HEAD(hed), (n.) 1. the top part of the human body or the front part of an animal where the eyes, nose, east and mouth are. "Your brain is in your head." DIBS(dibz), (n.) 2. a thick, sweet syrup made in countries of the East, especially the Middle East, from grape juice or dates. [Arabic "debs"]--World Book Dictionary, 1976.
“It was a glorious night. The moon had sunk, and left the quiet earth alone with the stars. It seemed as if, in the silence and the hush, while we her children slept, they were talking with her, their sister — conversing of mighty mysteries in voices too vast and deep for childish human ears to catch the sound. They awe us, these strange stars, so cold, so clear. We are as children whose small feet have strayed into some dim-lit temple of the god they have been taught to worship but know not; and, standing where the echoing dome spans the long vista of the shadowy light, glance up, half hoping, half afraid to see some awful vision hovering there. And yet it seems so full of comfort and of strength, the night. In its great presence, our small sorrows creep away, ashamed. The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has seemed so hard and wrong to us. Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays ...
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Windows Down
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When I have the opportunity, I drive with the windows down. Most often someone else is in the car with me and that's ok. Most of my passengers (my wife, my daughter, my niece) are "windows up" kind of people--which is fine. That is a different kind of comfort. But when alone, the windows go down. Sometimes my son is "windows down." He works in that environment anyway. He doesn't think anything of it, I'm sure.
Perhaps I should clarify: when the weather's nice, the windows go down. But not every time. Sometimes when I am able to drive in the rain, the window comes down just far enough to put my hand out and get stung with a million high-fives by heavy drops. Sometimes the bite of cold winter air snaps one to a new level of consciousness. Still cautious of the deeply humid summertime air of the South, though--got heat-stoke once a few years back while driving a couple hours with no air conditioning in the middle of June. Maybe it was July. Bad stuff.
But mostly it's "60-4 Air Conditioning" (drive 60 and roll down 4) when I can. Or 70-2. Or 80-2. etc.
I like to feel "outside" when driving, to feel the temperature changes, to take in the the smell of freshly mown hay, to feel the wind cut across the road and tussle my hair in unnatural directions. You can't let your hair down when the window's up.
"Inside" is for commoners, for that's where the work is, but "outside"-- now, that's Regal. Liberating. Why should one leave the walls of a building and climb in between the walls of a car when this is the closest one gets to flying? To smell like the wind, the un-bottled scent of Peter Pan, free of charge!
You know, my son won a bet because the window was down. His work truck was following another truck hauling a couch that was losing it's stuffing in the wind. Someone said, "I'll bet money you can't grab a piece of that puff" as they barreled down the interstate. He put his hand out and harvested a piece in mere seconds. All because the window was down (somebody still owes him money, btw).
Dogs are happiest when the window's down. Cats just run off. Well, dogs do too, but that was another story. Speaking from experience here.
There's a big world outside so I drive with the windows down. Massive clouds pass in their shipping lanes above, all in the guise of camels, rabbits, dogs and horses rearing up on hind legs far above the treetops. That big hard sun beats down big people in a big hard world (Vedder). Drive in the mountains and bend your neck to see the top.
Maybe, just maybe, one day I'll get a bike. It's just a maybe. Not building up hopes about it, but to fly down the road with the earth spinning under my feet . . . not a Convertible--that's too cautious. A bike.
"From the White Sands To the Canyonlands To the redwood stands To the Barren Lands
Sunrise on the road behind Sunset on the road ahead"
“Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.3.6 b –8
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel...
