I've been a bit morose lately (and the chorus says, when is he ever really not morose) - the economy has been much on my mind lately. Fuel prices have been the highest thought - I happen to have gas receipts going back to February 2 of this year, when I paid $3.06 a gallon. I just saw tonight that the "cheap" gas in town is $4.16. This now means that my daily commute is running me $16.00 a day, or $80.00 a week, or $320.00 a month.
The bad part is, I've taken just enough economics to know that any economy is actually a fairly fragile thing, based on feeling as much as fact - and generally limited to the least input. Right now, that input is fuel. The global economy, in some form or fashion, is built on fuel - from "Just In Time" manufacturing to the fact that virtually every product I buy, whether food or oil or books, is shipped from somewhere else. Fuel prices will affect everything - including, eventually, employment.
So to assist The Ravishing Mrs. TB tonight (as she was having an in-home spa party), I took Na Clann out to dinner tonight - McDonald's, a treat. As we sat outside in the play area, the girls running around, I was overlooking one of the main roads into town watching the cars go east and west as I picked through the remains of dinner. It suddenly hit me, in the slowly setting sun, that given all factors being the same, this was a thing and vision that was doomed to perish - and the system which built it as well. And not in the time frame of my life, but much, much sooner. It reminded me of being in Vienna in July of 1914, just prior to the start of World War I, when the feeling was the 800 year old Hapsburg Empire would last forever - that the civilized and elegant life that Vienna represented at the time would go on forever, unassailed by the world outside.
The image haunts me ever now, as I sit down to write about it. What does one do at the end of the world - or at least the world you knew?
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Good News/Bad News
A bad news and good news day.
The bad news? My father called - apparently one of the three colonies we bought this spring is failing. They had brood in when I checked them two weeks ago, but apparently the queen failed after that. We're going to try to transfer the remaining brood and frames to one of the stronger hives, in hopes that we can strengthen the one and save the current brood. We'll see how it goes.
The good news? I got to work with my garden tonight, working in steer manure for finishing planting of beans and corn. It makes me happy because I have really worked hard on this soil, enriching it, rotating it, taking care of it. It is dark brown, rich, crumbly - just the way a soil should be. It bothered me last year when we had the house up on the market that I might have to leave the soil, because it was so good. This year, I once again get the pleasure of working with it.
The bad news? My father called - apparently one of the three colonies we bought this spring is failing. They had brood in when I checked them two weeks ago, but apparently the queen failed after that. We're going to try to transfer the remaining brood and frames to one of the stronger hives, in hopes that we can strengthen the one and save the current brood. We'll see how it goes.
The good news? I got to work with my garden tonight, working in steer manure for finishing planting of beans and corn. It makes me happy because I have really worked hard on this soil, enriching it, rotating it, taking care of it. It is dark brown, rich, crumbly - just the way a soil should be. It bothered me last year when we had the house up on the market that I might have to leave the soil, because it was so good. This year, I once again get the pleasure of working with it.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Fallen Again
The problem is me.
I was reminded of this this weekend, by once again managing to fall (rather handily) into another gray area. The nature of it is not important - because, as I discovered as I was feeling (rightly) condemned by my sin, it really doesn't matter what the temptation is, it is I that am the one that goes for it, time after time.
It brought to mind the fact that truly, I am never really free of my sin nature. Redeemed yes; freed from the bondage of sin indeed; but still the flesh is ever with me, ever ready to yield at the drop of a temptation.
The key - or at least the key for me - is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, which says "Hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil". It is the second verse that I need to listen to and practice more: to abstain from every form of evil. Not to dance around it, not to dip my toe in it, not to "Go only this far and no more". It is not to start in the beginning.
I have never regretted the drink I never had, the lust I never indulged, the money I never coveted, the food I never overate on. Not once.
I was reminded of this this weekend, by once again managing to fall (rather handily) into another gray area. The nature of it is not important - because, as I discovered as I was feeling (rightly) condemned by my sin, it really doesn't matter what the temptation is, it is I that am the one that goes for it, time after time.
It brought to mind the fact that truly, I am never really free of my sin nature. Redeemed yes; freed from the bondage of sin indeed; but still the flesh is ever with me, ever ready to yield at the drop of a temptation.
The key - or at least the key for me - is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, which says "Hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil". It is the second verse that I need to listen to and practice more: to abstain from every form of evil. Not to dance around it, not to dip my toe in it, not to "Go only this far and no more". It is not to start in the beginning.
