… “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
2022 has been another tumultuous year for most of us. I will have other thoughts on the year upon reflection. However, as the eve winds down, and as we are given to considering everything that has taken place, a revisit to the spiritual core of our association is appropriate.
For me, this year provided many memorable gifts; almost all driven by a purposeful God reminding me of my selfish insignificance. This year I watched the physical landscape where my youth unfolded, forever changed; much of it erased completely.
The trees which once held the swings and forts for youthful triumphs, felled by nature’s fury and soon thereafter turned to mulch. Their trunks and branches likely to landscape a coming McMansion for a person with no similar attachment. And so it goes…. And so, it goes. An apropos metaphor for life, and a not subtle reminder that we are temporarily living it.
If my younger self had known a clock was counting down, perhaps the kid would have paused under the shade of the old banyans and thanked them. Then again, it really wouldn’t be childhood if we carried such weighty concerns. I am forever thankful I never carried that weight, and simultaneously today I cherish each breeze with a newfound appreciation for what I did not know.
Perhaps we have new challenges, perhaps our center is askew, perhaps our faith holds a new perspective, or perhaps our exhaustion weighs heavy as we rush turning to the next chapter…. hoping, praying for a better tomorrow.
It is easy to lose our sense of optimism. Retaining a joyful perspective while everything around us seems mad isn’t easy. However, if you accept that you can create something just a little bit better by making a choice, then you have accomplished a great deal.
Regardless of what tomorrow brings, we always have choices. A new year’s perspective:
I have long felt that life is like a series of links in a chain. You might be driving down the road and you hear a song on the radio, or see a picture, and you feel a memory….
Something triggers within you that reminds of a different time and place than where you are right now.
You reflect.
The memories you consider remind you of a totally different time in your life.
Perhaps you lived in a different place. Perhaps you were surrounded by different people. Perhaps a different job or completely different friends. You recognize those memories were constructed like frozen moments in time. They became individual links in the chain in your life.
We never actually realize, in the immediate moment, when one link closes and another link begins. But when we look back, we can clearly see distinct points where things changed, the link closed, and a new link began.
You see, the links are only visible in reflection.
As we reflect, we find parts of the chain in our life where each link closes and connects with the other. A beginning, and an end. At the point where the links are joined, we carry parts of the previous link forward to the next.
For many people those connections are bonded by family, or very strong lifelong relationships. Connections which continue beyond our geographic moments, jobs or temporary acquaintances.
But for everyone, the primary bonding agent brought forward from one link to the next is us, our center, our values and core principles. Our beliefs.
The strength of the steel which comprises the links of our life is forged in the fire of adversity, weakness, challenge, pain, loss, and painful growth. The steel is then cooled with the tears of triumph, hurdles overcome and resolve.
The forging makes the steel stronger and able to withstand the pressures that accompany the additional length. Slowly the chain becomes wiser as it lengthens. Able to reach further, form more significant benefits and become more useful.
Hope replaces fear. Love replaces loneliness. Success replaces adversity. These are successful links began and finished while contributing to the whole.
At times we may manipulate the links with avoidance. We hide from -or choose to avoid- an issue in our effort to begin a new link before the old one was naturally, and spiritually, prepared to be closed.
Eventually, as life continues and the chain lengthens, the weak link can fracture, and we are forced to revisit/repair what we originally chose to avoid.
You see, in life we cannot control the universal laws that guide us. So, if we manipulate circumstances to avoid confronting our own weakness, we cannot fully strengthen our life of links. Eventually, the weakness of our past will impact our future.
So, what principles do we carry from link to link? What core values and beliefs stay with us throughout the journey of our lives? The answers to these questions are what makes us human spiritual beings.
We possess freewill able to make choices about what we do, and how we define our individual humanity; but can we then define ’right’ and ‘wrong’ according to our individual principles? Or are there principles that exceed our influence and definition?
Are there natural laws of right and wrong, good and bad, that cannot be subjected to the determination of man?
These are the bigger questions, perhaps the more important questions; and yet, perhaps the ones we reflect upon the least.
