Skip to main content

Enchanted

 I've been trying to force this blog out for awhile, unsuccessfully. Deb's off visiting her sister, my chores are close enough to done, and rain is threatening, giving me pause to start the ones that remain. Thus I was a moment ago sitting enjoying a sweet sun tea, listening to some Bluegrass and finishing an article. I had put the Telluride Bluegrass Cd on the stereo last night while reading. Both the CD and the article on my phone were left over from last night. Inspiration struck, I refilled the tea switched the stereo to Stevie Nicks and pulled out the laptop. Pop, fizzle, nada, just a blank screen and an equally blank brain. We'll blame Stevie!

 The Stevie Nicks book (that seems to be what she is calling it?) is a neatly packaged box set of 3 CDs, art and photos called ENCHANTED. It was an impressive buy for a dollar at a library sale some years back. Kind of the equivalent of finding a good Dali print at the thrift store. The memory of the thrill of the 'hunt' wasn't what drew me to it today, it was the title. I'm trying to write about that which can be believed but not seen or proven with our senses. That piece of life somewhere in what Rod Serling would have called the twilight zone.  Jung would have called it synchronicity. I'm a person who doesn't understand how fax machines work or know how to text, a lot of things, for me, fall into the magic category.

 Synchronicity, is often simply a mirror reflecting the seeker, confusing and egging him on. "Ah!, Some mysterious hand is guiding me - I must dig deeper!" That is the condemnation by those who poo poo traipses down winding paths. They miss both the thrill and the discovery. No not every time but well, we'll see, perhaps sometimes.

 In unpacking books I pulled two aside to read. IN A PIT WITH A LION ON A SNOWY DAY (I'll just call it Lion to avoid running out of typewriter ribbon;~) is a Christian themed book that thrilled me because it connected with me every bit as much as my last book (also Christian themed, The Purpose Driven Life) had left me cold. I'm very agnostic, but I am not anti-Christian. To live in this age, statements like that harken back to ones like "I'm not racist. I have friends who are ___" So guilt trip averted, shwooew! Anyway the second book was The Intention Experiment by Lynne Mc Taggart which I would have to put over in the woo woo Boulder metaphysical category. (I will also add that it is a sign of the times that Wikipedia labels her with cautions -  note the lack of cautionary notes on Carl Jung's views!)

  Now just to entertain synchronicity throw in this little gem which Google had offered me as last night's read. (If you want to take a moment and read all of the links to try to catch up feel free, I'll wait right here --- We good?) Yeah, if quantum physics is your hobby please feel free to explain that last read to me! I mean I read it - the words, but lost, Oh, just a time or two! Perhaps I'm agnostic on physics also! The synchronicity aspect is they each, from wildly different perspectives talked about that twilight zone of prayer, intention, and entanglement.

 Lion offers the encouragement that what crosses your path is God ordained. He further asks why are you wasting your prayers on 'little wishes'.(and yeah even devout agnostics let out a prayer now and then.) I loved the line that "The goal of faith is not the elimination of risk".  I mean I want these words to come out in some semblance of 'right'. Should I be bothering God with that? Perhaps I should just write the words and pray for myself to find my purpose in life and peace in death. Maybe the words are but a vista on the winding path to that destination. I'm down with that!

The Intention Experiment notes the ability of some aspects of quantum physics to apparently move both faster than the speed of light and backwards and forward in time with actual effects on reality. Like most metaphysical discussions the author begins by noting some of these 'impossibilities' and moves on to both accepting them and asking the reader to join in testing them with 'little' experiments. The implication is a rather unspoken of prove it's real at a small level and well....

 The Price article takes on entanglement as a thought experiment. Accept entanglement but view it not as violating any laws of physics. Simply view it as waves running through some fun house mirror of a black box that we don't understand, easy peasy. 'No we don't understand it just yet but don't worry when we do we'll be using it to build really fast fax machines and such'. 

 I suppose it is the nature of man in every age to look at the unknown from their personality's perspective. How do birds fly? How do bats see in the dark? Heck, why did my father's dog act weird when my mother cooked lamb? When one goes deeper than these 'little' questions it's hard not to go with God or a more interconnectedness of the Buddhists, sure - room for science in there. Me I'm agnostic on the whole lot. I'm down right suspicious of motives humans are still humans. Enlisting God, some metaphysical entity, or science on your side does not remove the human aspect. 

