Spiral Crone
What goes around, comes around.

I had what will surely be my most significant observation of Veterans' Day this year. I attended a dinner for the Alliance Francaise, and the speakers after the meal were all French survivors of the war, some of them members of the Resistance. I have known the five women who spoke about their experiences for decades, but I had never heard them discuss their lives during and after the war. There was also a guest speaker who described his experiences and his subsequent efforts to establish a memorial in his town, but his talk was much less poignant since he was a stranger to us all.

Some of the women had difficulty in beginning to speak, some had difficulty stopping once they got started. To hear them speak candidly about what they went through was an humbling experience. I feel that it was courageous of them to recall it for us, in addition to their bravery of having survived the events in the first place.

They described what it was like to sit in classrooms and knit woolen hats for the soldiers who were fighting in extremes of weather. This made the war a daily part of their lives, part of the most mundane tasks for everyone. They talked about what it was like to be separated from family members, either through enlistment, capture, or death. It was sad to realize that after all this time, families are still being separated by the military, and the uncertainty of the future is no less frightening.

I also held in my mind a dear French friend who had died a couple of weeks before at the age of 92. He had been a prisoner of war and had spent the rest of his life affirming the positive aspects of living and bringing joy to others. I wonder if he might have contributed to the presentation had his health allowed.

Bright Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 12:32 PM.

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It's all well and good to joke around about how They "borrow" stuff in the house. And to blame them for everything that I can't find. And everything that falls over, or develops mysterious cracks and folds.

It's another when they annex the car for their festivities.

Yesterday my Computer Glasses threw a screw. I got up and fetched my Regular Glasses so I could see to put it back in. Nyet. My eye-hand coordination is not good enough to get the tiny screwdriver and the tiny screw lined up and cooperating. Holding the magnifying glass in my mouth didn't help as much as I had hoped.

So, off to the opticians to get Professional Help. Computer Glasses safely tucked into a hard case, Regular Glasses on the face. The operation took a few seconds and off I went.
Enjoyed a beading class where women strung glass beads to send overseas to military and civlilans. Back home again.

On the way home, I notice that my distance vision isn't what it should be. I'm having trouble reading street signs and clearly seeing other cars. Gulp. Not only am I concerned about making it home safely, I am wondering why I am losing this vision.

Back home again in the garage, I remove the glasses from my face and dutifully open the hard case that they live in... only to discover that my Regular Glasses are already safely tucked in there. And the Computer Glasses are already in their hard case.

So... what's up with the third pair of glasses? Where did they come from? And how did they get on my face?

Blurry Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 9:18 AM.

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I finally found an Internet radio option that works for me. I tried several others, but for various reasons I didn't like them. That was before Pandora Radio.

Not only does the audio come straight through, without lags or waits, it has a Brain!!
Yes, the Music Genome Project. The radio chooses selections that fit in a category that the listener specifies, and the listener can teach the radio to refine the choices. Every cut allows you to vote for or against the music, and the radio makes future choices based on the feedback.
How cool is that?!

Ok, if yer not impressed yet...

I found a selection called Siuil A Run... that turns out to be a song we sang at Girl Scout Camp. The lyrics never made sense to any of us, but that didn't stop us from singing it. Now... thanks to Pandora Radio, I can see the lyrics in the original Gaelic, and the English translation.
It's really amazing to me. Fifty years between hearing and seeing.

Now the radio is playing a selection from Maire, whom I happen to know is Enya's sister. I would never have thought to look up any of her music, but it's in my computer now.

I'm a Happy Camper.

Bright Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 1:07 PM.

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I got started on this particular rumination recently when I went over the questions in the Caring Conversations booklet about "how do you want to be remembered?" I recalled that as an exercise in the first hospice I worked with, we wrote our own obituaries, eulogies, and epitaphs. This made it possible to go forward in life with ideas about our legacies, and encouraged at least some of us to strive to live up to the projected summaries.

My reaction to the question at this point in my life was that it was kind of late to be worrying about it by now. Not only do I have less time to fulfill the dreams and wishes I might have or have had, influencing people with regard to how they will remember me is not so likely at this point. Even if I live for a long time yet, I have already established myself in the minds of most of the people who are likely to remember me at all.

Today I learned that a friend who had ovarian cancer for several years finally succumbed to her illness last week. Although we had limited contact throughout our relationship, it was over several decades, and each episode was meaningful. I am experiencing a feeling today that a cherished friend once called "existential vertigo". I feel sort of dizzy, and my thoughts keep going back to the fact that she is Really Gone.

One of the things that I have done to comfort myself is to contact other friends. I was very direct with one friend about what had happened and how I felt, and he was very supportive. But another friend made me feel much better without my even having to ask for comfort.
Last week I had mailed something to her that I thought would be of interest. Today she emailed with her appreciation, not just for the information I had sent, but for being her friend.

So. One moral to this story: build the foundation of friendships early and well. When you need them, they'll be there for you. If you wait until you need somebody, it will be too late.

I am very fortunate in that I have good friends, and I have given and received comfort and joy from them. They are my legacy, and they will remember me as they will.

A second moral here: don't wait to tell someone that you love them. It will help nurture the relationship, and you might not have another chance. Working in hospice and in the emergency room proved to me over and over again: Ya never know.

Bright Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 10:59 AM.

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Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 9:31 AM.

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I like to have "save as" on my Outlook toolbar. It saves me a click from a dropdown when I want to archive an email. Sometimes it will disappear. No particular reason that I can think of, just disappears.

