OT ~ Welcome to Saturday!

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 6:06am

Water spills from sky dippers

lips meet

voices kiss.

“A path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you . . . look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself alone, one question . . . Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't it is of no use.”
~ Carlos Castaneda

Good day good people,

Can almost see the driveway
the snow covered car
out of reach

Stones reflecting in smiling wise eyes
colors unknown
trees rising in back, meadow running from home

Hear the paddling feet in fog
in pain, no more
walking freely at last
and not alone.

"Eventually, all things merge into one and a river runs through it.
The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops, under the rocks are the words and some of the words are theirs."

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Submitted by mimi on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 6:56am
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Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:40am
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@mimi

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Submitted by eyo on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:09am

Today's login fortune made me LOL: "Surprise due today. Also the rent." true that

We'll just keep getting bigger, bigger, bigly. Big big, huh that's kinda funny to say now. BIG

SACRAMENTO — California's economy has surpassed that of the United Kingdom to become the world's fifth largest, according to new federal data made public Friday.

California's gross domestic product rose by $127 billion from 2016 to 2017, surpassing $2.7 trillion, the data said. Meanwhile, the UK's economic output slightly shrunk over that time when measured in U.S. dollars, due in part to exchange rate fluctuations.

The data demonstrate the sheer immensity of California's economy, home to nearly 40 million people, a thriving technology sector in Silicon Valley, the world's entertainment capital in Hollywood and the nation's salad bowl in the Central Valley agricultural heartland. It also reflects a substantial turnaround since the Great Recession.

calexit! gesundheit hahaha
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8294802-181/california-now-worlds-5th-...
Forget mars cars, I'd rather have a transporter by now. Where's the beef? /clara

--- russian river
Turn left facing south/south west and this is what you see where a road to the homeless camp used to be:
russian_riverlover_vinepile.jpg
Vine pile with signage, No Trespassing, No Camping, etc.. NO

Turn left some more and see where they scraped it off, right there next to the river. And it is windy and dust is blowing everywhere, but go on. legal
russian_riverlover_scraped_0.jpg
Scraped down to bare dirt. Old out, new in. And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on.
---heroes
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8283936-181/activists-protesting-homel...

Activists protesting Santa Rosa's crackdown on homeless encampments disrupted the City Council meeting Tuesday, staging a demonstration that police officers broke up by arresting a half dozen people and removing them from the council chambers.

The drama unfolded after a number of regular critics of the council’s homeless policies were joined by an influx of participants from the May Day march that had started in Roseland.

One protester, Merlin Davis, crossed a barrier in the council chambers to hand out information to the council.

Thanks Merlin! Sand in the gears brother!
peace out

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Submitted by mhagle on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:44am
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@eyo

Always written with poetic sassy wit. Smile

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by janis b on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:13pm
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@mhagle

is such a fine description of eyo.

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Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:54am
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@eyo
plight of the homeless, eyo. When camping out for cancer treatments, i met--even used the services of a mechanic--many living in tents; having to move regularly between campgrounds because of vagrant rules. A sad state of affairs. Most had work and one shared how they feared leaving their simple belongings behind at camp while they went to work.

This country can do so much better!

Thanks for the good links.

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Submitted by janis b on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:16pm
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@eyo

your highlighting the worlds injustice.

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Submitted by QMS on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:24am

Not a Poet, but have been a...

hobo on a freight train

gypsy on a motorcycle

hippie in a vw camper

vagrant hitchhiker

tossed out and lost

ghost on the water

rebel free thinker

still searching

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Submitted by mhagle on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:48am
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@QMS

Thought provoking

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by eyo on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:54am

@QMS @QMS thanks for the nice poetry.
The Seeker by The Who
Edit: oops I think the embed isn't streaming right? Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAbzlj3nf4E

I learned how to raise my voice in anger
Yeah, but look at my face, ain't this a smile?
I'm happy when life's good
And when it's bad I cry
I've got values but I don't know how or why

I'm looking for me
You're looking for you
We're looking in at each other
And we don't know what to do

~shrug~
smile as we meet and part
keep going

Peace & Love

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Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:12am
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@QMS
fills a need, a creative need. Good folks here have been indulging me for years and poetry is like painting, sometimes the colors flow onto the canvass and sometimes one gets mud.

