Category Archives: philosophy

by | April 6, 2013 · 9:18 pm

“There is a garden, verdant, beautiful…”

Well, maybe not today, but spring is continuing to make inroads at wresting control of the seasons from winter. The title of the post is the first line of a poem by Reyvrex Questor Reyes titled “Love Sonnet 58 There is a garden, verdant, beautiful“. Lucy would have liked the poem.

Several days of above freezing temperatures and several nights of light fog have devoured about five inches of snow cover in my back yard. The calendar says April but the weather behaves like March. While the yard is not verdant yet, its color is showing a green tinge in the brown. The front yard has a couple of snow piles created by the snowblower. After pulling back the leaves that had piled up in the gardens last fall, I was happy to see daffodils and squills poking through. Some areas of the yard remain frozen solid and other areas have thawed to about two inches down. Yesterday’s snowfall was a reminder that the weather in Minnesota s unpredictable. My yard looked like it had a bad case of dandruff and it melted later in the evening.

I have mentioned a couple of times that Lucy enjoyed poetry. She had a “Nothing Book” in her nightstand where she had transcribed poems that she liked. Julie gave Lucy the “Nothing Book” on Lucy’s 22nd birthday in 1980. The first poem Lucy had jotted in there was a haiku from the James Bond story “You Only Live Twice” by Ian Fleming:

You only live twice…
When you are born, and
When you look death in the face

We both enjoyed baseball, a game played on a verdant ball field. It is a game that spans three seasons and we would enjoy it on the radio while we worked in the gardens or were out for a walk. A. Bartlett Giamatti, a professor from Yale who later became the Commissioner of Baseball, had a quote in “The Green Fields of the Mind” which sums baseball up nicely:

“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.”

We went to some games at the Metrodome and wished we could be outdoors…except for one game when a severe thunderstorm roared through. Watching the Teflon roof bounce and seeing the flashes of lightning through the fabric made for an interesting evening, but we stayed dry. I was fortunate enough to see some Twins games at the old Metropolitan Stadium, now the site of the Mall of America. Lucy wanted to see a game at Target Field and to attend a St. Paul Saints game at Midway Stadium, and I plan to do both during this baseball season. Let me know if any of you would be interested in joining me.

I hope the weather where you are at is acting more seasonal than it is here. Give your loved ones a meaningful hug, try to get out and enjoy nature, and “root, root, root for the home team”.

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Filed under gardening, literature, philosophy, rebuilding, weather

by | March 12, 2013 · 8:03 pm

The comforts of home

What do you consider “home”? Is it the house you grew up in? Is it the first place you lived in after moving out on your own? Is it the house you bought with your spouse? I know some of you moved often during your childhood. Others of you spent time in one or more foster homes before adulthood. Still others are renters and quite satisfied with not worrying about maintenance.

When we were younger, we could not wait until we could start our new adventure. What we didn’t know then is that adventure culminates in finding our new “home” and building new memories. I think we go through a restless period akin to Goldilocks sampling the porridge, chairs, and beds in the Three Bears’ home. We may not know what we are looking for, but we know when we find it.

Home is the place where you made the most memories, where you felt safe, grounded, and surrounded by love. Even as adults, many of us consider “home” as the place we grew up, not the place in which we currently reside. Home is where the heart is. I consider two places as “home”: my primary home is the house Lucy and I bought and my other home is the house my parents now live.

One difficult transition we can face as adults is the sale of our childhood home. Lucy’s siblings found a buyer for their parent’s home and it has been bittersweet for them. The transition is a loss and reminds us that time marches forward even if we may not like the tempo. What was once familiar and comforting has changed. Someday I will be unable to maintain my home, which will probably require me to move into a senior’s center. I will have my memories of home to help me make that transition just as memories of my time with Lucy help me transition to a life without her. In both cases, one can hope the new owners will start building memories of “home” there and have love and joy fill the rooms.

Thomas Wolfe wrote a novel called “You Can’t Go Home Again” with the main point being:

You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood … back home to a young man’s dreams of glory and of fame … back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time – back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”

I submit that Mr. Wolfe was wrong. “Home” may have a number of physical changes besides a new owner; in fact, the structure could no longer exist. The memories remain even if the abode does not. Our memories are powerful and can change our perceptions. In “Paradise Lost”, John Milton wrote:

The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.

The mind’s power is what helps us cope with the myriad of changes modern life sends our way. We cherish those memories of home, each one a thread woven into our life’s fabric. We use that fabric to shelter us from the unpleasantness that sometimes arises in life. As such, we never lose “home” unless we want it to go away. It will always be with us because it is part of us, providing us with peace, comfort, and smiles. You can go home again. Please keep Steve, Suzy, and Julie in your thoughts as they make this transition.

