The enigma of mind that seeks information and guidance above and beyond one's own perceptions puzzles me. I try to reply to such questions with respect, compassion and rely on what suave elocution a man of my age ought to have.
"Duh, hamina hamina hamina." I reply suavely. Then Norma sends me a photo:
There are admittedly some puzzles we can solve with guesswork and logic. Example: What is the chief commercial export of the Arctic?
Frozen fish, of course.
But other questions need Science: like what happens when sunlight strikes an atmosphere of water, methane, ammonia, in combination with molecular hydrogen and atomic helium floating around a rockbound planet?
Why, it causes Uranus to turn blue.
For all other speculation, spiritual and otherwise, I confidently refer readers to one of my favorite C&W performers, Slim Whitman:
The older I get, the more puzzles there are. Perhaps I thought I knew the answers when I was young. Now I have so many questions.
ReplyDeleteDear Margaret, Understood, and agreed with, but sometimes those answers of my youth combine into instruction to inquire further.
DeleteThis was a contemplative post. Is everything okay?
ReplyDeleteDear Emma, I guess I'm ok but my onboard contemplator has been somewhat overburdened lately. Best wishes to you.
DeleteAh, memories and periscopes... a good collection of memories helps one face the weather ahead, probably this is why kittens are often causing some kind of havoc? And cats often so confident?
ReplyDeleteDear Lisa, yes, yes, yes and yes. However, as kittens mature, their retractable periscopic upper heads become invisible (consult top photo) but still function and inform their confidence.
DeleteHamina hamina hamina.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Dear Janie, Wow! You elocute that phrase far more suavely than I. Must admit it's a frustration line I heard on the "Jackie Gleason Show/The Honeymooners" when I was a little boy. Good memories. And to you, a lovely future.
DeleteI couldn't help but wonder why Andy Kaufman was standing at the side of the stage with a microphone in his hand. But speaking of Looking for Answers Above, Judy-girl and I have taken to evening on the back patio at the cocktail hour gazing at the sky. We always saw one star come out before any others and assumed it was Venus. But then I learned from the Great Google that Venus rises in the West and this star was definitely in the South. A couple of nights ago I tuned into an online talk on the sky and learned that the Venus star was actually Jupiter and that it's companion which came out faintly a bit later was Scorpio. By the way, I love that Slim Whitman tune.
ReplyDeleteDear Bruce, I've heard conflicting accounts on this but, without looking it up, I was taught that Jupiter presided in the Pantheon and Venus was his consort --even though planet Jupiter shines less brightly than less distant Venus. I happened to watch the variety show, hosted by Andy Kaufman, many years ago and was glad to find a bit of it on Youtube --especially the performance by Whitman. I love that song too.
DeleteI mis-spoke. Jupiter is first, followed by Saturn (not Scorpio) in the Southern Sky.
DeleteBruce, there are so many heavenly bodies moving in the night sky, I don't know how they keep themselves organized. Those figuring in the Pantheon especially had a helluva time.
DeleteHello, Geo. Sorry I haven't been around in a bit, but what a great post to return to. I do love black kittens and that is a sweet photo. My compliments to Norma.
ReplyDeleteThat Slim Whitman tune is one I remember from my childhood. Thank you for posting it.
I hope things are okay there. Have you been under threat from the wildfires? I grieve for California.
0_dear_Jenny, so long as rain evades our State we are still under threat of wildfires. I live amid a loose assortment of 4 houses surrounded by dry fields (owned by a foreign conglomerate that doesn't give a damn). We mow firebreaks around our properties and have been safe so far. In the little house 100 feet east --our closest neighbors, and longtime friends-- the whole family was wiped out by covid-19 in August. Fire is a lesser concern.
DeleteRelayed your kind compliment to Norma. She glowed. And yes, Slim Whitman totally nailed that tune to the human pageant.
Oh, Geo. - my heart goes out to you and to your neighbors' remaining family, if any - what an awful thing to happen. Just heartbreaking. I'm so sorry.
DeleteDear Jenny, your concern is much appreciated. Our next-door tragedy is playing out around the world. Stay safe, please. You're important.
DeleteGeo - the enigma of life becomes increasingly daunting and infuriatingly persistent as I grow older. All the things I once considered fact have dissolved into puddles of illusion and confusion.
ReplyDeleteIn essence, I am more perplexed now than ever. And my optimism and carefree spirit has vanished. I've become bitter, depressed, and seem to have lost my soul.....
Sorry for being so gloomy. Despite my foul mood, I'm sending sunshine and positive thoughts to you and Norma.
Dear Jon, I know the difference between illusion and disillusion is an unstable precipice. When we're young we can tumble no end of down and land on our feet, climb back up. But now we feel for tremors and try to predict the new contour. California metaphor, I admit, but you spent 30 years here and know quakes. I have just finished reading "Love Letters to Ghosts" for the 2nd time. There is nothing wrong with your soul, Jon --neither is it lost.
DeleteThoughts well-received by Norma and me, and wished to you in kind.
And are not the answers to the deep questions usually right in front of us anyway?
ReplyDeleteAnd this is what cats are here to teach us in the end: Dude, nothing's really that complicated. Take a nap. You'll feel better.
Dear Squid, I believe you've nailed it. In 1968, an answer to a question so deep I'd despaired of solving it appeared right in front of me. I married her.
