Monthly Archives: January 2021

Dr King: In His Own Words

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It’s Martin Luther King Day.

Instead of sharing my own thoughts, I wanted to share some of Dr King’s thoughts.

I hope you enjoy reading these short pieces of wisdom as much as I do. Now, more than ever, we need strong leaders who will work for peace, justice, cooperation and equality.

People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

The time is always right to do what is right.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals.

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Long Weekend

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A three day weekend is like hitting a lottery that gives you extra free time. I like to use long weekends for adventuring but this wasn’t the case for this weekend celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I’m mostly staying home this No Spend Month. Plus, thanks to Covid, there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do once you get there.

Consequently, I spent Friday night and yesterday fussing that I was wasting time. After all, when you work all week, free days feel like a luxury that shouldn’t be squandered.

Yesterday, I walked at a local park and made an effort to look for different things to photograph. Like this.

And this.

So far this weekend I have made some really good vegan mac and cheese and watched the movie Jo Jo Rabbit, the wonderful documentary Streetlight Harmonies and a few episodes of I Love Lucy. I played with the cat, read some, wrote a letter on nice stationary, got a little rest and did some organizing.

Friends, my fridge is both clean and organized.

It was a nice balance of fun and work, active and lazy. When I think about it that way- it all seems like a good use of my time. Enjoy this day, friends.

Golden, Colorado

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Visit the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and you’ll find Golden, Colorado. It’s a former gold rush town with cute shops, nice restaurants and this fabulous arch.

They’re known for outdoor recreation and for the Coors Brewery which is the world’s largest single site brewery.

This is a statue of Adolph Coors who founded the company in 1873.

The day we were in this area, we paid our respects to Buffalo Bill, walked a trail along Clear Creek, ate some good Mexican food and shopped.

We also admired this view from downtown Golden.

We saw only a small bit of the town but I wouldn’t mind staying there someday. It’s quaint and it seems like there’s a lot to do in the area.

Looking through these pictures reminded me that we haven’t talked about Buffalo Bill, his museum or his grave. I’ll try to rectify that soon because it was a good experience.

The Lost Art Of Listening And Comprehension

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Every job description requires effective communication skills with a focus on how you communicate to others. You know what they don’t specifically request?

Good listening and comprehension skills. This is odd to me as communication has no use without someone able to receive and understand the information.

Ours is a nation of people who know all too well how to express an opinion but fail miserably at listening to others. Analytical and comprehension skills are not valued at all. Facts are minor details that get in the way of how we feel.

Listening and understanding has truly become a lost art.

My degree is in English and I had enough history credits to amount to a minor. My entire college career centered on core skills – research, reading, analysis and writing.

Reading and regurgitation was not an option. Comprehension was key. No one cared how I felt.

One professor liked to give us a research problem and dump us at the library to solve it in two hours or less. This was in the early days of the internet in colleges but computers were off limits in this class and there were no smart phones. We had to figure it out with books and microfilm and our own wit.

I recall one assignment involving the above painting. Now I know that it’s Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.

The professor handed us an 8.5×11″ sheet of paper with this image on it and said “figure out what this is, where it came from, what it means and why I want you to know about it. By the end of class.”

I really hated that class but it gave me mad research skills.

My short years working for a newspaper taught me other skills. I learned that listening isn’t just about hearing what someone says. It’s just as important to notice what they don’t say.

It’s also important to realize that the person in front of you has a side of the story. But so does the person next to them and the person next to them. We like to say there are two sides to every story but few situations in this world are so cut and dry.

The true test is if you are willing to seek out and listen to those different sides or if you’re only interested in the one that supports your own notions.

If you fail at this test, you’re more likely to be dismissive of people who do not support your own world view.

Watching news unfold in the age of the internet is both fascinating and frustrating, especially when the news is so complex as it has been lately.

For example, the events at the Capitol building on January 6 didn’t look so horrific when the footage was captured from a safe distance outside. I’m guessing a lot of people thought it didn’t look so bad from that perspective as it was reported on live tv that afternoon.

The footage from inside the building, captured by the media and criminals alike, shows a completely different event. Take a 10,000 foot view of the days surrounding that event and it is framed in a completely different way than originally reported because new and terrifying information becomes available each day.

The ability to keep up with unfolding news and to fit different perspectives in with the original narrative is a skill we all need but few seem to possess.

I sometimes struggle to form quick opinions about complex situations because I want as much accurate information as possible. Yet I have witnessed people form complete opinions based on a headline or the first few lines of a single story.

