Imagine....

I feel sorry for my fellow Americans who are so consumed with conservative sentiment that they vehemently oppose any form of gun control – in spite of a social situation that increasingly calls for it. I recently got the chance to browse a current copy of *American Rifleman*, journal of the unbalanced National Rifle Association – which cheap and pugnacious propaganda confirms our every apprehension about an organization that is in its way no less violence-prone than the KKK, Nazis types, etc., but dismayingly large and wealthy.


Had the Nation’s founders seen fit to mention a right of the people to keep and drive coaches and carriages, would a vocal segment of modern society have stood in impassioned and asinine opposition to driver licensing, vehicle registration and compulsory auto insurance?
I am, to put it mildly, skeptical of the far-right’s notion that we are a society careening toward ruin. Essentially they are promulgating the “wedge” or “slippery slope” argument (since they lack reasoned, good-faith arguments) that reasonable gun control today would soon result in government confiscating all guns and shooting us with them.

I love freedom as much as the next guy, but what good is the freedom to attend a movie if some loon is free to open fire on the theater? Of what use the freedom to choose living in a given school district if congress has jealously guarded some ghoul’s “right” to amass an arsenal for use on classrooms full of small children? If public safety is not the province of government, I need someone with a sound education to explain why the hell not

Imagine, if you will, a U.S. government that not only does not degrade into a sinister dictatorship that needs overthrowing but comes to contribute meaningfully to our general welfare – as proposed by its constitution. What if there were a new morning in America wherein our police and government officials were almost always good people doing a good job – oh wait, slap my pate – such is the case already. What if we had sound and essentially trustworthy government, government in good faith? Oh wait, we do.

Not that we are going to realize some utopian dream overnight, but gun laws based on enlightenment and imagination could make public places safer for defenseless civilians while satisfactorily indulging a right of citizens to own and use firearms.

At the cost of a tiny fraction of our right to privacy, we could make life safer for us all. What would the law-abiding have to fear from annually scheduled cursory inspections of basements, attics, etc? Negligible inconvenience to our liberties, in exchange for great strides in protecting women and children from imprisonment and heinous abuse?

If we hear a rowdy murmur at such ideas, it is the sound of conservatives who used to pretend to care for law and order but now disdain same, like drunk and cranky cowboys. Damn the demagoguery, the pandering, the filibuster and the gerrymander that defeat the people’s sound wisdom and warp outcomes for us all.

SGTex
*****

Let's all celebrate....

I used to think....

....that was just about all that was required for being pretty happy.  Well, nowadays I tend to disagree with that idea.  I've found much more interesting and rewarding and exciting and exasperating and wonderful levels of happy, and I'm grateful. 

However, I will say that having a lovely garden and somewhere to dig and plant and pull weeds and trim and pick flowers is just about the most therapeutic place in life to be for many of us.  I come from a long line of happy gardeners and have spent many lovely hours with a basket of blooms.  A few of you know that I kept a pair of bright red garden shears in my car where they were handy to trim the lavender and roses away from the driveway edge.  A few others know that when I lived in Oregon and had a spectacular hydrangea that people liked to "sample" a pair of shears could be found in my mailbox by the front door.  My house happened to be on the local walking tour, and more than a few "walking tourists" passed by my house to look it over and left with a bouquet, lol.  My Nana used to spend long hours in her garden and she often said it was what made her happy.  As the years went by her expanse of green lawns turned into various flower beds and she'd pretty much dug up and planted and pulled out and replanted the whole property.  It was a riot of color and filled with birds and bees and became the perfect backdrop for her bright red house. 

When I was on my own everything in my garden seemed to be pinks and blues and purples and lavenders and soft whites.  I love a red geranium and have found it to be the most hopeful plant to have around here in my part of Texas, if I want it to last and bloom and not over-bake in the hot sun, lol.  Nasturtiums are a favorite and many of my friends will roll their eyes when I mention once again that the squirrel who lives in our yard most of the time absolutely loves a nasturtium salad with his pecans.

Anyway, this isn't really about gardening.  Nor is it about libraries, although I will mention that SGTex and I enjoyed watching the dedication of the George W Bush Library the other morning.  Our liberal friends have punished me more than a little for admitting to liking the ceremony and having something pleasant to say.  I do believe they feel he should be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail, as their bitterness seems to be still somewhat fresh and more than a little deep.  That's okay, for them.  I guess I've got more important things about which to concern myself, to my way of thinking.  It seems like it's not too much of a shock to think that a past leader of the USA might have a presidential library, too.  All the others have gotten one, or a chance at having one.  (eyeroll)  SGTex and I have always been quite lucky to be at home together to enjoy some big event on the news, and this was just one more of these and we enjoyed it in our particular way, so I'm grateful, even if it is celebrating someone from the (gasp) "other" side of politics, haha.  We're liberals, but we're not too (two?) angry liberals.

Our life is changing and over the next couple of months there will likely be some upheaval.  Already, I'm starting to adjust to the idea of new schedule, new circumstances, the notion of a new location and all kinds of new ways to see and experience things.  Do I feel a headache coming on?  A slight one, but that's okay.  ;~)  It's stressful, but it's a good stress.

I gave up a garden and a library to get this far and am going to make plans for a new garden and a new library to enjoy, down the road a bit, which isn't so far after all.

Toodles!

Shawn
****

So much to say....

.... and so little time...

I feel a bit like this rabbit looks.  Where do I begin?  I've got so much on my mind and could jump in so many different directions with this post. 

I guess I'll just do the usual "Isn't it a beautiful day?"  Well, it is.  Despite the news reports of various tragedies and problems and issues, it is still a beautiful day.  Things are still going to be all right, or as "all right" as they can be with the world spinning as it does and people acting as they do.  Perhaps I should say "acting out as they do." 

Have they caught the 2nd marathon bomber yet?  We had the news on all night long, watching the melodrama in the Boston area and the aftermath of the disaster in West, Texas.  We still managed to get a pretty good night's sleep, because this is still America.  No matter what the naysayers say about us and our politics or way of life, we here in the USA will be fine.  We're still mostly good people with good intentions and good thoughts and feelings.  Not too thrilled with Congress (or about half of 'em) and how they caved to the nasty NRA and didn't do what we feel like they should have done about the gun regulations, but the story isn't over and a new day will come when common sense and decency will prevail.