DeleteAs to cats, you're also correct. I now nap as I did not before --they approve. But I've never mastered purring. Working on it.
Aw... 1968's a big year in our family, too. For several reasons.
DeleteI am praying for you and your family.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Dear Victor, I could not ask for a kinder gesture. Thank you.
DeleteLike some others, I also wondered if everything was OK, Geo, but then we all get into these contemplative moods. I enjoyed the song clip and, of course, that sent me on a search for who first recorded the tune and when. It was recorded by Frank Ifield in 1962 and reached #42 on popular song charts, so of course, I had to listen to that version as well. You have increased my musical knowedge.
ReplyDeleteDear Beatrice, Brava! You may have noticed my quote-in-post of the lyric reads "...if I recall the thrill of IT all..." recalls the Ifield version over Whitman's "...thrill of THEM all". It reflects my divided preference between workable lyric and superior performance. Both artists were phenomenal.
DeleteI wish that I would not be able to remember but I do. She would be 34. Her name was Jennifer Rose. I was her mumme. She was my baby. I sing this song to her many times. Love, cat. https://youtu.be/2j45A3yxq3w
ReplyDeleteDear Cat, Vladimir Gershanov's lyric is very moving,"Я бы нанял плотника". I think I know which carpenter is meant. My condolences and respects.
DeleteI figure if the goddess needed me to know anything important, she'd leave me a note.
ReplyDeleteI like that idea!
DeleteMemories, tender or sad, are time benders. Sometimes we need that journey.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom. That journey, yes, it would be impossible to navigate time without memories. Sometimes I still wake at 5 a.m. certain I must be at work in an hour, then remember retiring 11 years ago. We can rely on habit only so far before we reexamine memory, make new paths and routines --examine 5a.m. and realize there is no such hour.
DeleteThank you for your dedication of this post--my Mom died two weeks ago.
ReplyDeletenew blog: www.thepulpitandthepen.com
Dear Jeff, I send my sincere condolences.
Delete"Pulpit And The Pen" is on the blogroll in margin at right.
All my best wishes.
...also "From a Rocky Hillside"
Delete(https://fromarockyhillside.com/).
Cat queries.
ReplyDeletePipeTobacco
Hi Prof! The ill-effect of curiosity on cats is exaggerated.
DeleteThose cats aren't social distancing! Punish them! Ostracise them!
ReplyDeleteHello M.! Have you any idea what veterinarians charge for a routine ostracism? Beyond my budget.
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear about your neighbors being victims of the virus. A whole family, yet! That's gotta be devastating. I hope you and Norma are staying safe, not just from the virus, but from those awful wildfires. This year starting to feel post-apocalyptic, isn't it? You guys take care.
ReplyDeleteAs for the many mysteries in life, I'm at peace with them. I figure we can pursue some answers through research, but I also accept that my finite mind was neither designed nor intended to comprehend an infinite universe. That's okay. Perhaps some day, we'll have the answers. If Mike's got 'em. he's not sharing.
Take care, dude. Only one week until election day...
Dear Susan, Yes, it was a strange time. My friend (who I met at the creek out back in 1959) had moved back to Vineyard to care for his mom, who needed help(at 88 yrs old). He'd worked as a carpenter a long time, then started a successful glass company. A coworker unintentionally infected him with covid, which in turn infected his mom. He called an ambulance for her, but typically gave little thought to himself. Next morning he left the house on a flag-draped gurney. The family proceeds with his daughter, her husband and kids, who live in another city. Another childhood friend, Floyd (yes, Floyd. Have I not mentioned we are hicks?), keep an eye on their house at the end of our gravel lane. Post-apocalyptic? I don't know, but in all my years it's one of those situations that cannot be exaggerated.
DeleteHere's the deal: if the universe, in which ALL possibilities are assembled, is expanding infinitely, even IT can't fully understand itself.
We've voted and hope for the best --same as last time(Hillary)-- and will take care. You too, my excellent friend. --Your kindred spirit, Dude.
After reading about your friend and his mother, I can't help but imagine similar scenarios replaying more than 200,000 times in our country. It's hard to comprehend so many of our so-called leaders shrugging all of those deaths off as being unavoidable or of little consequence. Let's hope a blue wave washes all of those two-faced lying so-and-sos out of office. Four days and counting...
DeleteHear hear, dear Susan!
DeleteDear Geo., so beautiful, and such a fine way to remember.
ReplyDeleteSo sad what happens all around the world at this moment - and to that global catastrophe, some people in "high places" add their personal madness pulling many, many people into the abyss - or in "low places" as in Nice "only" three ...
It is no consolation that the world always has been a very dangerous place - but as I do not intend to leave this plane for Uranus, the only thing I can do as remedy is being thankful for what I have had.
I wish that you are well, and am so glad that Norma's photo reminds you about feline periscopes.
Dear Britta, it's so good to hear from you again! I too hope humanity improves and compassion among nations and social levels obtains. I must agree that the world is still a very dangerous place. We have a long way to go. Government by discussion and general welfare must obtain. Sadly, civilization does not aspire uniformly to reason. It takes all public institutions to define the benefits of rational thought, liberty and peace. Feline periscopes notwithstanding, there are many good forces at work.
Delete