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 “oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, thy leaves are so doomed.”

– doug coupland

 

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poetry credit: brian bilston

Snow Time Like the Present for WordPress.com

‘is that the real santa, or just an elf?,’

you might ask yourself

during that annual office christmas party

at some point

there is often someone 

who really goes all out

 feels the spirit

be ready. 

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“don’t get your tinsel in a tangle!”

-author unknown

 

 

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photo credit: midcentury vinatge 

in late 2022, a farm owner noticed a few sheep on her farm in inner mongolia walking in a circle. eventually, all 400+ sheep in her herd started walking in a continuous, perfect circle for 12 straight days.

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without a landmark humans cannot walk in a straight line.

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Humans are masters of navigation. Over the course of history, we’ve developed tools to help us explore not only Earth but other planets. Yet strip away all those tools, blindfold us, and tell us to walk in a straight line, and inevitably we become a directional mess, turning in tight loops. Many studies in the past have cataloged this phenomenon again and again. Without some form of reference, such as a mountain, a building, or even the sun, humans are incapable of walking in a straight line, no matter how hard we try. It happens whether we’re blindfolded or just lost in the forest. So what’s going on.

We don’t know for sure, but  scientists have been able to rule out some popular go-to explanations. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany discovered that body asymmetries (different-sized legs, right-handedness vs. left-handedness, etc.) didn’t account for such vast misdirection. Additionally, the idea that people can’t correctly calculate the movement of their legs doesn’t explain the tight-looped pattern. The scientists theorize that with every blindfolded step, a very small directional discrepancy from a straight line is introduced, which then compounds with every additional step. Without the aid of visual references to unconsciously correct for these discrepancies, blindfolded people are poor at navigating a straight line, and will inevitably begin walking in tight-looped circles. While this theory explains why we do this, scientists aren’t sure of the biological how (though they think errors in the inner ear may be to blame). For now, this straight-line conundrum remains one of the many mysteries of the human brain and body.

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‘i keep a close watch on this heart of mine

i keep my eyes wide open all the time

i keep the ends out for the tie that binds

because you’re mine, i walk the line.’

-johnny cash, ‘i walk the line.’

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source credits:  newsweek magazine, interesting facts

 december

the gingko tree

under a cold blue sky

in a spectacular moment

 drops its golden canopy

over tiny hints of snow

gracefully welcoming

the coming of the next season. 

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‘december is a simple wish that brings spectacular moments.’

-author unknown

i stopped into a cvs store the other day and before cashing out, i asked the employee at the register if he had change for a $50 bill. i was only buying one item for $1.98, and really didn’t want to charge that small amount.

his answer was, ‘of course I do, we’re not 7-11!’

of course he did! what was I even thinking? there must be a secret hierarchy of stores that i am unaware of.

he then casually threw out an additional statement, seemingly out of the blue: ‘my brother in-law held up 3 liquor stores yesterday.’

i took in what he said, unsure of exactly sure how to respond to it, as i don’t have a lot of personal hold-up experience, but wanted to acknowledge it, and all i could come up with was, ‘did he get caught?’

he answered ‘hell, no, and that’s why he’ll keep doing it.’

a very good point, and i believe he was right to assume that.

when i thought about this later, I wondered if this was perhaps all triggered by me asking if he had enough cash in the drawer to give me change from my $50. or maybe he just needed to tell someone what happened. either way, i’m glad that he had someone to tell and to share what was on his mind.

i gave him the $50 bill, he rang me up, gave me $48.02 back. i thanked him and wished him well, as he called the next customer up to his register.

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‘oversharing is how you leak the energy. privacy is protection.’

-author unknown

 

welcome all to the feast.

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“thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude.

gratitude is the completion of thankfulness.

thankfulness may consist merely of words.

gratitude is shown in acts.”

– henri frederic amiel

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art credit: william heath robinson, 1925, pen and watercolour ; Exhibition. Fairies in Illustration