Speaking of decency, I want to say "thank you" to the people from all over the planet who have taken time to send their kind greetings and good wishes to the people in West, Texas after the disaster there.  I was seeing on CNN how that has been such an encouragement and just wanted to express my gratitude.  We are, after all, children of the Universe and we do dwell together on this lovely planet.

I'm still going to feel like this rabbit, sitting in a lovely garden, pausing while I decide what flowers to pick and which direction to take.  Will probably just stop and take a look around me to appreciate the good things and be grateful for the life I have.  It's not perfect, but it's a lot better on good days than I could have ever dreamed.

I hope it's much the same for you.

Shawn
****

The appalling real cost of palm oil....

Further to our press release last week concerning starving orangutans rescued from a palm oil concession in West Kalimantan, the images in this New York Daily News coverage show the appalling real cost of palm oil. 

PHOTOS: Orangutans rescued from a bulldozed forest in Indonesia.

Starving and stranded orangutans were rescued after bulldozers destroyed most of their forest home.
Rescuers from the UK charity organization International Animal Rescue (IAR) worked with the local forestry department in Ketapang, West Kalimantan on the Indonesian island of Borneo to save the orangutans. They were alerted of the animals’ predicament by the company Bumitama Gunajaya Argo.

Full story at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/orangutans-rescued-bulldozed-forest-article-1.1309145

Image: Starving orangutans on the brink of death were rescued in Indonesia after bulldozers destroyed their home to make room for a palm oil plantation.

The above article was on my Facebook newsfeed today and I had to pass it along.

Stop using palm oil products, please.

Shawn
****

Here are some hilariously....

Mixed feelings about St. Patrick's Day....

Sure and the color green first brings to mind good things – it is the color of life, springtime, money, or a green light to go on and get there in time. The Green Movement is positive in favor o’ the planet. These green things and absinthe, we like a lot.


We have mixed feelings about Saint Patrick’s Day, just as not everything green is all that good – there being the green of nausea, or infection, or algae in the fish tank.

My wife’s of Irish blood, and lived there awhile as a young teacher. There an old tinker woman held her face, looked in her eyes and recognized her from a former life. There she saw Ogham symbols carved in trees and stones, or stones stacked in a special secret way at gravesites, a silence and a subtlety that spoke volumes about Catholic oppression in centuries past.

Come the Internet, there came a worthy worldwide revival known as Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism. We have no reverence for such “saints” as Patrick, and would not care to celebrate the cruel scourge he instigated to replace Celts and Druids with Christians.

Crediting old Pat with driving snakes from Eire is almost as wrong and silly as young-earth creationism. There never had been any snakes there – the Ice Age saw to that.

I always remember the 17th of March as the anniversary of my departure from Hendrick Medical Center. They drove me out proper, they did, in good Christian style.

SGTex
****

It's my birthday....

.... and I've spent much of the day thanking my wonderful Facebook friends for the sweet greetings they've been leaving on my wall.

Is the rest of the world as involved as we are (I am) with social networking?  Frankly, it would be a different world if we hadn't the ability to chat across the miles.  I was telling someone today how often one of my friends on the other side of the planet is on their way to bed and I'm just getting up and wishing them a good day, lol. 

I thought this cartoon was cute.  Every time SGTex coughs or sneezes he gets a "Bless you!" from me...and vice versa, so I kinda related to these sheep, haha.

Well, I must say it's been quite a day.  A good part of it was getting the chance to talk to family folks.  That doesn't happen too often, with me being down here in Texas in the middle of the prairie and they're quite a ways elsewhere.  Months can go by between conversations and years will pass between actual face-to-face visits.  That is not a good thing.  I haven't seen one brother for 13 years, now.  Some family members I have yet to meet.  What's up with that?!  Anyway, never mind.  I guess I'm allowed to get personal on my birthday, on my blog, right?  ;~)

I hope that when you have birthdays they are happy and makers of great memories.  There's salmon about to go on the grill out in the back yard and a chocolate cake with pink striped candles is waiting in the other room. 

So, I'm just sitting here at my desk wishing all of you the best possible day or night, wherever you are, and whatever time it is there.  If you happen to stop by and read this, don't be shy.  Say hello.

Love!

Shawn
****

I have feelings....

....too, and my feelings matter.

That's something you might hear someone say to you from time to time.  Or perhaps it's something you say to them, or maybe you just think about saying that.

Anyway, it's been on my mind more than usual, lately.  I guess stuff that's happening in my world is probably not much different than stuff happening in your world, if we're talking about the "close to my heart" kind of world.  What might be happening in the big, planetary scheme of things is probably vastly different and even more important, I suppose. 

Just the other day I was informed by a friend that it's scary at night where they live.  They might lock their doors and have dogs to sound the alarm when bad things are about to happen (and they do happen on a regular basis), but they never really know that it's safe to go to sleep and dream pleasant dreams.  How can they live that way?  They get up in the morning and manage to be relatively cheerful and brave and go about their day very effectively.  I'd be terrified.  It's an injustice, their having to live like that, and it seems that there's no recourse for them and no one to make it different at this point in time. 

What about Syria?  We've talked about that before.  Or what about people who have chronic illness, even to the point of terminal disease?  How do they manage their "story" and get by each and every day, feeling like it's worth it to get up in the morning and go about what business they might have yet to do in their life?  I admire people who have the courage to look on the bright side and seize their day and make a positive difference, but it has to be difficult. 

Oftentimes, the real, lasting difference that someone has made is merely a moment taken to have a hug or some conversation and reach out, giving some love to one who needs it. 

There were people in my life who did that very thing.  On two occasions, I had two separate conversations in two separate towns with two separate women had to do with one particular issue.  I needed to be reminded of something about myself, and it was obvious to them, and they let me know that my feelings mattered.  ;~)  That was a very long time ago, and both of these women have left this lifetime and are somewhere out there beyond my reach, but whenever they come to mind, I think how they took a little time to put their arms around me and say a few gentle words.  For that I am truly grateful.

I just hope that I can do that for someone, and that when they think of me, they'll be smiling.

Or laughing.  ;~D

Shawn
****

Happy Valentine's Day.....

~Love One Another~

....Shawn & SGTex....