Consider the example of the ‘Law of the farm’ vs. the ‘Law of the School’. Natural principles vs. those made by man.
A student can skip class, take few notes, pay only half attention, then stay up all night cramming for a test and manage a decent grade. It depends on the student’s goal: grades or learning.
The student can choose to manipulate the education, by avoiding the learning and capturing the grade. This is possible in the ‘Law of the School’.
However, a farmer cannot take short cuts. A farmer cannot avoid tending to the soil, preparing the seed, fertilizing and nurturing the crop, and still gain the benefit of an abundant harvest.
The farmer must necessarily do all of the appropriate work in order to benefit from it. Such is the ‘Law of the Farm’, the natural law.
When one considers the weakness remaining within a poorly constructed and manipulated link, perhaps established by selfish choices and driven by avoidance and fear, one can be faithfully assured those who have dealt dishonestly with us will have to visit the issues of their association again.
Conversely, no amount of manipulation or avoidance on our own behalf is going to improve the frailty of any link without first resolving the lack of character which created the weakness.
So, we have choices in our lives. Decisions we each make regarding how we interact and participate in the lives and links of others, as well as how we choose to construct the links that comprise our own lives.
Do we base our sense of purpose around natural principles? Principles based on natural laws of right and wrong, good and bad, truth and lies. Do we forge strong links by following our heart, our values?
If we can interact with others absent of a prideful self-driven agenda, or manipulative intent, we can then apply such principles and strength to our endeavors.
If we protect the integrity of the soil upon which we build the foundation of our lives, we can live without regret.
If we fertilize and cherish our crop, and the crop of our neighbor, with honesty and sincere appreciation for the souls we meet along our chosen path, we will live a life of abundance.
If we tend carefully to the consideration of everyone, yet holding true to our values and principles, we can strengthen ourselves amid the face of adversity and disenchantment.
If we do not hide from, nor ignore our individual and collective faults, we can build the chain of our life with strength, humility, and purpose.
I wish for each of you a long chain of bold, strong, beautiful links, polished with the reflective brilliance of Love, and the very happiest of blessings for a brand-New Year.
Abiding love to all.
Steadfast,
~ Sundance
…Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
… “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
~ Robert Frost
2022 has been another tumultuous year for most of us. I will have other thoughts on the year upon reflection. However, as the eve winds down, and as we are given to considering everything that has taken place, a revisit to the spiritual core of our association is appropriate.
For me, this year provided many memorable gifts; almost all driven by a purposeful God reminding me of my selfish insignificance. This year I watched the physical landscape where my youth unfolded, forever changed; much of it erased completely.
The trees which once held the swings and forts for youthful triumphs, felled by nature’s fury and soon thereafter turned to mulch. Their trunks and branches likely to landscape a coming McMansion for a person with no similar attachment. And so it goes…. And so, it goes. An apropos metaphor for life, and a not subtle reminder that we are temporarily living it.
If my younger self had known a clock was counting down, perhaps the kid would have paused under the shade of the old banyans and thanked them. Then again, it really wouldn’t be childhood if we carried such weighty concerns. I am forever thankful I never carried that weight, and simultaneously today I cherish each breeze with a newfound appreciation for what I did not know.
Perhaps we have new challenges, perhaps our center is askew, perhaps our faith holds a new perspective, or perhaps our exhaustion weighs heavy as we rush turning to the next chapter…. hoping, praying for a better tomorrow.
It is easy to lose our sense of optimism. Retaining a joyful perspective while everything around us seems mad isn’t easy. However, if you accept that you can create something just a little bit better by making a choice, then you have accomplished a great deal.
Regardless of what tomorrow brings, we always have choices. A new year’s perspective:
Something triggers within you that reminds of a different time and place than where you are right now.
You reflect.
The memories you consider remind you of a totally different time in your life.
Perhaps you lived in a different place. Perhaps you were surrounded by different people. Perhaps a different job or completely different friends. You recognize those memories were constructed like frozen moments in time. They became individual links in the chain in your life.
