Grin and Bare It

The good news is….. no deep cleaning needed!

Apparently, I’ve flossed my teeth impeccably over the last few years to warrant only a good overall cleaning. I was so relieved! Now I can get on with the regular fillings, which in comparison to the probing and scaling, I don’t mind too much. Two more sessions and I’ll be done for this year. Afterwards, I enjoyed a delicious KFC meal with two sides. 

Gosh, is it almost August already? We’ve had a few hot days, but really mild weather for this summer. Perhaps next month will bring on the sun.

Best wishes, Whisel*

Open Wide

Today I started my annual dental pop-in. I call it a pop-in cuz I am willing to pop-in for an evaluation, but, after hearing what she has to say, I’m never too sure if I will go back. Last year I didn’t. This year I will. Oh yes, aching teeth have a lot to do with my decision. I said yes to three more sessions. Two will be for fillings and one for a cleaning. She wants to do a deep quadrant cleaning. I want her to do a full mouth (please don’t hurt me too much) cleaning. For a deep quadrant, one has to be totally numbed up in that area and sit in the chair patiently while the dental hygienist probes and scales the teeth at unfathomable depths for about an hour.  I wonder if I can handle that without an emotional meltdown. I usually levitate in the chair after a period of 15 minutes or more. I have to decide. Thursday is my first session. Anyone else with dentist phobia?

Best wishes, Whisel*

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. —Julia Child

In praise of potlucks and the Foodies who bring their decadence to the table……

 

Yesterday, a wonderful potluck was scheduled for the residents of this senior hotel, at 5pm, their typical dinner-time, my typical lunch time. I made a last minute tuna salad. Took the easy way out cuz I had cooked hot, complicated food stuffs earlier this week and I wasn’t up to slinging around pots and pans to put-together anything too complicated. So tuna salad with an assortment of veggies had to do. There were 3 tuna/pasta salads in all, plus 3 other pasta salads, and many other carbo/sugary plates. Naturally, I gravitated toward the fat and tasty offerings more than the fruit and raw vegetable part of the buffet table. If there is a potato chip or chocolate chip cookie to be had, I’ll easily forego the broccoli and cauliflower florets with yogurt dip. No sense in filling up on too much fiber when there are so many soft and non-nutritional edibles available. I am easily led astray by munchies, crunchies and things that have a long shelf life in cellophane or other crackly, plastic material. And pot-lucks are a good place to get your fat-monster on. 

I noticed other folks doing the same thing. Some took a small serving of fruit/raw vegetables with them as they left, so as to seem complimentary to the few fresh food folks that brought them. Behaviors of good taste and manners are always appropriate in a polite society, whether they reflect one’s actual wishes or not. You can always add the fresh stuff to cereal or soup later.

Today I am doing salad, chicken, hard-boiled eggs and 14 minutes of exercise. I guess that ought to compensate for yesterday.  Logic rules my life, but it has to be MY logic. Otherwise, it loses that magical substance and effective application to my life.

Bon Appetit!  which means: Enjoy your food and let the good times roll

What pot-luck dishes do you bring to gatherings?

Best wishes, Whisel*

15 Favorite Books

 

 1. Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

 2. Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda

 3. Journey of Souls, Michael Newton

 4. The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron

 5. A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, Michael S. Sneider

 6. Handbook of Higher Consciousness, Ken Keys, Jr.

 7. Many Mansions: Reincarnation, Gina Cerminera & Hugh Lynn Cayce

 8. The Late Great Planet Earth, Hal Lindsey

 9. Embraced by the Light, Betty Eadie

10. Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Dan Millman

11. Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood

12. Teachings of Don Juan, Carlos Casteneda

13. The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield

14. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig

15. Ishmael~Adventures of the Mind and Spirit, Daniel Quinn

 

Anyone reading this…. I’d love to see YOUR list.  Thanks.

Best Wishes, Whisel*

The Architecture of Complex Systems

While thumbing through one of those discount catalogues, I found a spinning, organizational tower in which to keep my paint bottles, the ones that roll all over my table and end up on the floor.

So I ordered it. And awaited its delivery. Finally, it came….. in a flat box. uh-oh  I peeked inside, eyes wide at the several plastic packets of white, wire panels. Houston, we have a problem. The tower is unassembled and hours away from launching.

 

I didn’t count the panels, but there were at least 16 pieces.

Plus screws, nuts and bolts. Small ones. Yanno, the kinds that flip out of your fingers, bounce on the carpet and end up in never, never-land. Annnnnnd. everything was held together by miniature flex cuffs, which will not open unless you take an axe to them.

 

 

 

 

So I dragged out some scissors, screw drivers, pliers, box cutters, deferred having coffee and extracted the instructions.

Wow, this looks harder than crafting a 3-D sudoku puzzle. The first two drawings contained alphabets. The others were just consistently darker and more complex grids. So by trial and error, deep breathing, push and finesse, I managed to construct a rather steady and semi-spinning paint tower. Just a matter of basic architectural mechanics, I guess.

Doesn’t it look dazzling? I’m kinda proud of myself, because really…… I had very few pieces left over.  haha

Best wishes in all your endeavors, Whisel*

“To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there’s the rub.

I have a lumpy bed. It is a well-worn piece of foam, 6 inches thick at it’s zenith, covered by mattress material. It is more than 20 years old. It lies atop another mattress that is standard firm. The upper foam has lumps and bumps. And to further amplify the convex/concave flow, I bundle up pillows and blankets for stuffing under the topper in places that suit the curves and valleys of my body. It is a delicious fit, like hand in glove. I simply find the best rolls and dips for my torso and limbs, then gratefully settle in….. hardly moving at all…. ahhh resting in peace.

