The rising cost of living?

 

Just because their app looks nice

Should we accept this sacrifice?

We overpay for beans and rice

So-called drinks three quarters ice

That used to have a lemon slice

Why must we pay a princely price

For meals that surely starve two mice?

Perhaps it’s time for thinking twice

What’s the buzz?

 What’s the Buzz?

Since it’s not bee season and there are no electric razors in the immediate vicinity and atmospheric conditions provided a long awaited opportunity the most likely origin of the sound that starts just before dawn and lingers well after the moon emerges —what the heck..let’s get to the point it’s snowmobile season.  The buzz?  Well it’s not the vintage 1901 steam-powered log puller that started this craze or the long-forgotten experimental Model T equipped with skis and a propeller.  It’s probably not a classic antique that weighed about half a ton and topped out at 20mph.  It is mostly a herd of two and four stroke  one or two passenger sleds sporting a 2 or 4 stroke engine and maybe an electric engine (but not likely around here)…. It’s a sleek machine with a fast response track and independent front suspension and the people who ride them  happily claim they are freedom machines leading to a feeling of speed and excitement in the quiet of nature.  

Well… we have no real ground covered with snow or not to stand on to dispute what most snowmobile riders might perceive, however, the data would suggest only some are freed by this winter sled like 7 out of 8 riders are male and most have some disposable income as owning and using these things costs an average of somewhere between $300 and $350 per month and over half the time guys with a little extra cash are hauling them somewhere  just to be able to ride.  Conclusion —freedom in the form of your Polaris, Yamaha, or Ski-doo isn’t for everyone and isn’t really free.  Oh and as a side note while this blog treats some syntax principles very loosely it should be noted that sometimes punctuation and spelling have significant and meaningful implications.  For example “ski-Doo” is one of the largest names in recreational craft  on water and snow… however the intended name was “Ski-Dog” but this mistake slipped through the editing process which smelled like doo  dog dog?   Oh this serves as such a reminder of how nuts English as a language has become.  How hard is it to avoid terrible mistakes?  Well let’s just say there is a fairly significant difference between  man’s laughter  and manslaughter as claimed by the apostrophe  and the precisely placed space.  

Now back to the buzz and what it might mean in the seeking peace and joy universe

Winter weather often represents a barrier to freedom and so do thoughts and routines that impact one’s ability to fully engage in change… so maybe people need to fight against such barriers?  If so the buzz is a happy sound.  Maybe the riders feel like they are in control of their lives and can conquer nature and will go to extraordinary lengths to prove it… and learn that such efforts are very costly and perhaps when one tries to conquer nature instead of honoring it’s cycles seeking peace and joy out of context might just be costly?  Then the buzz becomes a reminder that sometimes are efforts to conquer nature  only leaves us with a buzzing in our heads that is not particularly pleasant to anyone  after a while?  

On the other hand maybe some of the sled jockeys stop from time to time and take in the beauty of the land, smile at the sunlight shining on a newly coated winters cape and realize that we all spend a lot of time just skimming the surface  without daring to know what lies beneath?    

There is some fear that many sledders just go around and around on the same path and only worry about how fast they might be able to go while in the end they really didn’t see much or go far and maybe it’s important to ask what was their buzz worth?  And by extension maybe seeking peace and joy usually requires asking what’s the buzz and what is it worth?  

Stay safe

Christmas by the numbers volume 12

 Well… it’s been a few more than 12 days—technically, however if we can have a few weeks of Black Friday, Local Saturday and Cyber Monday..then the 12 day thing seems like it might be a little arbitrary too… However let’s carry on to day eleven and 12.  We’ve got pipers piping… Now we’re not talking plumbing although does it seem like whenever you have a houseful of people over during the holidays some plumbing issue always happens?  Oh and of course  for a lot of Christmas holidays  the two most famous plumbers in the world came to visit.  We all love Mario  and Luigi right?  No we  are talking about people making music blowing  on a flute-related musical deal.  Or thinking about it maybe since this seems like one of those Saxon folk tunes maybe it’s bagpipes.  Nowfor some functions like a funeral  or such bagpipes. Are. Awesome.   It is a bit of a miracle that. Guys wearing skirts can make them sound so good.  It’s hard to be sure. Why pipers of that sort wear skirts, however, if people who have mastered these pipes have suffered through the complaints of folks who suffered while the pipers were learning, then let them wear what. They please I say.  But we digress lets’get back to the flute type of thing… I think pipers were. Smart in marching band situations  because they could make some noise without having to carry something very heavy for miles and. Miles.  Maybe in seeking peace and joy we should give traveling. Through life a shot without always carrying all the heavy stuff around with us all the time.  