We never actually realize, in the immediate moment, when one link closes and another link begins. But when we look back, we can clearly see distinct points where things changed, the link closed, and a new link began.
You see, the links are only visible in reflection.
As we reflect, we find parts of the chain in our life where each link closes and connects with the other. A beginning, and an end. At the point where the links are joined, we carry parts of the previous link forward to the next.
For many people those connections are bonded by family, or very strong lifelong relationships. Connections which continue beyond our geographic moments, jobs or temporary acquaintances.
But for everyone, the primary bonding agent brought forward from one link to the next is us, our center, our values and core principles. Our beliefs.
The strength of the steel which comprises the links of our life is forged in the fire of adversity, weakness, challenge, pain, loss, and painful growth. The steel is then cooled with the tears of triumph, hurdles overcome and resolve.
The forging makes the steel stronger and able to withstand the pressures that accompany the additional length. Slowly the chain becomes wiser as it lengthens. Able to reach further, form more significant benefits and become more useful.
Hope replaces fear. Love replaces loneliness. Success replaces adversity. These are successful links began and finished while contributing to the whole.
Eventually, as life continues and the chain lengthens, the weak link can fracture, and we are forced to revisit/repair what we originally chose to avoid.
You see, in life we cannot control the universal laws that guide us. So, if we manipulate circumstances to avoid confronting our own weakness, we cannot fully strengthen our life of links. Eventually, the weakness of our past will impact our future.
So, what principles do we carry from link to link? What core values and beliefs stay with us throughout the journey of our lives? The answers to these questions are what makes us human spiritual beings.
We possess freewill able to make choices about what we do, and how we define our individual humanity; but can we then define ’right’ and ‘wrong’ according to our individual principles? Or are there principles that exceed our influence and definition?
Are there natural laws of right and wrong, good and bad, that cannot be subjected to the determination of man?
These are the bigger questions, perhaps the more important questions; and yet, perhaps the ones we reflect upon the least.
A student can skip class, take few notes, pay only half attention, then stay up all night cramming for a test and manage a decent grade. It depends on the student’s goal: grades or learning.
The student can choose to manipulate the education, by avoiding the learning and capturing the grade. This is possible in the ‘Law of the School’.
However, a farmer cannot take short cuts. A farmer cannot avoid tending to the soil, preparing the seed, fertilizing and nurturing the crop, and still gain the benefit of an abundant harvest.
The farmer must necessarily do all of the appropriate work in order to benefit from it. Such is the ‘Law of the Farm’, the natural law.
When one considers the weakness remaining within a poorly constructed and manipulated link, perhaps established by selfish choices and driven by avoidance and fear, one can be faithfully assured those who have dealt dishonestly with us will have to visit the issues of their association again.
Conversely, no amount of manipulation or avoidance on our own behalf is going to improve the frailty of any link without first resolving the lack of character which created the weakness.
So, we have choices in our lives. Decisions we each make regarding how we interact and participate in the lives and links of others, as well as how we choose to construct the links that comprise our own lives.
Do we base our sense of purpose around natural principles? Principles based on natural laws of right and wrong, good and bad, truth and lies. Do we forge strong links by following our heart, our values?
If we can interact with others absent of a prideful self-driven agenda, or manipulative intent, we can then apply such principles and strength to our endeavors.
If we protect the integrity of the soil upon which we build the foundation of our lives, we can live without regret.
If we fertilize and cherish our crop, and the crop of our neighbor, with honesty and sincere appreciation for the souls we meet along our chosen path, we will live a life of abundance.
If we tend carefully to the consideration of everyone, yet holding true to our values and principles, we can strengthen ourselves amid the face of adversity and disenchantment.
If we do not hide from, nor ignore our individual and collective faults, we can build the chain of our life with strength, humility, and purpose.
I wish for each of you a long chain of bold, strong, beautiful links, polished with the reflective brilliance of Love, and the very happiest of blessings for a brand-New Year.
Abiding love to all.
