Snow globes or Crystal balls? Thoughts

 The Difference between. Crystal Balls and Snow Globes?

Well  we’re standing  here  on another  of what will from here forward  be called “the edge days.”  In the previous entry a promise of humor and rhyme and meditation and celebration was  offered and some humor and rhyme  was given.  Now  we will continue.  Snow globes…. We shake them and yet after the storm little seems to have changed.  As it so often happens we have to figure out who or what is to blame when action is taken and little happens…so let’s take a look shall we…. 

Why pick on snow globes?  Well once Christmas passes the decorations slowly disappear from our fireplaces, tables, towel racks and the elves seem to escape from  almost every shelf.  However, because they are collectible these shakable spheres seem to have a longer shelf life in many homes (ours included).  also… because. They remind us of winter all year around they bring thoughts of snow and snow is no laughing matter  for some folks unless it is contained in this clear plastic or glas bubble.  

More about the globes in a minute… first  some snow humor…?

Where does frosty keep his cash… In a snow bank of course and what type of  hair cut and style does his wife always get… well a permafrost.  

Oh and why do most kids only make one and a half feet on a snowman… because there’s usually a half foot of snow already on the ground.  Finally be careful when you give Elsa a snow blower…she’s gonna “let it go!”  

enough already…yep back to the globes..

Austrian Erwin Percy is credited with inventing  snow globes in the late 1800’s and he and is brother Ludwig went commercial with them in about 1900 at a shoppe  in Vienna.  The ‘snow in these globes was never snow it was bone or rice or some types of sand.  Now like much of our holiday season and the stuff we buy to celebrate or give each other the once fine crafted  glass and ceramic  is plastic floating  in plastic surrounded by fat and alcohol.  Are we saying we have poisoned the season?  

the first U.S. Patton  for globes. We issued to Joseph Garaja in 1927 and by the 1940’s a lot of companies were using these pretty things as advertising promotions.  Of course big companies are and have for some time turned them into collectible items where they sit idly on shelves waiting to be shaken but children often hear adults saying “no  no no don’t touch that…”.  

So what we have hear in summary is a thing of beauty that can be shaken and watched but in the end doesn’t change a thing and is getting faker and faker all the time.  Maybe  in order to seek peace and joy we could just go outside and lay down  in the snow and make an angel or two instead?  

Or maybe we could realize that many storms in our lives are like the globe’s storms temporary and will settle down int something. That naught shake again, and yet will not shake anything that is at our core and solid.  Maybe we should get to know what is at our core and understand that no amount. Of shaking  or multiple storms. Will not disturb our purposes.  Maybe  we could think of ourselves as the creators of the globes we live in and we need not worry about who  is shaking  it or who on the outside  is looking in or what they think?   

Maybe we can realize that as long as we won’t go outside our little bubble nothing can change?  Maybe we can figure out that the longer we live in these bubbles the more plastic and poison our world will become?  The longer. We stay in the bubble  the more likely we are to wind up on a shelf where. Others will look, but no one will move you to give you a different vantage point?

Snow globe or Crystal Ball?

Well you know there is no difference between the two if we give into fear, however if we use love and empathy to work outside the bubble then the future can change and what’s inside our world can change.  On the other hand… if we won’t leave  our plastic existence  then shake as much as you’d like or get shaken and your snow globe tells the future  like the world’s greatest crystal ball….we all have choices to make standing here on the edge.   

Anyway… that’s enough floating around  for today…. Tomorrow some poetic prayer and meditation….

Until then…lead us not into temptation… just tell us where it is and we’ll find it….

 

Standing on the edge and shaking?

 A Couple Days On the Edge

there are always  these days between Christmas and New Year’s  that feel a bit out of place.  The anticipation  and joy or drama of Christmas has passed  yet the New Year is still hauntingly far awy.  far away because we are silently making  ourselves promises about how we want to  change our lives in the coming year.  Maybe we will proclaim these hopes in resolutions and maybe not.  After all public declarations offer no shelter and sometimes deliver no assistance from those you may look to for support.  They are risky and a tough bargain to make within.  the only suggestion that seems to make sense is to whisper  them to your soul with a promise to act and learn  from the consequences of the acts.  