I go to the toolbar and put it back. Or so I think. It doesn't show up. I try over and over again, even closing Outlook and relaunching it, even closing everything and rebooting, but it won't stick.

Until about three days later when I have given up in despair... it will show up. Like catnip mice on the rug in the den, like milk jug caps on the kitchen floor, like dirty socks that disappeared magically from the laundry basket and suddenly appear in the middle of the living room sofa.

I have my suspicions, but I can't prove anything.

Bright Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 11:12 AM.

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After I went to an exhibition at the gallery at Union Station, I decided to have lunch before I left the building. It's been restored to it's former (ca. 1908) glory, and I had a good time looking at all the lovely architectural details.

I chose the Fred Harvey Diner because it was the most economical choice, and it looked interesting. Kind of reminded me of Legal Seafood in Boston, with all the white till in there.
(Am I the only one who thinks that Legal Seafood looks like a giant bathroom? Surely not.)

My waitress was rather hesitant, and seemed to have a little difficulty hearing me. This was due in part to the horrible acoustics of a place with 95 foot ceilings that has marble floors and tile everywhere. After listening to her for a bit, I detected a slight accent, and I asked here where she was originally from. She said she was Russian, from Moscow. She didn't linger to chat, as it was busy at the lunch hour, so our conversation was rather brief.

I noticed a handsome young man who was also working in the area, and I overheard him speaking to her in a foreign language. He came over to see if I needed anything, and I asked him if he was Russian also. He said that he was, and that he was from Tashkent. I frowned and said, "But that's not in Russia, it's in Uzbekistan." He was quite surprised and asked me how I knew this. He was even more surprised when I told him that I have friends in Uzbekistan. He seemed dubious until I started naming them, and then he was astonished and delighted. He was much chatty than my waitress, but he also had to keep working.

I overheard the two women at the next table talking to him in a foreign language, and when he left to go back to the kitchen I asked them what language it was. One of them told me that they had both lived in Western China for several years, and they were speaking a language that resembles Uzbek.

Now, what are the chances that four people would all happen to be in the same place at the same time with Uzbekistan in common? We might have missed each other quite easily, or even missed the connection despite having been in close proximity.

Just another example of Six Degrees of Separation?

Bright Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 10:20 PM.

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Finger, Bagel, Knife:

First rule: Knife almost always wins.

Finger has five stitches now. And a “finger basket” to protect it.

Typing is bizarre with a disabled finger.

Bandaged Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 5:21 PM.

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As I read down through my InBox index, I am amazed at the diversity of my email. Next to one about "body cavity searches" is one reminding me that today is Spinoza's birthday. My word of the day for today is "floriated". A personal note arrives "speeding fastly across cyberspace". NASA gives me a preview of "Thanksgiving Skies", in case I rouse myself from a tryptophan-induced coma to wander outside and look up. WhatIs tells me about the "Amazon Compute Cloud", better known as AEC2, of course. My Interesting Thing of the Day is "Skara Brae: House of Sand and Rock". Dromadaire promises me "1 produit gratuit pour 1 produit achete", which is tempting, I must admit. (That's French for BOGOF.) And who knew that "horseshoe crabs give blood for space travel"? A correspondent tries to rouse me out of that TurkeyNap with "ALERT". (It worked, too.) I am advised about the "New Trash Rules"; I have to open that one just to find out if it's new rules for trash or rules for new trash. Dromadaire proves that they have not been to the meetings I have attended by claiming that "Cette semaine nous sont tous tolerants." LiveScience gets my attention with "Some women are allergic to sex"; I have to open to see what their symptoms are. Just in case. An old (well, "former", but she's not as young as I am, either) college roommate explains to me "How dogs and cats came about". (This from a person who has no pets!)

I don't know if this makes it more interesting, or scarier: none of the above is spaghm. It's all real mail.

Bright Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 8:34 AM.

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I just found a website that has me very interested in exploring how people can make their spirituality a basis for doing their work. Not only is the information well-written and comprehensive, it is intended to be shared and distributed. I guess you wouldn't expect anything different from an organization called Global Dharma.

I was reading along from one of the publications about how some people think that spirituality should not be in the workplace. Hmmm. If spirituality is a core part of a person, how could it NOT be a part of their work?

In one place there is a text about The Pathways of Spiritual Growth that discusses work as Selfless Service, as Worship, and as Oneness with Divinity. I thought about how each of those pathways is a road to applying Spirituality in the Real World. Far from segregating work and Spirituality, they must be combined for either of them to have any real value.

I realized another conflict that I had been trying to sort out:
Paganism (to *me*; YMMV) is about creating, practicing, manifesting, and applying.
Fundamentalist Christianity (to *me*; YMMV) seems to be about recruiting, controlling, and examining other people's beliefs and behaviors.

Well, yeah; I think we should keep *that* out of the workplace!
And I realized that this is a struggle between Religion and Spirituality. One of those should not be in the workplace; one of them must be.

I look back on all the students and colleagues that I regard as effective and compassionate people, and I realize that they have a dimension that does not come from outside. It is where they begin, and how they proceed. It cannot be taught, althought it can be facilitated, modeled, and nurtured.

I can only hope that along the way I facilitated and nurtured Spirituality in others in the process of teaching and instructing.

Bright Blessings,
Spiral Crone

Permalink posted by Spiral Crone -- 10:46 PM.

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