Diamond, Day 124: Judgment

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Fiction, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 1, 2025- I received three unrelated photos from a friend, this evening. There is no context and no explanation; just a puzzle. Maybe that is this person’s idea of an April Fool’s joke. In any case, I pass no judgment on them. They were nice photos, in any case.

People spent the day sending one another outlandish, ludicrous stories. Those who are aware of what day this is, responded with outlandish yarns of their own. It was a good day for such things. Even the stock market told itself everything is pretty much okay. No judgment there; I’ll take the small gains.

There are some judgments that do irk me: The woman with the perfect life, who looks down on mothers with problems; conversely, the “free spirit”, who finds fault with the counterpart who has tied self to a more conventional life; finally, the above-board thug, who makes others toe an untenable line, knowing that when things fall apart, it’ll be the little guys who take the full heat.

Life can be hard. I see those who are struggling, and having been there, I know there is only one way to make things right: Ask how I can be of help, without adding fuel to the guilt fire or toxic liquid to the gallon jug. Expect the person to do something for self, but don’t just sit and watch the writhing, the shaking, the wailing. Know that it is always about more than money, or thoughts and prayers. It is always about heart and soul.

The Road to Diamond, Day 123: Listener

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

March 31, 2025- “You are a good listener”, the slow-eating, but very intense gentleman said, after telling me of his experiences with others of my generation. He values the sanctity of his person, and does not like to be touched by strangers. I understand him, being on a milder place on the same autism spectrum than that which he occupies. He thinks at a higher level than many, and has two Master’s Degrees to show for it. I understand him, because Penny was at that same intellectual level. I understand him, also because so many of my students, in later years especially, were those who did not like physical contact.

Yes, my listening skills have vastly improved since the time of my wedding, in 1982. They have gone up, as the level of self-absorption has gone down. It is hard to live in a bubble and be a good listener. It is also lonelier in a bubble, and so I upped my listening game, and became the happier for it. Working as a counselor helped in that regard. One cannot counsel and live in a bubble. One cannot counsel effectively and hold onto outmoded concepts of hierarchy and discipline. A hard taskmaster does not often listen well, having all the answers-in own mind.

Working with the homeless is just one of the tools that has honed my listening skills. Spending quality time with both liberals and conservatives impels careful listening; discernment. Doing a variety of activities, broadening thinking, cements the concepts of which I hear. Then, too, I listen to my own inner voice, and to the spirit guides who tell me things in the quiet “alone hours”.

I am delighted to be viewed as a listener. It shows that there is a need for my presence.

The Road to Diamond, Day 122: The Value of Love

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

March 30, 2025- In reflecting further on King Lear, which I experienced last night, for the first time since studying the tragedy, as a high school senior (57 years ago), it was showcased as another example of the primacy of love, and the ultimate futility of scheming and power-seeking, through external means.

This morning, a fellow diner at breakfast spoke of a young relative, who had been disaffected from her own mother and siblings. The young woman is welcomed by this person and spouse, and not subjected to judgment, but rather a loving home-which has its rules of order, but not strictures of stifling.

I have made a lot of progress in that regard, with any difficulties for which I was responsible in the past having largely come from my own self-loathing. The result is that, within my own space, life has taken on a new energy, a stronger hope that, even in the autumn of my life, and into its winter in the decades to come, I will continue to radiate what is deepest in my heart. I have recently had dreams of children who resemble both my son and my daughter-in-law. The children have each stood at the side of my bed and told me they loved me. This may be foreshadowing, or just a reflection of how I would feel towards any grandchild(ren) who enter our lives.

The most important thing, though, is that self-love radiates outward, and touches everyone who comes along. That is something that had to survive a few hard relationships, in the latter part of the 2010s and would have to transcend any setbacks in the years to come, as well. Love, as I’ve said before, is the basis for all else that is.

The Road to Diamond, Day 121: King Lear, et al.

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Posted by on in Community, Entertainment, Historical, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 29, 2025- The rowdy group of revelers burst into the theater-in-the-round, the jester carrying his king on his back, whilst the merry palace guardsmen jump about, yelling “Ha! Ho!”. The scene reminded me, for all the world, of a few such episodes of the last Presidential campaign, though no one would ferret our current Chief Executive on his back.