If others choose to learn with you there will be more joy, however, the attempts alone will bring more peace.  

So… what to do with these edge days?  

Well the best I can figure. Out is to flip the lights on and off so that we can adjust our visions accordingly before moving forward and that’s what this blog will do for a few days including today.  The best way to do this?  Who knows?  A good way?… Some humor, some poetry… some prayer/meditation and then some celebration.   Today a little (very little ) humor and an eight line rhyme.   Oh and a comment  about snow globes… there will be more about snow globes in the  next two entries as well.   Here we stand on the edge and now we leap.

Humor?

People make mistakes… I gave my friend “glue stick” instead of chapstick  ..Horrible mistake I know, however  he hasn’t said a. Word …. (Rim shot)

Poetry * line rhyme

While truth is valued lies are cheap

Fear blocks thoughts and feelings deep

Most shiver in the dark like sheep

Afraid to sing afraid to leap

The ragged road is rough and steep

But in let courage slowly creep

And tears of joy you’ll gently weep

Giving poets words to  keep

Beware of those  who only have the courage to shake the snow globe... they know people will stand still to watch the flakes fall, and yet the scene  will not really change.  focus on change. In 2022 no matter how much the world seems to shake.

To the beat of a different drum?

 TO THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM?

Well ... Christmas Day is rushing toward us like a hord of Black Friday shoppers who just heard  Target got in a limited shipment of XBoxes on sale now! Or like the rest of us who heard the local party store was giving away extra strong eggnog.  So here we go...

On the 12th Day... here comes the band... 11 pipers and 12 drummers!

Now it’s not clear what pepes we are talking about.  Pipes are sort of a generic term given to a variety of long narrow woodwind instruments so you could have Kenny G and several of his pals cranking out Christmas tunes live and that would be cool...although some might prefer Mannheim Steamroller or the Trans Siberian  Orchestra really turning in up to 11.   Then there is Mary Did You Know by the Pentatonics and no instruments pipes or otherwise.     Eleven pipers should get you a very rich sound.... and what if ...just what if... they are the one type of pipes nobody really considers—BAGPIPES.

Performances of kilt-adorned marchers are often incredibly moving and our imagination  can put usd just over a hill waiting for a determined Scottish army announcing their arrival at the battlefield.  Now as beautiful and haunting. As these pipers can can be, it is hard to imagine getting up around Christmas to hear them.  Oh and do you think these pipers just picked up these things and were good?  There’s not a headphone jack of these “constipated cow” sound-a likes so living through someone learning to play requires the patience of the wise men traveling far and then some.  If you are going to have pipers inspiring lords a-leaping and ladies dancing they are going to need some folks laying down a driving backbeat or at least a St. Louis Santa Blues shuffle so in come the drummers.   

Like the pipers the song doesn’t specify what the nature of the drums are.  Is it a drum line-that would be really awesome.  Is it a drum circle where some drummers lay down a driving bass and others freelance melodic rhythms that rattle your bones on the metropolitan plazas of many cities.  

For seeking peace and joy reasons I hope the pipers are squeezing the air bag and letting it rip because you can’t half-play a bagpipe and thus fear gets shoved aside and the players play the tune so we all can join in their expression.  It seems seeking peace with others sometimes and maybe often requires rising above fear and sharing so let’s go bagpipe on 2022 shall we.  

Now as much as we enjoy precise and thunderous  drumming some of the drumming we like the most are the dramatic fills and solos that almost always seem to be improvised by the great drummers.  These artists combine a set of techniques with a healthy does of unrestrained joyful pounding.  Maybe we all should take a page from their playbook by learning technique, however  adding some fills and solos that show some joy and inspire  all the creative folks around us... we all need to spend some time creating the perfect pocket for others to play in.  The best drummers know how to be different in a way that is understand by the rest of the band so there is. Mix  of creating the beat of a different drummer and still bringing others alon.  Being able to create or march to the beat of a different drum adds to the richness of life and if you have 12 drummers one or to  can always be exploring  ways to take the sound.... Step up and be one of those two from time to time.  