I have never regretted the drink I never had, the lust I never indulged, the money I never coveted, the food I never overate on. Not once.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Potpourri
A very confused - and random week, loaded with things of portent and activity:
- First of all, the Ravishing Mrs. TB and myself celebrated 15 years of marriage this Thursday. It truly doesn't seem like it has been that long. Certainly of itself, it is a matter of some reflection, if for no other reason it seems that sometimes it is the exception rather than the rule. We celebrated by having dinner by ourselves (no children) at a brew pub, eating like adults and not having to fight to get anyone to eat anything.
- I have had more discussions at work (about leaving work), as well as some guidance in the idea of leadership. Leaders have to lead actively, not passively. I don't think I got that before.
- Nighean bhan and I finished threshing out all of our barley and the bulk of our wheat this week. I have one more cutting to do, then we can begin the summer garden in earnest.
- We traveled to the Ranch today to visit parents - surprisingly, it was a cloudy and rainy day for Memorial Day weekend (.8" of rain when we left). I went to peek into the bees - sure enough, the overwintered hive is putting honey into the supers. Honey for sure this fall!
- Finally, I filled up my tank with under $4.00 gas, probably for the last time. This one is bothering me particularly, as a general indicator of the economy to come. It now costs me $16.00 a day to commute to work. Long term, this is not tenable.
- (Okay, I lied) I also started giving some thought to goals, short term and long term. The short term ones were easy - I finally made myself focus on 10 to accomplish this year (I just have to let the rest go until next year). The long term ones were much harder, as they were much more general. It's kind of a difficult thing: I need to create these goals, yet given the current state of the world, it is difficult to create goals which may have no basis in reality.
And that, as they say, was the week that was...
- First of all, the Ravishing Mrs. TB and myself celebrated 15 years of marriage this Thursday. It truly doesn't seem like it has been that long. Certainly of itself, it is a matter of some reflection, if for no other reason it seems that sometimes it is the exception rather than the rule. We celebrated by having dinner by ourselves (no children) at a brew pub, eating like adults and not having to fight to get anyone to eat anything.
- I have had more discussions at work (about leaving work), as well as some guidance in the idea of leadership. Leaders have to lead actively, not passively. I don't think I got that before.
- Nighean bhan and I finished threshing out all of our barley and the bulk of our wheat this week. I have one more cutting to do, then we can begin the summer garden in earnest.
- We traveled to the Ranch today to visit parents - surprisingly, it was a cloudy and rainy day for Memorial Day weekend (.8" of rain when we left). I went to peek into the bees - sure enough, the overwintered hive is putting honey into the supers. Honey for sure this fall!
- Finally, I filled up my tank with under $4.00 gas, probably for the last time. This one is bothering me particularly, as a general indicator of the economy to come. It now costs me $16.00 a day to commute to work. Long term, this is not tenable.
- (Okay, I lied) I also started giving some thought to goals, short term and long term. The short term ones were easy - I finally made myself focus on 10 to accomplish this year (I just have to let the rest go until next year). The long term ones were much harder, as they were much more general. It's kind of a difficult thing: I need to create these goals, yet given the current state of the world, it is difficult to create goals which may have no basis in reality.
And that, as they say, was the week that was...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Check in and a Haiku
Sorry I haven't posted regularly - been a bit busy. I will post more this weekend, as it is the holiday.
As a partially downpayment, please accept this haiku:
Reflecting window,
A light next door is drowned out
By the full white moon.
As a partially downpayment, please accept this haiku:
Reflecting window,
A light next door is drowned out
By the full white moon.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Bee Update
Yesterday we went up to the Ranch - to visit the bees, among other things. At the least, I was hoping that I at least no colony had died.
I got that - and more.
Of the three colonies we put in new, they were all in a state of growth - not all the same, but in every one there was sealed brood, emerging brood, larvae and eggs. In one we saw the queen, in the other two not (which, as a subtext, means I'll have to try and mark queens next year just to pick them out. They're easy enough to see when they're in the cage, but harder when they're mixed in with 10,000 other bees.
The real surprise was the overwintered colony. When last I saw them (almost a month to the day), both the top and bottom deeps were about 30-40% occupied (3-4 frames out of 10). When I opened them up this time, every frame on the top was completed filled with honey and loaded with bees - in fact, I don't know if we could have gone much longer before we had a swarming issue (in point of fact, this means the hive is probably close to it's high point of 60,000 bees). They were relatively mild, only getting a little cranky when I had to lift the hives up to remove the entrance reducer. In confidence of a bumper crop (it is still green there, and wildflowers probably have another month to go), we put not one but two supers in place.
