Looking for a Rufous

Dog Encounters

OK, obviously this is not Part II, Mental, in my series that I started in May. I’m still working on it.

On my runs sometimes I like to have a dog encounter. On this run as I was going through a nature park a few miles from my house, I met Ebony and Charlie. I don’t have a picture of them, so I used my dogs, but their coloring suits the content of this blog, i.e., black and white. Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but I’m trying to illustrate a point here and underscore the comments in the quote that follows. Personally, I know all about racial bias, having grown up in the south in an era where segregation existed. Being judgemental I think comes naturally to most of us – I know I struggle with it.

Ebony and Charlie’s owner was leading them across a bridge where I had stopped to catch my breath and stretch. He was an older guy like me, but fit and obviously enjoying his outing with his dogs. I asked if I could approach his dogs – Charlie, a mixed breed of sorts, was very friendly, but Ebony, a black lab, was a bit skittish, so I backed off. He told me that Ebony was recovering from his own encounter and was a bit nervous about people approaching him. Apparently someone on the trail had overreacted and kicked Ebony. The dog wasn’t seriously hurt, but the incident had left an impression on the dog. Am I leading up to some profound message here? Perhaps. The following song might help too.

Paul McCartney, All the Best album: Ebony and Ivory

What’s It About?

Ostensibly, a good friend of mine inspired this blog post. He had posted what I thought was a very engaging and thought provoking item on Facebook. His suggestion was to copy the post, add a selfie, and share it. What he had presented in his post was not a brand new concern of mine and was something brought to my attention often these days, but anyway, listen to the song, then take a few minutes to read the following quote and really think about it.

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately I don’t have the author’s name for this quote.

“If you’re skinny, you’re on drugs. If you’re fat, you need to lose weight. If you smoke weed you’re a druggie. If you drink, you’re an alcoholic. If you get dressed up, you’re conceited. If you dressed down, you’ve let yourself go. If you speak your mind, you’re rude. If you don’t say anything, you’re snobbish. If you are sociable, you’re a party animal. If you stay to yourself, you’re detached. If you are young, you are useless, if you’re old you’re dispensable.

YOU can’t do anything without being criticized. We live in a society where people can’t survive if they’re not judging the next person. Love me or hate me, but you will never change me. Believe that, get to know people before judging. Let’s build each other up. We are all doing the best we can, in the same game called life.” (Anonymous)

Here is an Imprimis link to a piece by Amy Wax. She discusses “political correctness” and similar issues. If you don’t have time to read all of her January 2018 piece, go to my previous blog, under Parting Shots, where I summarize Amy Wax’s article.

I decided to keep this blog short, but give this some thought.

Quotes

“What we do for ourselves dies with us, what we do for others in the world remains and is immortal.” (Albert Pines, from a Criminal Minds episode)

“Don’t be intimidated by people who seem to be experts. Hear their points of view and get their judgements. But at the end of day, you’ve got to make a judgement because it’s not their life that’s going to be affected so much as your future.” Robert Dallek

“I tend to make snap judgements about people.” Jane Fallon

For more “judgemental”, quotes (and many others), you can go to the BrainyQuote site.

Random Odds & Ends

This is a “rerun” of two links in my early 2019 blog, “Is it 2019 Yet?” Some things are worth repeating at least once, in this case to bolster the whole “helping others mindset”.

Simple Acts of Kindness

How to Help Veterans

Also, another veteran-related link. You can ignore any ads.

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Introduction to Part I – Physical

This is a back-to-the-future blog . . .

Why?

Back to the Future is probably my favorite movie, because of the music and the setting that reminds me of my growing up in a small town, not to mention the movie theater with the big clock, teenage love, and of course did I already mention that the opening scene in Back to the Future with the giant speakers is classic. The movie is full of many memorable scenes. Is it 1985 yet?

“I was gonna tell a time-traveling joke, but you guys didn’t like it.” (Thanks to Reader’s Digest April 2019 issue for that joke). Go ahead and laugh out loud.