Well there you have it ...your twelve days of Christmas from a peace and joy perspective and  like a couple of my favorite Christmas artists Bob and Dog... and Sir Getty from Rush... it’s time for me to Wish you all a fabulously blessed holiday as I’m going to take off in the Great White North for the actual calendar day.... but I’l be back you hosers... Oh and like these folks I use that term in a loving manner... You readers have no idea how inspiring you are by sharing comments through phone calls  and thumbs up.  Like a child born  in a manger and wrapped in a Green Bay Packers Blanket (oh wait that would be what would happen in our house). Seriously ... spend the next day or so thinking of others who need to wrapped in a bundle of swaddling love bubble thoughts... I will be feeling that way about all of you and hoping the peace and joy of the season falls upon  you.  

Stay as humble as a baby born in a barn and light up the world... Merry Christmas!

No need to be a queen just dance

 Dance Your Own Dance

AND  ON THE  10th day my true love gave to me... 10 lords a leaping (acrobats or dancers for sure) and Nine Ladies dancing... 

Now of course this could never  happen... more guys dancing than girls... In any situation. In the history of boy/girl dances there will never be more men on the dance floor than women.  Oh come on now... you know this is true-remember  all the junior high and high schoool dances where  a few daring couples got out there  as K.C. Urged us to “do a little dance?”  Well a few guys asked a few of “single girls to dance... but it was mostly wallflower city.  

Anyway so much for the ghost of dances/Christmas. Past—we will get back to that.  

Let’s talk about dancing... and yes since there will be rain in every life it is best to learn how to dance in it.  Oh and getting in lines and doing the same steps as everyone else may be a fun exercise gig... but slide to the left and do the  Charlie Brown at the command of the smooth D.j. Isn’t so much like dancing as it it is calisthenics.  But if you like it... get up and bust a move homey.

I gues any time you hear the opening salvo from house of pain and your spirit says Jump Around well we’ll call that dancing for today.  The point is... music is a gift to be given and your body—no matter it’s shape—likes to move to it... so do the twist...and speaking of twists... 

In today’s world the rhythm of life seems to change quite often and  it becomes hard to know when to lead the dance or folllow—it’s hard to know whether to wear  our platform shoes or cowboy boots or ballet  slippers.  It’s hard to know when to zig or zag and dance to avoid.the potholes in the road.  There are more flashing things trying to get our attention than any amount of disco lights coming from the floor, the wall, or bouncing off a spinning ball.  But there is one thing  about dancing today that saves the day... We all seem to be out there on the dance floor because the world isn’t letting many people sit comfortably on the sidelines.  There seems to be all kinds of music playing and now more than ever partnerships in the dance of life are fluid... your boss will change... your housing will change...your friends will change... etc... If you don’t like the type of music that’s playing you can find something else on YouTube and connect enough to find a dance partner... and even when you can’t change the tune it is likely to change on its own.  So the ghost/dance or Christmas present is fluid, changing, open, free form and open to all.  

So what about the dance of Christmas future?  Now that the options for dancing are open... your dance can truly be yours to share with others or  you can be good dancing with yourself... and given the amount of anxiety out there a lot of people feel like that right now.  So  ttoday and forward maybe dancing will mean being flexible and listening for the tunes that fall in line with your own rhythm.  Maybe  you can change your tempo or maybe you can change the music... maybe you can know there is music and a dance for you out there as long as you aren’t standing  near the bleachers drinking the punch that is so often spiked with comparisons and apathy.  So what if you feel a little shaky when you first start to dance... isn’t  a diamond  just a lump of coal that experienced a little pressure?  (OMG it’s a Christmas Miracle...I’m paraphrasing a Henry Kissinger quote).  

And much like the reference to the ghost of Christmas future... (yes I’m celebrating “A Christmas Carol because it was released this week in 1843) and the message is clear... it’s not to late to change our present actions and those changes open up new paths.  That story shows us that experiences outshine  presents every time even if there are 23 birds and some gold rings.  

