I like this picture because it really shows that the moon’s spherical, even though it’s completely full.
Here’s what it looked like a few days ago.
Blog
Taking the High Road
Lately things have been so incredibly frustrating.
People who I liked and thought I understood have changed so I can’t understand where they are coming from. They are operating in a reality I cannot follow them into, a world of black and white duality, no shades of gray, and belief in concepts that are provably untrue that easily equals religious fervor.
If I talk to them, and try to gently bring them back to the world of provable reality, they fight back, tell me I’m a fool, or engage in personal attacks. They are right, after all, and no one should try to dissuade them.
The problem is, they collectively are leading the world off a cliff. If they would just take a breath or three, perhaps distract themselves with something analytical, and put down that Kool-Aid cup things would be better for them. They wouldn’t have to be afraid all the time, they would be able to see that there really is hope in the world and a future if you work for it.
These are all reasons for me to take the high road – the lofty path. These people, no matter how deluded they are, are still people. I may have absolutely no respect for their views, I may think they are leading the world into ruin, but in and of themselves, they are still people and worthy of being treated with dignity.
So I will not respond to the ad hominem attacks, I will not allow them to twist my words. I will take the lofty path.
Flames of warmth and destruction
Fire and flames have been rather central to my life.
When I was young, I kept warm at a stove just like this – it provided all heat and ability to 
cook. My parents scavenged for wood at local building sites and behind supermarkets, burning scrap lumber and cut up old pallet boards. I was used to fire, used to tending it. I was as used to this as most are used to flipping on a light switch. Later, when I owned my own home, 110 years old with faulty baseboards, I relearned how comforting flame is. I love campfires.
I also learned respect for fire as my house burned down when I was six – it was fall, promising a hard winter in northern Idaho, the stove pipe was too close to the cedar shake siding, and we lost everything.
Fire is warmth and destruction, energy of creation and consuming anger. As with all things, the internal flames of emotion are useful and warm when banked properly, the damper’s set just right, and you use good dry fuel.
Just like fire, the flames of emotion can be destructive or choke you out with smoke that makes it impossible to see when not tended properly, or allowed to get out of hand.
The mind, rational thought, is like that careful homeowner who sets the wood just right, keeps things managed, so you can warm your fingers and toes and boil a pot of tea. Then emotion becomes something to inform and inspire you, not something that clouds the truth of how the world really is, or makes you sensitive to every little slight so you spend your life being consumed by the fire of rage.
Another happy moon pic
I took this one because in just a few days we’re going to have the biggest Supermoon we’ve had in quite some time, for the same reason that last month’s Hunter’s Moon was so big. Our favorite satellite is coming closer to Earth than it has in quite some time, so the moon viewing opportunities are prime.
Keep in mind that this was taken with a humble Nikon Coolpix L830 while braced on a board fence.
Do you believe or do you know?
(Still an important topic, I’ve updated this post.)
Belief is mutually exclusive with Knowledge.
Belief is accepting something as true when you have no evidence.
Knowledge is accepting something as true when you do have evidence and a means to prove it.
Belief is emotion based and tends to resist evidence to the contrary.
Knowledge is thought based and tends to update as new evidence is found.
Belief is the basis of religion, Knowledge is the basis of science. To cross the two, as people do when they say “the science is settled” about something that clearly isn’t settled, is disaster and is not how science really works. For the record very little in science is ever “settled.” That’s the point of science. True scientists create a theory, test it, change their theory when the facts don’t support it, and try to repeat their results. False scientists create results to fit their theory, or alter them when they don’t come out “right.”
Here is a great quote regarding belief that truly made me think and I hope it does the same for you, dear Reader:
“Belief is a virus, and once it gets into you, its first order of business is to preserve itself,and the way it preserves itself is to keep you from having any doubts,and the way it keeps you from doubting is to blind you to the way things really are.” – Philip Caputo
What is more, I have found that Belief and Knowledge are mutually exclusive. Having a desire to understand the world in all it’s awe inspiring beauty, I’ve made it a personal mission to eliminate belief. It’s a long process, and a little disturbing how many ways belief is inserted into society as well as my own upbringing, but it’s been worth it so far. Embracing a knowledge based mindset has given me a firmer grounding in my world, better understanding of how things work, and a deep, abiding joy in existence. Belief had left me with a shaky foundation and a great deal of uncertainty.
Faith and belief lead to uncertainty for me. Knowledge and understanding lead to trust.
A customer service training I went to once said “take all hope away from your customer.” The statement was meant to shock the student, then get them to think, because the follow up was “they shouldn’t have to hope you will do your job well, they should know you will.”
I’ve taken that to heart, and find it interesting food for thought.
I also wish to add a link to this visual article. I found it thought provoking, entertaining, and a little touching.
To her last breath, she limits and binds
My grandmother is nearly 95. She is getting more and more confused with her letters, which is to be expected. Yet, the parts of her letters which are not confused indicate all that she has left in her mind – and that is fear and limitation.
I try to let her know what’s going on in my life. My novels, my art, my quest for a fitter body. She’s proud of me, and yet every time she says that she also suggests i do less. I say I take a walk every day. She says maybe I should make it shorter. I say I’m doing art every day for Inktober. She says maybe I should do some art and leave it for the rest day if I can’t finish.