It looks honey for sure this year!
I got that - and more.
Of the three colonies we put in new, they were all in a state of growth - not all the same, but in every one there was sealed brood, emerging brood, larvae and eggs. In one we saw the queen, in the other two not (which, as a subtext, means I'll have to try and mark queens next year just to pick them out. They're easy enough to see when they're in the cage, but harder when they're mixed in with 10,000 other bees.
The real surprise was the overwintered colony. When last I saw them (almost a month to the day), both the top and bottom deeps were about 30-40% occupied (3-4 frames out of 10). When I opened them up this time, every frame on the top was completed filled with honey and loaded with bees - in fact, I don't know if we could have gone much longer before we had a swarming issue (in point of fact, this means the hive is probably close to it's high point of 60,000 bees). They were relatively mild, only getting a little cranky when I had to lift the hives up to remove the entrance reducer. In confidence of a bumper crop (it is still green there, and wildflowers probably have another month to go), we put not one but two supers in place.
It looks honey for sure this year!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Whole Seed
I was struck this week, as I started to thresh my barley, by the fact that each individual barley berry (seed) I was knocking out would provide a whole plant by itself, given water, sun, and soil. The second thing that struck me is that the barley has to be completely destroyed.
The only way for the barley to produce the next crop is for it to completely die, to be transformed from a seed into a plant which is both useful and reproduces, is for it itself to completely lose what it is - a seed - and metamorphose into something else that is different indeed.
Do I apply this to my own life? Do I seek to completely commit myself - to die to myself, my wants, my desires - so I can be something that gives life to others?
"I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." - John 12:24
The only way for the barley to produce the next crop is for it to completely die, to be transformed from a seed into a plant which is both useful and reproduces, is for it itself to completely lose what it is - a seed - and metamorphose into something else that is different indeed.
Do I apply this to my own life? Do I seek to completely commit myself - to die to myself, my wants, my desires - so I can be something that gives life to others?
"I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." - John 12:24
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Barley Harvest
Last night was the Barley harvest. I have always been concerned about when to start it - I want to get the maximum amount, and not cut it too soon - yet it holds up valuable gardening space (although I believe I've finally started to figure out seasonally what to put where). The nice thing about this barley is that it turns black when it is ready to be harvested. That makes it pretty easy - even for me.
The other interesting things is that some volunteer wheat had crept in. I'm not one for ever wasting where I do not have too, so I had to cut around and through the wheat as well.
There is something calming about harvesting any grain: cutting it off near the stalk, hearing and feeling the semi dry or dry stalks as they come off into your hand, anticipating the final grain in your hand after all is done. It is, of course, easier if there is nothing to cut around - just go from right to left, grabbing the stalks in your left hand and cutting with your right, pulling them up, and then stacking them; then, going back for more. The cool evening breeze, the gradually reddening of the sun as it goes down, the rustle of the other barley and the wheat yet to be cut.
It doesn't get much better than that.
The other interesting things is that some volunteer wheat had crept in. I'm not one for ever wasting where I do not have too, so I had to cut around and through the wheat as well.
There is something calming about harvesting any grain: cutting it off near the stalk, hearing and feeling the semi dry or dry stalks as they come off into your hand, anticipating the final grain in your hand after all is done. It is, of course, easier if there is nothing to cut around - just go from right to left, grabbing the stalks in your left hand and cutting with your right, pulling them up, and then stacking them; then, going back for more. The cool evening breeze, the gradually reddening of the sun as it goes down, the rustle of the other barley and the wheat yet to be cut.
It doesn't get much better than that.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Work?
Another reminder today that I should really think about finding another job.
Yesterday, I had a dental and medical appointment, so I didn't go into the office - instead, between appointments and after, I worked on documents, checked my e-mails and responded, and telconned in. I felt pretty good, one of those "Ready to plan and take on the world" kind of days. The same was true today as I left late to have blood drawn: I was ready to go in, make a difference, and accomplish something.
I crawled home at 7:30 physically and mentally exhausted. After doing other things in the day, I got sucked into an emergency for someone else which took me an hour to resolve - then caught up on the items from the day before yesterday that I didn't discuss with my boss. Even now, there is a pile of work on my desk just waiting to ambush me tomorrow.
The funny - or frustrating - thing is that there is no sense of purpose or success to this work. If we complete it, more will come right after it. In a client based business, one never sees the completion - you're already on to the next project, and in my business, we're hardly doing things that truly make an impact.
If I feel this way day after day when I come home, something is just not right.