Well I hear a clock tolling somewhere in the distance and I’m going to get visited by the ghost of aging  person with cracking bones in the morning...oh wait that’s me... 

However... I will wrap up this post with a verse from  a song I wrote that mentions dancing.  It’s what my true love of music has given to me and I’m passing it on.

So you’ll rarely finish, but you’ll often restart

Take your brain with you but follow your heart

Don’t compromise. On the things you might change

Understand normal but celebrate strange

Don’t chase the chaos, nor worship control

But run it full throttle when you’re. On a roll...

And breathe and stretch

AND DANCE  YOUR OWN DANCE

 And laugh and smile when life gives you a chance...

Please take a chance and read again for the final days of Christmas .. I hear the pipers!

Eight maids? Who else is milking who and for what?

       

Yes we’re “Milking” This Song

On the 8th day… we’ve “got milk.”  

Well since about mid-October retailers have been milking this holiday season.  That’s about when we started hearing about how supply chain issues were going to create problems  with Christmas shopping this year.  Well it would appear that the ghost of retail future didn’t quite get it right as there have been plenty of gadgets, games, and googled gifts to go around.  Shelves haven’t become empty and shoppers in general haven’t started saying…”well Christmas  isn’t really about the gifts anyway.”  

So retailers milked the supply chain to encourage early buying… which there is no need for… big shock…add them to the naughty list!

Also add them to the list of people using fear to drive public attitudes and behaviors.  

You see when seeking peace and joy… it doesn’t appear starting with things we should be afraid of is a big winner.  No kids or adults. Add to their Santa list  “Santa please bring me something to be afraid of this year.”  Who makes a resolution for the New Year that says … I will try to be scared of. Some more things so that I can have a better year in 2022?  

Who else milks te  fear weaponry in our lives… and how can we take  some of the power of this fear away?  Love  seems to be an answer and boy wasn’t the symbolic gift of a child and a savior/teacher  a sign of love rather than a sign of fear?  Just a thought?

Now.. if you are giving the cows with the maids  milking this year… that’s a fortune…. Have you seen the cost of hamburger?  Oh and speaking of prices… at one time  a bank tracked the cost of the gifts given over the twelve days of Christmas  (I’ve seem an estimate of $41,000+) given the cumulative nature of the gifts).  It would appear true love is expensive and it’s barely 50 days till we’re buying  more for Valentine’s Day.  

Okay back to peace and joy and milk…. Milk comes in handy as we have to put some out for Santa and in a lot of the baking projects we have during the holiday season …not to mention the ocean of hot chocolate we guzzle down.  

These days we don’t need as many maids to do the milking as we have soy milk and almond milk…. How do you milk an almond let alone a bean pod?  So maybe the joy comes from knowing  we are keeping some actual human beings employed?  Actually perhaps  it is a symbolic nod  to supporting farm workers and women which we need to do more of for certain.  Is this a stretch?  Yes… then again wsn’t it a stretch for starting Black Friday levels of fear in Mid-October?  You see maybe we  will come to realize that the gift of our company and our attention to others. If really what Christmas is about…. Let’s quit milking fear  shall we?  Let’s milk the time we spend together for all it’s worth instead of worrying about the things that will or won’t be on the shelves or in the cybersale… Spend a moment or two. In October  thinking about stories we can share during the holidays or take a minute to dig out the hand made or old ornaments and milk all the memories they bring.  —-

Oh we will return to ladies dancing  in the next entry…however.. today marks the anniversary of “A Christmas Carl” and that deserves  a “special” post of it’s own… so maybe there will be a couple posts  in quick  order… No supply chain issues here!

 

How do you wrap some ugly ducklings?

 Here are some words about 13 more Birds

Now  the tune is portraying 

geese that are laying 

And next  there is saying 

How the swans are conveying 

While your true love is praying 

All these birds are  obeying

 For the food who’ll be paying?

If these birds are all staying?

So yep we are up to 23 birds for gifts and that has to create quite an obligation.  How often when we commit to work with others to seek peace or joy do we purposefully or accidentally attach obligations and guilt or other unanticipated  burdens.  When we praise  a student

S ability how often to we package that with an expectation  that this ability becomes an occupation?  How often do we provide  applause for things we approve of regardless of whether  someone needs our acceptance in other areas of life?  

