November Gifts...
Skipping along... down the path.

"Once, a group of Siamese monks covered their precious golden Buddha with an outer covering of clay to keep their treasure from being looted.

The golden figure lay hidden for centuries.

We are all like the clay Buddha covered with a shell of hardness created out of fear, and yet underneath is a ‘golden essence’, our real self. Sometime along the way we began to cover up our natural self. Our task now is to discover our true essence once again."- Jack Canfield

Click on the Buddha picture to go to an Encarta site on Buddha.

Who would have thought all those decades ago as we were growing up that our major task in life is really an archeological one? Happy excavating...

Our lives are busy, we are steeped in the mundane tasks of life, giving us little time to reflect upon our own internal process, let alone upon the complex issues of the world that so often feel frightening and beyond our control. We do give these things thought, but then we are pulled out of our thoughts and back into the world of doing...

I haven't included much of any political commentary for quite a while, somehow being distracted myself... My friend Craig (creatively pictured at right) continues his ongoing exploration of politcal motivations on his site Homeland Absurdity, and so I go there on occassion to remind myself of things...

Statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.- "Chronicle of Young Satan", Mark Twain


There is a lot beyond our control, but don't put too much in that category... if you click the peace sign at left it will take you to an interesting site I purloined from Craig. Our generation changed the course of a war once upon a time... try to keep vigilant, and remember to vote.

Make Love, Not War :)

YIKES!!!


Well-behaved women rarely make history.- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

I am off for a vacation to visit family in Michigan; the page will be in hibernation...
It will be the first time I have been home with family on my birthday since 1983- that is a little while.

I never know what to make of horoscopes... still I read them and if they say something good then I put stock in them for the day. But the things they say about us Scorpios! Their descriptions never fit me at all- see:

"In popular horoscope myth, Scorpio is one of the most feared signs of the zodiac, known mainly for its darker qualities of manipulation, anger, and viciousness. The sign's deeper qualities and the symbol of the "stinger", however, are often lost. As the second of the Water signs, Scorpio reflects sensitivity to the world of feelings, including passion, unconditional love and loyalty. The difficulties with this sign occur when Scorpios feel they've been trespassed and, like the scorpion, are propelled to protect themselves in a manner that's often viewed as unsavory by the other signs. In the end, Scorpio reveals the values of feelings, our deeper relationships with other individuals and a deeply intuitive nature which often propels those of this sign into fields of employment that require such sensitivity."

Where do they get this stuff?

My nipples are in their prime.- Sandra Bernhard
Yes, it is true... hope it will always be so.

Don't deprive me of my age. I have earned it.- May Sarton

Here's to life, it is a wonderful invention... YIKES! Ciao!!!

I had a good trip, was able to see family and neighbors and friends back in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, having the special pleasure of seeing Rev. Will for the first time since 1974... a real treat. My folks are doing well, as are everyone else and pictures will follow at some point here... The bed was the same one I slept in 35+ years ago- lots of memories and yet another reason to be glad to be back "home". "I" am here.

While in Michigan I watched a PBS National Geographic Society special titled "Skin". It was great and touched upon many things about this wonderful organ that keeps us together... If you click on the skin pictures above they will link you to a brief blurb on the National Geographic Magazine site about the special.

From these familiar characteristics of skin emerge the profound mysteries of touch, arguably our most essential source of sensory stimulation. We can live without seeing or hearing in fact, without any of our other senses. But babies born without effective nerve connections between skin and brain can fail to thrive and may even die.

While watching the PBS special I thought about what a wonderful organ the skin is and remembered how back in 1985 when, despite a big blizzard, I drove to work that November, got out of my car and walked across the icy parking lot. I then proceeded to slip, falling flat on my back with a big thud, smacking the back of my head aginst the blacktop and splitting it open. The thought I remember going through my head at that moment was one of a line from Woody Allen in his movie "Sleeper", when they were going to replace his brain: "Oh no, not my brain... my second most favorite organ." I do have interesting thoughts, maybe even a teeny bit abnormal. But skin is wonderful- so which really are my first, second and third most favorite organs? It will take some thinking... maybe some more research. My wonderful friend Jay recently told me that our society is skin/touch deprived. It is so. Maybe if we all got enough skin contact time the world would be a calmer and more peaceful place.

I watch less news these days- it is too scary.

With impending war looming fairly large it is important to review our past, learn the lessons available from it...

During WWII the Red Cross obviously knew how to prepare for war and provide for the needs of our fighting men...

