Head-dibs

 Playing with my Critter at the Library 

  “I  stood up. Can a man stand alone, naked, and at his ease, wrist flexed at his side like Michelangelo's David, without assistance, without diversion, without drink, without friends, without a woman, in silence? Yes. It was possible to stand. Nothing happened. I listened. There was no sound: no boats on the river, no trucks on the road, not even cicadas. What if I didn't listen to the news? I didn't. Nothing happened. I realized I had been afraid of silence.” (Walter Percy)

 

 

  Very few nowadays have experienced true silence. Our world is saturated in sound. Everywhere we go, a TV is on, or music is coming from somewhere. Even if we turned them off we hear blowers, fans, engines running, a siren passing to some emergency somewhere, people talking on their handhelds or playing games. Vehicles are loaded with ridiculous sound systems that announce their presence long before they are seen. Where are the quiet moments? When are the quiet moments? Can’t go to sleep without the sound of a machine running (maybe that’s snoring), or brown noise or ambient tones. No wonder our brains are restless.  It’s time to strike out again, leave the headphones at home and find the silence God intends. Give your spirit a rest from the hubbub and listen to the wind in the trees, birdsong, the crackle of a fire. Somewhere, it’s snowing and in the soft-drifted-down is a deafening silence as the world snuggles under nature’s muffler. 

These two pieces were given to me by my maternal grandfather when I was a teenager. He bought them somewhere around in East Texas, if I recall correctly (my sweet aunts might be able to provide more information). When I later moved to New Mexico, the pieces felt at home. I enjoyed wearing them and talking about them with Navajo and Zuni craftsmen when I sold precious metals and semi-precious stones at Thunderbird Jewelry Supply.   The original watch was replaced some years ago after it stopped working and it’s replacement has since followed suit. I’d like to replace it someday, but would like it to be a traditional wind-up watch. It’s no easy task, as the watch pins are under the leaves, so it must be right. Too much bending could cause breakage. There is no replacement for a broken watchband. I don’t wear them anymore, but keep them put away safe for a special occasion. Each leaf, bead, and twisted wire are handcrafted. The dark matrix allows the turquoise to peek from the oxidize...

Now, the day is over.  Night has drawn quite nigh.   Shadows of the evening fill the moonglow sky. Now, with darkness gathered, stars delight to peek. Birds and beasts and flowers, shhhh, are fast asleep.   (Rewritten lyrics to a bedtime song)

To influence simply means “to pour into.” Manipulation implies doing something by hand and might include influence. The contrast of the two might be seen in someone giving directions versus actually taking someone where they need to go.   Some influencers stand out in my life, and they all had something to do with music. Mrs. L got me started in orchestra, making certain her students had too-notch private teachers and parked us on front rows in concerts. She even made me a tape of her favorite pieces to listen to over that one summer. I devoured that tape and to this day, can still tell you what was on it, side A and B. She pointed the way. Mr. K was a choir teacher who tested my skills. He let me conduct, teach and screw up without ridicule. He helped me get to All State when I was the only string player in school. Without an orchestra, he managed to show the way. Other influencers were worship leaders and the special musicians they found to bless our lives.  I can’t name any...

  Can this be right? Does Tolstoy really mean this? The quote actually comes from a conversation in the novel,  Anna Karenina . Was she right? Is respect a substitute for love?  Since love is displayed in so many forms, every manifestation of love must be absent in order for respect to appear, if this were true. Respect would be a curios invention indeed, especially since respect has value. Wouldn’t it be correct to say that respect is actually a form of love? It’s been argued that love is private and respect is public. In the novel, the speaker depending on this, has lost in both arenas and is desperately grasping. So, not so great a sentiment, is it? It would be correct to say that disrespect fills the empty place where love should be. Both are found in the context of relationships. Every display of disrespect spreads chaos, is without honor, careless, selfish, loveless. Love invents. Disrespect destroys.  Tolstoy wasn’t wrong. Anna was.

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne’s essay, “Of the Institution and Education of Children” (published 1579)

  The heaviest of the shopping season is over. It’s just not the same as it used to be, shopping. I can’t speak for this year, but last year and the year before, online shopping increased so much during the holiday season that UPS, USPS and Amazon rented every 26 foot lift gate truck they could find from UHaul, Budget and Penske starting in October and ending the February. Independent contractors had nothing to drive in that period and woe to the normal Joe who had to move his family, especially military families.   I’m partially to blame. I don’t do much shopping apart from grocery shopping, but when I get a gift card, I go online. I couldn’t tell you which stores carry things I might buy, but I can find them online! Grocery shopping has changed too—just shop online! Have someone else get your stuff and go to the store and pick it up— shoot, just have it delivered! It’s nice in a pinch, but this has become a way of life for some people. I’m some parts of the world, you can on...

  A smile is the effect that affects. And infects.  A smile is a quiet greeting, or underscores sincerity in a spoken one. A smile rolls out the red carpet of hospitality and turns politicians into celebrities. It may seal a hard-earned victory or salt the wounds of the defeated. The frown of the worldly great is the smile of sophisticated majesty. Socrates’ executioners smiled down on him in vain-glory and he smiled back, stealing their joy. A smile disarms difficulty. It can be gracious or ghastly. It masks what is hidden in the heart, or unashamedly unleashes everything contained therein. A smile could just mean you are happy! Morning smiles on the earth and all things smile in return. “You can smile when you can’t say a word  You can smile when you cannot be heard  You can smile when it’s cloudy or fair,  You can smile anytime, anywhere.”