Bear Hill Babies.....

Ben Kilham, the only bear rehabilitator in New Hampshire, is this winter caring for a record 27 orphaned bear cubs. He usually has on average three to five orphaned cubs hibernating in an enclosure near his home in the woods. Food bills are... usually minimal, because the cubs slept through the winter.

But this year, because so many female bears were shot in chicken coops and bee hives across the state, he has a problem. They are waking each other up, playing in the trees, burning up the calories and running up a huge bill on Kibbles 'n Bits. Despite receiving grants and donations from the public, the bill for keeping the cubs fed until Spring will average at $1,000 per cub.


If you would be like to help Ben pay for food for the bears please send checks to:

Bear Hill Conservancy Trust in care of Ben Kilham
P.O. Box 37
Lyme, NH 03768

~Thank you!  Pass the word along.  Let's do a better job taking care of our friends in the wild.

Shawn & SGTex
****

It's just about....

....a week until Valentine's Day.




There's just time enough to heal the brokenhearted, or at least make the attempt.



Time enough to let the one you love know that you don't take him or her for granted, and that you appreciate and see the effort he or she makes to let you know that you are truly special.



Let them know that they do actually matter and make a difference in your life.



It's important to not assume that what they need to believe in order to get through the days and nights just goes without saying. And while you're saying it, if you can't say it with gold or diamonds or chocolate, then say it by word or deed, with hearts and flowers of some sort and above all-- mean every word.



~ Anonymous  

xoxo Shawn xoxo

Happy Birthday......

.... Bob Marley....

Carpe dentum.....

....seize the teeth! 

Well, didn't Mrs. Doubtfire just take liberties all over the place. 

Last night we watched (apparently for the third or fourth time) one of my favorite movies, and after what's happened today in my little world, I got to thinking.

Uh oh, you say?  Does it seem to you that Daniel, being who he was all that time, didn't really know what others were thinking about him and was pretty oblivious to the effect his (mis)behaviors were having on his life and loved ones?  Then, when it all got turned upside down he transformed himself on the outside in order to preserve his relationship with his children and become a new and improved version of himself on the inside.  What others thought of him wasn't really entirely true, but he turned the pain of being told off, having his marriage end and his life go to pieces into something positive.  He gained some insight by basically eavesdropping on his own life when he/she had a cuppa with his ex-wife.  That must have been devastating, but he took it and processed it in his way.  

I'm kinda thinking that what he heard about himself may or may not have been true--that's not the important part.  It's that he was able to hang on to some self respect and be thankful he was who he was, inside.  He held himself together and created a new (though temporary) persona in order to fight for who he wanted to be, and that was who he had been in the first place:  the father of his children.  The new and improved version.

I don't know why I'm saying this, but it just occurred to me that sometimes we think we're giving one impression and it just so happens that it's not the one we intended to give.  I can mean for someone to believe one thing about me and think I'm totally on point and then find out that they haven't gotten that impression at all.  For whatever reason, they're thinking something totally different about me....perhaps due to their own prejudices or expectations or doubts and fears.

Sometimes you just can't win for losing, but if you can find something in yourself for which to be thankful at least you'll have a fighting chance at turning out to be who you meant to be tomorrow.

Go ahead and *Carpe Diem... seize the day*

if tomorrow ever comes, that is....

Shawn
****

O Happy Day....

President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama

January 20, 2012

To the world you might be just one person….

…..but to one person you might be the world.  ~Bill Wilson

Quite the conversation starter, hmm?  We all want to be the world to someone and have someone be our world…In the nicest possible way. 

I’ve kinda had that on my mind a bit over the last few days, but I must warn you that I’ve been sick, so we really had better not put too much stock in my thoughts when I’m running a fever.  And yes, I know there are more than a few of you out there who are snickering right now, as in "what’s my excuse when I’m not feverish?"  Yeah.

Anyway, there’s that, and then you probably have seen that we here in the US of A are getting excited for the Inauguration.  Some people wonder why there is such an event for a 2nd term election.  I’m not sure who has done what in the past, but we have friends who are going to Washington, DC to be there and it will be fun to see their pictures and read what they have to say about all of it.

For our part, we sent greetings along to Bo, the First Dog from Sebastian and Seamus, the Havanese Hellboys.  LOL.  Sebastian, by the way, has been naughty.  He chased a cat up a tree and now goes around acting like he’s the neighborhood Tuff Guy.  (being clueless that he's about the size of a loaf of bakery bread!)  Seamus has been his usual angelic self.  At least to the best of our knowledge, which is somewhat limited.  This pair is always up to something.

Well, see?!  I didn’t have anything more substantial to say than I usually do, after all.  Haha.  Perhaps there will be something interesting to share later on down the road.  Meanwhile, we do hope you have wonderful days and nights.  Welcome to our new readers and we’re so glad that each of you stop by.

See you in the funnies!  (Do they say that where you come from?)

Love!

Shawn

****

What's love got...

...to do with it?

Just about everything.

So, I just happened to notice that some time has gone by and I haven't blogged in awhile. 

I might have had more to say about life these days, but my mind has been quite preoccupied with things that are not conducive to blogging, really.  Sometimes things are just too personal or hard to explain or of absolutely no interest to anyone but me, and I'd just as soon find another interest, iykwim. 

I was having a conversation with a friend who mentioned how much people post mundane, trivial and even irritating things on Facebook.  I think I probably do some of that, and do some of it right here on the blog. 

Eyeroll.

(Hey, has it ever struck you as interesting that you might overhear a conversation and the word "Facebook" comes up, and you think to yourself, "I wouldn't have ever heard such a word used 15 years ago."  Or am I the only one who thinks up this stuff (speaking of mundane, trivial and even irritating things)?  LOL.

 Anyway, I was about to say that it's more than a week into 2013 and I've been thinking about things, wondering and speculating and figuring and yada yada yada.  Cryptic, I am.  Haha.  You'll be glad to know I do plan on continuing to keep those thoughts mostly to myself, but wanted to stop by and remind myself and others who might pass through that we need peace of mind, peace in our hearts and peace in our homes.  The neighborhoods in which we live need peace, as do our cities and countrysides.

Let's do it.....love the world into peace.

Shawn
****

Happy New Year....

....to our friends around the world. 

