Thursday Thirteen

1.  Ginnie Sams has a geeky mind, and she made a difference in the world.  Especially MY world.  She's the friend who took me in after my quadruple by-pass surgery in 2009.  I was looking for something else today when I ran across this video on YouTube.  Enjoy meeting my friend Ginnie, who was a member of Mensa when I met her many years ago.  Joining Mensa requires an I.Q. score of 148 or above.

2.  Here's a photo Ginnie took of me holding her cat when I was recuperating at her house on Lookout Mountain.  The cat's name was Wootchie.

3.  While composing this post, I stopped to call Ginnie and wish her a very Happy Thanksgiving.

4.  I also talked to her daughter for awhile, remembering things from the past.

5.  While on YouTube, I discovered a new (to me) recording of "Whippoorwill," a haunting tune by R. Carlos Nakai.

6.  "Whippoorwill" is the one piece I've memorized and play most on my cedar flute.

7.  I've posted "Whippoorwill" on this blog several times.  Click the link to hear the various recordings.

8.  Now I'll have to pick up my cedar flute and play this haunting tune again, won't I?  Yes, I did have to play it for myself.

9.  I slid the flute out of its green felt "case" and woke Clawdia with the dulcet sounds of "Whippoorwill."

10.  Word of the Day #1:  dul·cet /ˈdəlsət / adjective = (especially of sound) sweet and soothing.  Example:  "I didn't even try to record the dulcet tones I played on my cedar flute just now."

11.  Today I read about the book Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal and promptly put it on reserve at my library.  I'll tell you more about it later.

12.  Today I had the usual Thanksgiving fixings, another word for me to define.

13.  Word of the Day #2:  fixings (plural only) = the necessary ingredients for something, especially food or a social event.  Example:  "The fixings for Thanksgiving must include turkey and cranberry sauce."

Thursday Thirteen is home of the easy meme where you make a list of 13 things on Thursdays.  The topic is your choice.  The only rule for Thursday Thirteen is to write about 13 things.

Being thankful ~ a cornucopia

 

Word of the Day

cor·nu·co·pi·a /ˌkôrn(y)əˈkōpēə/ noun = a symbol of plenty consisting of a goat's horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, or corn; an ornamental container shaped like a goat's horn; an abundant supply of good things of a specified kind.  Using the word:  "I found this image of a cornucopia of foods on Jan's blog and thought it was perfect for a Thanksgiving blog post."

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, share a thing or two that YOU are thankful for.  I'll start with my list.  I am thankful for my family, for my health, for a great place to live here at the Crown Center, and for the many friends I have made over my lifetime...............Your turn!

A word and a new book

Word of the Day

chak·ra /ˈCHäkrə / noun = (in Indian thought) each of the centers of spiritual power in the human body, usually considered to be seven in number.  (It sounds like:  shaa·kruh)

I found this chart online from Yogapedia, so it isn't from the book.  The list actually starts at the bottom (with the root chakra) and ascends to the crown chakra at the top:

1. Root Chakra
2. Sacral Chakra
3. Solar Plexus Chakra
4. Heart Chakra
5. Throat Chakra
6. Brow Chakra
7. Crown Chakra

Chakras and Self-Care: Activate the Healing Power of Chakras with Everyday Rituals ~ by Ambi Kavanagh, 2020, self-care, 218 pages

Kavanagh says we should embrace the timeless teachings of the chakra system for peace of mind, better physical health, and a sense of alignment, fulfillment, and purpose.  Why?  Because the key to optimal health and well-being is within us, in powerful energy centers called chakras.  Ancient cultures understood the sacred healing power of chakras and that self-care aligned with nature.  This book helps us engage in a series of meditative exercises that activate and balance each of our seven main chakras, offering daily and seasonal rituals to show us that true prevention not only comes from the ways we care for our bodies, but the ways we spend our energy.  It's been a long time since I read about this idea from India, so I'm curious to learn about these features:

• Affirmation, visualization, and activation exercises to align and balance each chakra for improved energetic flow.
• A comprehensive guide to the seven main chakras plus astrological and elemental correspondences and goddess archetypes.
• Essential oil blend recipes and sacred stones to open and support each chakra.
• Daily rituals to recharge and restore your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health.
• Seasonal energy rituals to reconnect with nature's rhythms and lunar cycles.

Thankfully Reading Weekend

Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelves is hosting the 2022 Thankfully Reading Weekend (Wednesday through Sunday, November 23-27).  There are no rules except to devote time to reading.  Okay, I'm in!  Maybe I'll come back here and list what I've read.  Maybe not.

Do you have credit cards?

Note to self:

Be sure to cancel credit cards before I die.

Customer service being what it is today, you can probably imagine how this could happen.  A lady died in January, and Lloyds-TSB bank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge.  The balance had been $0.00, but now is somewhere around $60.00.

A family member placed a call to the Bank.

Nephew:  "I am calling to tell you that she died in January."

Bank:  "The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply."

Nephew:  "Maybe, you should turn it over to collections."

Bank:  "Since it is two months past due, it already has been."

Nephew:  "So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?"

Bank:  "Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!"