Two air-cooled and two water-cooled Westphalias, one orange, yellow, white and brown, best vehicle ever for many reasons.
Your poetic list suits me to a tee, as i'm reasonably sure it fits many reading here as well.
Cheers.

A little more Castaneda “We are men and our lot in life is to learn and to be hurled into inconceivable new worlds.”

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Submitted by janis b on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:23pm
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@QMS

[video:https://youtu.be/TuJfEMO_wXs]

Thank you QMS

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Submitted by janis b on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 1:31am
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@janis b

[video:https://youtu.be/mYajHZ4QUVM]

I'm sure you didn't mind listening to a little extra Dylan ; ).

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Submitted by mhagle on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:51am
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What paths am I on?

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 3:38am

@mhagle @mhagle good morning, is this a test like a pop quiz or something? I hope you are on the right path, it seems like it to me, making dirt, growing food, experimenting, restoring your whole ecosystem, teaching, learning. (glances to the left sidebar Blog Roll)
Edit: out with the obnoxious um in the Subject, I hate it when people do that. metoo
~$ whois nowthepathforward.us
...
mhagle

ding! Okay back to you Marilyn. smile

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Submitted by mhagle on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 3:40am
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@eyo @eyo

I liked your reply. Smile

Well . . . . it is sort of like that meditation question, "who am I?" Don't know if there is really an answer. "What path am I on?" It's hanging out there in space somewhere. And it's ok to not know.

Uncertainty. Pretty uncomfortable for us humans. But we can let it be ok.

That's what I am wrestling with. Hmmm . . . maybe time to listen to some more Eckhart Tolle.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 3:44am

@mhagle thanks for being kind. My "Time to stop talking on the Internet" radar is broken lately, so I keep having to apologize for saying dumb things before I log off, stop commenting. That didn't come out right, but you know what I meant, I was trying to give props not be a jerk. Thanks.

peace

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Submitted by mhagle on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 4:07am
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@eyo

It made me feel good inside and smile.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:26am
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@mhagle
Nice too see you in real time conversation. OMS added good fuel for this morning's journey.

Hesse comes to mind: “We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.”
― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

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Submitted by janis b on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:25pm
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@smiley7

Nice reflections here on the porch.

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Submitted by mhagle on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 8:29am
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@smiley7

It's fun to read comments then refresh the page and see new ones right away.

Thank you for this OT. I have come back to it several times now to discover new gems of wisdom to ponder.

Smile

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by smiley7 on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 8:50am
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@mhagle
belated responses become normal and my schedule has been so erratic. Really enjoy c99 OT conversations, as many have said, so much to learn from so many unique perspectives, backgrounds and all and as the Conqueroo said "We are here to learn."

Hope all your good projects are going well!
Cheers.

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Submitted by detroitmechworks on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:56am
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right now had I not taken what I considered at the time a suicidal course of action and joined the army...

Sometimes feel like Bilbo. I will never be the same after handling the ring.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mqEvcEl4u4]

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:32am
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@detroitmechworks

For in the end it is Middle-earth and its dwellers that we love, not Tolkien’s considerable gifts in showing it to us. I said once that the world he charts was there long before him, and I still believe it. He is a great enough magician to tap our most common nightmares, daydreams and twilight fancies, but he never invented them either: he found them a place to live, a green alternative to each day’s madness here in a poisoned world. We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers and discoverers — thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses. Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.

— Peter S. Beagle

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Submitted by detroitmechworks on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:49am
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@smiley7 For a moment I cringed, because I thought your quote was going to make the same point I did in today's essay. Phew.

But yeah, there's that place we want to be. Honestly, I figure I'm probably a Dwarf. I mean, I like Mountains, Trees and Metal work, I'm a non-practicing Jew of Scottish Descent... Hell, I think I've pretty much ticked all the boxes, and now that I'm wearing a beard...

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:31am
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spoke of a separate reality. We each, even when accompanied, are on our own course and take our own, slightly unique, path. Or, as another has said

… There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone…

choose wisely indeed, or simply accept, like a bubble of foam on the flowing watercourse that is the Tao, as others would say. Wink What matters is to be aware of what you are doing and experiencing and whatthehell is going on.