Huey Lewis and the News: The Power of Love

What’s the Point?

You may ask, what’s with the main heading and how does it relate to time travel? Well, maybe it does or doesn’t relate to time travel, but the heading came to me in the LA Fitness swimming pool last Friday. Actually, I do some of my best thinking in the swimming pool while I’m swimming – I mentally run races that I’ll be doing, I pray for people on my prayer list, I think about a lot of things, or sometimes I just free-associate and think of nothing. For me, swimming is very therapeutic, relaxing, and energizing all at the same time. I swim every time I do a gym workout, usually at the end of my workout before I get into the Jacuzzi.

By the way, this is part I in my Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual blog series.

Am I Physical?

Just a brief back-story about me as a segue to this blog installment.

I’m a person who gives physical fitness a high priority in his life – I swim, I work out, I run, I do physical therapy (that goes along with getting older). Anyway, back to the pool for a bit. Besides my meditative lap swimming, I also do something called aqua fit at my gym. Kind of self-explanatory, but it’s basically very low impact exercise in a pool. We move around and splash a lot as you can imagine. As for the demographics of our group, let’s just say the U.S.S. Aqua Fit sailed a long time ago for most of us. But we have a blast in the water, sometimes we even sing, and our instructor often tells jokes.

Although we meet three times a week for an hour in each session, our fearless and very energetic leader has the uncanny ability to introduce new routines in our workouts. Here’s an example – you lift both arms and lean left then right. Then, she says, to make it more interesting (remember, we’re doing this in a swimming pool), lift up your legs as you’re doing the arm movements. Bottom line, it involves some coordination (not that I’m coordinated). I’ve found that it’s better not to overthink it, just go with the flow for the 60-minute session.

As I mentioned I was thinking about my “heading” last week during an aqua fit session, as I splashed around in the water and looked at the people on the second level of the gym above the pool, exercising on elliptical bikes and tread mills – my thought was that life is either “physical” or “mental” or “emotional” or “spiritual”. Just an errant thought that popped into my head, kind of like when I’m swimming laps, my mind is literally free-floating and relaxed. OK, be patient, I’m coming to an important point in all this rambling text.

Perhaps the people (mostly younger-types) on the second level are not driven as much by “self-preservation” as my endearing friends (older-types) in the pool, but I think we all want to stay active and increase our life span as much as possible. I sometimes tell people that I was inspired by my dad to stay fit. He was four years younger than I am now when he died. God bless you, dad.

I went to my 50-year high school reunion a few years ago and was shocked at how many of my high school friends were gone. Overly-rich Texas diet, smoking, no exercise, or whatever, they had passed on.

I haven’t done a lot of research on the subject, but judging by all the commercials on TV for pharmaceuticals that might lower your cholesterol or fix other problems and just observing people in the the general public, I don’t think good health is a priority. I think statistics will bear me out about how healthy the general public is (at least in America).

Why is that – why do some choose to stay healthy and others do not? By the way (just a side note), I love comfort foods, especially fried chicken, but, you know what, I try to compensate for that weakness.

Parting Shots: Quotes, and a Few Links

I would be amiss if I didn’t include at least one Imprimis link and a good quote or two, so here they are.

Quote from the movie, “A Dark Truth”, spoken by Andy Garcia at the very end of the movie during the credits:

“Beyond the ideas of wrong-doings and right-doings there is a field, I’ll meet you there.”

OK, the movie didn’t get very good reviews, but it had some good actors in it, including Forest Whitaker and Eva Longoria, and I enjoyed it.

The quote from A Dark Truth made me think of an Imprimis speech by Amy L. Wax (published in January 2018). about how we often are so self-focused (bigoted?) that we will not even consider other people’s views on important issues or admit that maybe our own opinions might be mistaken.

I hate to take material out of context just to make a point, but feel free to read all of Amy Wax’s article. She hits home on some very important issues in our 21st century society. Admittedly I don’t always completely read my Imprimis issues that I receive (paper copy). However, you might want to at least look at this piece from front to back and think about what she said in her speech. At least, scroll forward to paragraphs 9, 10, and 11, then read the last three paragraphs, including this very last paragraph:

“The American way is to conduct free and open debate in a civil manner. We should return to doing that on our college campuses and in our society at large.”

