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Innocent Girls and Undeniable Gifts

Guest Post by Robert Shelden

Moving swiftly across the schoolyard from the parking lot, I spot Paris in the center of the asphalt blacktop.  She’s surrounded by a crowd of school officials. She’s squatting with her chin gently resting on top of her knees, her brow furrowed, and her bottom lip tucked under a new permanent front tooth.  Her right hand grasps her left wrist, her thin pale arms wrapped around her bare legs.  She rocks back and forth on her heels.  One shoe lies on its side nearby; its coiled laces draped in the permanent puddle formed by daily sprinkler overspray.  The other shoe is nowhere in sight.

Paris exudes defeat.  Continue reading “Innocent Girls and Undeniable Gifts”

The Smell of Winter Waning

It didn’t freeze last night. It’s a wonderful thing to walk outside with the dog in the morning, and be greeted by moist 35 degree air.

And…

Something else in the air this morning. A smell come tickling my nose across the bare patches of ground peeking through crusted snow.

The promise of Spring on the horizon, of Winter waning.

Like most smells, this one didn’t hit me in the face and scream its name. Instead, it was a subtle little “scent image” deep in my brain – one that made my eyes snap open and look around for the thing that was different.

The world around us is saturated with the smells of life, but the fact that we don’t pay attention has let most of the scent neural pathways in our brain atrophy. Our nose picks the smells up, and sends the message to our brain, but our brain figured out a long time ago that we don’t really care about all those smells, so it used the neural pathways for something else.

But the smells are still there, and the message is still being sent to the brain.

Now and then, when it’s quiet, and my mind’s washed pretty clean, the brain recognizes a little hint of message that the nose is sending, and pays just a little bit of attention.

This morning, that little hint felt a lot like winter starting to lose it’s grip on the world around me.

Broncos Defeat is Sweet Karma

First off, I like Tim Tebow. He’s a fine young man and seems to be a talented ball player.

Second, I don’t really follow pro football at all. Couldn’t really care much less. A bunch of millionaires who play the game, run by a bunch of multi-millionaires who own and manage the teams. The whole mess has become a circus manipulated by a bunch of billionaire media elite who decide how the game is played and scheduled so they can suck the most money from fans.

But I live in Colorado, and was ashamed at the way the fans here treated Kyle Orton as he was trying hard to create some wins for the team earlier this year, and to play his measly role of “placeholder” humbly while the team waited for little Tim Tebow to mature a bit. As he was trying to win games for them, the fans were chanting for Tebow. Can you imagine – your own fans chanting for the coach to bench you so an unproven kid can take your place?

But, fans can be amazing idiots. Any “mob” loses its mind. And Denver fans were no different. They just had to have their Tim. And they got him.

To Tim’s credit, he’s handled the unfair situation with grace and class. He’s proven himself to be a good and decent human being. I’m proud of him for that. Worth mentioning, Kyle proved himself to be a good and decent human being too – many times. I don’t think the fans were chanting Kyle down because they wanted a better human being at the QB position – they wanted a better quarterback. Continue reading “Broncos Defeat is Sweet Karma”

Christmas Tree Spiders

In response to Robert Sheldon’s “Christmas Tree Dilemma” article last week, a friend wrote in with a great story from their Christmas this year. Seems the whole “picking of the perfect tree” tradition is alive and well in her family as well, though this year it came with a surprising twist.

Christmas Morning Sunrise in the Mountains

After finding the World’s Most Perfect Christmas Tree, she and her family set the tree up in the living room and proceeded to celebrate a wonderful holiday around a most perfect tree. All went to bed on Christmas night with smiles on their faces, wonder in their heart, and warm feasts settled nicely in their belly. Little did they know that somewhere in the warmth of their tree lay the egg sack a spider left there last fall, lulled by the indoor glow into the illusion that it was time now for tiny little spiders to think about bursting forth into the world. Continue reading “Christmas Tree Spiders”

Beauty the Audrey Way

Below is a poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her ‘beauty tips.

  • For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
  •  For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
  •  For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
  •  For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
  •  For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
  •  People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
  •  Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
  •  As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.
 
Thanks to Stephanie for sharing.

A Christmas Letter – 2011

Merry Christmas.

Now, just because I consider myself a Christian, don’t assume I’m one of those who thinks only Christians get to celebrate these wonderful winter holidays. Folks of nearly all religions – and no religions – have been celebrating the Winter Solstice season as far back as records and myths go.

Image from Ecotime.blogspot.com

Continue reading “A Christmas Letter – 2011”

Blooming Jade 2011

Once again this year, my old Jade plant bloomed for me. In addition, two of the younger plants, (about 10 years old), had a couple blooms this year. It looks like the blooms will last well beyond Christmas this year, as I kept them outside until the very last minute in the fall. If you’d like some hints on how to get your Jade to bloom, drop me a line and I’ll help you out. Continue reading “Blooming Jade 2011”

The Haughty Activist

There’s lots of “occupying” going on recently. I applaud those who actively exercise their First Amendment rights. I’m not sure if I agree with 100% of their position on things, mostly because I’m not completely sure of what that position is. The essence seems to be that they’re opposed to the massive redistribution of wealth that our government has been supporting over the last 30 years, as a bigger and bigger portion of the wealth of our nation rests in the hands of a smaller and smaller percentage of people. The 1%.

I get that, and I agree that this isn’t a good thing. I can’t reconcile it with my spiritual beliefs or my moral principles. As a purely practical matter, such lopsided distribution of wealth always leads to upheaval.

I listened to someone trashing the “occupiers” the other day. I never could figure out what it was that they didn’t agree with, but they sure didn’t like the protesters. When I thought about this person’s comments, it really seemed to boil down to the fact that they didn’t like the “sort of person” who would be an activist for a good cause like this. They didn’t seem to like the “do-gooder”. He used the term “bleeding heart” several times – there’s an oldie but goodie!

Which reminded me of something I read once about a comment made by the great Lubavitcher Rebbe – Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. A young man had apparently told the Rebbe that he had decided to avoid social activism because it had been feeding his ego. A bleeding heart.

The Rebbe replied: “And without the activism there is no ego? Better a haughty activist than a self-centered do-nothing!”

Go occupiers!

The Broom and the Blower

I was sweeping the garage the other day. I do it often this time of year, as the tiny leaves from the locust tree in front find it easy to drift in with the cars.

It’s an old fashioned “flat broom” I use, and the sound it makes as it brushes the smooth concrete floor of the garage is sweet and soothing. It’s a sound that feels like it’s at home with the house finches on the feeders out front, and the soft wind that eases through the standing grasses in the front garden.

There’s a comforting rhythm that comes with the task of sweeping. The easy brushing, side to side, left to right. It’s a rhythm I can easily become lost in, and often do. Usually, when I finish sweeping the garage, I keep on sweeping right down the driveway – in part to move the leaves further away from the garage, but also because I’m enjoying the sound and the rhythm, and don’t want it to end.

Continue reading “The Broom and the Blower”