Snow storms and Serenity

Snow-Maggedon, no....Winter cyclone is a better description.    We have 3 feet on the ground now and tonight we should be getting another 20 inches of the white stuff.  Plus we are getting winds with the current storm.  Oh ouch.  I love snow -- just not this much.  Here is a snapshot of my last few days:  Clean off my car, Dig out my space, help neighbors dig through the ice berg the snow plow left that blocked all of our cars and go to bed and then wake up to do it all over again the next day.  Good exercise but wow.

Hang in there all you snow shovellers and meanwhile read up on these winter cyclones from The Weather Channel.  I promise you they are pretty interesting.

Hunting winter storms: NOAA dispatches aircraft used for ... - RestoreJan 19, 2010 ... Listen live to Atlanta's breaking news, severe weather, ... to help forecast winter cyclones - Kirk Mellish's Weather Commentary .... Join Channel 2 Action News anchors John Pruitt and Monica Pearson at 5, 6, and 11pm. ...


wsbradio.com/...weather.../hunting-winter-storms-noaa-dis.html - Cached -

Sheep

Garrison Keillor and Prairie Home Companion is just marvelous. One phrase struck me tonight. He had Pastor Inkvest describe the folks of Lake Wobegon as sheep, easily scared and mainly a herd animal. How true! How much better for the ego, though, to be the coyote for whom sheep is just fast food? But baaaaaah for now.

History of Dance from YouTube

Nora the Cat (All Props to YouTube)

It is just so sweet how Nora actually listens to the music. Just amazing. It reminds me of the dharma talk our sensei gave today. He talked about listening for the Buddha as we chant the nimbutsu. He was so right. And Nora reminds me of this quality of listening.

You have Got to See This Dancing Dog

Oh, god, Travolta was never this cute!!! That is one clever dance team!!!

Rabbits' Feet

Completely adorable Travelers' ad on doctors reattaching good luck rabbit paws to their original owners. Why? Because with Travelers you no longer need to get that extra luck. It is really an inspired concept of insurance as a state of grace. Of course, while the surgery to reattach the foot is successful the color the lucky charm doesn't change so now we see rabbits running around with one white foot and one foot that was either green, red, or purple.
This is inspired advertising.

Garden of the Three Treasures

Ekoji is having a spring garden cleaning party. Today! So, of course, I am grabbing whatever grubbing/gardening things I need and heading over there this morning. Giving back and getting back from being involved is what life for me is all about. Here is a picture of the gardenIn Gassho

Show of Hands, Please

Ok, who is old enough to have worn mood rings when they were first on the market back in the day? Don't be shy. Raise your hands. I had mood rings but never could get them to work. I always had cold hands so the crystal/glass/whatever it was never was anything but grey. The best mood ring I have found is not crystal or glass. It is silver and cost 7 bucks from Kohls. It is engraved with four words: peace, spirit, mind and body. And right now it is at peace. Be at peace, folks, be at peace.

Lest You Think

Lest you think my life is all gloom and doom, rest easy. The up side of having a chronic condition is that my kids check in with me. They make sure I am ok. They call to make sure ... It is sweet.

Google Home Page Themes

I love them. I especially love my Google screen theme called tea time. It makes tiny changes from morning to night. This afternoon a turtle chomped on green grass as the sky glowed in late afternoon colors. Such serenity. I will continue to watch it as it evolves from dinner to bedtime, until such coherent peace comes to my own soul. Until then ...

Realizations

On the cosmic scoreboard of my life, it is usually out of town team 100, home team 0. I don't usually realize how much I have changed until I am done changing. I always forget the good I have done and only see what I have done wrong. Sigh. But I am realizing that state of mind tonight. Going forward from here is an uphill climb but at least I won't be holding myself back.

Cell Phone Alarms and Dancing Sheep

What on earth did I do without my cell phone? I used to think of it as an electronic leash. Now it is a lifeline to connect with folks who matter. And even handier are the alarms I can program in. Alarm clocks don't work for me. I have a hard time falling to sleep and a harder time waking up. Now, though, with the Nokia cellphones, I can program in intervals of beeping that interrupt me at my rest. Even better? I get to see sheep dancing about on the screen which puts a smile on my face. And smiles are few and far better for the sleep beleaguered. Thank you, Nokia software folks. Thank you.