Quote from Daily Word, March/April 2019, April 30:

“If I find myself being judgmental, I stop and instead communicate with kindness and compassion. I demonstrate peace in my own life and interaction with others. When I choose piece, I make a positive impact on the world.”

Links for other Imprimis issues that I found interesting:

The Problem of Identity Politics and Its Solution

America’s Civil Cold War

Next installment in this series will be “Mental”. Keep your fingers crossed, I’m anticipating that blog to be a bit challenging (OK, stop snickering, that’s not what I meant).

Still Upright and Breathing

Dad and son

Dad and daughter

Beatles: Birthday

I think I did a blog last year on my birthday and this year after a full, very satisfying day. Don’t expect literary brilliance at this late hour, but I have a few thoughts to pass on to you.

“Still upright and breathing” is one of the things my “gym friends” sometimes say when I ask how they are doing. Another one that I like is “I’m on the green side of the grass today”.

By the way, I won’t tell you how old I am, but if you read my blog you know I served in Vietnam in the late sixties/early seventies. I was 24 when I went on active duty in the Navy. I’ll let you do the math.

In case you’re wondering, that’s the Pacific Ocean that my son and I are looking at in the picture. My daughter and I were in Dallas, Texas when that picture was taken, don’t remember which one of us took the picture (we both love photography).

Abundant Life

Abundant Life is the heading of my Daily Word reading for today, which, coincidentally, occurred on my birthday and which I thought totally applied for this blog post. This is the affirmation for Saturday, February 23: I choose to create and experience abundant life. The following is a direct quote from the text for today’s Daily Word reading.

“There is an adage that says, ‘You are as old as you think you are.’ With my thoughts I choose to maintain a youthful attitude and heart. My spirit is not defined by years or age. Divine life is limitless. It knows no lack of energy, inspiration, or health. Spirit, as me, is an expression of abundant life. . . If I am called to be of service to others, I explore opportunities with an open heart. I choose to create and experience abundant life.”

I wish you the best on your birthday whenever it is this year.

“My child . . . let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you.” (Proverbs 3:1-2)

I reserve the right to bore you (again) with my Vietnam video every year on my birthday. The video turned out well I thought, with the music and pictures, maybe not what you might expect if you’ve never been to Vietnam. Underneath it all, there was a war going on. It’s quite an interesting place with some very interesting people and things to see. My memories are colored a bit after almost a half century, but I’ll never forget what I experienced there.

Enough said, enjoy the show (again).

Vietnam: 1969-1970

Que Pasa?

See my blogger notes at the bottom of this post.

We’ve been having so much fun down south that I’m having to play catch-up on my travel blog. Normally I’d be reporting every day, but anyway that’s enough excuses. As I type this, on day 4 of our trip, I notice a whole squadron of hummingbirds flying around and descending on the feeders on my sister-in-law’s back deck in Valencia (aka Santa Clarita). If you read my blog, you know I love birds, so it’s a real treat to be able to sit here and work on my blog, watching the birds, Rufous Hummingbirds I think, some with beautiful, bright colors and others more muted colors, I’m able to hear their wings flutter as they approach the feeders. Truly one of God’s wonderful creatures. So to recap the last few days, here we go.

Mystery Music:

Day 2: Tucker and Carly

I skipped Day 1, because it was mostly a travel day, flying in to Burbank, checking in to our hotel, and going over to have lunch with our sister-in-law. On Day 2, a Wednesday, I had a light breakfast and did a run, while my wife hung out at the hotel. Southern California has very nicely accommodated those of us who like to get out and do physical stuff by building trail systems in many locations. The trail I was on was the San Francisquito Trail that winds its way around the roads and communities in the Santa Clarita area. Running on a trail is obviously much better than running on the street. I’ll include some pictures to give you an idea, or you may have seen a previous blog from when I ran the same trail. I have new pictures.