This clearly is not a world where I fit in or belong. Nor do I wish to.

What’s the answer? I do not know but suspect it’s far more complex that any of us would expect. I’ll have to research it and get back with you.

The Suitcase

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This turquoise suitcase came from a TJ Maxx in Salt Lake City a few years ago. As usual, I had overdone it on the souvenirs and needed something bigger to haul everything home on the return trip.

The personal item I had carried out was quite small and I found this little number was the exact maximum dimensions for my airline’s personal item allowance.

I settled on this one because it’s roomy and a different color. It would be easy to recognize in a sea of black luggage.

No one would have a suitcase like this one, right?

Right.

So I toted it back to the hotel, packed up my stuff, and happily attached this fun luggage tag to my new bag.

At the airport the next morning, I waited patiently for my bag to come down the security conveyor belt.

The first thing I noticed as I pulled it off the belt was that my cute tag had somehow come off.

The next thing I noticed was a young woman screaming at me in broken English and Spanish to let go of her grandmother’s bag.

Yes, friends. Out of all the airports in all the world, the people in line next to me had the same suitcase.

I was still clutching the bag, protecting my possessions from this screaming lunatic when I saw my bag roll by on the belt.

And yes, the tag was intact.

I swear it all happened in slow motion.

Of course, I was mortified as I let go of the stranger’s suitcase and held up my own for the other family to see. I wasn’t a thief, I said, babbling about TJ Maxx and the pretty turquoise. We just had identical suitcases!

They were not at all impressed, edging away from me to put on their shoes, still shooting dirty looks at the weirdo who tried to abscond with grandma’s worldly possessions.

I laugh about it now.

Never again will I ever enter a TSA line without this memory flaring up and causing me to study the luggage of those around me.

No Spend Month Update

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When you decide to do a No Spend Challenge, the first thing you’ll notice is that everyone is trying to sell you something.

There’s traditional advertising like tv, mail, Facebook and email. Then there’s the person you haven’t seen since high school trying to guilt you into buying bags and soap and plastic containers from multi billion dollar companies.

It’s kind of discouraging the first time you realize your value to the world is as a consumer and nothing more.

When I check email each day, I try to unsubscribe to as much as I can but there are some marketing emails that I find useful when I am spending and don’t want to part with in the future. I just delete these without reading them so I’m not tempted today but can still get the coupons later.

The next thing you’ll notice is how much marketing is designed to make you unhappy with your life. Women’s magazines are enemy number one. They are filled with stories that are glorified advertising telling you about the cream that will lift your eyes, the jacket that will make you look taller and thinner, and the new furniture line that will make your home feel like a spa.

How’s your relationship? Shouldn’t you lose weight? Here’s a complicated recipe to make you feel completely inadequate in the kitchen. Better yet, let’s talk about expensive meal subscription boxes to cater to your gluten free, vegan, paleo or fruititarian lifestyle!

For most, the goal of a no spend month is to save money. That’s a great reason to start. In fact, that’s why I started doing this a few years ago. However, I quickly realized that there is a greater purpose to the exercise.

As the days turn into weeks, I find myself growing more satisfied with what I have and even a little skeptical of most purchases.

THIS is why I do the no spend challenge now. The saved money is nice but the deep sense of satisfaction is the true reward. With satisfaction comes gratitude and a sense of peace that there’s not much you can buy that will make you happier than you are right now.

After all, will that expensive cream really make you look younger?

It’s ok to want things. I like my home to be cozy, neat and comfortable. I want it to look pretty. There are things that I would like to have but few things that will elevate my feelings of happiness beyond where I am now.

When I have a large chunk of time at home, I tend to put down my phone more and gravitate toward projects – cleaning out a drawer or closet can’t be done while reading news. You’re less apt to kill time on Facebook when you’re engaged with something that keeps your hands and mind busy.

I tend to cook more and to use up those odds and ends that somehow accumulate in the freezer and pantry. The creation above is basically my favorite meal of all time – a baked potato topped with scrambled eggs and leftover vegetables that are lightly sautéed. Hey! Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. It’s tasty and it uses up odds and ends.

But I digress. The point is that these changes in habits make an enormous difference and help you to appreciate that it is not just about the money.

In case you are wondering, it’s day thirteen and I have paid bills but have bought nothing else. I do need a new phone case but that is a necessity to protect my very expensive iPhone from – well, from me because I am clumsy. That needs to happen soon as this one is no longer water proof.

Are you doing a no spend month? Give me an update!