Yesterday, I had a dental and medical appointment, so I didn't go into the office - instead, between appointments and after, I worked on documents, checked my e-mails and responded, and telconned in. I felt pretty good, one of those "Ready to plan and take on the world" kind of days. The same was true today as I left late to have blood drawn: I was ready to go in, make a difference, and accomplish something.
I crawled home at 7:30 physically and mentally exhausted. After doing other things in the day, I got sucked into an emergency for someone else which took me an hour to resolve - then caught up on the items from the day before yesterday that I didn't discuss with my boss. Even now, there is a pile of work on my desk just waiting to ambush me tomorrow.
The funny - or frustrating - thing is that there is no sense of purpose or success to this work. If we complete it, more will come right after it. In a client based business, one never sees the completion - you're already on to the next project, and in my business, we're hardly doing things that truly make an impact.
If I feel this way day after day when I come home, something is just not right.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
An Iron Will
This week I got a book that is one of those that I think I can say will change my life. The book: An Iron Will by Orison Swett Marden. It was originally published in 1901, and so may suffer from the accusation that it is "hokey".
It is a book about developing the power of the will, harnessing it to achieve as much as you can. He uses short paragraph length biographies about how individuals who were in far more dire circumstances than I have ever been, and how they used their willpower to overcome their difficulties and succeed.
I read a similar quote this week from author and consulting Brian Klemmer: "The energy used to power a light bulb and a laser are the same. The difference is how they are focused."
Which is part of Marden's point: to use your will effectively, it needs to be focused on whatever you want to achieve - which has always been part of my difficulty, as I have problems both deciding what I want to focus on (afraid by making a decision I will lose the power of choice, which is true, but may open up other vistas) and then sticking to it.
But, says my mind, we've passed 40 now, so the time to start deciding and focusing is now - before time runs out....
Buy the book. It's short enough to read every day, yet profound enough to mentally chew on for a while afterwards.
It is a book about developing the power of the will, harnessing it to achieve as much as you can. He uses short paragraph length biographies about how individuals who were in far more dire circumstances than I have ever been, and how they used their willpower to overcome their difficulties and succeed.
I read a similar quote this week from author and consulting Brian Klemmer: "The energy used to power a light bulb and a laser are the same. The difference is how they are focused."
Which is part of Marden's point: to use your will effectively, it needs to be focused on whatever you want to achieve - which has always been part of my difficulty, as I have problems both deciding what I want to focus on (afraid by making a decision I will lose the power of choice, which is true, but may open up other vistas) and then sticking to it.
But, says my mind, we've passed 40 now, so the time to start deciding and focusing is now - before time runs out....
Buy the book. It's short enough to read every day, yet profound enough to mentally chew on for a while afterwards.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
HWMNBN
I had breakfast with He Who Must Not Be Named (HWMNBN). It was of course a good time - being with HWMNBN always is - but a strangely refreshing in a way I had not anticipated.
HWMNBN's brother is dying - literally within the next few days. Yet HWMNBN is not at all dismayed with this - He is resting his whole weight on the promises of God. I was privileged to listen to a phone conversation between him and his aunt. He said that they were looking at it as a new birth - his arrival into heaven - and that he was jealous, as his brother was going to get to ride the perfect carbon fiber bike before him. He said that when his brother moved on, he was at such peace he didn't feel he would cry - that he knew where he his brother would be, and that it would truly be with the Lord.
It was privilege to hear this conversation - indeed, to be involved with this situation at all. HWMNBN's faith was so vivid and real at that moment, that I was put to shame. I need to have faith like that.
Pray for HWMNBN's family - even with his faith, it will undoubtedly still be hard. And pray for all those who have loved one dying, that they might have the knowledge and peace of Christ in their hearts.
HWMNBN's brother is dying - literally within the next few days. Yet HWMNBN is not at all dismayed with this - He is resting his whole weight on the promises of God. I was privileged to listen to a phone conversation between him and his aunt. He said that they were looking at it as a new birth - his arrival into heaven - and that he was jealous, as his brother was going to get to ride the perfect carbon fiber bike before him. He said that when his brother moved on, he was at such peace he didn't feel he would cry - that he knew where he his brother would be, and that it would truly be with the Lord.
It was privilege to hear this conversation - indeed, to be involved with this situation at all. HWMNBN's faith was so vivid and real at that moment, that I was put to shame. I need to have faith like that.
Pray for HWMNBN's family - even with his faith, it will undoubtedly still be hard. And pray for all those who have loved one dying, that they might have the knowledge and peace of Christ in their hearts.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Congratulations!