Steadfast,
~ Sundance
…Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost
Remember, the future may be in turmoil, but to reach the promised land of reform, we first must go through the crisis that opens the door for the opportunity to create a whole new world. As Einstein said, the ONLY source of knowledge is experience. We must learn from these events to improve the future for ourselves and our children. It is not that the whole world is doomed. Civilization will reemerge and with some luck, we will enter a new world of enlightenment.
The best we can do is educate people for we will have the opportunity to redesign our environment and we need to learn from these mistakes. I believe Schwab have have looked at our model and what he is trying to do is he sees the real Great Reset which is 2032 and he is trying to force the tree to fall in his direction of total control. That failed for Marx and Lenin. It would fail again because it is against human nature.
Yes, there is a Great Reset coming. It is up to us to make this come out the way to freedom and enlightenment. This is no time to get depressed. We have a lot to do. We will survive.
If you visit a local library, you may discover there was a time when the focus of electricity companies was to generate and provide the most dependable, efficient, lowest cost and critical power to customers who need electricity to live. Alas, those were in the olden days, when service providers were generally focused on improving the quality of life of their customers.
In the modern era, the horrible carbon emitters, aka customers, have become the parasite to manage. People are now a problematic encumbrance blocking the high-minded climate and financial aspirations of the energy corporations.
Heating, cooling and comfort? Get a grip Boomers and GenXer’s, those insufferably selfish indulgences were the priorities of yesteryear.
Yes Alice, as we try to peer through the looking glass, we discover it’s a mirror now. The reflection is the opposite of normal, the reflection is the world of pretending. Say hello to the modern Christmastime when you pray for coal in your stocking.
From Pennsylvania and New Jersey, westward to Illinois and Ohio and all the way south into South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and beyond, power companies are turning off the electricity to preserve and equally distribute the minimal amount of energy they are able to generate.
This my friends, is the “equitable distribution of misery.” How weird does it feel to see that generational prediction turning into reality?
TENNESSEE – […] The TVA began instructing local power companies to reduce power usage on Friday night, and some have instituted rolling blackouts in some cities such as Nashville, Tennessee. Some local power companies have also started using rolling blackouts after the TVA asked them to reduce power usage.
PJM Interconnection, based in Pennsylvania, also asked companies within its system to conserve energy. The company asked residents to turn off non-essential lights, set their thermostats lower than usual, and not use major appliances like dishwashers and laundry machines, the AP reported.
PJM covers areas in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C, according to the AP. (read more)
QUESTION: I see how you were surprised by your dog in discovering how she studies your patterns and predicts where you are going. My dog does the same. I didn’t pay attention to those traits until you wrote about them. The very trait of how to think is fascinating. Have you incorporated that into Socrates?
LC
ANSWER: Yes. I had a friend who was a psychologist and he explained to me many years ago that there were two fundamental types of thinking in humans – linear v dynamic. There is a good book written by Richard E. Nisbett entitled “The Geography of Thought, How Asians and Westerners Think Differently … and Why.” He attributed his work to a Chinese student who said: “You know, the difference between you and me is that I think the world is a circle, and you think it’s a line.” He goes on to quote him:
The Chinese believe in constant change, but with things always moving back to some prior state. They pay attention to a wide range of events; they search for relationships between things; and they think you can’t understand the part without understanding the whole. Westerners live in a simpler, more deterministic world; they focus on salient objects or people instead of the larger picture; and they think they can control events because they know the rules that govern the behavior of objects.
I can say I never had to explain cycle theory in Asia to anyone. In the West, we were taught to think linearly. What stunned me about my dog was noticing that she thought dynamically. I had no idea any animal possess such a thinking process. There are dogs who even has done simple math. Understanding how the thinking process works was absolutely essential to be able to create any AI program that was functional. Of yes, there were those trying to create a neural net, dump all the data in, shake it up, and somehow it would unexplainable to come forth with the answer. IBM tried that and it failed.
There was just a lot more to how we thought that necessitated investigation. Anyone who thinks they cannot learn by observing even how a dog thinks is so biased that they will never discover anything.
This one’s for you WeeWeed.