It’s maddening! This poor woman has spent her whole life lying to herself, praying for forgiveness, pinning her hopes on things she can’t control, giving up her self control and her power, all while trying to control others with passive aggressiveness.
I don’t want to be told to do less, to pace myself, that it’s okay if I don’t finish today. That’s what held me down and that’s what I’m setting myself free of. I don’t want to be held down anymore. I want to fly.
If by some miracle, despite all lack of medical care, I were to reach the ripe old age of 95 – and I were also to have a younger woman I called granddaughter – I would want to tell her “you go! Do your best! I’m proud of you! Fly high!”
Convincing one cat to eat with relish
It can be pretty hard to convince my cat to eat.
She has this habit of liking a food, eating happily for a few days to a few weeks, then deciding she hates it.
Lately, this even happened with her favorite type of treats!
Mixing a little Meow Mix kibble with a bit of water seems to be the best thing that she’ll reliably eat but that she eventually get tired of that too.
Interspersing this with Sheba pate seems to have the best effect but not even that is a guarantee.
We’ve tried so many things! All kinds of Friskies, even the odd flavors like cod with cheese and bacon. Meat only foods. Grain free foods. Organic foods. Broths. Bisques. Purees. Bits. We’ve tried it in a blender because we know she has trouble with her teeth. We’ve tried it in single use cans so it’s not too cold to smell. We’ve tried withholding food for a short time to let her get hungry. Not for more than part of a day, of course – it’s bad for cats to fast.
In the final analysis – what do I catch her eating, with relish, almost every time?
A lettuce leaf.
Silly cat.
For Those With Stuffy Noses
your guide to beating a cold if you have narrow nasal passages
As a chronic cold sufferer, I’ve developed some good strategies for shortening the time I’m down with a cold. Some of them are old reliable remedies, but this multi-phase approach has helped me knock days off of my recovery time.
I have really narrow nasal passages and allergies so I get stuffy easily. This also leads to sinus infections. If you’re like me, you’ll be helped by these tips.
During the runny phase
Go with Garlic
First, believe what your grandmother says about chicken soup. It really is good for you, especially if it has lots of garlic. It treats scratchy throats and may have some antiviral effects.
If you don’t want garlicky chicken soup, cut a clove of garlic into small pieces and swallow them with water. It’ll make your sweat smell like garlic, but it’ll help you beat that cold.
Rest Up
We all know that it’s good to rest when you are sick. That’s because our body does most of its healing when you are asleep. Elevate the head of your bed to help with stuffiness.
During the Stuffy phase
Take hot showers
Inhale warm vapor to help loosen mucus and clear more of it out. Eucalyptus and mint help with this.
Use a nasal spray
Use a nasal spray like Afrin or the generic, but only when your nose is stuffy, and only for a few days. This will help you breathe and prevent crud from building up, causing pain and sinus infections. Overuse will cause a backlash when you stop using the spray.
Rinse with saline
IF you can stand it, rinse out your nose and sinuses with warm salt water. Don’t make the solution too strong or too hot.
When you are coughing
Suck on Something
Cough drops can help, get the ones with menthol or eucalyptus.
Whet your Whistle
Drink plenty of black tea with honey and lemon. The astringent properties help a sore throat.
If you need more help, you can use a cough syrup or honey, but try not to overuse it unless you are trying to get to sleep. Clearing your lungs means the cold goes away faster.
For more tips about controlling coughs, check out this post: Favorite Home Remedies for Cough
During all phases
Avoid multisymptom cold medicines
Just treat the symptoms you are having. Multisymptom cold medicines can actually make you feel worse and slow healing.
Drink lots of fluids
Water, salty broth, black tea, and green tea are all great for colds. They moisten tissues and thin phlegm.
I’ve found that by treating the different phases of my colds differently, I’ve been able to get back to work a lot faster and be less miserable.
Chaos in the sky
You cannot control the sky. I think that’s a truism – ask any pilot, mariner, or photographer. So taking a picture of the sky can be the very essence of chaos. Today’s photo challenge celebrates this.
Sincere Pumpkins
Does anyone remember Linus and his sincere pumpkin patch from A Charlie Brown Halloween? It also showed up in the Peanuts strip sometimes.
I loved Peanuts, especially Snoopy’s antics, and the older I get the more I like Linus. He’s so thoughtful, and, well, sincere. He’s what I think of when I think of the word sincere, as a matter of fact.
For anyone who didn’t watch the show or read the old comic, Linus was a little boy who always walked around with his ratty old security blanket. He had this personal myth that on Halloween night, The Great Pumpkin would rise out of the sincerest pumpkin patch around and bring candy to all the children.
My question is, how do you measure sincerity in a pumpkin patch? Is it the quality of the soil, the love of the gardener, the care by which the pumpkins are turned, the size and ripeness of the fruit? If I had a pumpkin patch, I think mine might be very sincere. I’m a little to old to sit all night waiting in it, but I can still recall the chidlike wonder of hoping for something that was completely impossible.
As I think of Linus and his blanket, his quiet belief in things impossible, and his massive knowledge of classic literature, I feel myself grow a little gentler, more patient, and more willing to understand others.
I find that thinking about the question is more valuable than finding the answer.
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/sincere/
Photo by Lenore Plassman
Mindflight 
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