A special round of congratulations goes out tonight to Bogha Frois and L'Acadien, who got married tonight! A long time coming, and a very happy thing indeed!
"Marriages are all happy - It's having breakfast together that causes all the trouble." - Irish Proverb
"Marriages are all happy - It's having breakfast together that causes all the trouble." - Irish Proverb
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Waiting
I'm onsite at a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) this week, here to observe the media fills for a client's runs.
If you've never been involved in pharmaceutical manaufacturing at a commercial plant, it's quite different from clinical or research manufacturing. The schedule is fixed weeks in advance, so you theoretically schedule your visit when all or the bulk of your work is to be done.
And then you arrive, and then life happens.
Of my three days here, the first day I got to observe the end of a run - starting at 12:oo AM and going until 2:00 AM. The second day was clean up, so I saw nothing. Today, I arrived at 8:00 to observe. However, due to personnel availability, the start of the run has been delayed, so here I sit. I have to leave at 4:30 this afternoon for the airport, so if I'm lucky, I'll get to see some of the filling process.
Manufacturing is like this.
But then again, this is a microcosm of life. Life is like this too, if I really admit it. We really like to believe we have control of all (or at least most) of the events of our lives, but how often are we stymied by events out of our control, or things that change, or things that fail or don't happen? At least for myself however, unlike the CMO environment, where I am understanding and patient, I tend to become impatient and lash out the people or circumstances around me. How do I reasonably explain this dichotomy?
The feeling of control, the control that I think I should have over all events in my life - but don't because it is simply impossible.
I need to be more patient and willing to wait - not just in work situations, but in all aspects of my life. The simple fact is, accept it or not, sometimes that's the way it is.
If you've never been involved in pharmaceutical manaufacturing at a commercial plant, it's quite different from clinical or research manufacturing. The schedule is fixed weeks in advance, so you theoretically schedule your visit when all or the bulk of your work is to be done.
And then you arrive, and then life happens.
Of my three days here, the first day I got to observe the end of a run - starting at 12:oo AM and going until 2:00 AM. The second day was clean up, so I saw nothing. Today, I arrived at 8:00 to observe. However, due to personnel availability, the start of the run has been delayed, so here I sit. I have to leave at 4:30 this afternoon for the airport, so if I'm lucky, I'll get to see some of the filling process.
Manufacturing is like this.
But then again, this is a microcosm of life. Life is like this too, if I really admit it. We really like to believe we have control of all (or at least most) of the events of our lives, but how often are we stymied by events out of our control, or things that change, or things that fail or don't happen? At least for myself however, unlike the CMO environment, where I am understanding and patient, I tend to become impatient and lash out the people or circumstances around me. How do I reasonably explain this dichotomy?
The feeling of control, the control that I think I should have over all events in my life - but don't because it is simply impossible.
I need to be more patient and willing to wait - not just in work situations, but in all aspects of my life. The simple fact is, accept it or not, sometimes that's the way it is.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Rumination on an Illinois Cornfield
Withered sentinels,
Stalks in rows await the end,
Dead brown among green.
Stalks in rows await the end,
Dead brown among green.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Goals, Dreams, and Guidance
I'm struggling again with goals, dreams, and guidance.
I found a great deal of help and comfort today in reading When I Don't Desire God by John Piper. It had some very practical suggestions for Bible reading and prayer and how the world and its beauties can point us to God.
A phrase that particularly captured me was "In daily life, to live wisely is to achieve the God centered goals for which we were created, including the glory of God in the gladness of our worship." (p. 145).
"To achieve the God centered goals for which I was created" - that, to me, is a perfect mission statement. It helps me to clarify my own:
To Write for Impact,
To Preserve for the Future,
To Lead for Change,
To Glorify God
- In that the focus of all of these is that that they are God centered.
So with that in mind, looking at all my wants and dreams, what are God centered goals?
- To glorify God in all that I do.
- To find joy in Christ more than anything is this world and glorify His worth through the His Word, Prayer, and His creation.
- To be a godly example and leader to my wife and children.
- To bear the Fruit of the Spirit (this would make a long list indeed!)
- To write in such a way that God is glorified.
- To preserve The Ranch (and all that I would have) in such a way that God's creation points others to God.
- To manage my physical body in such a way that it is useful to God yet is not glorified for the sake of itself.
- To use my mind in God glorifying ways through teaching and learning such that I glorify God more, not that I become more prideful or enamoured of my learning.