We're so glad you stop by from time to time and hope that 2013 brings you all the best there is.

We wish you....

...a most wonderful holiday and the best of family and friends time together as 2012 draws to a close.

This past year has been filled with amazing, special times to remember, both with joy and with sorrow.

We are trusting that the new year brings healing and blessing to all of us, but most especially those who lost their loved ones in the recent tragedies here in America. 

Glad tidings!!

Shawn & SGTex, Seamus & Sebastian

Remembering...

...those ones we loved and lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 

Tis the season....

....in Malaysia!!!

~Shawn & SGTex~

Our blue marble....

This famous "Blue Marble" shot represents the first photograph in which Earth is in full view. The picture was taken on December 7, 1972, as the Apollo 17 crew left Earth’s orbit for the moon. With the sun at their backs, the crew had a perfectly lit view of the blue planet.



Nationalgraphic.com  Milestones In Space Photography   Photograph courtesy NASA Johnson Space Center



It's been 40 years since this picture was taken, and I have to think:  How nicely have we been playing with our blue marble? 
Since 1972, we've learned a lot about the environment and have a better idea of what we can do to preserve the planet and make our air and water and soil more pure.  We've got a better idea of what we can do politically.  We're able to know, as it happens, what happens.  If I were to stick a pin in this picture, I could pin the spot where people were caring and giving help and aid to preserve wildlife.

 I could pin the spot (Taiji cove in Japan, for example) where people are ignoring those who care and are herding, chasing, tormenting, trapping and slaughtering dolphins and whales....mostly for food and once in awhile for the sport and entertainment of others.  (Hey, Japan!  How'd you like that earthquake?  Everybody okay over there?  You've had 2 warnings from the planet to knock it off.....Pay attention!!)

Or how about Syria?  Would someone please explain to me the mentality behind making war on your own people, please.  Oh.  It just cannot be explained.  I thought not.

Yeah, there are a few things happening around this world which give me some grief, but that's NOTHING like the grief the perpetrators who make war on this planet and those who live upon it will be receiving when their time comes.

And it will.

Mark my words.

Shawn
****

December Moon....

Before going to bed

After a fall of snow

I look out on the field

Shining there in the moonlight

So calm, untouched and white

Snow silence fills my head

After I leave the window.



Hours later near dawn

When I look down again

The whole landscape has changed

The perfect surface gone

Criss-crossed and written on

Where the wild creatures ranged

While the moon rose and shone.



Why did my dog not bark?

Why did I hear no sound

There on the snow-locked ground

In the tumultuous dark?



How much can come, how much can go

When the December moon is bright,

What worlds of play we'll never know

Sleeping away the cold white night

After a fall of snow.



~May Sarton

...and we're back.....

......after the election.

...delighted to report that the Obamas are still the First Family, and Bo is the First Dog ;~).

That is like the best news ever, for us! 
I can't wait for the Inauguration in January.

So, as I was saying, things at the White House are much the same as they were before.  Things at our house are only nearly the same as they were before....SGTex is about to embark on a renewed career as an RN.  I'm excited for him.  What will I be doing?  Oh, I'll be continuing to develop my role as an aspiring "domestic goddess" (stay-at-home wife with the Hellpups here at the house).  We're looking forward to that all taking shape. 

It will be really and truly happy holidays if all our wishes and dreams about this stuff comes true....

The United States of America is still "one nation," despite of what you may have heard.  There are some crazy people out there and they seem to feel that it's time to pout and rebel and wreak some domestic havoc if they can.  Secessionists really need to simmer down and rethink their strategy before somebody takes them seriously and starts taking names...if ya know what I mean.  (eyeroll)
I realize that there are all kinds of people in a nation that allows freedom of thought and expression of that thought, but there are those who would take it too far, and that seems to be the case with these folks.  So many of them aren't really the brightest bulbs in the box.  In other words, they just seem to get stirred up by this awful thing called "talk radio."  That's where people sit and listen while knot-heads do the talking, and the people who are doing the listening are obviously not much in the "smarts department," nor are the talkers.  LOL!  Poor dears, as my husband says.... Stay tuned.  Might as well.  What the hell.  (another eyeroll)

Anyway, I said all that to say this:  We'll be just fine.  The majority of the people voted in President Obama again.  I repeat:  Yay!!!!  Gas prices have gone down a bit.  The lights are still on.  This is still the land of opportunity and the creek ain't gonna rise that high.  The Atlantic seaboard that got gobsmacked by the Atlantic Ocean in Big Storm Sandy will recover and be all right.  People will get the help they need and go back to work.  New things will happen.  Old stuff will crumble and fall away and something better will come along, just like it always has.  Why?  Precisely because we are the United States of America, and there's still room for the sad, the bad, the good and the glad.  I like how that works.

Cheers!
Shawn
****

By this time tomorrow....

.... we'll know a couple of more things than we do now, around here. 

The Mr and I have some big stuff going on these days, and just one of those things we'll know more about is the Big Presidential Election!

SGTex and I were among the early voters around here, which apparently was a good idea, since people are standing in lines for hours and hours and hours.  We've never seen anything like it.  There is a lot happening behind the scenes, both good and bad, which is very apt to make a close race a close, complicated race.  I just trust that there will not be delays and anything that seriously prevents us knowing who won as soon as Wednesday morning dawns.  Wow!

I suppose the whole world is watching America to see what is going to happen next.  Our hope is that the incumbent wins and that the wonderful family pictured here will stay put in the White House for 4 more years.  We love them and know that they will continue to do their best for us.

It's going to be exciting to watch, and hopefully not too long a wait for the Big News. 

.....Obama/Biden 2012.....

Cheers!

Shawn & SGTex
*****

Season of Samhain....

Under the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.

~ Carl Sandburg

It cuts both ways....

That's definitely a working title up there, by the way.

I'm at a place in my mind's heart where I'm looking in several directions at the same time.  I've had some stuff going on that could make me move in one direction or the other, or just "stick put" (as I say, for some reason) and see what comes next.

You've probably been there, too.  There's so much happening behind the scenes, while to an outsider peeking in the window, it would seem like all is quiet and ordinary.  But is it?