Somewhere along the line of development we discover what we really are, and then we make our real decision for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone else's life, not even your own child's. The influence you exert is through your own life and what you become yourself.- Eleanor Roosevelt

My daughter is celebrating 75 days of sobriety; it is a big deal. Sobriety offers her the opportunity to participate in life, to explore her talents and her self. And for those who share with her these moments in time, it is beautiful to see.

Every moment of every day we are becoming, we are exploring this life and exploring what we find inside as our self. We are all in this together and we are all in this alone. That is a good thing. We all need to be together, and alone. We all need to enjoy others, and enjoy our self. What the world needs now is love, sweet love... for everyone.

Thanksgiving is around the corner, coming up on us fast. Last year I included serious stuff for Thanksgiving, with info about Brewster's relative on the Mayflower and with the Native American view contributed by Rhetta. This Thanksgiving, let's just laugh... ok?

Those of you not born by 1960 or so will not likely understand the significance of the man with the coffee cup in the picture at left, harkening back to Novemebr 1963... yes, those of us alive at that time will never forget.

So, when baking your turkey, don't forget the UV protection- you don't want your turkey to end up like this one! (Click on the Turkey picture for a Thanksgiving story... courtesy of Grapppler.)

ENJOY! MAKE YOUR TIME WITH FAMILY AND/OR FRIENDS, WHOEVER YOU HAVE TO SPEND THE DAY WITH, SPECIAL. AND REMIND YOURSELF TO GIVE THANKS FOR HAVING THEM IN YOUR LIFE. THANK GOD/LIFE FOR GIVING US THOSE WE TREASURE.

HAPPY 16TH ANNIVERSARY
STEVE & MARTY!!!

Steve and Marty are celebrating their 16th wedding anniversary on November 28th... yes, congratulations- it is a big deal.

Marty & Steve have worked hard to have a successful relationship- as you can see from their pictures. And the outcome is nothing short of stupendous!

Love cures people, both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.- Dr. Karl A. Menninger





Picture to the left is Rodin's sculpture, The Kiss.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAY!!!

Jay and I celebrated his 51st birthday Thanksgiving Day with pie at the hospital with Carol, photographer extraordinaire...

Age is a matter of the mind. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.- Mark Twain

It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.- Moliere

Speaking of Carol, Margaret and I visited her the Saturday before Thanksgiving- eating pizza this time. Carol is doing great, able to transfer herself independently now- she is going home today, 11/29, after 6 long weeks in the hospital!!! We are all hoping and praying for her success and her return to work- we miss her!

Your request for no MSG was ignored.- Fortune Cookie

You never know what life will bring, but most likely it will bring you other than what you requested. John Lennon was right, life is what happens while you're making other plans. Remember to jump at the chance... and get while the getting is good.

The month is ending; it has, once again, gone fast. Time seems to be moving on more quickly these days and I wonder if there is some sort of acceleration factor as we age that scientists have yet to define. Perhaps as our skin becomes thinner light goes through it more easily and therefore faster- maybe the speed of light is not a constant and so our experience of time does change as our skin thins... Hmmm, maybe I should hold those thoughts to myself.

I have not put a client story on yet this month, and so now here it is, late but not forgotten in this busy, busy month. I will keep it simple.

Back in 1988 I went to a training on documentation skills when I worked in commmunity mental health. I don't remember anything that they told us about documenting our work, but I do remember the speaker talking about how difficult our work is. He said something about how so often we get no thanks from our clients and in fact we may no longer be seeing our clients when what we have done with/for them has a positive impact. Many times we say things that have no impact, yet later, at the right time, our words may come to their mind and be of help. It was an interesting thought, at least to me.

When I worked at the state hospital and then again at geropsych I would often tell patients that I enjoyed working with them and hoped never to see them again. We did not have a lot of success with some clients and they would return. Most clients never returned and you had no idea how they had fared, if what you had done had helped. It can be work with little positive reinforcement.

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving I was at one of the facilities I work with and was getting ready to leave. I saw a client I had seen a couple of months ago ahead of me in the hall and selfishly hoped she would not interact with me so that I could get out and head home for the holiday weekend. But she recognized me and asked if I was leaving, to which I simply responded "yes". She smiled and said, "Thank you for what you did for me, it has improved my life immensely". Life is odd isn't it?

If you have comments on my topics or content, please send them to me at:

Comments received from responding humans and my responses can be accessed by clicking on the picture of Ken's 1962 Wheel Horse Garden Tractor at left; Ken was the originator of the idea for this...

CLICK for ongoing writings/quotes from JUDITH VIORST'S book: Necessary Losses
(Last Added to 11/29/02...)

Music: Click on Lips (Should be loaded about the 3rd try...) Leonard Cohen, from "TheFuture", "Waiting for The Miracle" Page Created November 2002