Friday, July 29, 2005

Like tears in rain

My Great Aunt has a memory disorder at age 93. She is the last living link to my grandmother, her sister, who died too soon in 1968. It is too late to ask either one anything. Who knows what secrets are lost forever… like the coal smoke up the chimney of their old house.

One of our physicians is still going strong at about 80 years old. He holds his own in both the art and science of medicine. He is a “lead dog” and patients feel the calm reassurance he exudes. I could listen to him for hours recount his experiences as 19 year old medical corpsman at Iwo Jima. He is a treasure trove of medical practice knowledge from each decade from the nineteen-forties to the 21st century. I hope some one is writing it down.

Reviled by some during his lifetime, Daniel Boone became a folk hero after death according to one biographer. He was barely literate so much was lost when he died in Missouri. When Kentucky succeeded in rescuing his bones for re-interment a plaster cast was made of his skull. Phrenology was a pseudo-science practiced in the 19th century. They hoped to reveal his personality by studying the bumps on his head.

As the hourglass runs out on life it seems something inorganic takes its place. As each generation closes rank on the other side…a little bit of humanity dies, too. A video or audio archive of our seniors would be priceless.

After the climactic fight between the characters played by Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner (1982), Roy Batty laments,“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. … All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain”. -James

www.flight-of-ideas.com

Monday, July 25, 2005

Sound Mind

What sounds are so pure…
That can hush our inner thoughts
and purge the dissonance from our mind?

Chirping crickets… A thousand summer voices
vibrating in so many cycles per second.
Eyes closed …mind listening.
Suppressing alpha waves…
the bane of primary process thought.

The Little River begins as mountain stream on the slopes of Clingman’s Dome. It roars through Elkmont Campground with both sound and feel. Like nature’s polyphonic orchestra, all instruments playing at once.…Spent, its fate is the Gulf.

Tide coming in…Ocean respirations in slow motion… monotonous waves wash away bipedal tensions like Gregorian chant… water upon sand breaking primordial sound barriers…little room for worry.
--James
www.flight-of-ideas.com

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Help yourself

Do you read self help books? Some people consult these in lieu of seeing a therapist. They are often cheap and usually benign. Like St. John’s Wort they are for the mildest of problems. And, both are sold over the counter. Buyer beware.

Seems that there is a 12-step, Self-help program for just about every imaginable compulsive behavior. Gamblers, Drinkers, Shoppers, and Overeaters, for example, come together to commiserate and proclaim their powerlessness.The “secret wish” must be acknowledged and discarded. (That, someday, controlled use may be possible.)

Monthly Breast Self exams have decreased the occurrence of one type of cancer in women. Men can be stricken, too.
A Urologist once told me how the self help movement had finally been mobilized to fight prostate cancer. “Feel your prostate, if it feels… like the tip of your nose- that’s normal...the side of the nose- that’s prostatitis…and the bridge of the nose-that’s cancer”
... Does managed care know about this?? (Do not attempt this except under the advice of a physician)
--James
www.flight-of-ideas.com

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Southern hospitality

Are you in a field where you must meet the public? Working retail …hanging an "open" neon sign…means inviting all comers- and putting up with questions.
“How am I going to know what color blooms these Crape Myrtles will have? I don’t have time for this.” said the Shrubbery Manager of a large local nursery last September. I was looking to buy a small tree… which could spend a few decades as flowerbed centerpiece. Past the period of flowering…I asked what I thought was a reasonable question. I was rebuffed. So I gambled and took one home blind to the color of its flower. Perhaps I am too sensitive to the affect in someone’s tone of voice. The point of today’s blog has a little to do with flora and more to do with Southern hospitality (which includes the common courtesy of tolerating the ignorance of others). Sure, the little inane questions can get under your skin. Maybe she was just having a bad day. The crape myrtle did bloom on June 30th. Mystery revealed. I feel like I won a small prize on the daily lottery. The variety was Prarie Lace. The only two toned flower on Clemson’s website. Pink blossoms and white edges. I thought about sharing my good fortune with the Shrubbery Manager…but, she may also lack the “Southern” trait of saying something complimentary even if she thinks it looks ghastly.
--James
http://www.flight-of-ideas.com

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Rockets red glare

July-4-2005 The Great Experiment has another birthday. #229 Many, many happy returns. Thank you to each generation for your courage, sacrifices, and bold innovations. I've got it easy, by comparison. --James
flight-of-ideas.com
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