Some things you don't just up and tell other people because they'd not understand, for whatever reason.  They have no interest in knowing.  They have no concept of what is happening in the lives of another person, be it a stranger or a loved one or a family member.  (Yes, I stated that the way I meant that.) 

You would think that a person would be interested in what's going on in the lives of people around them, but they're either self-involved or so involved in some trivial pursuit that it doesn't even occur to them that their attention would be nice.  I don't think they mean to actually be that way, but there it is.  It's not until something surprising or out of the ordinary catches their attention and they perk up (momentarily) to say, "What's going on?"  Caution:  Don't get too excited, because before you know it, they'll have virtually snoozed off or gotten back to their book or their game or their self-absorption and alas, your moment has passed.

Well, it cuts both ways.  We too, can find ourselves otherwise occupied when the time comes that our attention is required.  Go ahead, put in for some time and we'll see if we can clear our calendar.  If so, we'll show the requisite amount of interest in what is going on with you. 

Hopefully, that is.  ;~)

Shawn
****

Dumb, Dumber and Mormon (a guest column rejected by Abilene Reporter-News)

    Just finished surfing the web a bit to check, and science has not yet come back with anything on what makes the right wing so stupid. We are going to have to be patient. But this, our Texas, is most certainly the laboratory for it. As Paul Jury explains, “Everything is bigger, even our morons.”


Hard to top a judge who goes on Fox News to warn us that the president means to “hand over the sovereignty of the United States to the UN,” thereby touching off that apocalyptic race war and national collapse that the paranoid right has always longed for. It is troubling to have a fellow who thinks that way in a position of responsibility. He probably lives in a buried bus. Do not sell him any ammonium nitrate.

My theory on conservative, er, thought has been corroborated a hundred ways since last we spoke of it here. Not that it is really news, mind you – this correlation between conservatism and low intelligence.

For more than 40 years, Republican and conservative candidates have either been dim themselves or panderers to that segment of society that is (if joined, as a rule, by physicians and others wealthy enough to favor the taxation policies of porcine capitalism).

Nowadays the GOP has to cater to a noisy and fervent far right, one that giddily pits itself against science and reason and human rights on multiple fronts. The elderly and spelling-challenged Tea Party represents a frontier where we see the last of what passes for civic organization, and after that it’s the disordered mentality of extremist factions, your neo-so-and-so’s all steeped in hate. As we go along that continuum of more and more conservative, are we finding smarter and smarter people? You decide.

Governor Rick Perry (need I say more?) recently broadcast a speech to his fellow fanatics in which he condemned the idea of separation of church and state as a lie of Satan. Perry has worked tirelessly in the movement to force debatable religious beliefs on the public, quite often showing up to support zealots who are actively violating the rights of their neighbors through school functions. I am surprised he was not on hand in Kountze the other day, to help kids tear up the constitution like so many butcher-paper banners.

God bless those who see that the "no establishment" provision of the Bill of Rights clearly mandated such historic steps as ending compulsory sectarian prayer in public schools and, for another example, banning loudspeaker prayer “in Jesus’ name” at high school football games. Measures like that have been nothing but fair and are lamentable only to those in whom respect for the beliefs of others is utterly lacking.

Me, I try to show respect for other folks’ religions and philosophies, recognizing that I cannot hope to win respect for Buddhism if I don’t – because that is one of those things that just has to go both ways, or else all you get is gridlock. On that basis, I have been involved in the Abilene Interfaith Council for years and have long recommended affirmative recognition of Paganism, Native American spiritualities and Atheism. Those creeds are sort of pending on their roster so far, but the AIC harbors a very progressive attitude – for Abilene. Let’s watch and pray.

Respect is due Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientologists, Hare Krishna folks and whatever other bona fide faith option may come down the old pike. Accordingly, a few years ago I invited the LDS lads right in and gave them bottled water, and bade them return for still more discussion some days later. Mind you, that cordial dialogue did not bring me any closer to believing what they believe; all due respect notwithstanding, I still find a number of their ideas downright laughable, which mirth would turn to uncontrollable sobbing if a Mormon became the leader of the free world.

Obviously, respect for a given religion does not equate to embracing it! Even an interfaith activist and a believer in religious pluralism does not come to a place where he is ready to abandon his own outfit in favor of another. The prospect of my converting to something besides Soka Buddhism brings to mind the Weird Al Yankovic song:

“I’d rather have my blood sucked out by leeches/Shove an ice-pick under a toenail or two/I’d rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tongue” than recite The Sinner’s Prayer with you.

All religion aside, to quote a lady I met when I was a Hendrick nurse: “I’d rather be swatted across the face with a dead rabbit” than vote Republican.


SGTex
****

I just have a thing about....

....art deco.  I've wanted to use this picture for a long time.  I love everything about it, and find it irresistibly tempting when I'm shopping for jewelry or home decor.

I also have a thing about politico/religious discussion.  It's fun to toss ideas back and forth and it's difficult to not lose patience and want to let somebody really have it for being utterly and completely stupid, or intolerant, or deceptive, or ......Yeah, I need to remember to apply my own tolerance (or lack thereof) right here at home in my heart, or head, or whichever rules at that flash point. 

Just so you know, I'm going to attempt to be really nice about all of this in the next 30+ days or so until we re-elect the POTUS.  (Yes, I'm a fan of the Obamas in the White House.  Bo doesn't like moving.)

~OBAMA 2012~

I also have a thing about change.  I know life changes and we as sentient beings are supposedly evolved to the point of being able to cope with it.  I'm not sure how well I do, though.  Oh, that's not entirely true.  I manage.  Actually, I contemplate change (for good or bad) and find myself a teensy bit (or more) uncomfortable with the thought of it.  Have you ever had that sense of dread when anticipating something?  There's a saying about anticipation being more pleasant or unpleasant than what is actually being anticipated.  Like looking forward to summer camp was almost more fun than summer camp.  LOL!  I dunno, never mind.

(The above was a hint that there's the possibility of anticipation of a change ahead, and I'm bracing myself)

I'd better stop there.

Happy Saturday, from us at home here in wet, flash-floody Texas!!

Shawn
****

A world of words....