Nephew:  "Do you think God will be mad at her?"

Bank:  "Excuse me?"

Nephew:  "Did you just get what I was telling you, the part about her being dead?"

Bank:  "Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor."

Supervisor gets on the phone.

Nephew:  "I'm calling to tell you, she died in January."

Bank:  "The account was never closed, and the late fees and charges still apply."

Nephew:  "You mean you want to collect from her estate?"

Bank (stammer):  "Are you her lawyer?"

Nephew:  "No, I'm her great-nephew."  (Lawyer info given.)

Bank:  "Could you fax us a certificate of death?"

Nephew:  "Sure."

Fax number is given, fax is sent, conversation resumes.

Bank:  "Our system just isn't set up for death.  I don't know what more I can do to help."

Nephew:  "Well, if you figure it out, great.  If not, you could just keep billing her.  I don't think she will care."

Bank:  "Well, the late fees and charges do still apply."

Nephew:  "Would you like her new billing address?"

Bank:  "That might help."

Nephew:  "Rookwood Memorial Cemetery, 1249 Centenary Rd, Sydney.  Plot number 1049."

Bank:  "Sir, that's a cemetery!"

Nephew:  "Well, what the #*!! do you do with dead people on your planet?"

Moral of this story:  It's better to laugh than to cry.  I posted this on my Joyful Noiseletter blog in February 2008, so I figured it's time to share it again.

Monday musing ~ about Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel, and the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet ~ by Meggan Watterson, 2019, theology, 246 pages

A gospel, as ancient and authentic as any of the gospels that the Christian bible contains, was buried deep in the Egyptian desert after an edict was sent out in the 4th century to have all copies of it destroyed.  Fortunately, some rebel monks were wise enough to refuse-and thanks to their disobedience and spiritual bravery, we have several manuscripts of the only gospel that was written in the name of a woman:  The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

Mary's gospel reveals a radical love that sits at the heart of the Christian story.  Her gospel says that we are not sinful; we are not to feel ashamed or unworthy for being human.  In fact, our purpose is to be fully human, to be a "true human being" — that is, a person who has remembered that, yes, we are a messy, limited ego, and we are also a limitless soul.  And all we need to do is to turn inward (again and again); to meditate, like Mary Magdalene, in the way her gospel directs us, so that we can see past the ego of our own little lives to what's more real, and lasting, and infinite, and already here, within.

Watterson explains how and why Mary Magdalene came to be portrayed as the penitent prostitute and relates a more historically and theologically accurate depiction of who Mary was within the early Christ movement.  And she shares how this discovery of Mary's gospel has allowed her to practice, and to experience, a love that never ends, a love that transforms everything.

Now, THIS is more in line with what I believe.  I quit calling myself a Christian long ago, not wanting to be confused with those who hatefully scream at others without showing a bit of love or compassion.  I've been calling myself "a follower of Jesus."  In my opinion, Jesus told us to care for one another, not to worship him.  So I'm ready to read this book I downloaded onto my Kindle yesterday.  Anybody want to join me?  I'd love to discuss the book with you.

Sunday Salon ~ books and life

Owls and Other Fantasies ~ by Mary Oliver, 2003, poems and essays, 92 pages

A perfect introduction to Mary Oliver’s poetry, this stunning collection features 26 nature poems and prose writings about the birds that played such an important role in the Pulitzer Prize winner’s life.  

 

Within these pages you will find hawks, hummingbirds, and herons; kingfishers, catbirds, and crows; swans, swallows and, of course, the snowy owl, among a dozen others — including ten poems that have never before been collected.  She adds two beautifully crafted essays, “Owls,” selected for the Best American Essays series, and “Bird,” a new essay that will surely take its place among the classics of the genre.

In the words of the poet Stanley Kunitz, “Mary Oliver's poetry is fine and deep; it reads like a blessing.  Her special gift is to connect us with our sources in the natural world, its beauties and terrors and mysteries and consolations.”

For anyone who values poetry and essays and for anyone who cares about birds, Owls and Other Fantasies will be a treasured gift.  For those who love both, it will be essential reading.

This also counts as a Nonfiction November selection.  Oh, and I can also claim it as library loot.

I'm still reading The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1966), and my friend Fay's copy arrived by mail earlier than expected.  She and I plan to discuss it one of these days soon.

When I took the Crown Center bus on the grocery store trip this week, I chanced upon a new (to me) chewy granola bar:  fudge-dipped coconut.

This photo shows a 2-ounce size, but what I bought were 1-ounce bars.  I ate one shortly after I got home, and it was delicious.  😄  I used to call Donna a choco-holic, so I'm pretty sure she would have loved one of these.

Here's a 2019 photo of a blooming tree near the old gazebo at the Crown Center where I live.  I found it while searching for something else on my blog.  This whole area and the greenhouse you can see beyond the gazebo are no longer there, since that's where our new building is currently being constructed.

In the background is the Crown Center building that will remain when people from my building are moved into the new one being built where you see the grass and the gazebo and the pink tree again.  It looks like I took these photos on the same day, but they were taken two years apart.  This one is from 2017.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been reading and doing during the week.  

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.