Petdad

I am not a poet. Just like I was not a runner until I trained for, and ran two marathons. After awaking yesterday, the words ‘In the Stillness’ came to mind. Hmm, what do I do with that, I asked? I knew it needed to be written. Once under way, there was no turning back.

Not a fan of traditional elementary poems where metered rhyming conventions are predictable, I wanted to take the challenge of a thought-provoking passage that would demand its reader to think introspectively.

Under the Musings tab is my first-ever poem titled ‘In the Stillness’. Successful?, perhaps. Satisfaction however, was reached on my end.

Just posted under the Sky tab is a pic taken on the last calendar day of 2021. When I take pictures of the Sky, it’s always difficult for me to decide on which image, if any, I will post. This pic got me thinking of the Big Idea, the meaning, the Purpose.

At times, a reminder is necessary. Rocket Science, something that is very difficult to understand and requires an incredible degree of knowledge to properly implement. I am not a rocket scientist, therefore thoughts and actions should be balanced with the given moment.

While pulling out of the driveway one day, my line of sight became inline with that of the front leading edge of our lawn. The sprinklers had just commenced their cycle, over to my right I noticed that one of the half-circle sprinkler heads was not perfectly aligned to the area of grass it was supposed to water.

On one edge of the half-circle, the water spray was a couple inches back from the grass’ edge that it was supposed to be covering. Move sight to the opposite edge of the half-circle and water spray was beyond a couple inches from the grass’ edge that it was supposed to be covering.

From there I stopped the car to go fix the misaligned issue. I made the small necessary adjustment, walked to the leading-edge of the grass, knelt and examined the spray, then determined there needed to be a second adjustment.

Back to the sprinkler head, I now fine-tuned my original adjustment. Once completed, I again walked to the grass’ leading-edge, knelt and examined the spray. No good. A slight adjustment was still necessary to make it perfect.

Determined, I began my third walk to the misaligned sprinkler head. At this point Irene lost patience, lowered her car window and said to me, “It’s not Rocket Science.” That’s all I needed to hear so that I could ‘let it go’. I returned to the car, then proceeded to head-off to wherever it was we originally set to travel.

Binary perspective here… You either have it or you don’t. Virtue is a thing. Intangible yes, but it’s still a thing. It is defined as a behavior showing high moral standards. An individual quality or characteristic that is considered morally good. The word is not often used but it is one of my favorites. Virtue sounds virtuous. This is definitely something worth reaching for, even if it’s challenging.

Perhaps today you will pass it along.

I don’t have one, but I did as a kid. I remember really wanting a hula hoop because I thought they were so cool but I was never successful at maintaining the spin on my waist. It ended up being a large wheel that I would use for my backyard ‘physics’ experiments.

The person who invented the hula hoop concept must have been some kind of scientist or physics person. Perhaps not professionally, but there was obviously a lot of intellect behind it all.

Recently a good friend of mine used the analogy of a hula hoop to a ‘circle’ of friends. There are some people one lets in, and others not. They stay on the ‘outside’ of the hoop because they are not allowed ‘in’. This decision is not often taken lightly, it all depends on truth and trust of both parties.

Character Counts! There is nothing wrong with being selective of who is allowed into one’s hula hoop of friends.

Some days are wonderful. Some days are not. Influence is something we either provide to, or receive from, some-one or some-thing. Life is a give and take circumstance, and our influence on others must not be taken lightly. Words matter. Action matters. Just posted under the Sky tab is yet another impressive beauty of visual nature which had great influence for the big picture of my life, today.

Voraciousness is good, if targeted toward an honest and healthy purpose. I’ve always said that “I’m a voracious reader.” That I am however will sometimes get bogged down in my own reading activity. Since being on Christmas Vacation (shun to any ‘Winter Break’ reference), I have purchased 5 non-fiction books. That will be my limit for now, even though every one of them will be read in simultaneous manner. Even I’ve got limits sometimes but 5 books has been my tops. While information is ‘power’, it’s not power that I seek. I simply want a better understanding of this world we all live in. With that I say, ‘Don’t be a dabbling bystander in life.’ Become an active participant in your role, your purpose, your meaning of being, in this wonderful thing called life.

She bursts out the back door like her hair is on fire. Fur actually. She’s a Golden Retriever puppy who’s 1-year old stature is full grown, we think. Most everything is still new. All of the surrounding sensory providing input creates a seemingly endless stimulation of excitement. We love all of this puppy energy! It is often exhausting for her people parents because when she gets-up from any rest, there is always exercise involved for her and for us. With this, she is our welcomed responsibility, to love, care for and provide. This isn’t our first rodeo and we are well familiar with all stages of canine life. However the circle isn’t complete without its experiences, so we cherish every our every day with our canine clown.

Just posted under the Sky tab is only one of many images taken yesterday of the visually impressive Sky. The sight created a mesmerizing cadence of flight.

Yesterday an identified Gifted student of mine, who is insanely intelligent, came up to me near the end of the day and posed this scenario and question…

“Visualize a red apple. This apple is the most intensely bright and shiny red apple you have ever seen. No other apple compares to this one. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest score, what number would you rate this apple?”

My answer was simple, “10.”

My student’s shoulders slumped with slightly bowed head, and then let out a soft groan of frustration. When I asked if there was anything ‘wrong’ with my answer the student replied “Well no!, I can’t imagine rating it any more than a 2.” My student then walked away in a cloud of self-disappointment.

Since it was at the end of the day, and the question was irrelevant to anything we were learning, I didn’t pursue. But it did get me to think and wonder where such a seemingly irrelevant question stems from, and how this comes into play with my student’s mindset at the time.

I was left with many unanswered questions. The human psyche is far more complex than we can even imagine, or give credit towards. Simply astonishing!