Do we understand or work to understand  what our gifts mean  to us and what holding those gifts will mean for others.  Come on how many of us have smiled while thinking ‘what am I going to do with this present?” 

It seems that part of seeking peace has to do with gaining wisdom about what things mean to others and working toward this in an intentional way seems to increase the odds of that happening.  Also experimenting with experiences and ideas seems to move the sharing. And congruence process forward faster than assuming and or fearing.  Joy  comes to some degree when we truly understand each other and can give each other  the gifts and tools  or support needed to help each other find our glow or our best functioning selves.  Am I saying that I doubt 23 birds accomplish this… yep probably… it seems that these gifts  are loud and symbolic but maybe not meaningful to the person who must live with them  long term…. And if that’s what  you want to give so be it.  

Well adding it all up the true love has given 29 items already… that had ought to be plenty…but no… there are more to come.  After what we’ve received so far… even in 1780 what might. We be anticipating next?  Come to think about it…isn’t  it odd how after receiving  some gifts we start to expect  certain types of things from certain people…. Maybe next year we  could suspend these expectations or even ask to share. An unexpected experience… like say… asking someone to attend a candle making class with you or reading a couple of books together so that you can discuss  something  other than the price of hamburger.   Maybe you could ask someone  what their favorite mom candy  is and make them a ice cream treat based on that?  Maybe  you could find out what kind of music or artists. People like and try to create something in that style.  Imagine  one of your friends sending  you a video of them lip syncing Bonnie Tyler “living in a powder keg and giving off sparks?”

In short do what we can to invite  someone to share our meanings with or without sharing  things or let’s try hard  to make sure what we give doesn’t come with strings… well unless it’s a kite, shoes, or a guitar :)

For now… have fun with with the goose eggs and the swans that look cool but are relatively snarky  and nasty birds.   It’s time for us to be. Moooooving  along …oh yes I’m milking this for all it’s worth.  

Does it matter if you have rings when you don’t know how to shine?

 On the “Fifth” Day of Christmas

Well.. after a tree and a makeshift flock of birds your true love finally delivers!  Not  one —not two—not three—no…five count ‘em…gold rings!  Well that’s sweet and shows  some level of commitment  however  this true love might have gone for less gold and a shop vac given there’s more birds coming.  Then again this was all started. In the late 1700’s so… formula 4 not 409 may have been as useful.  

Enough about the birds and their deposits… let’s talk rings… and seeking peace and joy.  

Let’s take a conventional view of what rings symbolize—unity and commitment.  Well in seeking peace and joy there is often  a need to consider unity.  This unity is not  necessarily  with a political philosophy or a religion.  Unity. Might be where what you believe is connected to what you do and that creates a low disturbance  mentality—peace?  This unity might be with a single person or a small group of friends where all or almost all your thoughts and feelings seem connected and appreciated.  Note… they don’t have to be the same… the rings. Can be linked without  being welded together.  

Then there is the “gold” property of the rings.  So you are getting or giving. Something of value to another which can be a joyful experience.  Now let’s pause a second and ask a question.  How do you. Tell a gold ring from a steel one in the dark?  The answer …. You can’t  so maybe the joy  you could get from the gold ring depends upon the light that can be shined upon it from an outside source….so if you want  your rings to shine or you want the rings you offer others to shine you might  imagine that joy comes from trying to produce a positive energy source capable of reaching others or at the very least reflecting  the glow of another.  In short choose to be the candle or the mirror if you want to see the gold and feel the joy in this (or most) gifts.  

In the next entry we’re going to feature two more sets of birds so that we don’t fly by the  holiday before  we hit the delightful dozen plateau.  There are some other Christmas mysteries  to be addressed as well… like what  all goes in Christmas pie besides. A plumb  and do you have to eat them sitting in a corner or  can you plop down on the couch while you’re binge watching that kid whine about getting  a BB gun?  