- To manage my finances in such a way that God is glorified in my money, not that my covetousness and greed are indulged.
I found a great deal of help and comfort today in reading When I Don't Desire God by John Piper. It had some very practical suggestions for Bible reading and prayer and how the world and its beauties can point us to God.
A phrase that particularly captured me was "In daily life, to live wisely is to achieve the God centered goals for which we were created, including the glory of God in the gladness of our worship." (p. 145).
"To achieve the God centered goals for which I was created" - that, to me, is a perfect mission statement. It helps me to clarify my own:
To Write for Impact,
To Preserve for the Future,
To Lead for Change,
To Glorify God
- In that the focus of all of these is that that they are God centered.
So with that in mind, looking at all my wants and dreams, what are God centered goals?
- To glorify God in all that I do.
- To find joy in Christ more than anything is this world and glorify His worth through the His Word, Prayer, and His creation.
- To be a godly example and leader to my wife and children.
- To bear the Fruit of the Spirit (this would make a long list indeed!)
- To write in such a way that God is glorified.
- To preserve The Ranch (and all that I would have) in such a way that God's creation points others to God.
- To manage my physical body in such a way that it is useful to God yet is not glorified for the sake of itself.
- To use my mind in God glorifying ways through teaching and learning such that I glorify God more, not that I become more prideful or enamoured of my learning.
- To manage my finances in such a way that God is glorified in my money, not that my covetousness and greed are indulged.
Greetings from Illinois
Huzzah! Greetings from Illinois, where it is not quite the spring we have in California: when I left, it was 85 F and sunny. Here, it's 45-50 F, overcast, and we actually had snow today.
Travelling is good for the soul, even if I don't personally enjoy it all the time. The landscape alone is different: here, it's relatively flat and amazingly green to someone from Northern California. Flying over the US as we came, you are struck by the contrast of miles and miles of seemingly unoccupied desert with peaks thrusting their heads up, still snowbound.
Things here are much more spread out in the towns, as land is apparent not in short supply. Still, it is rural enough that I have seen some beautiful barns as I was driving. Lots of fields for what I assume will be corn (it's too late for most winter grains, and I think too early for the summer ones).
The one thing this all does do is make me desire to be at The Ranch even more. There's a way to make something there that will be economically viable. I know there is. Being out among the fields and barns makes it even more desirable (the green doesn't hurt either).
The question is what.
Travelling is good for the soul, even if I don't personally enjoy it all the time. The landscape alone is different: here, it's relatively flat and amazingly green to someone from Northern California. Flying over the US as we came, you are struck by the contrast of miles and miles of seemingly unoccupied desert with peaks thrusting their heads up, still snowbound.
Things here are much more spread out in the towns, as land is apparent not in short supply. Still, it is rural enough that I have seen some beautiful barns as I was driving. Lots of fields for what I assume will be corn (it's too late for most winter grains, and I think too early for the summer ones).
The one thing this all does do is make me desire to be at The Ranch even more. There's a way to make something there that will be economically viable. I know there is. Being out among the fields and barns makes it even more desirable (the green doesn't hurt either).
The question is what.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Who do you want to be today?
So challenged by Bogha Frois to take action after I note difficulties, this morning I sat down and made a list of role models: those individuals whom I think have characteristics worthy of emulating in part. None of this (with the exception of the first) is without flaw, but it is an interesting point of departure.
1) Jesus Christ - Saviour, Messiah, Son of God
Then, in no particular order:
2) John Bunyan (1628-1688): Christian Writer and Preacher. Wrote widely; his most famous book is Pilgrim's Progress.
3) Miyamoto Musashi (1584 - 1645): Japanese Swordsman. Author of A Book of Five Rings.
4) Nehemiah (active 444-424 BC): Cupbearer to Artaxerxes I; rebuilt walls of Jerusalem.
5) Ruth (ca. 1146-1105 BC): Biblical book and character; great grandmother of King David.
6) Esther (active 483-473): Biblical book and character; queen of Xerxes I, Persian King
7) Crazy Horse (1842 - 1877): War leader of the Lakota Sioux.
8) Leonidas son of Anaxandridas (ca 540 - 480 BC): Agiad King of Sparta; led the Three Hundred to the Pass of Thermopylae.
9) Marcus Porcius Cato (234 - 148 BC): Roman Statesman and Censor. Author of On Farming.
10) Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790): American statesman, inventor, scientist, politician, political theorist, diplomat, businessman, and author.
11) George Washington (1732 -1799): American General, Farmer, and President.
