Convenient Certainty

It was a watery world at 7:30 a.m.Puddles of water from under the dishwasher drained toward the basement stairs (Should have listened to my intuition last night: - do not turn the dishwasher on and go to bed!)

 

Mop, bucket, towels, cup to scoop out 

standing water - maintenance request put in and responded to. By afternoon everything was dry, clean with clear pipe. Order returned to my kitchen.

Lesson? (besides the first one)

Don’t take for granted the hidden pipes of 

plumbing that takes water throughout 

my home ~ something that not everyone has 

access to.

“When the well is dry, we’ll know the worth of water.”

~ Benjamin Franklin

What Are They? - CHALLENGES ~ Theme for March 2020

"Conveniences have trapped……

Harbours full of …….

Absolution is not……..
Larger than life……

Little more than…..

Effervescence is……

Naively pushing on…..

Gallantly offering…..

Evermore, with humility……

Secure in the knowledge…….

“I have always grown from my problems and challenges, 

from the things that don’t work out, that’s when I’ve really learned.”

~ Carol Burnett

Abundant Rations

Rations to me mean 

deprivation, poverty, wartime

stringent parsing of food and commodities

to spread a little to the many,

barely nourishing those that cry in need.

In our society of 

abundance and convenience

rations seem to belong 

somewhere else

to someone else.

The need to ration meets

low supply and great demand,

but why wait for need to arise

to begin judicious use and care

of our world’s precious resources, 

our foods, our commodities.

“…shiny trinkets and frivolous spending 

make people forget what world they’re living in.”

~ Beth Lewis, The Wolf Road

Natural Expecations - Earth Day 2015

I flipped the switch for my lights - and expected light to flood the room

I opened my fridge - and expected food to be cold.

I plugged in my computer -and expected the screen to light up…...

I twisted the dial on my washer and dryer - my clothes came out clean and dry

I plugged the iron in to heat and pressed my clothes flat

I turned on my toothbrush and scrubbed my teeth clean……...

Universal water, wind and sunlight with man’s ingenuity, 

provide our many conveniences.

Logic says that we need conserve and protect 

 ~ our sources of energy, 

 ~ our use of energy.

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. 

We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together….all things connect.”

~ Chief Seattle

The Mail Must Go Through

Crunch, crunch through grey, glittering snow down a short back alley rutted and icy, 
past garages and snow filled backyard to get mail tucked in a locked box at the post office, stamping crusted snow from my boots at the door.

Warm post office air cooled with each open and close of the big glass door.
Christmas packages and cards from near and far hand delivered across a counter with a pleasant, or just polite, ‘Hello. Here’s those packages you were waiting for.’

A new development, for one-third of the country, linking present reality to memories from away.
Convenient mail delivery door to door has aided those home bound and disconnected from community.

Learning to reconnect, to step outside will not necessarily be easy.
The internet age has not, and will not, come for some.
Change to our society has come, and will continue to come.

Adapting is our challenge ~
with offers to help others.
asking for help from others.

“If we can’t alter the tide of events, at least 

we can be nearby with towels to mop up.”

~ Peter David

Inconvenience of Spending

It’s really too bad.  

I’ve little to say about money tonight - 

lack of, 

too much of, 

just enough to cover the bills, 

play money, .......

Life does go on for most - 

despite the inconvenience of little money at a time of financial crisis.

It is, however, merely that - an inconvenience,

possibly greater for some than others. 

In a society of convenience, 

crisis for general society, may be

losing, and having to replace, one's keys, 

not being able to purchase a chosen brand name, 

having to wear clothing for a bit longer than fashionable, 

walking or taking a bus instead of driving.

Debt however, becomes

much more than an inconvenience.

Debt can be accompanied 

by deep feelings of shame,

feelings of less than,

not good enough.

Debting - it’s own drive train

with need for societies conveniences

the fuel for the engine.

“Do not accustom yourself to consider debt only 

as an inconvenience: you will find it a calamity.”

~ Samuel Johnson

Convenience - Seminar Day One

Leaves fall from trees.

We think nothing of it.

Needles turn brown and droop.

We think nothing of it.

Spring, summer and fall

landscape grows and changes

Wind and weather

wearing and eroding

When not beautiful and calm,

it is not convenient

               ***

Day one ~ seminar on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Carbohydrate overload at breaks

Power point slides

Quiet attentiveness (and a few yawns)

Out for a walk at lunch

Book purchases:

The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts ~ Gabor Mate

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Workbook for Personality Disorders ~ Jeffery C. Wood

Listening for pieces of knowledge,

learning terms changed over decades of research

Biological changes in the brain from

Shell Shock

Post War Syndrome

Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder

Single trauma staining life

Repetitive traumas carving scars into life

Nightmares

Emotional distortions

Another seminar day tomorrow.

Different thoughts about convenience.

“There is no reason that the universe 

should be designed for our convenience.”

~ John D. Barrow

Moving with the Weather - Chapter Two

In the pseudo warmth of homes and work places

we can ignore the weather

looking out windows at

glossy rain soaked asphalt

heavy mist moistening shingled roofs

warm sunshine browning summer hills

glittering snow piled high on streets and sidewalks

trees bent over in the wind

It can seem an alien and unfriendly world 

on the other side of the glass.

Humankind has 

created and

normalized

an alien world with

lights at the flick of a switch

warmth on demand

controlled air breathing from

vents in ceilings and walls.

Materials for our

convenience 

entertainment

food

clothing

transportation

for our very survival

laid before us for the taking

require great thanks to whatever planetary gods there may be.

Will learning to bridge between these two worlds

ensure the survival of

our planet and

our species?

‘Praise the bridge that carried you over.’

~ George Colman