Category Archives: Ruminations

Anger weighs more than joy, but if you drop both of them from a tall building, they’ll hit the ground at the same time.

Grass and grain and vegetables get their nutrients from the soil. The plants and animals we eat get their nutrients from grass and grain and vegetables and soil. We get our nutrients from cows and vegetables.  And, ultimately, the soil gets … Continue reading →

There are too many stars to count, but that hasn’t stopped us from trying, has it?

Every day is a struggle, but it’s better than the alternative.

It’s good to see a smile when you look in the mirror early in the morning. It doesn’t take much effort and it improves the day immeasurably for people around you.

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a fairly long walk.  Much of the snow and ice on the roads (except for one) near our house had melted. What was left was slippery only in a few spots. Though I slipped a … Continue reading →

Goals are overrated. Achieving them, we believe, will make our lives better.  Success in reaching objectives we set for ourselves brings happiness.  Contentment. Joy. Fulfillment. Nonsense. Contentment comes with satisfaction. Satisfaction comes with appreciation of one’s lot in life. I firmly … Continue reading →

I have learned that one can, indeed, plan for days of snow and ice.  I have learned, as well, that one does not have to like it.

I just viewed my couchsurfing.org profile, something I wrote quite awhile ago and updated with our new location not long ago.  Interesting what one thinks might be important to couch surfers. Here’s what I say about us, just in case … Continue reading →

Every morning, someone sets off to do work better suited to someone else.  And that is a shame.

If I had absolute control over everything—living and dead and inanimate—I would be dining on fresh abalone this morning. Instead, I am laying out plans for an upcoming meal that will not quell my appetite for abalone. If that is my biggest concern … Continue reading →

Every morning, something new is waiting. New cup of coffee, new thoughts, new opportunities to consider how colors change as the sun rises. It’s as if there’s a new world out there, or the same world through new eyes.

A glass of cool water can brighten a room.  Take a sip and the grayness that’s smudging the walls and the windows and the world around you leaks away.  That sip begins the process, leaving a cleaner, clearer view for … Continue reading →

If you allow it, an ugly passion will grow in you, a passion striving to suffocate the goodness in people around you, people you know and people you don’t.  If you allow it, this ugly passion will consume you and … Continue reading →

Fifty-Seven. That’s what I label this post.  That must mean this is the fifty-seventh day of the year.  Time ticks along, shedding a second or a minute or an hour or a day at a time, moving inexorably toward the moment … Continue reading →

Things could be worse. Celebrate the fact that humanity hasn’t incinerated itself.  That’s a celebration worth having.  And any such celebrations call for meat pies and sausages spiced with jalapeños, wrapped in dough.  Hell, yes, life is worth living! Drink … Continue reading →

Messages are not messages when sent, they are intentions.  They are messages when received.

You cannot cause a person to love you, or even to like you. You can attempt to influence another’s emotions by the way you behave, but you can’t cause an emotion to arise in another person out of the sheer force of your will. The best you can do … Continue reading →

When I’m the only one I can find who’s interested in a topic, I may decide to discuss it with myself. And when I’ve of two minds on the matter, I’ll argue with myself.  It’s annoying when I lose the argument.

Some people tend to choke when swallowing their pride, so they avoid doing it, at all costs.

As I sit at the table, listening to the sound of the fan pumping warm air from the floor ducts into this voluminous room, I wonder whether it makes sense to have such tall ceilings in the winter. And I … Continue reading →

Return the affection that is laid on you.  If it is honest, it will grow and consume any doubt; if it is not, it will smother the pain and leave sweetness in its wake.

Words you don’t want to hear from your wished-for lover after informing her you narrowly missed being killed by a  jack-knifing big rig on a slick, icy highway: “Oh yeah? Do you think the roads will be clear enough tomorrow … Continue reading →

Curiosity is a wonderful thing until paired with greed.

I’ve found that, when my mind is tightly closed—sealed so well that nothing can get in—the best way to crack it open is with a dose of undiluted humility.