gnarled

Some folks appear that they are gnarled and snarled. Are you?

Gnarled trees are snarled but can be very beautiful, they have a certain beauty of their own. Sorta kinda a mystic beauty to me. Weather can gnarl a tree and/or it is their genetics. I think gnarled trees are soooo impressive to look at. I remember seeing my first real gnarled trees on the Monterey Peninsula. They just fascinated me and still do. Do I look like a gnarled tree?  Jeanne had an electrician do some work for her. She knew him and but knew his aging father better. She asked about Roy. Mark said he was doing well but he is kinda shriveling up. After he left, we had to laugh and wonder if the younger generations think of us as gnarled and shriveled up!? Who what me!

I try to teach my grandkids to always be poised. It appears that poise is a good quality. I know I really enjoy folks who are poised. They just seem to act the right way all the time (i.e. they don’t fly off the handle but keep their poise). A gal that I was told about was described that she always seems to say the right thing at the right time (i.e. or maybe always knows when to talk and when not to talk, could be). Some folks seem to just walk with a positive attitude (e.g. they radiate a positive attitude shown by their body language; walk with an attitude of having a daily victory) which is expressed many times with a smile. WorldClassLarry says--Everyone has issues. C’mon folks we all do. Some are gnarled on the outside and/or inside but still exhibit peace and happiness (i.e. we might never know what is snarling them). I like these folks; they have something that is special. My kind of folks. If they walk like a duck and quack like a duck, they are a duck.

Many of you folks are my kind of folks. You have very good hearts and are real folks; good hearted folks are just great folks; there is no question about it. Saturday question—Do good hearted folks see things differently than folks who don’t have good hearts? I read the following that made me wonder if that is true. In 1961, the Soviet Union sent the first cosmonaut into space. When the cosmonaut returned to earth, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev declared they’d been to space and didn’t see any god there. About 10 months later, the U.S. sent John Glenn into space. He circled the earth three times on his Mercury mission, came back down, and told the world, “I saw God everywhere! I saw his glory in the galaxy. I saw his splendor in the universe. I saw his majesty in the stars.” Which one was right? Were they both right maybe?

When eating the Japanese meal that I mentioned before, the Buddhist Temple was open for display next door to the hall we ate in (i.e. Buddhism is the major believe of the Japanese I was told by the Rev. Matte who I had the opportunity to have a very nice visit with). He briefly explained Buddhism to me. I learned that Buddhism is a lot about egos. I learned that it’s not really a religion but a philosophy. A teaching of self-introspect. It’s about finding true happiness in finding it in ourselves. They don’t believe in a God or salvation but living a good live on this earth; being good people. That is my snapshot as I understood Buddhism from Rev. Matte. This gnarled tree was outside of the temple. I don’t know if that is of some importance to Buddhism or just ornamental, but it is very interesting, at least to me!

Nils says--Today, I would like to focus on a practice I find myself coming back to over and over again. It’s a practice I can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking to support their well-being. The practice is called loving-kindness meditation. Loving-kindness can be defined as a mental state of wanting others to be happy. It is one of four states that Buddhists wish to cultivate. The others are compassion (wanting others to be free from suffering), sympathetic joy (rejoicing in the good fortune of others), and equanimity (regarding every sentient being as equal).

ValvetElvis says—Everybody is following somebody. Everybody has faith in something and somebody.

ItchieBitchie who seems to have a hard time controlling his mind, says--Many or all of us are snarled and gnarled in some way. Do you agree? When in Yakima we had breakfast with a couple of longtime friends of Jeanne who I really like. They are both seniors and single. We shared and talked about events that caused us to have part of our lives gnarled and snarled. I really had a good time starting new relationships. Dr.J says—"The human touch of kindness is our species’ distinguishing mark and something many go without due to all of the world’s technological advances.” Maybe it’s good to sit down face to face, look each other in the eyes, talk and have breakfast together. Relationships are very important for us humans, it appears. CoachB says—Probably the greatest gift we can give will be the words of our mouth encouraging, lifting up and building up people. And you know folks, it doesn’t cost us any money! Ok, we have to buy breakfast sometimes!

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson    I enjoy the outside and usually do some type of exercise every day. I think it’s good for our minds and bodies (i.e. there is something about being outside that is good for our souls I think—it seems to take the gnarled part of our mind away). Do you believe in stereotypes? I have found out that the Midwest thinks that the Great Northwest is extremely liberal, and the Northwest thinks the Midwest is extremely conservative!  Are they correct or is that just a stereotype? Is there such a thing as moderates or not? If sooo where do they live?

Life can seem to be gnarled and snarled sometimes. It’s really quite hard to figure it out most of the time. Sooooo do you roll the dice a lot with your life or are you more certain? A friend communicated with us and ended her communique this way--Good for you guys for taking a chance at happiness again. I am a risk taker, but I sure like the odds way in my favor (i.e. but even then, sometimes I win and sometimes I loose). But as my mentor would say to me—erv, you gotta win more than you lose.

We had breakfast at Trout Lodge at White Pass of the Cascade Mountains (i.e. a cute, unique mountain lodge ran by Jeanne’s friends). This pole is a support pole in the lodge that was gnarled. It was from a Lodgepole pine that had burls on it caused by some type of infection that makes the bumps on the tree (i.e. gnarly looking).  An analogy—Maybe we have events in our lives that cause bumps to us which are ugly and/or beautiful (i.e. depends on the viewer). These burls or bumps, probably make us gnarled and snarled. Could be, maybe, I don’t know! Saturday questions—What do your burls look like? What did they come from?

Rembrandt’s final great painting The Return of the Prodigal Son hangs in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the painting, the father’s face is full of compassion as his son kneels at his feet and presses his head into the man’s chest. The father’s hands rest on his son’s shoulders, and the father literally enfolds his son within his red cloak. It’s believed Rembrandt pictured himself as the son and that this painting was a sort of testimony of his own journey. Saturday questions--Which one is snarled and gnarled? Are we the parent or the child; neither or both? I read this while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it--It is not our circumstances that create our discontent or contentment. It is us. Do we need to consider changing our attitude maybe!

Ludacris ludacris ludacris! If we get gnarled bad enough, maybe they will think we are beautiful, and they will make a piece of furniture out of us and adore us. You think soooo! The old saying, beauty is only skin deep, has some meaning maybe. There is some true beauty under the skin alright in all of us. But to be Miss America you have to be beautiful outside and inside. The meaning of the saying is—Physical beauty is superficial and is not as important as a person’s intellectual, emotional, and spiritual qualities which is a person’s character. I agree whole heartily. And another saying is—Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Theguydownthestreet has the ugliest and wackiest dog I have ever seen, and he loves it! Ridiculous, just ridiculous!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean said—The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.