Now for the drummers…. Now the drums shout out loud “play attention to the rhythm of things.”  Again in the seeking peace and joy of life… maybe we could pay attention to the rhythm of things a bit more… Like for whatever reason the holidays have challenges for some folks every year and if we know folks like that maybe we can reach out and offer them a smile or two extra… and if it’s us maybe we can understand that. This rhythm is constant. Or this rhythm  is something I can encourage the other drummers in my life to change?   The point is…. That life has a lot of drummers and a lot of rhythms that repeat.  Also if you have 12 drummers drumming maybe as drummer  number 7 you could rest a bit or lay down a back beat instead of just marching along to someone else’s beat?    

Anyway the tree is bak in the basement and lights are. All tucked away so the twelve days of Christmas must be up.  Now don’t be. Afraid to start thinking about who gets what  next year.  

And speaking. Of marching to the beast. Of a different drum and a different rhythm… perhaps  this entry should wrap up with one of. Those 8 line rhymes about  a dramatic performance that. Fell outside the guide rails of what was expected… Enjoy

How long could are taut nerves  last?

Hopes were high the crowd was vast

The tension broke with a cannon blast

The students cheered but just half-assed

The Critics sat there all aghast

Hamlet played by the Simpsons cast

On a ship that sailed without a mast

The classics  going nowhere fast

Christmas By The Numbers Volume 6 or So

 So in a world of everything important being said in 30 seconds or less we can shrink 12 days of  Christmas into just a few more entries.  

There’s no doubt that this is a fictional song simply because in any legitimate “dance” event there would never be more males than females dancing….so the lords leaping could never outnumber the ladies dancing.  However, a lyric that mentioned five ore six guys two-stepping while the other lords were sitting on the bleachers or checking ESPN on their phones would be pretty hard to sing.  As for the maids ho are milking for a gift now there’s a gift.  The endless supply of milk beats a bird in a fruit tree especially if it includes the cows which could at some point be steak.  Now the question I might have would be… On the 13th day of Christmas would we be thinking about building a barn to handle the Christmas gifts and on valentine’s Day is the true love going to be dropping off off a pen full of prime Iowa pigs and maybe a stable full of palomino ponies?

Now let’s get to the peace and joy perspective on this…. 

We’ve got a couple more days of the song and they speak of musicians  which would go well with the dancers and because we are hoping that the new year contains some joy and since dancing usually reflects joy… it might be a good idea that no matter how many left feet you have… you should take a moment to listen to the music  and let your feet do what they might.  

Well this is being written on New Year’s  Eve so  it seems like a little extra  may be in order….. so here’s a little 8-line rhyme  to top this post off and if you listen carefully you can hear some pipers piping  to introduce the  final entry in 12 day saga….Happy New Year!