Basin Lake Theater Project is a new troupe in Prescott, whose maiden performance came tonight, at the newly re-opened Cosmos Theater. King Lear, their first effort, touched all the bases: The conniving of his two older daughters, Goneril and Regan; the plotting of their spouses, the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall, respectively; the plain-spoken sincerity of his youngest daughter, Cordelia; Lear’s deep insecurity, which led him to embrace the plotters’ expressions of fealty and reject Cordelia for her honesty; the unbroken loyalty of the Earl of Gloucester, his aide-de-camp; the ill-concealed ambition of Gloucester’s bastard son, Edmund, contrasting with the filial piety of his high-born son, Edgar. Most of all, Frank Malle, as Lear, nailed the sovereign’s bursts of rage and his descent into madness.

I sat spellbound through the two halves of the play, and found myself thinking afterward, “Are there truly parallels between the fictional Lear, a tenth-century King of Britain, and the sitting President of the United States-or, for that matter, his immediate predecessor?” There is no obvious insanity, in our current leadership, yet we are in a period in which rulers have been exhibiting a thin skin, and not just in the United States of America. There is a naked ambition, on the part of several of the presidential advisors, both in and out of government. Some members of the presidential family seek more leverage, though unlike the Family Lear (ostensibly members of House Plantagenet), there is no obvious rivalry between the children, nor does the president show favouritism for one over the others. Lear does go off on tangents, talking about the horns of snails and the cultivation of oysters, much as Trump talks about birds and whales. The above-mentioned scene evoked the impromptu dancing that Trump has done, either solo or accompanied by random visiting athletes.

All these instances, though, are not connected to actions of substance, in and of themselves. Lear does not seem to have any connection to his subjects, outside of the court itself and a small number of hangers-on. Trump regularly connects with at least his most fervent supporters, outside of Official Washington, as did Biden. That may neutralize any ambition among his inner circle, providing an unlikely safeguard for our republic, in the long run. While some of his Cabinet may invite parallels to Lear’s Fool, there is yet no one who can get away with criticizing the President-at least not openly, as the Fool does with Lear.

In the long run, it is never in the interests of a people to have their ruler descend into madness. In my lifetime, we have seen what happened in the Soviet Union, when Stalin lost his grip on reality,as well as in China, as Mao fell into senescence. The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is in place, to obviate such a situation here. Let us hope that its application does not become necessary, in the near future, if ever.

The Road to Diamond, Day 120: Williamson Valley

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Posted by on in collaborating, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 28,2025- We came upon a small set of petroglyphs, whilst looking for the trail to an even larger display, in Williamson Valley, a horse-breeding and ranching area, northwest of Prescott. The area between the ranches and the looming presence of Granite Mountain was once a prime hunting and farming area for the Sinagua people, who predated the Yavapai-Apache.

Petroglyphs along trail in Williamson Valley

The area experienced glacial activity around 20,000 years ago, and as the glaciers retreated, granite and limestone boulders were left behind, creating astonishing landscapes like the Granite and Willow Dells. Here, at the foot of Granite Mountain’s east face, the scenery is every bit as breathtaking.

Lichen-covered granite boulder, Williamson Valley
Boulder field, with juniper trees, Williamson Valley
Granite boulder field, Williamson Valley

We ended up not finding the larger collection of petroglyphs. That trail has been determined, though, and will be the focus of investigation, in the not too distant future. Williamson Valley’s trail system rivals that of the Granite Dells.

The Road to Diamond, Day 119: Passages

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 27, 2025- In a short letter, with two photos attached, I learned that the young adolescent girl from Mexico,whom I had been sponsoring for three years, has left the sponsoring agency’s wing. There is nothing further I can do for the child, save pray, as all contact with her is through the agency.

In her stead, I will sponsor and support a much younger child from a Caribbean nation. The differences between the two girls could not be more stark. The first was content to stay at home and tend her younger siblings, or so she said. The second is a self-starter, inquisitive and studious, with eyes full of sass. I look forward to seeing just how far she will go in life.

In my own space, I had a spot on my face treated with cold nitrogen, this afternoon. It will need to be evaluated in three months’ time. Another spot will be surgically removed, next Wednesday. I have borne a scar or two, previously, so I am not worried. It’s better to be rid of the spot, before it becomes cancerous.