Awhile back I saw something that explained that it's important to be careful what you say to a child, for it is that what develops into the child's "self talk" later on in life.  I thought how true that was in my case....Much of what I deal with today in my mind has to do with what I was told as a small child.  (Darnit)

I got to thinking about it, and I have decided that if the above is true, then it must be true that what I say has an effect (for good or bad) on the world around me....What was told to me long ago affects what I tell myself now.  What I tell myself now affects my behavior and attitude, which has an effect (for good or bad) on the person who lives with me....and that expands out to the people near us, and their effect influences that of the people who live with and near them, and so on...

See how it goes?

Someone here in the United States did something really stupid and offended people across the ocean and bad things happened.  Someone again, did something really stupid on Youtube and offended some more people.  Good people died because of what someone said, and what others thought about what someone said.  It keeps going on and on, and needs to stop.

Kind of a meandering, or perhaps convoluted, way of getting my idea across.  What I say influences you, and what you say influences me.   But really, we all live in the same world together. 

Let's just try to make nice and change our world, okay?

I'll go first.

Shawn
****

On nine eleven....

Yes, let us be as good as we can possibly be to one another, for how else will we manage to happily while away the days and nights we are given to spend on the planet together?

Peace and Love,

Shawn & SGTex

09~11~2012

While it's still Monday....

....here in Texas, I suppose I should blah blah blah on the blahg. 

I haven't done as much blogging as I used to do there, for awhile.  It's not that I've been busier, so I don't know exactly why I've not been here more often.  Maybe that will pick up now that we're getting into Autumn.  Things tend to slow down over the summer in some ways, I guess.

Well, it's election time here in the USA (no news to anybody, anywhere on the planet, likely).  I noticed a couple of things in the last day or so, and I thought I might mention it here.  Last night on CNN I watched the program about Mitt Romney.  It was an interesting show.  It was very informative and certainly gave some interesting history and kinda "fleshed him out," so to speak.  They'll be having a similar show on Barack Obama next week.

So anyway, I was noticing on Facebook after I watched the show that there was a meme that showed up on my newsfeed, stating a gross exaggeration about something in his history that totally misrepresented the facts.  I'm not going to say what it was right here, but it was fascinating and disturbing to see something presented from the liberal point of view (which I usually employ), and it was just false and distorted enough to give a totally wrong picture.  Unfair!  I don't care if it is coming from "my" side about the candidate I oppose.  It was wrong and should not be out there.  We liberals don't like it when the conservatives do it about us, ya know?  It's not that I believe that the conservatives are the ones who always do this, but I found it quite disturbing and it made me stop and think about that bit of information or comment upon which I base my political assumptions.  I'm going to try and watch out for that, from now on.

Anyway....Assumptions. 

I had someone assume something about me today on Facebook.  They forgot that I'm the last person on Earth to ask for news about another friend, especially when contact has been suspended between the interested person and the person of interest.  I wouldn't tell her what I did know, and I wouldn't tell her what I didn't know.  And so she went off on me.  LOL.  I got unfriended.  The person of interest got unfriended, too.  Apparently, she wasn't so concerned after all, and we weren't worth that much to her as friends to begin with. 

There's something kinda creepy when someone gets so worked up about someone keeping to themselves and being allowed to have their privacy.

Hey, with friends like that, who needs enemies? 


LOL!

Shawn
****

How in the world....

....did it get to be mid-August?  It seems just yesterday that we put up SGTex's blog post!

We've been busy as usual, and it's been really hot here in Texas.  We've had mostly good days, with a few less-than-good days here and there, but all is well.

One sad thing was we had to say goodbye to our lovely kitty, Sasha.  She will be greatly missed by us, as well as the hellpups.  They seem to be adjusting to her absence.  I think it helps that they have each other, just as SGTex has me and I have him for comfort. 

Here's a lovely picture of the Great Wall of China.  I was interested to learn some more history and to understand a little bit of what purpose it has served through the centuries.  Sometimes a wall divides.  Sometimes a wall provides a path to follow.  Sometimes a wall keeps the bad (or good) outside and the bad (or good) inside, for whatever reason. 

It's a beautiful structure and has a fascinating story filled with drama and mystery, and I plan to read more about it. 

As time goes by here in America and we come closer to election day, it is interesting to me to watch and read and listen to what people are saying about politics.  I am seeing friendships strengthen and weaken.  New relationships are being established and old relationships are crumbling, all over politics.  It's fascinating to watch and gives me lots to think about.  Decisions are being made and words are being said that have great impact upon lives, not so much in the area of health care reform or big political issues, but in regards to feelings of worth and significance.  I'm not going to be so all-fired concerned about some of the headlines in the papers or what is on television, when my heart is hurting from unkindnesses spoken to or about me and my loved ones, because that is what really matters in the long run.

Shawn
****

Speaking of....

....I did read with interest (and one eyebrow elevated) J.A’s Independence Day column in which he laments – as religious conservatives so very often do – Supreme Court rulings and related developments of justice that have restrained Christianity from quite dominating society. You know, what with that dirty no-good ACLU, so busy “getting God, the Bible and prayer out of our schools and the workplace” even as “other religions and radical groups…receive special treatment.” He recalls ruefully how Satan won when alcohol was made available for sale to (local) adults, and now here we are with all this passing out condoms instead of copies of the Ten Commandments. And not letting anyone sing “Jesus Loves Me.”


God bless those who see that the "no establishment" provision of the Bill of Rights clearly authorized such historic steps as ending compulsory sectarian prayer in public schools and, for another example, banning loudspeaker prayer “in Jesus’ name” at public school district football games. Measures like that have been nothing but fair and are lamentable only to those who have a problem conceding equal rights to their neighbors.



Worse by far than anything from Professor A was Hobby Lobby’s full page of right-wing “Christian Nation” graffiti on July 04. Kicking myself now, as I had forgotten they were like that and went in there for something just the other day. We need to remember Hobby Lobby plainly does not want our heathen patronage, and try to go to the other places. The same holds true for those shops with a fish symbol – “Christian dollars only, please,” I’m pretty sure it means, so I try to honor that.

And for all you smart-alecks who have an issue with “In God We Trust” on the currency: Word is it’s a free country, and one with an activist’s heart need not meekly endure this kind of thing. Collect some ones and fives and tens and when you’ve got a few minutes, get you a red ballpoint pen and go to correcting. Simply scratch out the presumptuous “motto,” and while you’re at it you might leave a little free speech there underneath in neat block print. “STOP ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION,” I always used to say. Or hey, what if one had a little rubber stamp made? Certainly it’s a good feeling if we can make a difference, however small.

