Watching the skilled hands of a craftsman can be memorizing. Timeless traditions of shaping of wood, metal, clay, grasses and fibers into useful objects for daily life. So many item can be bought ready made, it seems there is no need to increase the skills of hands beyond typing and pressing buttons on the remote. Are we loosing part of our humanity by increasingly focusing on mind development?

Recipes are one method to distribute of knowledge and skills to create items and events. Just mix the information: ingredients, instructions and an expected outcome. It is a matter of finding the right recipes, experimenting and perfecting.

To bounce back from hardship is one expression of resilience. Another common theme is to be able to provide the basics of food, shelter and health in the event of modern civilization disruptions. Maybe more important is the ability to maintain civil dialog and open communication with whom one disagrees, disapproves of or feels intimidated.

Good morning - Nothing profound today simply a couple of ideas on gardening and health I have found useful.

Interesting little study published last month looking at the quality of play in toddlers and the number of toys they have available.

With fewer toys, participants had fewer incidences of toy play, longer durations of toy play, and played with toys in a greater variety of ways. This suggests that when provided with fewer toys in the environment, toddlers engage in longer periods of play with a single toy, allowing better focus to explore and play more creatively.

Adults are not significantly different than toddlers when it comes to toys or as we often call them tools. The question is - How are we decreasing our creativity by thinking we need a specific tool or app (software program) for every task.

Morning. The sound of water rushing over rocks greeted me this morning as I stepped outside. The first domestic ditch run to fill stock ponds is on its last day.

Time changes but many human challenges and joys remain the same. We need shelter, food, occasional medical care and companionship to live each stage of our life. Creativity and education expand our horizons. Faith in a belief system to sustain and inspire us to grow and change.
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Morning and Happy Thanksgiving, may the day be filled with people and activities that you enjoy.

My favorite Holiday of the year. It was my Mothers Holiday. She hosted the event for 42 years bringing together both sides of the extended family and friends, up to 37 people in an 1800 sq ft house. No religious or patriotic overtones. Adjusting the time around those who had to work for the day, we caught up on each others lives for the past year, played games and stuffed ourselves with the harvest of the year.

Now a quiet day of reflection without the hectic house cleaning, preparation of food and creating enough space for everyone to sit, eat and park their cars. Grateful for the memories past and present calmness.

As time passes and I get crankier, I am less willing to wrap myself in petroleum products throughout the day and night. The worlds favorite clothing items continues to be jeans, the universal cotton clothing item. Winter has arrived, along with wool, alpaca and mohair scarves, hats and gloves.

Maybe our clothing purchases are another economic choice to effect global politics.

Balance - how much emphasis should society focus on the quality life for the masses or the importance of the individual. The eternal conflict we keep revisiting - Confucianism vs Toaism, socialism vs capitalism, progressive vs conservative.

Morning, hope the day finds each of you healthy and content.

Contemplating the motivation for greater resilience in our lives.