This year’s about to swap

And  This joint? it’s going to hop

So  watch out for the cop

As Teenyboppers start to bop

When the ball’s about to drop

The tunes they jam non-stop

The cork you hear it pop

Cheer loud we’re at the top

Christmas By The Numbers Volume 4

 Christmas By The Numbers 4

Okay.. On the unofficial 4th Day of Christmas.. its some blackbirds and if we were going by the chart-topping classic that would be a tree and one bird plus 2 birds plus three more which is six  plus four  and bam that’s 10 and we haven’t even scratched the six geese and seven swans which would be 23 and that’s a lot of feathers…. .so if your true love is saying you need a new pillow every so often ….well you are good… On the other bandits a couple days after the 25th… so we’re recovering from two significant days… Boxing Day which is the day when you are tired of all your family and the real fights break out… or maybe the day you box things back up and stand at the service counter and try to explain why you don’t have a receipt and that you can’t use bacon scented deodorant because it’s going to drive your German shepherd  mad… or on the other hand you could be celebrating National candy cane day.  Now we didn’t have a candy cane day at first, however once they added the red stripes and changed the shape from a straight stick to a “J”how could those “day calendar” people let that go?  Now you might think it’s a little late in the ho ho holiday calendar  for the cane but stop to think about it… Here it is a couple days after the real onslaught  of chocolate and big Christmas dinners and there they are… You are thinking….”how long am I going to leave that tree in here?”   Then you see one… or tow…or three  hanging mints on the second to bottom branch and well your breath needs a boost and you don’t really want to open that new tooth paste that was in your stocking sobbing… it’s that candy cane to the rescue.  Now it doesn’t matter if you aren’t rocking

 Around the tree with the classic peppermint as you could be looking at Jolly rancher sour apple…and those beauties on your tree are only three to five inches  or so—not to be mistaken with the world record holding six story (63) foot  gagger that would require 17 days to suck into a point that might be useful in a prison fight.  .

Okay .. let

S bring this around the bend in the cane shall we and talk about peace and joy?  

Candy canes aren’t generally fancy and you aren’t generally going to sit and wonder  who gave you them or did you give someone the right one… What is going to happen is you are going to open it… enjoy it a little… you are going to have a positive reminder of the last couple days.. and you are going to know that the rest of your day is going to be alright.   So… maybe we should appreciate the little things in life that we can give each other…maybe we can hang around a bit after the presents have been unwrapped and provide a small bit of happiness, peace, and joy  for one another without pressing expectations?   Maybe we can know that even if we are broken a little we can still give someone a tiny boost?  Maybe we don’t have to be the star or even one of the brightest lights on the tree…but we can still add something that might be remembered with a little smile…. 

Merry Christmas

 Love One Another…. Enough said

Christmas by the numbers part two

Christmas By The Numbers 2

This is “the second day of Christmas (related blogs) and we’re not giving you any turtle doves which are. Of course a breed of pigeons and pigeons are generally full of well…you know…   We are, however, giving a brief follow-up as eluded to in the previous entry.  Oh and before we dive into the snow bank on this, please understand that the irreverence here is not a slam on the faith anyone chooses to practice.  Maybe we all might lighten up enough to observe that almost all facts (miracle related or not) taken out of context can seem odd.  For example, it is one thing to believe in the fact that a lot of people.  Could feel the spirit of giving gifts that the receiver has no clue they are about to get or where those gifts come from.  If a certain portion of the population wants to claim it’s an elf-powered assembly line…then we say judge not lest ye be judged.  Conversely, if we point out some of the magical theories we all promote maybe we can allow for a little fun in the lives of most of us okay?  

Alright… back as suggested in the last entry.. to the festival of lights.  Now one day’s worth of oil in the. Temple burned for eight days worth of time.  Now one modern fluorescent vapor bulb burns at least five and sometimes ten times longer than a bulb from 30 years ago… and one set of 8 (another 8?) Tiny reindeer—sometimes nine when the fog rolls in—pulls a roof-landing sleigh around the world in one night… is it at least reasonable to think we’ve got a belief in the hope of alternative fuels and forms of transportation?   Remember not more than a handful of centuries ago it took weeks to cross the ocean (including sending messages).. now it’s a long afternoon flight or a 3 second text to cross the pond.  So let’s be a little open-minded….and more important.. a lot open-hearted shall we?  

Getting back to holidays… so during the festival of lights there is the “dreidel spinning.”   By the next yule I promise to learn more facts behind this tradition because as of now spinning  is associated with choosing letters for a glitzy hangman show and hoping not to land on bankrupt.  So it seems like one spins the top and can win coins or candy, however can you let a fun sized Milkyway ride  hoping to double down for a Snickers?  Or can the spin land on “left hand red” and send three teen-aged bodies falling in a fortunate pile on a plastic floor covering?  It seems like the dreidel life is full of events with uncertain outcomes that will require some adjustments.   