The country is going through a passage or two. Indeed, the planet is experiencing changes not seen in over 80 years. Some events are actually more reminiscent of the so-called Dark Ages, when kings, lords and other nobles ran roughshod over the masses. Back then, however, those multitudes were uneducated. Nowadays, any chicanery or deception is occurring because the people are, by turns, tired, distracted or complacent. There has rarely been a time when so many are willing to accept whatever is told them. This, though, will not continue in perpetuity. Abraham Lincoln’s admonition, about not fooling all the people all the time, will be brought to bear-as it was after the Watergate scandal and hopefully in just as civilized a manner. We do not need either another Civil War or a mass uprising, as happened in 1968, after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. or in 2020, after the death of George Floyd. At some point, the seemingly defanged Congress will need to assert itself and prevent the “correction of overspending” from becoming an overreaction all its own. It will need the support of the judiciary, and of several other institutions.

The point should never be to excuse excess in one direction, but to ensure it is not replaced by excess in the opposite way.

The Road to Diamond, Day 118: Safekeeping

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 26,2025- Little man next door has watched cars and trucks go up and down our street, from the safety of his front door. He decided he would try out his little tricycle on the street. Mama quashed that idea, very quickly, as you would expect.

On my way to a chili cook-off, this evening, I came upon another little man, on a tricycle, crossing the next street south of ours. This boy was with his mother, who safely guided him across the road, and onto the sidewalk. He rightfully “owned” the sidewalk, but chose to stay on the red brick bicycle path, until I passed on the walk. Then, he took over the right of way. Mom was perfectly content with either safe option.

I read, this evening, about a Kansas State Trooper, who pulled over an SUV for a traffic violation. In the vehicle were two men in their 60s and a 6-year-old girl. Long story short, going over the speed limit was the least of the driver’s transgressions, and the kidnapped girl is being reunited with her parents. The scary part is that the men almost had her brainwashed, but close, thankfully, only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes.

There is no substitute for a loving, sensible, committed parent, in ensuring the safety of any child.

The Road to Diamond, Day 117: Genres

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Education, Entertainment, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 25, 2025- There it was, placed proudly on the choir room wall: Periodic Table of Music Genres, an outgrowth of the famous chemistry table. It reflects the steady growth in both the sharing of musical styles across national and cultural boundaries, as well as the fusion of those styles.

In my childhood days, it was viewed by many as a travesty to mix say, jazz with classical or country music. Duke Ellington and several others interpreted even the oldest of classical music, anyway. It is something that I have come to appreciate, as an adult. The great Big Band musicians redid orchestral classics, even Baroque, with grace and style. Today, every genre can be interpreted by every other genre, and many can be fused with others.

My task today was simply to monitor the guitar and choral classes, making sure they actually practiced their pieces. While getting teens to practice can be a chore in itself, most of the students spent thirty minutes, at least, either in groups or individual work. When given the choice of pieces, they showed quite a range of interests-from Heavy Metal to Country; Grunge to World Music.

Here is a compendium of musical genres, by style and by region. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_music_genres_and_styles. In order to illustrate, here are two very different types of musical expression:

Rosa Lee Hill was a Mississippi Hill Country Blues musician. Here she is doing “Roll and Tumble”, in 1967, a year before her death. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_asE8v-Ls60

Next is Indonesian musician Rahayu Supanggah, leading a troupe in Gamelan, a traditional music genre of the Malay Archipelago. (Don’t worry about the “waitress”; just click on the video and enjoy the gamelan.

@rudyabimantrana

Komposisi musik Tongkleng-Palagan Karya Prof. Rahayu Supanggah #performance #performanceart #music #musik #komposisi #orchestra #gamelan #karawitan #karawitanjawa #tongkleng #palagan #tembangjawa #budayajawa #budayaindonesia #culture #indonesia🇮🇩 #worldmusic #video #viral #fyp #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp

♬ suara asli – Roody – Roody

There is no place on Earth where people have not found a way to express themselves musically. A student reminded me, this morning, that it all originated in people mimicking birds, other land animals and even whales, in some places. Music has come a long way.