‘if you don’t know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway, because he’s just like you. he has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. it’s one world, pal. we’re all neighbors.’
-frank sinatra
—
art credit: happy toddler rock art
meeting of some sort
with a group of people
who i don’t know
outside of my classroom window
engineers, landscapers, randoms, arborists, cement people, pokemon go players?
here to meet about ?
the lawn, the building, weather, cafeteria menu, fantasy football, favorite colors?
ideas?
—
“we are going to continue having these meetings, every day, until i find out why no work is getting done.”
*richard moran
*Richard A. Moran is a San Francisco based speaker, investor, venture capitalist, author and president emeritus of Menlo College. He is known for his series of business books beginning with, Never Confuse a Memo with Reality that established the genre of “Business Bullet Books.”
the diag at center of the university of michgan campus
on a beautiful day
a good people watching place to be.
—
“i’m still passionately interested in what my fellow humans are up to.
for me, a day spent monitoring the passing parade is a day well-spent.”
-garry trudeau
-Garry is an american satirist whose comic strip, doonesbury,
reflected social and political life in the united states during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
when having snow tires put on my car
had an early appointment
brought my laptop and a giant coffee
to settle in for an hour and a half or so.
while waiting
i planned to write and read and catch up on things
knowing there is always something going on
with any group of fellow ‘waiters.’
i sat at a high table to make for easy typing
most everyone else sat in the lower, more comfortable chairs
quite soon after my arrival, the ambiance changed.
on the left side in front of me
a woman sat down
in the seat next to the remote control for the tv
meant to help the time pass, amuse, and distract everyone.
she immediately took control of the controller
switching whatever channel had been on
to fox news.
the woman in the family to my right
politely asked if she would mind changing
the channel from fox to something else.
she said yes and all good
in no time
we were all watching baywatch reruns
in high def, on the big screen, 90s music pumping
those red bathing suited beauties
running on the beach, boating, emoting, doing pull-ups, rescues, looking hot, and whatnot
and david hasselhoff, the hoff.
the workers at the tire store desk were mesmerized
some young enough to never have seen it before
some old enough to have had the poster and remembering.
i refilled my coffee
the channel was not changed again
throughout my entire (now 2 hour), wait.
new customers coming in had mixed reactions
what an early holiday surprise!
“of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.”
-herodotus
“we are like books.
most people see only our cover,
the minority read only the introduction,
many people believe the critics.
few will know the content.”
-emile zola
—
image credit: newton free library
At The Water’s Edge, 1910. Edward S. Curtis photographed Piegan tepees at the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in northwest Montana. The Reservation is bordered by Canada to the north and Glacier Park to the west. Browning, site of tribal headquarters, has an average of 196 days per year with temperatures below freezing.
In Montana, Blackfeet is used as both the singular and plural designation for tribal members. The Siksika of Canada describe themselves as Blackfoot.
“it does not require many words to speak the truth.”
– Chief Joseph, of the Wallowa Band of Nez Perce
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a holiday in the United States that celebrates and honors Indigenous Americans and commemorates their histories and cultures. It is celebrated across the United States on the second Monday in October, and is an official city and state holiday in various localities.
—
credits: text and digital restoration of photo, gary coffrin, edward s. curtis, native american history site
haezel who woke up at 4 am to milk her cow and taught us how to make cheese from it,
made pastry and coffee with us, and who also helps the local community and school children
enthusiastic fellow hikers
our wonderful guide who led the way, was endlessly patient, never let us get lost,
and shared his knowledge of the country and its nature, stories, history, and spanish with us
along with our talented and very funny driver who navigated incredibly challenging roads
with the owner of a local medicinal plant and food organic farm
who also shared her homegrown sugarcane liquor
called ‘moonshine’ or ‘contraband”
toasting new friends
observant hikers
fellow traveler crew
costa rican cowpokes
breaking bread (and lots of beans and rice) together
sharing our day
boat adventurers
a shy boy and his rooster.
—
such memorable people all.
i loved meeting strangers who became friends.
the costa ricans were some of the most positive people i have ever met.
—
“it is good people who make good places.”
-anna sewell, british novelist
what a funny, sweet, sad, moving book –
a brilliant story of the enduring power
of human connection, forgiveness, and hope.
—
“we have all of this in common, yet most of us remain strangers, we never know what we do to each other, how your life is affected by mine. perhaps we hurried past each other in a crowd today, and neither of us noticed, and the fibers of your coat brushed against mine for a single moment and then we were gone. i don’t know who you are. but when you get home this evening, when this day is over and the night takes us, allow yourself a deep breath. because we made it through this day as well. there’ll be another one along tomorrow.”
-fredrik backman (anxious people)
“I live in Ukraine with my family. I love my country, family, friends, people.
I fight for them. I fight for Ukraine.”
-Oleksandr Usyk
—
art credit: elana vasylieva, ukranian landscape watercolor
during this time of year, when we are so lucky for our bounty, why not help to feed someone else
and maybe learn something along the way?
freericetrivia by the U.N.’s World Food Programme
Want to test your knowledge while helping end world hunger? freerice can make it happen. For every question you answer correctly in the trivia quiz, 10 grains of rice are donated to those in need. Since 2010, freerice has raised more than 214 billion grains of rice (equivalent to $1.5 million) for people around the world.
—
“poverty’s child – he starts to grind the rice, and gazes at the moon.”
-matuso basho
I didn't have my glasses on.... 