Thoughts About Life – Page 8

The Spirit of Halloween

As a Pagan, Samhain was a holy day for me. As a kid and a part-time, nominal Christian, I mostly had fun with the candy and costumes and pumpkins aspect. At this point in my life, I like the candy and costumes and pumpkins part of things, as well as the spiritual side.

I’ve put a glass out for departed friends so they can stay and partake. Every year on the thirty-first I take a moment to pause and remember my loved ones. My ‘household spirits,” if you will. Mostly they are animals but there are a couple of two-leggeds also. I even remember my grandfather fondly. I have put away much of the pain and bewilderment he caused and have learned to think of him with compassion. So his spirit would be welcome at my table, should it choose to come and visit.

The Japanese have the right idea. Their festival of the dead is called Obon. It lasts three days. and is full of music, dancing, big drums, and bonfires. The people dress in festive clothes and celebrate the joyous reunion with their beloved dead. On the last day, they give them a proper sendoff, with lighted lanterns floating down the waterways and out to sea. It’s a beautiful scene at night.

Here is the best part: The Japanese people had a Lunar calendar, and changed it to a Solar calendar in the modern era. They liked the festival of Obon so much, that they celebrate it at the new time, which is earlier in the year, AND at the old Lunar time! Someday I want to go to Japan and watch the lanterns float down the river. Farewell, loved souls, we will welcome you again next year.

My Favorite Costumes

Thoughts About Life

Halloween is my favorite day of the year. Even though I won’t be doing much this year I still have a certain amount of anticipation. I’ve always loved the idea of putting on a costume and being someone else for a few hours. Exploring different parts of myself, showing off a little perhaps, having fun.

Though my costumes haven’t been all that skillfully made, I’ve had fun with each one. I’ve been an aviator/aviatrix a few times. I’ve even had the silk scarf, leather hat, and goggles. I took a flight that way once! I’ve been Ellie Mae Clampett. I’ve been Dead Spock. I’ve been Athena. I’ve been a kenshi who really was “shi.” I’ve been Emperor Palpatine. I’ve been a US infantryman. I was Galileo once, as I wrote about in another post. My earliest halloween costume was a devil costume when I was just a baby. The earliest costume I remember was when I was a robot, with a cardboard box body, dryer hose arms, and pliers for hands. I was so excited to dress up! I think I was four.

One of my favorite memories is of dressing up as the shortest Darth Vader who ever was. I’m only 5′ 3″ so it was a pretty big difference between me and good old Wafflepants! I was in college at the time, and went to French class in the costume. Later, I visited the Undergraduate Library. I went up to the information desk and asked where the plans were for the Rebel Base. “Maybe in the map library?” was the quizzical response. I had a lot of fun as Short Vader.

Last Halloween I was Doctor Squiggle. You know, the doctor with illegible handwriting? I had a little prescription pad that I wrote fake prescriptions on. Things like “One Apple, P.O, As needed,” or “One Banana, P. A., BID.”

What was your favorite costume?

The Cat Pumpkin

Thoughts About Life

When I was a teenager, my mom would often take me to see my grandmother. I didn’t really mind visiting. It was a little boring but not so bad really, and nice to get out of the house. She lived in a retirement community, basically senior living apartments.

One time they had a halloween party. There was pumpkin carving and anyone who knows me knows I’m all over pumpkin carving. That time was no exception. My favorite pumpkin, and one my mom still remembers too, was the cat pumpkin. He had ears and whiskers and everything. Everybody loved that cat pumpkin!

If you want to make your own cat pumpkin, make sure the eyes are fairly large when you cut them out and keep the pieces whole. Then trim those pieces down to nice triangular ear shapes. Secure them with bits of toothpick to the top of the pumpkin. Carve a small triangular nose and use three more toothpicks on either side for whiskers. You may need to whittle them a bit so they stick in more easily.

Everybody loved that pumpkin and I loved the memory!

The Risk of Avoiding Risk

Healthy Living, Personal Growth, Thoughts About Life

It’s natural to want to avoid risk, whether it is emotional or physical. Sometimes it’s a good idea. But sometimes it can lead to increased suffering down the road. And for some people, like me, it can cripple you.

I’ve found that risk avoidance is just as dangerous as seeking it out. I’ll give an example. It’s just as dangerous to drive too slowly for the conditions as it is to drive too fast. If you drive too fast, you may lose control of your vehicle or hit an obstacle. If you drive too slowly, other people may hit you or get into accidents trying to avoid you. So the best path is (as usual) the middle path.