Speaking of, how about that Higgs boson? Wasn’t I just telling y’all a while back about the way subatomic phenomena speak of a living universe that contains its own meaning and purpose? In its way, science gestures toward the Wonderful Law or Dharma extolled in Buddhism. Accordingly, when we consider the cellular nucleus and the atomic nucleus in turn, it would appear that life proceeds from a truth that is inscribed within and ever within, and so belongs to us originally and fundamentally.

With the objective, testable nature of reality turning out to be this positive and inspirational, why isn’t everyone retreating from dogma that says we have no intrinsic worth and deserve eternal suffering? Oh wait, they are.

I have every confidence that the Pledge of Allegiance continues to be recited in school and at PTA meetings in our town, and for that matter I’ll bet it is still broken up with pauses between the phrases: “I pledge allegiance. To the flag. Of the United States of America. And to the republic.” That method is a real blessing to those of us who want to participate but prefer the original version without “under God” stuck in there. The pause right after “one Nation” is where one can raise his or her voice a little and proudly declare “one nation indivisible,” making the omission conspicuous. Individualism is inevitable in a society that values equality and respect the way we do. I don’t understand getting all worked up about the Pledge of Allegiance when it is so easy to adapt and have an attitude of cooperation.

SGTex
****

On Friday....

I wanted to blog about something lovely today.  It's a hot, summer Texas day and the Mr. and I have been down sick.  There's something extra dreadful about being sick in the summertime, but he took really great care of me and then when he got sick, he managed pretty well.  He might say I took care of him, seeing how he's nice and all that, but I really didn't.  I was still sick and he just got better.  It's good to have things closer to normal, I have to say. 

Last night while we lay in bed getting some actually restful sleep, a tragedy occurred in Aurora, Colorado.  Someone came into a theatre, tossed a couple of cannisters of noxious gas and started shooting.  At this time it's been reported that 12 people died and 59 others remain wounded.  I don't know why things like this happen, but it's horrible.  One might suppose that someone who had a successful academic record and was on his way to a Ph.D. wouldn't do something like that, but he apparently was in the process of changing directions and took a really wrong turn.  I'm less interested in the details of what was going on in his mind and why he did what he did, than I am in the lives of those who have been cut short or suspended in this nightmare.  It will take longer than forever to heal.

We offer our most sincere condolences and prayers for healing peace.

Shawn & SGTex

****

It's not that complicated....

....but on most days, it's easier said than done.  For adults, anyway ;~).

I had no idea what to blog about today, but felt compelled to stop by and come up with something. 

Live....

The 4th of July came and went.  I heard that our local fireworks were great.  We have decided that grilled salmon should be an annual event in our back yard.  It was yummy (thanks, Mr!!) and we nearly polished it off with some toasted sandwiches last night with our popcorn ;~).

I guess that's about it for now about living. 

Laugh....

Well, the usual stuff.  Bizarro comics, CNN news, the Havanese Hellboys and just generally silly stuff can give us a much-needed laugh in the midst of the workaday world.  His days are workadays.  Mine are just times to hang out and make plans to make myself useful ;~).  I do appreciate not having to put in those hours that way (thanks, Mr!)...and I am in the planning process of making plans for some good things to do.  Hey!!  Don't laugh!!!  ;~)

Love.... 

Well, I'm learning all sorts of new and different and old things about loving.  And if I said more than that, I might give you ideas.  Hey, you go get your own ideas!!  There is much to be appreciated about loving.  Any more to say about that?  It'd be TMI.

Au revoir pour le moment, les gens dans l'amour

Shawn
****

Our Saturday night special....

.... is about to start here in Texas, and SGTex is getting ready to fire up the grill for our picnic-and-a-movie night. 

WYMM Day (Will you marry me?) has come around again.  I can't believe it's been 7 years since that fateful day back in 2005 when everything changed in an amazing, exciting way for both of us. 

We've decided to do something different and make it a stay-at-home celebration.

Not a lot of news for us, other than high temperatures and sunny skies.  It's hot out there, but not as hot as it was last week.

We sure feel sorry for those who are really enduring the high temperatures and having storms and wildfires and such traumatic events in their lives.  We are truly blessed.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!  (Thanks for asking me that big question way back when, Mister.  I'm glad you did!)

Shawn & SGTex
****

Je vous remercie! Děkuji vám! Tak! Kiitos! მადლობა!

To those probably really nice people who have left us messages that say stuff like:


"I want a blog just like yours!"

"How can I have a blog like this?"

"This is great, but where can I learn how to make my blog look exactly like your blog?"

Thank you very much.

Anyone who wishes to have a weblog is free to do so, can do so, and no doubt will do so, with your own crazy style and creativity. ...

Flattery will get you just about anywhere....except published as a comment on our blog, if you wish to pay us such nice compliments anonymously.

Sorry, but we really do sincerely thank you.


Shawn & SGTex
****

Summer Solstice....

......Seattle style!

Color our world....

Isn't it something, how you can put these colors together on a fence-top? 

But you'd never wear them at the same time, or paint a house these colors, (unless you live in Astoria, OR or at the beach), or decorate your home in these colors, (well, I might, given some cash and plenty of seating for silk pillows)...

I guess I just went and unmade my point.  LOL!!  I'm kinda like that sometimes.

This just impressed me, and I'm wishing our backyard fence line was bursting with blooms....

What else it brings to mind is how you can put all sorts of people from different races and backgrounds together and come up with something really special...I suppose that might only happen if the people had been tended like flowers (as in brought up carefully and with a certain amount of concern and love, not just allowed to grow up like weeds).  There've been a couple of occasions lately when the people I thought would act reasonably and with some conscience and manners and broadminded tolerance turned out to have apparently little to no raising (rearing) and, as adults, turned out to act like children...bratty children!!  Maybe some people grow up in years and then act out, because there's nobody tending their behavior any more.  It never fails to surprise me when that happens.  But for every one or two unpleasant people I lose, I seem to gain two or three very nice people who fill the empty spots, and that makes me very happy.

I hope some of that made sense.