 

Folks who have seen my mattress and tested out my bed want to rush out and buy me a new one….. for my back. How strange is that? My back has yet to complain about this customized hammock. Futons are my bane. They give the impression of a “soft and sink” surface, but they are, in fact, hrd-core firmaments that repel the gentle sleeper. I cannot fall asleep on flat or firm surfaces. My body is not straight up and down. It shrieks with tossing and turning groans when I must overnight elsewhere. I never sleep well on standard beds. I just spin and rest, spin and rest, until it’s time to get up. When visiting someone, I beg for the couch, since it is often a well-worn, lumpy-bumpy piece of furniture. Even animals create soft and cradling nests in which to sleep. Here are some good-looking couches that might provide me with a good-night’s sleep.

 

So what is your bed like? Soft? Firm? or somewhere in-between?    

Best wishes, Whisel*

 

Walking Buddha

“Above all…. do not forget to walk. Every day I walk myself into well-being and walk away from every illness.

I have walked myself into my best thoughts and know of no thought so burdensome

that I cannot walk myself out of it.”                           ~ Kierkegaard

Did you know that THE Buddha, Siddartha Gautama, was a slender, enlightened East Indian Prince? It wasn’t till many years later when the legend of Buddha spread to China that he took on a squat, corpulent form, a customary shape for a wealthy, healthy, happy nobleman of that time and culture.  Adding to that transformation was the ritual of rubbing the buddha-belly for luck.

But Siddartha walked. In addition to his meditation and quietude. Just as crawling is imperative for healthy brain development in the pre-toddler, I believe that walking is an excellent way to condition the mind for well-being and peacefulness. Today I will walk… as far as sky-blue socks in Reeboks will take me. And if someone asks you: Have you seen Whisel*? Tell them: I am out practicing Walking Buddha.

 Best Wishes, Whisel*

Poker

Poker parties are fun. We played for chips. I’d rather play for actual coins. I like to win or lose actual money. Somehow it’s more meaningful. I pay better attention when nickels, dimes and quarters are sliding around. I usually lose, but I have a heck of a good time. 

Snacks were rich and abundant. Shrimp, Thai finger food, chips, dips and vegetables. Chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Nine players, each of whom had their own version of what we were playing. So there was alot of talking, laughing and trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I think I won two hands, then it was downhill after that. Someone took pictures. We all looked bizarre, mouths open, eyes closed. I played till 9pm, early onset headache. But some folks are a joy to be around, so its fun to even watch them have a good time.

I like playing cards, board games and charades.  And that wraps up my Friday game night.

Best wishes, Whisel*

Lavender

More than a aromatic fragrance Lavender  heals troubles of the heart and mind. I spray my beddings with it. I dab the oil on my person before leaving home. And for the aches and pains, I rub it into those muscles and bruises. Great for a depressing or stressful day. Nice to have a small spray bottle in my bag to freshen up the atmosphere wherever I go.

The active ingredients are: alcohol linalol – kills some bacteria and viruses, helps heals burns, wounds and sores. Ketones relieve pain, reduce inflammation and have a sleep-inducing effect. Esters ease swelling, soreness, prevent muscle spasms. They help regulate mood extremes.

In mystical lore, sprigs of lavender were worn by Medieval Monks to banish evil spirits. Romans burned it around a Mother and new baby to enhance harmony, compassion and bonding. Greeks offered lavender to Hecate, their Goddess of sorcery and enchantment.

In my younger years, I connected the scent of lavender with Grandmothers, who often had packets of it in their dresser drawers and scented handkerchiefs they always seemed to carry. Of course… it’s Grandmother medicine!  Before there were sleeping potions, topical antiseptics/analgesics, before pharmaceutical mood stabilizers…. there was lavender. Now it is more decorative for the younger users, easy on the senses. But I value its other uses even more than before. I’m on the Grandmother path now, learning about the arts from the Ancient Ones.

Humon, I’ve entered a door into a world primeval.
And only through the extra steps of spiritual complexity will I vanish
from this method of the maddening mind that thinks its way through the wormholes.
Until another day, another lifetime
when I might reach the one constant continuity I’ve grappled with for decades.

Mistakes feel like home, I know this land, this practice of conditioning. 
I know this hardship, this voyage of renewal.
The Earth looks pleasant from a rainbow sky
so I chose the fields of lavender to welcome me once more
as I travel the stars reaching for the ecstasy of home.

Best Wishes, Whisel*

 

Running With Scissors

I’m reading: Running With Scissors, a top ten book of 2002. The author pens his memoir of a dysfunctional childhood, populated by a handful of dysfunctional characters, parents being high on the priority list. It’s a down-the-rabbit-hole kinda story, well written, quick-paced.  Deftly witty at times. The experiences are borderline surreal, but somehow believe-able, as quirks collide with disorders.

 

Family life is sometimes a dangerous location and childhood a strange and shocking affair. It’s no wonder that anyone with a pair of good legs, sustainable confidence and a half a shell-casing of marbles moves out of that domain as quickly as possible. Typically, the weaker/more dependent escapee sets up his adult life mimicking the context or what he knew to be normal.

 I thought “my normal” was every childhood path until much later when I met others who actually had a nurturing, healthy experience. That information bamboozled me because I thought that those scenarios only existed on TV or books. It took me awhile to stop asking why this had happened. Basically, it was long after I moved out of the danger zone. 

 Not to worry, “Running With Scissors” is not a graphic, terrorizing account of childhood. It is just The White Rabbit observing and cleverly recording the strange tales of his journey through the looking-glass. It’s funny, harrowing and entertaining.

 

Best Wishes, Whisel*