The Art-of-Living Experiences

It has been a while since I have dug deep into my backpack for a dose of Arthur Gordon. Catherine Marshall, the author of, "A Man Called Peter", calls Arthur Gordon's book, "A Touch of Wonder", a luster of commonplace events of everyday life.

To carry this intro a bit further, Dr. Donald E. Smith, President of the Institutes of Religion & Health simply says that Gordon's book is a "book that recaptures for the reader in an extraordinary way the excitement and joy of life." Well. There it is. The excitement and joy of life. Having felt that same way upon the first reading of my "go-to" book of common everyday events, it's baptized in bible holy water, so I don't let it replace the bible, but the pages are well worn like one another. I guess to put it in common terms, one could say, one is like thinking you need to call 911 and the other one is knowing you must call 911. Good ole common sense steeped in experience from cover to cover in both books. One doesn't replace the other, but when you use them both together---the power that Moses called forth from above to part the Red Sea can send shivers up and down the spine.

Anyway, There are a few stories that I have read and re-read so much, I should have them memorized, but I'm practical and save that energy for other things because I carry the book with me and I can landmark the story in the book as well as a GPS accurate map.

Today, the stories that call out are these:

1. I'm Aware of You
2. A Spark Jumped
3. Unlikely Friendships
4. Memorable encounters
5. The most beautiful unorthodox things
6. Discard that rain coat
7. 6-x's
8. Perhaps---the way everything of consequence begins.

 My most read story is: The Stranger Who Taught Magic.

For one, I have walked the sand dunes in the Carolina's, been flounder gigging up a backwater stream,meet older men that taught so much about life's purpose and had them disappear in death or places unknown. In short, that 13-year old boy fisherman could have been me growing up and it was a learned balance, like a good solid education that no one can ever take away from you. To have both is just an awesome experience, even when there are those that still want to see  you fail, or when you stumble, step on you as they walk on past. I try to forget those. It's like memorizing something that is in print and readily available to your fingertips. Why memorize when you can use those cells for more thing of equal or higher level consequences.

Just this week, I saw a bumper sticker on a car that said to the effect, " Pray for Peace in Jerusalem." On either side of the car were stickers for  a protestant church and on the other a Madonna. Both would signal to most that the person was fairly religious.  Yet, I saw something different. I'm thinking to myself, "lady, Jerusalem could not be in better hands,"  meaning that Jesus said, " I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and receive you unto myself. And there are scriptures that speak of a new Jerusalem descended from heaven when Christ comes again. SO, it does not matter what happens in Jerusalem, the Lord has that well planned out. Which brings to point: the faith that this woman seemed to me to be shallow to not know or to have reached that  point of reference; that while the power of prayer is well documented, she should have known that there are other places to be praying for other than the most sacred of cities ever made mention in the Bible and Torah and Koran. Critical thinking is like a puzzle. The big picture always wins over the microscopic agendas of the weak that want us to believe that they are stronger.

A great sign. Their big digital could not do what this sign does....stops traffic.

Yes, the topic of life. Some call it poetic justice

A Morning Dove Observes

Quantum Mechanics and Other Topics

I am not a quantum physicist. Nor, do I ever claim to be one. But, it is a topic that has interested me since my college days and during the course of time since, actually, I have begun to understand a tiny bit (pardon that pun) of the Theory.  Not until I read an article in Quanta Magazine did it hit me just how much interest that I had in the topic and how the very laws of Quantum Mechanics have changed my life, my world, my total thinking. That is a heavy statement. It is, without reservation, true.

Yesterday, was another one of those  dark, gloomy and dingy days that I use to shoot textures and backgrounds. I don't do as much of those as I should. But somehow, I do manage to squeeze in four or five days every six months to do just that. Usually, those days fall into the dreary bin.

A few weeks back, I ran across a dumping pile for old trees and logs  that had been removed from somewhere else. A tree is good for two textures--the grain from the cut and the bark. Both make interesting backgrounds for graphic artist and web designers. Some are even becoming a focal point for the cutting-edge interior designers. So, the thinking was that if I could make one stop and get two separate backgrounds, the cost per mile would drop against any future sale.

When I got to the site, I was somewhat relieved to see them all still there. I parked the car and got out, camera in hand. As I approached the favorite piece that I had half-way chosen to be the best of the lot for texture shots, it was obvious that someone else had chosen it as well, as a pile of fresh sawdust lay on the ground and a fresh face cut was obvious that a slice had been taken away already.
Actually, the person who had come and gone with the cut, had aided me more than they knew.

When, I had the shots that I wanted, I walked over to the car and went into the little wood wine box that I carry little props and tools in for the tripod. Don't you see the entanglements and tensor networks going on here? It's quantum physics at work people!  Quantum entanglements--the glue that holds things together, including those tensor networks of the universe. They are all working together. That's why there are 1,000 parts on an Airbus A-380 that are made with a digital 3-D printer. Think glue baby, think glue! 

Now, think about how many years this tree was alive and of the history that passed over it; below it; through it, or within it. Time and Space. That tree is time and space. Somewhere in another dimension, that sawdust on the ground is still on that tree trunk. That's what Dr. Stephen Hawkins believes. Who am I to disagree?

54-inches side-to-side cut

The lesser diameter trunks and limbs