12) Elijah (Active ca. 870-855 BC): Hebrew Prophet.
13) Colum Cille (Columba) of Iona (521-597): Irish missionary monk to the Picts.
14) Gene Logsdon (Current): American man of letters, critic, and farmer. Author of numerous books.
15) Marin Luther (1483 - 1546): German monk, theologian, reformer, university professor and author.
16) John Carter - Warlord of Mars. Fictional character of Edger Rice Burroughs.
17) Michael Collins (1890 - 1922): Irish revolutionary leader, politician, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and Commander in Chief of the National Army.
18) Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919): American president, governor, historian, naturalist, explorer, author, and soldier.
19) CS Lewis (1898 - 1963): Irish author and scholar. Most famous for The Chronicles of Narnia.
20) Alexius Comnenus I (1048 - 1118): Byzantine Emperor. Founder of the Comnenus dynasty.
So there you have it. Even as I write them, I begin to see patterns: military, honor, leaders, farmers, authors. Even seeing this, I need to go a little deeper: Why do I admire these people? What is it about them that I would seek to emulate?
1) Jesus Christ - Saviour, Messiah, Son of God
Then, in no particular order:
2) John Bunyan (1628-1688): Christian Writer and Preacher. Wrote widely; his most famous book is Pilgrim's Progress.
3) Miyamoto Musashi (1584 - 1645): Japanese Swordsman. Author of A Book of Five Rings.
4) Nehemiah (active 444-424 BC): Cupbearer to Artaxerxes I; rebuilt walls of Jerusalem.
5) Ruth (ca. 1146-1105 BC): Biblical book and character; great grandmother of King David.
6) Esther (active 483-473): Biblical book and character; queen of Xerxes I, Persian King
7) Crazy Horse (1842 - 1877): War leader of the Lakota Sioux.
8) Leonidas son of Anaxandridas (ca 540 - 480 BC): Agiad King of Sparta; led the Three Hundred to the Pass of Thermopylae.
9) Marcus Porcius Cato (234 - 148 BC): Roman Statesman and Censor. Author of On Farming.
10) Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790): American statesman, inventor, scientist, politician, political theorist, diplomat, businessman, and author.
11) George Washington (1732 -1799): American General, Farmer, and President.
12) Elijah (Active ca. 870-855 BC): Hebrew Prophet.
13) Colum Cille (Columba) of Iona (521-597): Irish missionary monk to the Picts.
14) Gene Logsdon (Current): American man of letters, critic, and farmer. Author of numerous books.
15) Marin Luther (1483 - 1546): German monk, theologian, reformer, university professor and author.
16) John Carter - Warlord of Mars. Fictional character of Edger Rice Burroughs.
17) Michael Collins (1890 - 1922): Irish revolutionary leader, politician, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and Commander in Chief of the National Army.
18) Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919): American president, governor, historian, naturalist, explorer, author, and soldier.
19) CS Lewis (1898 - 1963): Irish author and scholar. Most famous for The Chronicles of Narnia.
20) Alexius Comnenus I (1048 - 1118): Byzantine Emperor. Founder of the Comnenus dynasty.
So there you have it. Even as I write them, I begin to see patterns: military, honor, leaders, farmers, authors. Even seeing this, I need to go a little deeper: Why do I admire these people? What is it about them that I would seek to emulate?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Role Models
So I'm struggling with goals and motivation - a fairly typical occurrence for me, as it happens every 3 months or so. I set goals, and then I lose my motivation to achieve them, feeling less than energetic, or a failure, or it doesn't matter.
So, in an excess of feeling as if I needed to be punished, I spoke with Bogha Frois. Two items came out of it:
1) What is your motivation set in?
2) How do you evaluate those whom you seek to emulate?
For 1), my motivation (as I have written earlier) always seems to be in the gaining of the approbation or pleasure of others. The nut to crack here is how to essentially self motivate, to set and seek out goals not for what they will cause others to do, but what they will make me.
For 2), Bogha Frois points out quite rightly that there is not necessarily a need to adapt folks without reservation, but to take the best part of different individuals and emulate them. Still, it is a relevant question: Whom do I believe are worthy role models? What about them should I seek to emulate? How do I do this?
Who are your role models, those whom you seek to emulate?
So, in an excess of feeling as if I needed to be punished, I spoke with Bogha Frois. Two items came out of it:
1) What is your motivation set in?
2) How do you evaluate those whom you seek to emulate?
For 1), my motivation (as I have written earlier) always seems to be in the gaining of the approbation or pleasure of others. The nut to crack here is how to essentially self motivate, to set and seek out goals not for what they will cause others to do, but what they will make me.
