Friday Follies...
Our abbreviated week has come to it's timely end (finally).
Now I don't know how things are going in your neck o' the woods, but around our "castle-faire", it's one of those really NICE mornings, in spite of hearing the trash trucks in the neighborhood.
Yeah, it's not bad at all.
Grandma would have really liked a morning like this.













The air is fragrant with the scent of whatever is blooming in and around our garden this week, along with our recently mowed back yard (is that a hint of alfalfa?). You'd never know that in just FOUR short hours, the "locals" will be stirring, and we'll be back on track for yet another day of "more of the same". But, that's the way it shakes out around here.
You've got a small window of opportunity, depending on what time you get up.
I tend to rise between 0500-0530 hrs. - force of habit.
Nevertheless, it's nice to wake up and be greeted by things such as these:
THIS is what makes staying right where we are worthwhile.
To me, it's NOT about ANY of the people around here...
At this point, I could care less about them, as they've proven they feel likewise towards us.
I know...I should love my enemies...yada, yada, yada.
Sorry, but in this particular instance, I've grown BEYOND such things, when they have NO relevance.
What the missus and I have achieved in and around our house is what is important.
The preservation and continuance of these things is what matters.
I look at our property as a beacon for reason to those who would embrace and promote chaos.
Let this become a burr under their saddle every time they walk or drive past.
I liken this to a quote from antiquity found in the Bible, the book of Job (how ironic) chapter 38, verse 11:
"Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed"
But you might remember THIS version a little better:
"We've made too many compromises already, too many retreats. They invade our space, and we fall back.
They assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here!
This far and no further!" (Captain Jean-Luc Picard - Star Trek: First Contact)
My version differs somewhat:
"We've made too many compromises already, too many retreats. They invade our neighborhoods, and we give them over.
They assimilate entire inner cities, and we run to the suburbs. Not again. The line must be drawn here!
This far and no further!"
Now, one can say that LIFE IMITATES ART, and surely such a statement is apropos to my particular situation.
It becomes a study in PRINCIPLES.
Normally, it would be MY principles against THEIRS.
But, since they basically HAVE NO principles, it shoots a lot of theories in the butt, as to how to approach the problem.
I've always believed that one TEACHES BY EXAMPLE, and in most cases, that seems to work well enough.
Of course, people such as my "neighbors" abhor learning (as we conceive of it), so any "teaching" falls on blind eyes and deaf ears.
One might view this as a conundrum.
I view it as a challenge.
I cannot enact ANY real change down here, aside from the manner the missus and I conduct ourselves and maintain our small parcel of property, so it will inevitably fall upon those in "higher offices" to do the REAL grunt-work.
You can hope that by leading a good life, taking care of what is provided you, and keeping a strong sense of situational awareness will be sufficient to address the issues.
But you also need others willing to think (and do) likewise, in order to turn neighborhood problems back against themselves.
And somewhere along the way...you will be tested.
How you conduct yourself in matters that arise will determine not only the way others view you, but also (and more importantly) will determine the path you will be walking on.
If you allow those that would take from you TO TAKE from you, you might as well stencil the word WELCOME across your forehead, and become the resident "doormat" for everyone else.
If, on the other hand, you decide to "stand your ground", it will let others know that you are not one to be trifled with.
It all depends on YOU...as does it always.
Everything that occurs in our lives has some basis in PEOPLE.
Either WE are at the center, or others are.
This is not a case where you can assess blame on some inanimate object.
YOUR decisions determine YOUR path, just as other people's decisions will chart theirs.
You CAN be that beacon of reason...or sanity...or clarity, as can others, if they CHOOSE to.
I'll leave you with this wonderful poem by Rudyard Kipling...just to get you thinking.

* * * * * * * * * * *
If...
Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

* * *
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

* * *
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

* * *
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools:

* * *
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

* * *
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

* * *
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;

* * *
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

* * * * * * * * * *

I will be posting a tribute to D-Day.
This Sunday...right here.

Be well, make a difference to someone today, and, as always...
Stay safe out there, America.