“She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head,And whispered to her neighbor: “Winter is dead.”~ A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young Most of the world calls these lovely blooms daffodils. To me, they will always be buttercups. Whatever you call them, they are symbols of the easing of cold weather and, very often, markers of […]
Daffodils say, “spring is on the way & Winter is dead.” Read More »
The past beats inside me like a second heart. ~ John Banville, The Sea Heads up: I’m raising a question here that isn’t easily answered and I’m just talking through my thought process. Manage your expectations. The first memory I recall is from an age of about three. I was standing in my grandmother’s kitchen, looking out
Total recall of many years past, but why? Read More »
A man may plant a tree for a number of reasons. Perhaps he likes trees. Perhaps he wants shelter. Or perhaps he knows that someday he may need the firewood. ~Joanne Harris, Runemarks Some dear friends recently introduced me to the board game, Catan. It requires quite a lot of strategy, and I would have already
Hey! Settle down there, but where? Read More »
In a few seconds, we judge another person and think we know them. When the person we’ve lived with the longest, we still don’t know very well—ourselves. ~ Charles F. Glassman, Brain Drain The Breakthrough That Will Change Your Life How many roles do you fill? Child, sibling, cousin, employee, or spouse. We could go down
Who do you think you are, anyway? Read More »
Under a spreading chestnut-tree The village smithy stands;The smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands,And the muscles of his brawny arms Are strong as iron bands. Excerpt from The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I recognize that I have not begun to plumb the depths of my ignorance on commonplace topics. This is
The Smith, A Brief History Read More »
Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you only take what is worth having. ~ George Clason, The Richest Man in Babylon NOTE: I received several responses this week and decided to include them all. Consequently, this post is a bit long; feel free to cherry-pick. Or read a few sections a
Sound advice – are you listening? Read More »
I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense to me. ~ Matt Groening If you have had the opportunity to travel from sea to shining sea and from the Canadian border down to the Gulf of Mexico, you may have encountered a comprehension issue. In this country. With English speakers. Obviously this isn’t
Making sense–discrepancies in american speech Read More »
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in. ~ Isaac Asimov This is going to be a bit of a rant on both sides of the argument. Feel free to play along. You have likely experienced similar challenges. Comments and [rhetorical]
Do your Assumptions empower you to be offended? Read More »
At one time a badge of shame, hallmark of the lazy lady and the careless wife, today the can opener is fast becoming a magic wand, especially in the hands of those brave, young women, nine million of them (give or take a few thousand here and there), who are engaged in frying as well
Can openers – cutting edge kitchen appliances Read More »
So many sounds do come close to our ears each moment. What we allow into our mind and how we interpret what we listen to is what propels our thought and actions”― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, The Untapped Wonderer In You: dare to do the undone How often have you sat back into your theater seat (or your
Do you hear what I hear? Are you sure? Read More »
Do you find yourself thinking about errors in judgment that resulted in less than stellar results? Agonizing over a task left undone or emails you wish were unsent? I do. I would go so far as to say that almost everything bad that’s happened to me has been rooted in my own decisions. However, my
Whatcha thinking when you see the light? Read More »
The mountain music… is compelling music in its own right, harking back to a time when music was a part of everyday life and not something performed by celebrities. ~ Ethan Coen My favorite places to relax are in the Smoky Mountains. This may well be because my most pleasurable childhood vacations were there. We
Music that soothes the spirit – the Mountain dulcimer Read More »
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Søren Kierkegaard Warning: This post contains insurance language and may induce boredom or nausea. Symptoms will be temporary and the purpose will be clarified shortly. Hang with me. Every insurance underwriter (UW) I know is a product of his or her experiences. Some
The value of good, bad and ugly experiences Read More »
Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose As I lay me down to sleep, I always give thanks for a safe, warm, dry place to sleep. I think of those I love and I appreciate their well-being. During
Abundance. Can you see what you have? Read More »
If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. ~ Michael Crichton This is a brief bio of a man who established a life and a family in a previously uninhabited area. His story is but one of thousands of the
A walk in an old cemetery Read More »
Humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle. – G. K. Chesterton I understand that not everyone will agree with me when I say there are more occasions served by levity than by solemnity. To take this a step further, consider that the use of humor can
Will your approach get you to the right gate? Read More »
Half a truth is often a great lie. Benjamin Franklin A few weeks ago I conducted a survey (see questions here) and subsequently published a blog that featured some commentary on the responses. At the time, I had not fully analyzed the results and my assessment was preliminary. Some of the questions were not addressed
Beware of the serpents you do not see Read More »
Pay heed to the tales of old wives. It may well be that they alone keep in memory what it was once needful for the wise to know. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings My professional career was saturated with insurance, mostly in underwriting positions. That role fostered a need (compulsion?) for me to
Epic battle: Old rituals & New logic Read More »
If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t. Emerson M. Pugh For as long as I can remember, I have drawn correlations. Some relate to how much an acquaintance–or family member–looks like an actor I watched the night before. Robert Duvall always reminds
How do your condiment choices expose your ultimate talents? Read More »
Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness.― Marshall McLuhan Did you know that our brains are like railroad tracks? According to relatively recent research, the neural paths are not set in stone. We don’t have to subject ourselves to the same expectations we’ve hauled around for years. I expect my experiences have been like many
How can we make the switch to great expectations? Read More »
But beware of this about callings: they may not lead us where we intended to go or even where we want to go. If we choose to follow, we may have to be willing to let go of the life we already planned and accept whatever is waiting for us. And if the calling is
Who do you want to be, down the road? Read More »
Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.― Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings My first twelve years of school I enjoyed a multitude of kind and caring and effective teachers. One of my favorite educators, Mrs. B., was quite a lady. She taught my mother in the
Erasing cockiness in two easy lessons Read More »
For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.~ C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew illumination in the darkness Years ago I had the extraordinary privilege of attending an art history class taught by Susan Slade. I don’t know whether the experience
Ignorance is easy to erase when you see it Read More »
“Your memory is a monster; you forget—it doesn’t. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from you—and summons them to your recall with will of its own. You think you have a memory; but it has you!”― John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany Our family history in this country dates
Family stories: do you see value or vapid? Read More »