For 2), Bogha Frois points out quite rightly that there is not necessarily a need to adapt folks without reservation, but to take the best part of different individuals and emulate them. Still, it is a relevant question: Whom do I believe are worthy role models? What about them should I seek to emulate? How do I do this?
Who are your role models, those whom you seek to emulate?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Some Thoughts to Start Today
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
"Don't wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking." - William Butler Yeats
"Begin to be now what you will be hereafter." - William James
"Don't wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking." - William Butler Yeats
"Begin to be now what you will be hereafter." - William James
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Running Bees
Having bees for a hobby is kind of like moonshining.
You pay for your bees, then you go to the site - invariably out away from "city folk" (lest the insects that support their fruit smoothies interfere with their lives - where, in a semi-clandestine exchange, you pick up (and pay for or prepay) x boxes - three in my cases. They go in the the trunk of your car, then off you go - in my case, with my three daughters, to act as cover in case of a traffic pullover.
Then, you drive to the location of your hives - again, away from the "city folk" -, going through the small rural towns of the valley. You look in your back mirror, and suddenly one of the bees which was attracted to the queen's pheromones and was on the outside of the box has now floated up to the back window. No worries - one bee.
Then, when you look back a little later (trying not to swerve and attract attention), you see it's two. Then three. Soon, ten - all against the back window, but now at least one is flying around the back of the car.
So, you pull over, away from the freeway, hoping again you don't attract attention. Out go the bees after a little shooing. You eventually have to do this another one to two times.
Finally, you arrive at your locale of hive placement - after 250 miles of driving (for me, The Ranch). Using a home prepared substance out of legal materials (syrup), you doctor it up for your purposes (with essential oils and antibiotics to feed the bees.
The hives, which were on hold since last year, are back out of storage. Into each hive, you take the queen cage stuffed with marshmallow (no queen candy in them) and place it in the center of the deep. Then, against all common sense, you slam the bees to the bottom of their box - two times at least - then start pouring clumps of bees into the hive (you would not think bees would clump, but they do). In fact, leaving all leave of your senses, you play Bee pinball, trying to roll smaller clumps through the hole in the box and into the hive. All of this, you do three times.
Then, you place a feeder above each hive, as progressively more bees whir around your head, and pour into it a portion of your "syrup", after having placed a "pollen patty" (a patty purportedly made of pollen and other "ingredients") onto the top of the hive. On top of this, you place the lid. Again, you do all of this three times.
I love having bees.
And if you think this sounds like moonshining, wait until we talk about taking honey...
You pay for your bees, then you go to the site - invariably out away from "city folk" (lest the insects that support their fruit smoothies interfere with their lives - where, in a semi-clandestine exchange, you pick up (and pay for or prepay) x boxes - three in my cases. They go in the the trunk of your car, then off you go - in my case, with my three daughters, to act as cover in case of a traffic pullover.
Then, you drive to the location of your hives - again, away from the "city folk" -, going through the small rural towns of the valley. You look in your back mirror, and suddenly one of the bees which was attracted to the queen's pheromones and was on the outside of the box has now floated up to the back window. No worries - one bee.
Then, when you look back a little later (trying not to swerve and attract attention), you see it's two. Then three. Soon, ten - all against the back window, but now at least one is flying around the back of the car.
So, you pull over, away from the freeway, hoping again you don't attract attention. Out go the bees after a little shooing. You eventually have to do this another one to two times.
Finally, you arrive at your locale of hive placement - after 250 miles of driving (for me, The Ranch). Using a home prepared substance out of legal materials (syrup), you doctor it up for your purposes (with essential oils and antibiotics to feed the bees.
The hives, which were on hold since last year, are back out of storage. Into each hive, you take the queen cage stuffed with marshmallow (no queen candy in them) and place it in the center of the deep. Then, against all common sense, you slam the bees to the bottom of their box - two times at least - then start pouring clumps of bees into the hive (you would not think bees would clump, but they do). In fact, leaving all leave of your senses, you play Bee pinball, trying to roll smaller clumps through the hole in the box and into the hive. All of this, you do three times.
Then, you place a feeder above each hive, as progressively more bees whir around your head, and pour into it a portion of your "syrup", after having placed a "pollen patty" (a patty purportedly made of pollen and other "ingredients") onto the top of the hive. On top of this, you place the lid. Again, you do all of this three times.
I love having bees.
And if you think this sounds like moonshining, wait until we talk about taking honey...
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