Now… in the entry after this  we are going to explore the candy cane, however let’s take a few lines to think about the tree.  The tree wasn’t really a Christmas thing here in the United States  up until about 150 years ago.  It is sort of surprising  that the whole thing ever caught on.  Did it happen this  way?  Hey Frank?  Yes Milly…Frank it’s going to get cold in here the next couple of weeks can you bring in more wood?  “Look Milly … How much freakin’ wood do you think we are going to need?  “Never mind Milly I’ve got it.”  So frank being a smart Alec  goes out and cuts down a smallish pine tree and throws it into the corner till it dries out enough to burn?  Now maybe it didn’t happen that way and yet I haven’t seen a Fox News report on how we have arrived at a place where we bring in a dead tree or use a plastic tree as a focal point while we sit on our couch eating candy out of a sock.  

The Peace and Joy slant on the lights and the tree boils down to this…   Maybe anything that provides a place where we gather together  to share gifts together whether we are eating potato pancakes or marshmallow filled residents of the NorthPole, is in fact worth exploring for at least one more year… and now tomorrow..because there aren’t many shopping days left…we’ll be back with the checkered (no wait striped) history of the candy cane… 

 

Christmas by the Numbers

http://Christmas By The Numbers?

Today is the 13th of December so if it worked this way it would be the “first day” of Christmas wrapping up with full stockings and who Hash on the 25th.  However, that’s not how it is.  So what’s the deal…well let’s just look at Christmas By the Numbers shall we?  

So it’s only fitting to begin with the number 8.  Why eight? Well almost every year before Christmas the winter holiday season kicks off with the festival of lights known as Hanukkah.  Speaking of the festival of lights—if you count my mini tree we have  about 180 feet of pulsating sparkling joy infusing our living room with the Yuletide Spirit.  Now only Newton Einstein (Santa’s smartest elf) has the foggiest notion what a “yuletide” is… Now back to that eight  day thing.  Now it is not at all groovy to discount this ancient  religious  celebration so tomorrow or whenever the next day  of writing happens… there will be more irreverent  remarks about that… All I know for sure is that I have 25 tea light candles that I can light by pressing a little switch and that’s enough for three Menorah or is the plural of menorah actually Menorahs?  

So we have eight days of that… and why does the Christian tradition celebrate 12 days?  Well some monks and smarty pants scholars claim it has to do with the estimated time between the arrival of Jesus and the appearance of the three wise men.  Now why did it take so long for these wise men to show?  Well first, it takes a while to find THREE  “wise” men… One or two…hey..no problem but three?  Some reports that this trio were kings and came in on camels.  Now that makes some sense since three egotistic men, kings or not aren’t going to stop anywhere for directions and first century camels, even with two humps weren’t equipped with GPS so 12 days seems about right?   Oh and according to the most repeated reports these camel jockeys came with some swag for the savior.  They were hauling Gold, Frankinsense  and Myrrh?  Now gold we all understand. It’s a sign of “kingship.”  Frankincense is a really strong aroma  and a symbol of deity  and look if you are going to a party in a manger and bringing camels, you are going to want to be freshening  up the air somehow.  Now myrrh is somewhat  of a mystery.  I’ve been in a lot of retail and wholesale places and not once  have I ever seen myrr.  Not even at Cosco  have I seen Gluten-free myrrh or sugar-free myrrh reduced  by 40% in the “after Christmas sale bin.  So what is Myrrh anyway.  The best that I found out was that it is an oil used in special ceremonies including embalming and end of life gatherings/processes.  So one wise guy gets to bring gold.  Another gets to make the place  smell better.  However, the third guy must  have drawn the short straw can you hear the conversation?  King Elijah you bring some of that gold… King Solomon you bring that cologne, and well you King Ralph… grab some of that funeral oil alright?” 

It’s hard to say  if the 8 days and 12 days are completely accurate as maybe both time periods were only 8 days but the christians…especially the Catholics like to make sure  all their religious events last a long time—have you been to an Easter Mass?  Oh and some of us remember when “Black Friday” only lasted one day. 

Well now we have 8 days 3 wise men and 12 days and here’s one more number to ponder.  A very highly respected banking corporation has been tracking the cost of .the collected partridge through drummers line-up.  This year the cost due to inflation has risen about 3% and now would run in the very wealthy neighborhood  of $46,729.86… which means the wise men probably  got off pretty cheap.  