I was reminded of this when I saw that Richland, a small town in Washington State, has begun removing the swingsets in all it’s school playgrounds. Their reason? Swings are dangerous.

I submit that learning to respond appropriately to danger is important to emotional and mental development. If you sometimes have danger in your life, you learn to either be careful or deal with pain. You learn fortitude and persistence. If you are always protected from all adversity and struggle, you will develop no strength. How strong would you be if an exercise machine did all the work for you? How good with money would you be if you never had to earn any of it?

Emotional risk is especially important to accept. I have had a problem taking criticism, so much so that it has hampered my ability to learn and left me very immature in many ways. This happened because I would always avoid truth that was painful, and take criticism or advice personally, so it hurt so much that I’d ignore that advice. It caused me to completely reject all manner of useful information.

Think about how crippling it would be if you refused to love anyone because you were afraid of losing them. It doesn’t make any more sense to avoid advice or even criticism because you are afraid of pain. I say it because I constantly do it! And every day, I see more and more people who are afraid of risk. The American society seems to be terrified of risk, and avoiding it ultimately makes us weaker and less able to handle struggle or adversity.

We can stand up against fear, and at the same time maintain a reasonable level of safety. The key to all of this is to keep your goal in mind. Adversity builds strength. So don’t try to avoid all risk. Make it okay to be hurt, a little anyway. Being hurt isn’t the end. If you learn to recover from the small pains, the bigger ones will be easier to deal with. Life cannot happen without pain, so it pays to be strong.

Words my Cat Knows

Thoughts About Life

My calico is quite intelligent, or at least I think so. She has a somewhat large head, with an unusually domed skull. And she uses it, too. Last night I said something involving catnip, and she looked at me with bright, interested eyes, and meowed sharply. Like “hey! I want that.” She had been ignoring me before. Here are some other words I’ve known her to understand and respond to cognitively.

Food, bed, dinner, bedroom, Mom, no, okay, out, hi, excuse me, her name of course, toy, mouse, water, litter box, bathroom, couch, chair, and quite a few others.

Interestingly enough, she has learned a few words of Japanese and responds better to them than to English. Fewer hissing sounds.

She’s invented her own ways of communicating too. For example, she will pet you with her tail if she likes you, because she has learned that people pet each other when they like each other. Living with her is like living with a little furry alien who cannot speak, at times. It’s fun!

A Haunting

Thoughts About Life

It’s late October and time for ghost tales. Here’s one for you, that really made me think.

I was driving home late one night after a long day at the call center. I was looking at the city lights, and the traffic around me, and enjoying the drive. I’m not sure if I was listening to the news or to music, but for some reason my thoughts strayed to my grandfather. For that moment I saw past the withered shell he became at the end. I started thinking about what really important about him. His life, his interests, his skills. I started thinking about what we undoubtedly had in common.

I considered his love for animals, his horsemanship, the fact that when he passed away he received a cowboy’s honors. I thought about his creativity, as crushed as it was at the end. I thought about his truck driving skills. I realized we shared more than I thought, and much of him was passed down to me. In that moment I felt my grandfather’s presence in the car with me, riding along as a silent passenger.

“I forgive you,” I whispered into the dark. “Thank you for what you have given me. I love you, grandpa.”

Haunted Houses

Thoughts About Life

I enjoy a good haunted house. I’ve actually starred in several. In college, I scared the crap out of people by dressing up in my Kendo uniform and full armor, standing as still as a statue, and then letting loose with a loud kiai right AFTER they walked by! I startled quite a few people that way.

Another Halloween, I was a version of the girl from the Exorcist. A friend of mine dressed in a black robe with a cross and Bible, and I put on this ridiculous dress and blonde curly wig. Some judicious makeup and a crazed grin made me look the very picture of a possessed person. The disguise was so good, my own mother didn’t recognize a picture of me! That’s me, in the picture above. Fifteen years ago.

Later, at the flight museum, I’d dress in full aviator’s kit, complete with flight jacket, goggles, silk scarf,leather helmet, and zombie-whiteface. I’d lie still as a stone until people would come by, then I’d “reanimate” at just the right moment to startle them. I got very good at being absolutely still. I was merciful in that position. If I heard it was little scared kids coming, I’d keep my movements slow and give them a little warning. If it was teenagers or jaded adults, I’d wait till they had just passed by and then I’d let ‘er rip with the full freak factor!