Meanwhile, I planted two planter base with perpetual spinach chard on the 27th, and eah finally has a tiny sprout coming up. In 2 months, I should have a ton of greens.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:51am
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@enhydra lutris
recalling a grade-school teacher who reprimanded me when i wrote or said stuff. She was wonderful, but i still use stuff, especially good stuff. Smile

“Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

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Submitted by janis b on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:27pm
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@enhydra lutris

Swiss Card recipes

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Submitted by randtntx on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:37am

here and elsewhere, so incredible.

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Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 10:09am
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@randtntx
of conqueroo's magic band.

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Submitted by Unabashed Liberal on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:26pm
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you and Joe and Tim had a good time at the music festival.

Ryan's decision to 'retire' could be bad news for many seniors. I'm especially wary and quite concerned that he'll take a major swipe at Medigap insurance on his way out the door--which his reform proposal calls for, or did at one time. So, keeping my eyes peeled; will let you know if I hear/see anything.

Hope your treatment's going well. Have a good rest of your weekend!

Pleasantry

[Edited - emoji html.]

Mollie

"In a world where you can be anything--be kind."~~Author Unknown

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 7:11am
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@Unabashed Liberal
Welcome home, we've missed you and i asked of you when Tim and the shikspacks visited.
Hope you are well and in good spirits; much catching up to do.

Began the gentle rehab for shoulder this week, going to be months they tell me, so it's one-handed for a while; no biggie really compared to other's challenges or even my other commodities as pulmonary hypertension marches on, good days and bad days.

Tim and Joe lifted my spirits, Tim reminded me to not be negative and it clicked, 'leding' with Sutherland's "no negative waves," last Saturday. It's important to stay positive. Smile

No doubt, we'll have to fight to protect Medicare, medigap and Medicaid, no matter which party governs--that's a laugh, 'governs' with the good of the people at heart--anyways, looking forward to having you back and sharing.

Cheers!

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Submitted by Unabashed Liberal on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 8:18pm
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@smiley7

I can't think of any warmer a welcome than that one. Pleasantry
Backatcha! Hey, for sure, this place is a sight for sore eyes.

BTW, I follow a group of Luthern Chuch 'Comfort Dogs' on Twitter--all Goldens--because I so love and enjoy their beautiful, sweet, and smiling faces.

You're so right about staying positive; sometimes, 'easier said than done,' though. Of course, if you've proven anything the past several years, it's that you're courageous and resilient. So, hope you get that shoulder repaired, and functionally normally very soon.

(No fun having to use one hand, or one foot/leg--I've tried both! Wink )

Agree--we'll have our work cut out for us, safeguarding what little social safety net we have left, especially, from the likes of a Paul Ryan who's on his way out the door. But, we will persevere. We have to!

Mollie

"In a world where you can be anything--be kind."~~Author Unknown

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive.”
~~Gilda Radner, Actress & Comedienne

"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."
~~Author Unknown

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Submitted by janis b on Mon, 05/07/2018 - 9:15pm
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@Unabashed Liberal

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Submitted by janis b on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:06pm
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such a wonderful book. As you remind us, "Life is very fragile". That knowledge encourages us to treat it preciously. Thank you smiley. I hope your healing is happening well.

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Submitted by smiley7 on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 8:08am
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@janis b
Wisdom from The Appalachian Trail, comes to mind. Thank you, janis, bedrock you are, for the kind words.

As I get considerably beyond the biblical allotment of three score years and ten, I feel with increasing intensity that I can express my gratitude for still being around on the oxygen-side of the earth's crust only by not standing pat on what I have hitherto known and loved. While oxygen lasts, there are still new things to love, especially if compassion is a form of love.
~ Norman Maclean

Began this morning with your Dylan contributions together with a cool breeze and gorgeous mtn. sky. Great way to start a day, been a long journey with Bob:

He was “a cross between a choir boy and a beatnik,” a 20-year-old with a voice “anything but pretty” when Bob Dylan came to the attention of a Times music critic. The writer, Robert Shelton, helped start Mr. Dylan’s career with his Sept. 29, 1961, profile: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/insider/1961-bob-dylan-takes-the-stag...

Smile

Cheers for sitting on the porch!

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Submitted by janis b on Mon, 05/07/2018 - 9:56pm
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@smiley7

He wrote A River Runs Through It in his 70s.

Thank you for the quote from him.

I love reading more about the enigmatic Dylan.

[video:https://youtu.be/0RPkJeziNyI]

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