Okay… this is just the first of several…but not twelve  holiday entries… so ho ho hold on to your stockings before hanging them with care… 

More soon 

 http://

All We Are Saying

 Give Peace A Chance 

Whispered softly “oh My Lord”

Must this blood again be poured?

And all the bodies we’ll record

So men can boast of victories scored

Or could we work for peace restored?

And if  extremes won’t be ignored

Grab your pen and drop your sword

Try writing answers on the board

Hopefully Odious Holiday Ode HoHo

Ads for discounts grow and grow

Mouses clicking to and fro

Black Friday’s gone there went our dough

Prepare it’s time for this year’s show

Santa bellows Ho Ho Ho!

the reindeer have the sleigh  in tow

The elves  were spying kids below 

the list has told them where to go

Nice or Naughty we all know

Children’s faces  all a-glow

When they tear off the sparkling bow

Boys play with dolls like G.I. Joe

Peace on Earth? I sure hope so

On This Day In History and some Other Conspiracies

 On this Day In History

Yesterday in the “inbox” of the email associated with this blog and the related podcast there was a link “the wrap for 2023.”  So… of course it had to be clicked and as it happens it was pretty much about the podcast only which is fine, however, as it happens the data used to develop the “wrap”  was only from one viewing source and not the most popular one.  Again, this is okay especially because it ignited the thinking process leading to this post.  

You see the whole thing highlighted  the past year…. What was listened to by most people, where those people  were when they listened (what country—not whether you were caught in a traffic jam somewhere around detroit or in a Walmart parking lot trying to get the “child proof” cap off your antidepressants).   It announced that the pod had an overall increase of 6%—thanks!  Oh and as long as you are being thanked we might as well throw in that adding up the page reads and listens for the two main blogs and the podcast that have been offered over  the past five years now….. the total amount of reads and listens has topped 70,000 which is just a number  about 1000 more than 69,000.   Nonetheless, thanks for using some  of your time paying attention.  

Now for the “History”

So… personally…. I read a couple blogs from time to time and listen to several podcasts regularly  or at least sometimes and that will will wind up in their “wrap” I’m sure.  One of these  has a subject of “this day in history.”  Now ever since I was a kid when there was a considerable  shorter history of some things including this here United States… (when I was in school  the text book was more like a pamphlet— there have been these little calendars that had a history fact on each page giving  a fact about what happened (or was reported to have happened) on that day.  There will be another post or podcast that gives some highlights about particular days, however, no particular day leaps out right now.. not even February 29th.  So what’s impressive?

There are no blank pages!

Think about that for a minute…. 

All year long…every day… something significant  can  and will happen.  Every single day someone woke up … had their energy drink (cocaCola  with real cocaine perhaps  and decided “I’m going to try  to do this just one more time” and BINGO! They’re  on the calendar!  

Well we don’t have to worry about the  calendar or the podcast so much as maybe adopting the mindset that today is the day that we can be part of something significant happening in our lives, in our schools, in our town, or in the drive through of Mcdonald’s .  —and if not today then tomorrow for sure…. 

….and the cool thing is…. When a lot of the things in this “On this day” calendar happened the people involved weren’t thinking—“I’m going to be on a podcast in 2023”… they were likely  just thinking what I”m doing  is something towards this or that purpose  and so they did it.  Oh and sometimes it was just an accident that they noticed  could have a positive impact.  

Now Peace and Joy  on this day in history?

Well first it’s your history or more important  to note all of history was something that happened in the present at that time.  Sometimes the person doing it knew it might be historic like when Armstrong walked on the moon, but there was a lot about that  day or the events leading up to it  that had to happen on some day like the day the Apollo crew had training on how to go to the bathroom in space… after all no one had ever taken a leak on the moon before either so it was one small piddle for man and one giant. Leak for mankind on that day I tell ya… 

So.. to sum up… this is your day in history put something on your calendar!… You make a difference and often. Someone else will benefit

Also will you please remind these “year in review” people that there is a whole month left  in the year and something important will happen every day.