I met Tucker and Carly on this trip near the end of my run as they walked with their owner Dave. They’re Shih Tzu’s. Really cool little dogs. Dave told me that Carly was blind but still had that wonderful doggie sense of smell. I bid them a good day and continued running. I thoroughly enjoyed my run on Wednesday.

That night we went out with our friends to a favorite hangout that we like when we come to visit, a place in Valencia called JJ’s. Music, food, and conversation kept us occupied for the evening.

Day 3: Relaxing and Stuff

OK, we’re on vacation, not supposed to do much except relax and have fun, right? Well, we did lots of relaxing, in our very nice hotel that has a pool and other amenities and a full breakfast (omelets made to order, etc.), no complaints about any of that. So we logged our fair share of time around the pool, including swimming and hot tub time.

The “stuff” was yours truly researching and looking at medical insurance options since we are in the enrollment period and have to decide what we’re doing about that for 2019. The many, many choices make that process a bit intimidating, trying to choose the best plan. That evening we had a visit by my wife’s brother, who lives in Venice Beach. We had dinner at the hotel and talked a while. It’s always a lot of fun to spend time with people you don’t see very often.

Day 4: Winding Down and Watching the News

As it happened, we were in California when the catastrophic fires occurred, not terribly far from where we were. Also, the mass shooting in Thousand Oaks happened while we were there. Quite a disaster for so many people living here, to have their homes destroyed. I don’t mean to downplay any of what was going on, being here in the midst of the massive fires, loss of property and life, and the mass shooting too, it was a bit surreal literally being so close to all of it. Knock on wood and pray for us getting out of town safely.

That’s it for now. Enjoy the pictures.

Blogger notes:  I substituted my dogs Wiggles and Zoey for Tucker and Carly that I met on my first run (didn’t have a picture of them). The music was a random choice, selected quickly before I checked out of our hotel, not sure where it came from, but it sounded cool.

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Mindfulness Revisited

I recommend taking a peek at my previous blogs on this subject before moving on:

• First Mindfulness post
• Second Mindfulness post (music and pictures too)

Merriam-Webster Says

Synonyms of mindfulness (according to Merriam-Webster):

• Attention, awareness, cognizance, consciousness, ear, eye, heed, knowledge, note, notice, observance, observation

Words Related to mindfulness (according to Merriam-Webster):

• Hyperawareness, hyperconsciousness
• Advisement, care, concern, consideration, regard, watch
• Apprehension, discernment, grasp, mind, perception, recognition, thought, understanding

Near Antonyms of mindfulness (according to Merriam-Webster):

• Disregard, neglect, obliviousness, unawareness

Blogger’s Disclaimer:  Rather than provide a primer on mindfulness in this post, given that I don’t consider myself an expert, my thought was to share some road signs on figuring out for ourselves how to manage our lives in a more sensible, peaceful manner. The following Daily Word content consists of an article and four affirmations that you might find useful in achieving “inner peace”.

Pink Floyd: Breathe (in the Air)

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Affirmations from Daily Word

My regular readers know that Daily Word is part of my routine to kick-start my day. I’m including some samples and links to the Unity web site, which is well-organized, should you want to subscribe and/or look for specific information on line.

Opportunities for Mindful Meditation by Katie Hawthorne (Daily Word, August 2018)

• “As I focus on the present moment, my day flows and things seem to happen in timely ways. I find myself saying Yes! to each one”. (Daily Word, 8/23/18, “Present Moment”)
• “I know the importance of a balanced life, and I am mindful to set aside time for rest and rejuvenation”. (Daily Word, 7/12/18, “Refresh”)
• “I am made of light. I AM the light. My mind and emotions reflect the balance and purpose of this universe”. (Daily Word, 7/21/18, “Harmony”)
• I express the peace and love of my Christ spirit. I make a conscious choice to be calm and centered. I begin by asking myself, What is preventing me from experiencing peace right now? (Daily Word, 4/21/18, “Inner Peace”)