Because less than great just doesn’t cut it for Thanksgiving! In our family, Thanksgiving is the biggest holiday of all. We go to the same brother’s house every year, almost an hour’s drive out to the country. My husband comes from a family of eight siblings, and most of them have grandkids now, one even has a great grandchild.
As many of us as possible gather together since we will all be with our immediate families on Christmas. Usually, one or two people at least snag a friend who has no one nearby to celebrate with. Until a few years ago, there were four generations of us gathered to give thanks, but my husband’s paternal aunt died a few years ago. She was the last of his father’s siblings, although we often have a beloved aunt by marriage who still comes with her son and granddaughter.
There are often close to 20 kids, so my sister-in-law came up with the idea of a bouncy house years ago. It is the greatest idea in the world for a little peace and tranquility in the house as we gather and get ready.
Best of all, we never even discuss the menu. We’ve been doing it so long that it isn’t necessary. Certain people bring certain things, and yeah, you can maybe not bring green beans but have a new Brussels sprouts dish, but if you are depended upon for sweet potato casserole (that would be one of my responsibilities) or the turkeys, hams, or banana pudding, you’d best not disappoint.
No day of the year is as fun, and full of great food and family as this one. Every year we see people we haven’t seen since the last Thanksgiving meal. And every year we do give thanks for many things, most especially a huge, noisy, boisterous and growing family, who by God’s grace are still able to gather round all the tables and share our lives.
I hope you’ll share the best of the best of your own family traditions and recipes. I say this almost every year, I know. I so enjoy getting all the different recipes that are popular in different parts of our huge country. Here in the remnants of the Old South, tradition reigns at most tables on holidays, and we are slow to turn loose of Grandmother’s rolls and Mother’s dressing. But sometimes a few new excellent dishes turn out to be the hit of the day.
Here’s my casserole, but you have to wing it. I long ago lost the actual recipe. You’ll find similar ones online, but if you get one that tells you to add flour to the topping, just don’t. It ruins it.
Not my actual photo!
Boil 8-10 medium sweet potatoes until just tender. Mash with a cup of sugar, a few spoons of vanilla, half a stick of butter, a tablespoon or so of salt, three eggs, and whole milk or cream, just enough to get a thick consistency on the mixture, just like you’d want your mashed potatoes to be.
For the topping mix a about 3/4 stick of chopped butter, four cups of chopped pecans, and 1.5 to 2 cups of brown sugar until well mixed and crumbly. This is never a fixed ingredient deal. You have to eyeball how large your casserole is, and also how much of the topping you like. We pile it on. If you’re unsure, start with about half of these amounts and add until quantity and consistency work, then add the topping and cook at 400 degrees until browned.
In 2021, the average American family paid at least 14% more for Thanksgiving festivities. In 2022, celebratory costs are estimated to rise by 20%. The US Farm Bureau noted that the average American family paid $46.90 in 2020 for Thanksgiving, which rose to $53.31 in 2021 before soaring to $64.05 in 2022. This is a drastic underrepresentation of costs, as absolutely no one I know can afford to create a Thanksgiving meal for a family with such a small amount of money.
The survey was based on a shopping list of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee and milk. If the survey were to include ham, frozen green beans, and Russet potatoes, the cost would rise to $81.30.
Turkey costs alone rose 21% from last year at an additional cost of $1.81 per pound. Every food item costs significantly more down to a gallon of whole milk that now costs 16% more compared to last year. Stuffing mix rose 69% this year at around $3.88. Pumpkin pie canned mix is up 18%, pie crusts rose 26%, and whipped cream is up 26%. Sweet potatoes (11%), veggie trays (8%), and misc. ingredients (20%) all cost notably more. Those on the West coast will pay the most ($71.37), followed by the Midwest ($64.26, Northeast ($64.02), and South ($58.42).
This is simply the cost of the bare essentials to prepare a meal. Most will spend more traveling to their destination due to energy costs. Alcoholic beverages will drastically add to the budget, as will any specialty foods. Then American consumers will be bombarded with Black Friday deals the following day, and don’t forget Cyber Monday! Friday also happens to be Native American Heritage Day, and perhaps we will have a day to honor the fallen US as we know it today.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
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