Yesterday was “National Napping Day” in areas that switched to Daylight Saving Time on Sunday. I hope that those of you who actively participated did not do so while driving. Other whimsical days this week include “National Pi Day” on Thursday and “National Quilting Day” on Saturday. Holiday Insights lists more if these interest or amuse you.

Tomorrow marks eleven months since Lucy passed away. Please think of her tomorrow. Thank you for keeping Lucy in your heart.

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Filed under family, literature, philosophy, rebuilding

by | March 4, 2013 · 7:56 pm

Traho digitus meum

March weather at times seems like a series of practical jokes. The dog Latin post title translates to “Pull my finger” and fart gags (pun intended) date back to ancient Greece. Read “The Clouds” by Aristophanes for some 2,500-year-old proof. (The EPUB format is compatible with Nook readers.)

Today’s weather was a “pull my finger” sort of day. The heavy snowstorm threatened for last night took a more leisurely route and may arrive tonight. A Winter Storm Advisory issued Sunday morning became a Winter Storm Warning by Sunday afternoon declaring 7″ – 12″ of snow during the day Monday. Mother Nature gave us a “pull my finger” joke with the delay.

I’m a very logical, linear person and that can cause some “pull my finger” moments, as Lucy found out while we were dating. We learned quickly how to adjust, mostly with me adjusting to her communication style. My sister-in-law Julie has had the misfortune to experience a few of these moments, yesterday included. I feel badly that she ends up as the occasional (I hope) locus of my foibles and I am deeply grateful for her good humor and patience. I really am lucky having Julie and Suzy in my life.

Movie listings in the daily papers, on Yahoo! and on Google presented a “pull my finger” moment yesterday with a bogus showing time. Suzy, Julie, and I had planned on lunch and a movie yesterday. We settled for lunch at TGIFriday’s. It was still a very nice day despite the “Keystone Kops” subplots.

Parking in downtown Minneapolis is usually a “pull my finger” ordeal. During an event, parking downtown has a finishing touch of a flaming bag of dog poo. There are numerous restaurants worth the trouble of finding near the Convention Center. Check the Minneapolis Convention Center event calendar  before making the trip, trust me on that.

It’s been nice getting a chance to see some long-time friends. I’m catching up with Susan, and I have to make plans with Mike and Ken next week.

The Forsythia cutting is in full bloom, which is about three weeks earlier than I expected. It is a welcome splash of color and a reminder that spring is on the way in sixteen days. Another sure sign of spring are the seed and gardening catalogs arriving in the mail. Jung and Burpee seed catalogs are here and the Spring Hill Nursery catalog will probably arrive yet this week. Lucy had planted some Gloriosa lily bulbs a couple of years ago and I would like to try them again. It’s time to get the dahlia tubers in some dirt and start the seed tray.

I have completed the blog conversion. Facebook has been problematic with group notifications, so I have created a “Journey of the Teal Owl” page. If you could take a moment and “Like” the page, it will help with future notifications. I’m still discovering features with the WordPress software. Let me know what you think!

Having fun with loved ones is always a pleasure. Some of you like to play practical jokes. Let that special someone know that you care, hopefully without having him or her pull your finger.

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Filed under family, friends, gardening, literature, philosophy, rebuilding, weather

by | February 24, 2013 · 5:32 pm

Change is good

The first change is the location of the blog. I am switching from Blogger to WordPress. The blog itself is now at http://new.tealowljourney.com and I’m still making minor tweaks to the imported posts. Some of the formatting got mangled during the conversion. I am about 40% of the way through the old posts. I like the extra functionality such as email registration and social network integration. Have a look around! Hosting is at First Degree Systems. The website will be down for a couple of hours on Tuesday, February 26th so please be aware of that.

Our weather is in flux now. This February is one of the snowiest on record already. Today’s snowfall didn’t have a lot of moisture in it, but it caused problems on the roads. I hope everyone had safe travels today. I have already used the snow blower more this month that I did all last winter.

The Amaryllis bulbs were a flop. The large one failed set a flower stalk and the small one had signs of wet rot when I bought it. The large one will go dormant in a few weeks and I will try reviving it again. I have a Forsythia cutting in water now. It should bloom within four weeks. A splash of color is always a welcome change even if it takes some time.

The back-and-forth weather shows we are getting close to spring. Change happens and it isn’t always easy or smooth. Our days are getting longer at this latitude. We have gained almost three hours of daylight since December 20th and are picking up nearly three minutes per day of daylight. The cold snaps are shorter, which I welcome. The seasonal tug-of-war is causing some strong winds at times. Solar angle is more favorable as shown by melting snow on an asphalt driveway when the temperature rises above 10°F. Soon the white shroud covering the ground and coating the trees will give way to green and life.