 I've little to say on the garden as it remains Deb planting exotic flowers and me dreaming and looking for synchronicity to guide me. Yesterday as we met with a broker and managed to break the logjam that is modern medical insurance synchronicity offered a tidbit. Next to the little ice cream place of our meeting was a branch of Worley's Greenhouse. Inside we were greeted with "How can we help, you any questions?" "Yes, that second one - questions!" "Oh, let me get one of the Worleys - Hey Saber, he has questions." What followed was one of those rapid fire back and forths which leaves you knowing you're in the right place. Pear trees?, Grape vines?, soil?, "Oh your family has a Bluegrass band?" No just your brother - cool - what was that plum your mother did good with? We left with some fresh veggies and my head swimming with plans and thoughts. I would contrast this with a recent visit to the local Loews. I asked the fellow watering plants what he knew about the fig trees. He replied, "They don't teach us anything here. I just water the plants." I left Loews wondering if I could wait till seasons end and get a better price on clearance. Somewhat different business models.

  I hope asking tons of questions will help with the actual work. I know in the end a garden should have a mix of thought and actual action. No one path makes a life. The rain hasn't come as I expected today (shoulda prayed harder;~) and Deb will be home soon and wondering about tangible actions so I better finish those chores.

 Before I go one more link on RFK jr which I think is worth the time. Please note if RFK jr was running as a Libertarian I would find much to disagree with him on before I would help to nominate him for my Party. RFK jr is running for the nomination against the sitting President. Much as Eugene McCarthy ran against Lyndon Johnson. McCarthy didn't win New Hampshire's Democratic primary but he did embarrassingly well and changed history.

   Doug A.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eating hope

 Adam sat in the sun huddled under a blanket Eve had knitted. Scattered to his right and left a sketch of his new garden and a half dozen seed catalogs. Eve called these his garden porn. To grow a garden you have to guess the future and act in the present. Importantly, that begins with a guess. Some parts were clear; the average last frost, which plants could survive frost, the needed indoor start time for those and the later plants. That schedule had to be married to the best guess of what he wanted to grow and what might grow, again a guess. Once past the guessing a brief bit of pleasure gathering the seeds and ordering what was missing.   Adam looked at the sketch and knew from past experience this was about as good as his garden would look. Sure there might be some unexpected wins, a seed or plant that surprised. The unexpected wins would be more than offset by bad weather, pests, or just hopes that never blossomed. Poppies make heroin. Hope is like heroin. Last year ...

After the Garden

  Those of you who know me know I hover somewhere between Catholic and agnostic. Thus when I say there are surprisingly few words about Adam in the Bible, you know I had to look to check. If you need to check it yourself go ahead you'll see. A little about how he came to be, a touch about Eve, a bit about that garden thing and then on to what the kids did. Really, I expected a lot more!   I mean what about that day Adam was sitting outside the garden fence thwacking a stick against a tree?! He was just thinking, I don't want any more sadness God. Yeah, yeah I know it's your plan and I'm not supposed to question it but your plan sucks! He flipped his middle finger towards heaven. As he did a hummingbird who had become blind landed on it. Yeah, see that's what I mean God. How am I supposed to fix this? Sure I can name it and that's fun but how can I fix the pain in the world?  Look at the old garden! It's an overgrown jungle. I need pruners, saws and a shovel...

Sandcastles

  Hey all, I am literally surrounded by life. The window in front of my desk looks out to my garden. The garden is lush green with knee high garlic and potato-onions, flowering arugula and crimson clover, along with second runs of spinach and cilantro getting ready to pick. Beside me under a grow light is a tray of tiny tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, sage, melons and squash. Lord the squash! Thinking the seed was old I heavily over seeded the little pots. I should be so vigorous in my old age. The thinning will be a problem but that is for another day. For now I needed to clear the pile of seed packets off the laptop and write. Write while Deb pulls dinner and a batch of cookies together in the kitchen and the dogs settle from our walk.  Yup, surrounded by life but on a maudlin day. Last night and this morning was strong rain and the rest of the day has been a heavy grey overcast. It is the day before Easter which by Christian tradition is a day of joy. The Gospel accounts which...

A Fog

  If you've never been in a fog so thick that you can't see where to go, to read it sounds like a flight of fancy. I've been in such a fog as a young man driving home. You're creeping along a highway hoping what you're taking for a white line means something. Simultaneously, you're desperately eyes locked on the road ahead and fearing what might be coming up behind you. For some reason you feel compelled to get to the safety of home. Adam was in such a fog.   Adam had walked most of the way to Nod with his son Cain. To lose one son was a misery too great to bear. To never see the other again made it a journey he'd had to take. That was days ago and he'd been following the sun and the stars West back to Eve, his garden, and his dogs. The fog had begun lightly that morning with the path closed in but clear. Now he was on his knees looking as the path clearly split. Perhaps the Y would rejoin itself just a bit down the way. Perhaps one simply ended beyond w...