Oh well for today  remember that unity comes in a lot of forms and a ring is a good symbol for that.  Also in order to know something  is golden you often have to have someone else’s light shining on it or you have. To bring your own light  to the party and shine.  

With that… shine on  till tomorrow.  

Is your calling plan really for the birds

When a Tree if More. Than a tree

This episode. Is an interview withJames Patrick Boen who has recently launched “Lo! A Tilted Tree

Found on amazon (see link below). He explains the meaning and his motives  and gives thanks to folks who have helped him bring this work to fruition.Lo! A Tilted Tree https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MF8DNK2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_H8FQWCTXZYV4N8SRZ2NG 

Check out this episode!

Christmas nuggets?

 THREE FRENCH HENS?  OR WOULD WE RATHER HAVE WINGS?  

On the 3rd  Day of Christmas my true love gave to me …

Well We already have a tree and 3 birds so how about making it a half dozen?  

Now we’re not talking regular feathered friends these are French Hens.  They weigh in at somewhere between 10 and 13 pounds on average and totaled up probably come in at a price tag of about $50 give or take.   So this part of the Christmas treasure isn’t to be sneezed at.  On the other hand it would appear the Americans have changed their tune when it comes  to this barnyard staple.  Recent data  indicate that we would rather have little bits of chicken than the whole bird.  

When it comes to  chicken we love our wings and our nuggets.   Now I’ve looked at a few chickens—French and otherwise—and can’t see the nuggets and yet we eat around 2.3 Billion servings of them a year.  

Now I can recognize the wing and lo and behold our consumption of them is on the rise as we recorded chewing down. A billion servings of them. And maybe as many as 9.2 billion individual wings.  Although the pandemic  brought a temporary halt to this activity, the last recorded  world title/record  wing eater slammed down 501 wings in 30 minutes.  That is nearly 17 wings a minute which is certainly enough to make Buffalo  (and anywhere else) go wild.  

Well so far on our gift parade we are giving  our true love a whole new  perspective  on giving someone the bird and maybe seeking peace and joy requires  a whole new perspective  on gifts and what is to be given.  Maybe being responsible for each other is a gift  that would put us at the top of the pecking order especially if we didn’t look around to see who was ahead and behind us so often.  

Well that’s about all for today as I hear. Other things calling… oh listen closely. It may be more birds… four of them?  

A. K. A Writer Starts a Circle

This episode features A.K. Wilson the driving force behind  the Writers Circle Inc.  www.thewriterscircleinc.wordpress.com 

She wants to explore all writing genres and build a platform  for diverse  writers to share, learn, and grow  with each other.  To understand you must join the circle  on/in its twitter space—be prepared to be amazed, amused, and educated.

Check out this episode!

Follow your own star but watch out for pigeons or turtle doves

 Not One... but Two Turtle Doves

We started this Christmas  Mini-marathon with a partridge in a pear tree noting that it is unlikely, however if we can allow for a group of three kings and a virgin birth... what’s a ground bird in a tree?   Okay I just added  another few Kingsford Brickettes to my eternal resting place... let’s move forward.  

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two turtle doves and a partridge  in a pear tree.

So first question... does this mean I got another  tree and bird?  If so I now have two trees and four birds.  In any case let’s look just at these doves for a second.

There are about 15 types of dove found in America.  Now this significant category  includes several types of pigeons and so making sure these are turtle doves might be important  if we have any statue-like decor.  

The next question that springs to mind is—are the doves the same or opposite sex?  Why does that matter?  Well it’s important to share whatever gifts you get in life and if these doves can make  baby doves being generous  will be much easier.  

In the seeking peace and joy world it seems like getting gifts from others that are easy to turn around  and give to others creates a world of less anxious choices and so sharing  experiences of peace and joy in a way that allows others to do the same... is like making sure. The doves can go forth and multiply right?  So seek out people and things that allow you to experience peace and joy and yes... create peace and joy with others.  Give the gift of shared meals, music, stories etc.  Give several people in your life the same gift—even a bowling ball—so that in the future  when your friends  learn they all got the same thing it makes a great story.  Although if that group is a set of cousins it pretty much means  the first person gets to open everybody’s gift.  The upside is ...you will have matching shirts no matter where you may roam.  

