tao1776

Perhaps I'm just being overly testy due to pain. I occasionally like to take a day without pain meds to test my status. I did. Not good. I fear a wheelchair in my future. I will not bend or yield to it. Keep on trucking, as they say.

I sometimes find myself steeped in surprise over the changes that have occurred. Just in my fifty five years of living in small town America, in small town New England, I have seen the pace quicken, the quiet expire and the quest for, "little of your needs and all of your wants" take center stage. Classes in Mindfulness Meditation are being taught in hospitals and in churches to help dispel the clatter in our heads. Serenely soaking in the beauty of rocks and fields and woods requires that we do so with a gun, or a four-wheeler or snowmobile. Where's Walden? It is the cost and the growth of things that most amaze me. In 1967, my small town had one police cruiser and one full time officer. The cruiser also doubled as the ambulance. Move forward to 2010 and it's like going from Mayberry to Hill Street Blues. Can anybody say S.W.A.T.? In High School we all drove jalopy's. Today's kids parks their cars in the school lot looking like Fortune 500 executives. To ...

Mark Linkous Sparklehorse RIP TRIBUTE

I decided to take a walk today through an area of woods and marsh that I often traversed as a boy. I wandered the pathways and crossed over the river walking through places that once captivated the time and imagination of many young boys. As is often the case, things appeared much smaller than what memory captured. I walked out upon an area encapsulated by river on the one side and bordered by a canal on the other. These stairs (pictured above) come out of the ground and they stand there encircled by a few apple trees that are now close to being dead. Although untended or pruned for several generations, the trees once grew wormy green and red apples that fed birds and deer while providing boyhood friends with playful ammunition to throw at one another. The hurricane of 1938 devastated much of this area with flooding and downed trees. The remnants of factory foundations can still be seen among the overgrown weeds and trees. It is now a part of a large flood management area with dams tha...

I decided that it was time to update my profile picture. The last picture was taken in 2003 at a place known as redemption rock . It was a favorite place for me to meditate and study the I Ching , also known as the Book of Changes . Yeah, I still shave the head and the beard is no longer a goatee. I'm going to see how long it will grow; just for the entertainment factor and not much else. Ah, it's the little things........

Contrary to what you might think about the State of Massachusetts being a Democratic stronghold, there are more Independents in Massachusetts than there are Democrats and Republicans combined. The two-party system that we are forced to endure is an unacceptable yoke that we are seeking to change. You see, we still do not like the boot of "the man" stepping down upon our necks any more than we did in 1776. But if you think that joining the Tea Party is the solution, or at least this tea party , "Government on the side of the people?" - I feel sorry for you. I'm looking for a tea party but nothing with the likes of these people. With the election of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate, the Tea Party people fell all over themselves claiming victory in "a rock-solid blue state and center for the liberal establishment." Whoa! Wait a minute. Most of us Massachusetts "Independent voters" have a pretty even split when it comes to our voting records. We ...

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." - Confucius "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark Twain "Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens" - Jimi Hendrix I am well aware that I come off as someone that is being aloof: independent - in need of no one. And much of this is true. I have few friends. It is very hard to determine if this is by choice or because I am socially challenged. I admit that I view much of what others may value as a dried up tit. Its time to leave the litter and fend for myself. The others can continue to smell around in search of what is just not there! I suppose that because of this no one will ever seek me out as a long lost friend on Facebook . People are known to be social animals. Community is good. Friends and family are important. And ...