Babies are another change in some people’s lives. My cousin Diane will be a first-time grandmother July 25th. I have mentioned Lucy’s cousin Chris eagerly waiting on her grandson’s impending birth. Those are wonderful changes.

New jobs and new careers are other changes. The economy has caused a number of changes with some people branching in new directions. I applaud your courage and vision, Mary, and I am proud to help any way I can!

My changes have not been as exciting. Enough time has passed to determine the new normal and I’m still making adjustments. Life is a series of changes and adjustments are part of the process. Lucy never quit and she inspires me to keep trudging forward. Joy and happiness are gone, but hope remains.

Mark Twain said, “To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with” and his words are still true over a century later. Dr. Suess said, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. It is not easy, but both are worth remembering. Hope allows us to smile when surrounded by despair and gives us a reason to keep plugging away.

Spend some time with your special someone and get that full value of joy. One can never have too much joy.

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Filed under friends, philosophy, rebuilding

by | January 7, 2013 · 12:00 am

So what will the New Year bring?

The Mayan calendar began a new epoch without incident. Some people are now trying to figure out how to reset their credit cards after maxing them out because the world was going to end. They would have bought my oceanfront property in Nebraska sight unseen had I been devious, er, foresiteful enough to advertise it. You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

While the Lunar New Year won’t occur until February 10th, the Julian calendar year 2013 A.D. began a few days ago. We have transitioned from the holiday season. I’ve disconnected the outdoor Christmas lights and taken the ornaments and garland off the tree; the tree gets put away tomorrow. Christmas decorations are finding their way back to boxes and storage bins. It’s beginning to look a lot like an ordinary time of the year.

We have not had any fresh snow in several days and have had some days near freezing. Our snow has a grayish patina of dust and sand, and nearly all the cars are the same drab gray color from road salt. There are some bursts of color. Some people wash their cars almost daily, and the two-tone winter beaters, rust and some other color, are commonplace. There are several pairs of cardinals riding out the winter, their colors muted by their winter plumage with an occasional blue jay making a noisy appearance. Discarded Christmas trees are showing up curbside throughout the neighborhood.

This week’s forecast heralds above average temperatures and a chance of rain. After next weekend, the temperature begins a slide to a few sub-zero evenings and below average days. It all averages out in the end, assuming the forecasts are correct. We are about four weeks from Groundhog’s Day, which is the halfway point of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Spring is coming. Hope springs eternal.

People have tried to foretell the future accurately for centuries. The Oracle at Delphi, seers, soothsayers, magicians, wizards, Nostradamus, mathematicians, meteorologists, bookies, pollsters: all have had varying degrees of prognostication success. Here are a few predictions I recall reading though the years:

  • The Vikings this year would have a 5 – 11 season and Adrian Peterson would have an off year recovering from ACL surgery.
  • The Twins would finish in third place and have a winning season.
  • The period after 1973 was to usher in a new ice age with rampant global cooling.
  • Romney would be elected by a three-percentage point margin according to polls in August.
  • We would be a paperless society in the 1990’s
  • The United States would be using the metric system exclusively by 1976.
  • A manned mission to Mars would occur by 1999.
  • Jesse Ventura had no chance being elected governor of Minnesota.
  • The world’s population in 2010 would exceed 11 billion people.
  • “Dow Jones 30,000”.

It is not for wont of trying that these predictions were wrong. In ancient times, tea leaves, animal entrails, or natural signs would provide guidance. In modern times, we perform exhaustive analysis on empirical data. Sometimes a crucial piece of data is missing or goes unnoticed. Sometimes randomness completely changes everything. Sometimes we change the event by taking action and thus introducing unpredicted consequences. Sometimes we bias the data by seeing what we want to see rather than what is happening. Try as we might to predict the future, we are not perfect. Rock, paper, scissors. Flip a coin.

Humans like order and control. The universe is multidimensional chaos and disorder (entropy). Going with the flow is not easy. We all will experience times when everything is out of kilter and nothing seems to make sense anymore. That is when we are fortunate to have our friends and loved ones helping us. Rebuilding the shattered ruins of a life after a tragedy is damned tough. Having people take the time to help while they, too, are rebuilding is priceless. Not only are you helping rebuild someone’s life, you are rebuilding that person’s hope. Since we can’t accurately predict the future, we rely on hope to get us through our day-to-day lives. Tomorrow will be a better day. It only gets better from here. We hope things get better and that hope gives us the strength and incentive to try again tomorrow.

For those of you who endured a suboptimal (OK, lousy) 2012, I hope you are finding solace and hope in the new year. If 2012 was a good year for you, I hope 2013 is an even better year for you. Let your loved ones know you care and give them a meaningful hug!

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