The point is... pass on the group feelings you can because  being connected is sometimes a source of peace and joy that gets forgotten in commercial holiday land.

To go a little further... maybe  when it’s possible deliver the gift yourself.  I mean let’s return to the three kings... they met up and went on a road trip on some camels through some barren land (you know kind of like Western Iowa or Nebraska west of Omaha.  Imagine  if the song said 

We three kings from the orient are sending an Amazon  gift card that can be redeemed for some Frank Incense, Murr, or swaddling  clothes?  Or what if they had fired up PayPal for a couple nights stay for Mary and Joseph at Uncle Noah’s Donkey B&B?  Well the song just wouldn’t be the same now would it?  

Well my friends to sum up  on this second day of Christmas... it’s good to get gifts that have legs... and wings  so that they can be shared by many.  This includes meals and songs and stories that will be remembered for decades.  It’s okay  to give people gift cards and the like, however, our modern day song writers better get on the stick and  crank out some up to date tunes available  through the iTunes Store.    It was good the wise men had the star because GPS for camel routes is a little sketchy still today and you know guys... we never stop to ask for directions.   And speaking of sketchy... this blog will continue in the near future—until then you’d better go to Pet Smart and get some bird seed... by the way I’ve never understood that term...  after all birds come from eggs  not from seeds unless I really missed too much time. In biology ... 

Day Three coming soon

13 Days of Christmas…let your Red Nose shine!

 ON THE THIRTEENTH  DAY OF CHRISTMAS?

This blog has  featured a whole stocking full of Christmas  topics and yet…. Readers seem to enjoy each and every one of them so… this season we’re going  for 12 (counting the previous one)  posts with a “Christmas” or Winter Holiday theme.   Yes as the title suggests we’re going for 13 because  in the pre-Amazon days 12 days of gifts might have been enough…but  come on… let’s go for 13! 

Each of these posts will  open with a thought about  the lyrics to that 12-day. Song and go forward from there or sideways or whatever direction  it goes…

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me… A partridge in a Pear Tree?  

So let’s start with the tree.  Pears are a good fruit and preserve well.  You can  eat the fruit off the tree, can it, and ferment it.  You can  use pears to practice  lofty wedge shots with  a dull club and get a good idea of how far a shot will go without. A run because pears  usually  don’t roll or splatter  like apples… 

Now as for.a partridge  being in a tree?  Well Keith would rather be out chasing hippy  chicks or fending them off and Danny wouldn’t be  in a tree due to the fact that climbing  would mean too much physical effort… oh what..not that kind of Partridge?   

Well the odds of you finding a real partridge in a pear tree are pretty small since partridges  are “ground” birds much like chickens, turkeys, and the like.  So if your true love gave you a partridge. In a pear tree it’s either. The sign of a rare gift or it’s a fake…and when you get and give a gift for Christmas  I think it’s pretty easy to tell which  really come from the heart and which  ones are trendy trinkets.  

Seeking Peace and Joy  means giving and receiving  genuine  gifts often of time and creative endeavors that extend beyond. Melting one’s VISA.  

Okay let’s move forward…

Channeling You Inner Rudolph

Then one foggy Christmas Eve… 

Well how often do we judge. Ourselves and others only on a cookie cutter set of “normals” and rarely notice what is extraordinary in us or in others.  How often does it take an unusual set of circumstances before  we are able to understand that differences can present solutions and options that will benefit us or others?  How easy is it to take these differences and hide them on our society’s island of misfit toys (or girls and boys)?  

In terms of seeking peace and joy sometimes more is to be found when we let everyone play in reindeer  games and even alter the rules so that.more skills can be shown during the games.  Expecting red noses to show up and finding ways that these lead to other options expands choices and reduces anxieties thus promoting. Peace rather than judging and the belonging that results just might lead to a shared sense of joy.  Yes we can look for and encourage red noses or we can fear every foggy Christmas  eve.  and stop and think about it… what other reindeer has his or her  own song?  Let your red nose shine!