My reward for doing that haunted house was a very special treat… getting to climb up into the cockpit of the TBM Avenger. It was a big reach to get to the footholds, and climb to the top of that grand old World War II bomber, but such a feeling of accomplishment!

Oh, I love Halloween.

Let me help you, dagnabbit!

Thoughts About Life

I actually like most of my customers. Occasionally I am frustrated because I might actually be able to think of a solution, or at least a temporary fix, but the member is so negative that they won’t accept my offer of “yes.”

Just a friendly bit of advice. I completely understand how frustrating calling customer service can be. But if the rep seems to be halfway intelligent, give them a chance to try to help. It’s what you are calling for anyway, right? Try to refrain from interrupting everything they start to say. I’ll give an example:

A very frustrated fellow came on the line and said “I don’t think you can,” when I asked what I could do to help. This set the tone for the entire call. Every time I tried to think of a way to fix his problem he told me why it wouldn’t work. He often did this before I was even done presenting my solution. I actually had a couple of things I could have tried, but he got so argumentative that I gave up. His own negativity caused his statement to be a self fulfilling prophecy. I try to demonstrate my immediate caring and understanding, because I really do care, but his resistance overcame my best efforts.

What I wish I could have told him at the time: “If you say “you can’t help me” and then interrupt me every time I try to come up with a solution, all my skill and ingenuity will avail you not. I have gotten to the point where I don’t want to argue you into accepting help, when you were asking for it in the first place. So save us both the time and struggle. If you don’t think I can help you, and you intend to stop me from helping you if I do try, then save yourself the hold time and don’t call!”

America’s first Transcontinental Airline

Thoughts About Life

Written November 1, 2014

With everyone thinking so much about the news about SpaceShipTwo, I thought it would be nice if we looked back at the history of another group of pioneers. The early days of commercial air travel.

Transcontinental Air Transport was originally founded by Clement Melville Keys in 1928. Keys was a financier, sometimes referred to as the Father of commercial aviation in America. He worked closely with Charles Lindbergh to design routes throughout the continental US, founding several airports and building vital infrastructure such as markers for pilots along the way.

In those days, passengers flew in Ford Tri-motors, and traveled by train during the night time part of the journey. The trip from New York to Los Angeles took 51 hours and cost $338 one way. Of course there were many who made fun of the idea, saying that TAT stood for Take a Train. There were setbacks, including a crash in New Mexico in September, 1929 that killed all hands and happened only months after the airline started offering transcontinental service. That made many doubt the safety of air travel.

This was one of the first airlines that specialized in passenger travel. Previously, many had focused on air mail. It was also one of the first to serve meals in flight. TAT merged with Maddux Airlines in 1929, then with Western Air Lines in 1930, eventually becoming TWA.

Now, there are other, older airlines, such as the Dutch KLM, founded in 1920. But TAT was the first transcontinental airline in the US. People made fun of it, said it was too expensive, said it wasn’t practical and no one would use it.

I think the same is true for private space flight. Aviation did very little till it was privatized and opened up to competition. That’s when it truly bloomed.

Ben Franklin Goes Shopping

Jokes and Humor, Thoughts About Life

I think I saw Ben Franklin at the grocery store.

Okay, okay, I know it couldn’t have been him. It’s not as if he is some immortal that just goes around shopping at large supermarkets in the desert Southwest, but it sure looked like him.

I was walking into my local Fry’s. It was a weekend and I was on a morning mission for Tasty. As I selected the finest cart I could find and turned it around to go the rest of the way into the store, I saw an older gentleman who was the absolute spitting image of the celebrated Mr. Franklin. He had a roundish face, and a bit of extra on his chin, and brown somewhat fluffy hair, swept back from a slightly receding hairline, and a fine, high brow. He even had little, round, gold spectacles of the same type I’ve seen in many a painting.

I would have thought he was from a performer’s troupe only he was wearing shorts and modern clothes. He gave me a knowing smile and little nod, and headed out of the store.

I will probably never see this guy again. He raises in me a great and terrible curiosity. If I ever do see him, I wonder if I will have the brazenness to call out “Hey, Ben?”

(And I thought my DAD looked like Franklin? This guy has him beaten all hollow.)