Actually, there's nothing highly newsworthy to report, other than I've been busy at the desk not working, but studying on a big project.  SGTex is doing all the important stuff around here and making things happen.  I look forward to seeing some of his writing here on the blog before too long. 

The pups are good.  Seamus' little eye has healed beautifully and he and Sebastian have fun out in the big back yard.  Sebastian chases squirrels and Seamus chases Sebastian and keeps up on the dogs across the alley pretty well.  Sasha the Persian kitty is as sweet as ever.  It's become evident that she taunts the Hellboys and actually wants to be chased.  Haha!

It's hot out there, and beautiful.  More blooming goes on in Texas in summer heat than I could have imagined.  But I said that already this time last year, and the year before that.

Yes, I'm still madly in love with Texas!!  Enjoy your part of the planet.  Welcome to all our new blog friends and may you all have a wonderful week.

Namaste'......
Shawn
****

Somewhere Down in Texas

Hey....It's May....

I was sitting here wondering how the heck it got to be May....and what to blog about....and I fell asleep.   The thunder and lightning had that effect on me.  Then it started raining....  It's not a soft, Washington rain that we'd get on the coast.  This is a Texas cloudburst, pounding down, and there's nothing peaceful or soothing about it.  ;~)   It's very welcome, however. 

And falling asleep didn't clear my mind of all the thoughts that have been cluttering it all up, keeping me from knowing what to say here.

Baby Seamus looks great now.  His eye is all healed up and he seems to be as good as new.  It's fun to see him all happy and rompy again, leaping off the kitchen porch without any hesitation and racing over to the fence to peek (and bark) at the neighbor's dog.  I'm so glad that's all over with.  He doesn't seem to mind a bit that he's got such a summer hair cut, lol.   Sebastian is getting slowly trimmed (when I'm not looking), so before too long, they'll both match, I guess.  I'm trying to not be alarmed and actually hesitate to say anything out loud about the fact that these are Havanese "silk" dogs.... ;~)  Actually I'd better not mention that, as I'm the one who's likely going to be expected to keep them well brushed when it does grow back out, and that's nearly a full-time job, lol.

We had the National Day of Prayer here in our town, as usual, at the sweet little park with a wall-of-waterfall...Well, it wasn't actually "as usual," as this year was the first time the interfaith council allowed for pagan participation.  There was one stipulation about that, to which I don't actually agree:  The word "pagan" is to be replaced with the term "earth-based spirituality" in order to be acceptable to the council.  The reason for this, the council claims, is that the term "pagan" will make the townspeople too uncomfortable, and the people aren't ready for it.  Interestingly, the term was used at least twice in the local newspaper (about me having a speaking engagement), and there was no uproar about it.  Oddly enough, the person doing the most complaining about the term, in fact, apparently used the objectionable word "pagan" in a short club notes article preceding my speaking engagement.  What?  LOL

Anyway, I had SGTex (who is SGI Buddhist) offer the prayers I'd selected at the ceremony.  He'd put in all the time and effort and had been faithfully standing up for the disenfranchized, unwelcome outsiders all these years, encouraging the council to try on an attitude of inclusiveness and he kept speaking up, making sure people remembered that there are more Americans of different faith traditions and chosen paths than just those deemed worthy to sit on the council by the few who started it way back in the day.  I'm proud of him for that.  Don't you find it a bit ironic that an "interfaith" council excludes religions or philosophies which don't fit their particular picture?  There's been a lot of discussion behind closed doors and behind our backs (haha) about it.  A few got pretty hot under the collar and a couple were downright unpleasant about it all.  I suppose it's a bit disturbing that we've talked to people who, in the past, were snubbed and shunned by the council members and who were told their beliefs weren't a good fit.  Can you imagine turning somebody away who wants to participate, telling them they just won't do?  What??  Well, things just might start to brighten up around here.  Some light will be shed and some clerical collars will be loosened up a bit, perhaps.  We shall see.... I've been scolded and told I'd better show up and pay up and have something to say, when the time comes.  Okay.  They asked for it.  I'll do my best to accommodate.  ;~) 

So, the rain is letting up now.  I hope the rest of the month brings good things to all who pass by here, and that we will be blest.

Let's see if we can do something good for this planet which has been so good to us.

Namaste....

Shawn
****

Earth Day 2012......

Enjoy!!!

Can you find.....

....the mistakes?

If we were on Facebook, I suppose this would say something like, "If you can find the mistakes, click "like" and share."  LOL!

I don't know about you, but sometimes it gets a bit much, all the bubble-gum psychology and self-analysis and self-worth stuff that flies around the Internet and elsewhere.  That is, until it touches a nerve and hits home.  That's when every time something like this pops up, I seem to be saying, "Yeah, right!"  LOL

Not a whole lot has been happening here.  Funny, as I say that, I'm reminded of a communication I received the other day via e-mail that stated "nothing new going on" and "not much exciting," in spite of the fact that there had been something new and exciting going on.  Or at least I would have thought so.....A major life event was being celebrated....or so I thought...I'd have been hard put to say there was "nothing going on" if it was happening to my loved one.  Wait, it was!  I am beginning to suspect I wasn't supposed to know about it.  Or maybe THAT person didn't know about it, so would naturally be saying there wasn't anything new happening.....Hmmm....."This is too convoluted.  On to the next blog," you say?  Well, it is pretty convoluted trying to keep ahead of who isn't supposed to know what about which family member is having something going on...Nevah mind.  I just had to get that little vent taken care of...LOL!

Baby Seamus' eye seems to be a little better.  He's back to romping around and playing with Sebastian, drinking out of the bird bath and being his little charming self again.  We shall see if the vet is as impressed with his progress as we are.

Nothing else going on here.  No, seriously, it's true!  I heard the first mockingbird singing at night on Easter, which was beautiful.  Oh, yes!  Easter came and I got a lovely basket filled with all sorts of fabulous chocolates and candy.  The most fabulous treat was the giant strawberry dipped in white chocolate (well, it was pink) and sprinkles! 

My goddess, I will do just about anything for one of those outrageous strawberries....

Shawn
****

Here's what's on Shawn's heart these days....

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.

The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.

The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference....

And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference."

~Elie Wiesel (1928 -)

Don't be indifferent. Get involved.

For more information, please go here:

http://www.paganrightsalliance.org/30_days.html