Leaps of Faith and Headaches

Sleep with a headache is impossible. When I can't sleep, I watch TV. Usually I watch the history channel. Tonight I struck paydirt with an episode on History International about Rob Roy MacGregor who is an ancestor of mine. And I follow that up with watching "Hitch" only to see the best diaglogue on taking a leap of faith. http://www.sofacinema.co.uk/visitor/product/39811-Hitch.html I love his words which sort of go like this: Because we leap and hope to god we can fly....otherwise we drop like a rock wondering why we jumped in the first place...you make me fly.... This is the scene where Hitch jumps onto the car and is thrown off. Those lines he says about why we jump and the faith we have to pull ourselves through any situation are mind-bogglingly good. 'So from family to faith tonight.

Split Self and Cancer Study

http://www.bioenergeticanalysisct.org/rablensplitselfessay.htm This is a fascinating read. I initially researched it after realizing that I was in danger of becoming brittle after this last set of deaths in my life. I need to learn more boundaries and less active involvement the pain of others. Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries....not just a park in Minnesota. http://www.friends-bwca.org/ Sigh.

Great Quotes don't always have to be Serious

"How long will it be before I can expect some light, some dinner, and a massage?"
ALL OF WHICH PROVES, ONCE AGAIN, THAT WHILE DOGS HAVE MASTERS, CATS HAVE STAFF!

Movie Quote: As Good As It Gets

Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here.

Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist Inspirations

On Death
In order to train in the path that would allow us to transform death, the intermediate state, and rebirth, we have to practice on three occasions: during the waking state, during the sleeping state, and during the process of death.
-His Holiness The Dalai Lama, "Sleeping, Dreaming and Dying"
Copyright Wisdom Publications 2001. Reprinted from "Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist Inspirations," edited by Josh Bartok, with permission of Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm St., Somerville MA 02144 U.S.A, www.wisdompubs.org.

Fathers

Things my father taught me.

As I stubbed my toes walking today, I had an odd thought. I don't know who taught me to walk. But I do know the things I have learned from my dad.

When I was small, he taught me not to get uppity with adults. I sure didn't like the way he did it but that skill in avoiding non-essential fights has served me well .

When I was small, he taught me that drawing outside the lines in the paint by numbers kits was a surprising technique but not always a bad one.

When he thought I was ready to learn about his workshop downstairs, only to be disappointed that I was not ready to learn, he let me go with grace back up to my reading place.

When I got bigger, he taught me how to write with humor.

When I got bigger, he taught me that music is made with the heart and even broken instruments make beautiful sounds.

When I got bigger, he taught me to drive a manual car because that was all I could afford. And when the car would break down, he would come and pick me up...no matter where, no matter when.

When I got even bigger, he let me test drive a car -- a real fancy car -- that he was thinking of buying off the showroom floor and onto the snow covered fields and roads of the county. And when I pulled over and the car slid majestically into a ditch, leaving him stomping across a farmer's field, he never ever mentioned it to me again either in veiled criticism or in hate or in humorous asides that would have made me cringe.

My father taught me so much more than life skills. He taught me courage when I would get lost, courage in facing reality, patience in learning new skills, acceptance of others and kindness in dealing with each and every person I met.

I would not be the person I am today without that interior lighting of wisdom he gave to me as I grew up.

Extratropical Cyclones: Highs & Lows

Here are some links to understanding extratropical cyclones.
Strahler Companion Ch. 6
An important weather system affecting middle and high latitudes is a traveling low pressure system called a wave cyclone. Wave cyclones move from west to ...www.wiley.com/college/strahler/sc/strach6.html
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/low.htm
and for the military minded campaigner
http://www.datasync.com/~bouchard/rich/brand2.html
and finally
http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=216335

Omnivorous Reading v. Carnivorous Eating

I am drifting towards vegetarianism. I have not fully converted myself but am less likely to eat beef and fish and more likely to eat eggs and cottage cheese. I still eat chicken but am trying to phase that out as well. Sadly though I still do eat and I wonder whether eating cheese means that cows give birth to little cows who are slaughtered so I can drink their mom's milk. Sigh. So to help me get over being carnivorous I read Buddhist texts by Buddhist writers about the impermanence of things. Here is one I am reading right now.
Thich Nhat Hanh quotations