Place your bets

  Adam was filling his water tank. More exactly, Adam was draining his water tank onto the compost pile while the rain was filling it and threatening to overflow the tank. Spring is a complicated time. Early spring is a dance with winter. Plant out too early and the plants will die or go into shock and actually take longer to grow. The spinach which poked up is great for an evening salad but it might stunt the onions it surrounds if allowed to grow too much. Leave the water tank to fill and overflow and the adjacent wood chips will wash down the hill. Leave the the drain open you capture no water for the dry weeks ahead. - Time to check the tank level. He put his hat on and walk in the rain.    The rain had been gentle and steady. Even with the drain open there was some overflow but nothing disastrous. Adam thought of the line from that sitcom long in the future, Mad About You. The wife is trying to get the husband to admit he was wrong. After many iterations he finally s...

Atlas Pooped!

   Adam sat with his back to 'The Garden' fence and looked up at the predawn moon. He saw Sirius (the dog constellation) plainly but what was the name of that next constellation? Eve had named it and traced with her finger the bow and the belt. The belt, yeah, yeah, Orion! Orion walked with his Sirius on cold mornings as he had with his own dogs. He'd have to get home soon and walk 'em. A cool wind rang The Garden chimes urging him to move.  The peace and the beauty begged him to stay. He'd dally.   The new garden was slowly coming together. The raised beds were laid out some with permanent stone walls some with whatever was available. Soil had been scarce or more exactly worms and bugs were scarce. They'd come and were slowly showing up, 'tho not always the good ones first! Thus what he'd planted was thin and haphazard. Better something to eat than nothing. A couple of pears, a nectarine, and a fig, with hope for the future but nothing for tonight'...

Eat Pray Love

    Adam woke, to a sense of clarity. He felt like the the threads of the universe were connecting through his body. Every bird was sitting while he identified their call. Every word that he read fit like a puzzle piece in his mind. The air itself seemed more, more right. A manic morning and a time to avoid sharp tools? The pleasant hangover of a evening alone with Eve? Inhale deeply the morning air but tread lightly. The future was not mans to know! He no longer lived in The Garden. Yet he felt he could touch it. His arm, almost not his, reaching through a gossamer veil touching... Not the future, not truth, not any word that small more - je ne sais pas... more.   The peas were popping and the garlic and onions were reviving from their winter trials. So it was spring or perhaps a false spring as tomorrow would allow March to announce itself as either a lamb or a lion. But what would a wise man do on a perfect spring day. On a day when he could feel the universe coursing...

Tommy the Turtle tours Tulsa

  As I slowed for the stoplight on the 4 lane I was inspired. The gym had been drudgery. To be done and now done. The library didn't have the book I was looking for but I grabbed some others. But there, there at the edge of the lane, making one of those comical steps that turtles make, was a small turtle raising his foot to triumphantly step on the white finish-line. I broke into a smile sharing in his Olympic moment. As traffic started to move I thought about jumping out to move him to the grass on the shoulder. But would that confuse him and cause him to turn around?! I looked in the mirror as I drove away. No one was being an idiot and driving over the line. The little guy was trudging off no fist pumps or premature celebrations for him just steady doing it. Me, I drove the rest of the way home smiling and thinking Yeah, just yeah!  This morning he came by the house. Or at least I think it was him, tough to tell with turtles. I did the math we're a good bit from the proverb...

The tomatoes are red the gardener is blue

 I'm stuck in a loop. I think that's what software programmers call it. I know the roots of this hopelessness are firmly planted in the utter destruction of our cabin and property in the forest fire that I alluded to in the last blog's prologue. Knowing the source of a polluted stream doesn't really help if your just wallowing in it. It's the wallowing that is the loop. A sporadic series of should haves and could haves that leave you so second guessed out that I've got little mental energy to accomplish all but the littlest things. Musically speaking I got da blues!   The music is Billie Holiday - Lady in Autumn.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npoe5XeeMYE&list=PLbYb5_Imn1rsDMoIU38jxi_O0aRaYj4CG 'cause given my mood - well, it was the obvious choice.   If you're a libertarian like me it's hard not to on occasion reflect on a woman who's life included heroin abuse, alcohol abuse, abusive relationships and died at 44. The line between libert...

Bleeping grackles

 I've just spent the last 15 minutes searching bird guides on-line and on paper to try to figure out what is nesting in the grape arbor.  It looks like a nuthatch or wren that has dressed to go to work for UPS.  It's incredibly tiny and quite cute but clearly not one to be pushed around.  When I first saw it at the beginning of summer it was trying to take over a bird house I had created out of an old boot.  Some chickadees had moved in and I was thrilled to see the house used.  The chickadees had dutifully carried a boots worth of material from the yard to their nest.  At a moment when both the male and female were out collecting material my little UPS bird 'discovered' the boot.  He sat at the hole pulling material out.  Clearly their tastes in furnishings were different you could almost see him (her?) shaking his head "this straw with those drapes - come on!".  The chickadees returned and a battle royal ensued with it ending with two ...