Psalm 139:13-16

For Thou didst form my inward parts;
Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to Thee,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Thy works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from Thee,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.
Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Thy book they are written,
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

To Help, Not Help and Manners

Yesterday I entered into a discussion with one of our sons. As with many of our talks, it ranged far and wide. It started from our disagreement with a radio commentator's story of a woman taking a cell phone video as a man rescued another man from a burning building. We delved into media reaction to events, cell phone/device usage, personal responsibility, social conventions and helping others.

Son stated he thought that many people today, trained to stay within social conventions, are less inclined to get involved. He used the example of staying in your own lane while driving, which reminded me of the Edmund Burke quote about "Manners are more important than laws." You get only half of the road, and you can't take it out of the middle. We then veered into thoughts of when should a person break laws or push the envelope so to speak. He wanted to know how a person decides to make choices of helping others, and I was reminded again of Burke, but this time I leaned towards the idea of thinking of others first before yourself.

In my adult life I have tended to think of others before myself. I think this is from my Christian beliefs, but also something more innate. This seems so fundamental to me and I have learned it is not so in others. Not that they are bad people that think thus. I just figure others must have sound reasons for doing what they do and these decisions will help us all. You can see the flaw in that premise though, right? Narcissists and sociopaths don't think of other's motives unless they can judge their own more important, or they can use those motives against someone.

Afterwards I was discussing this with Maureen and she read me another quote from The New Yorker magazine that seemed to tie Burke with what I was thinking. Simon Blackburn in Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love, states "Good manners are a small but constant adjustment to the reasonable expectations or needs of others, little tokens acknowledging their right to a certain space." Seems to me that if I am continually observing others and trying to understand their needs, I should be better able to make a difference in the world.

And know when to help others.

Time On My Hands

I've been thinking of this scene lately.

I just had a "procedure" and have been forced to lay about for going on three days now.  I have been spending hours each day on the internet trying to learn new things, but mostly rehashing the same subjects and sites. I currently have two books started but not finished. I have a stack of unread books on shelves that I want to read sometime in my life. I now will have the time.

This five day respite I am now in the midst of will be lengthened to six months in the near future. In Billy Crystal's life list, I have skipped from the 50's procedure to the 60's surgery in short order. I will be up and about some in the six months, but mostly will be sedentary. This has led me to go through the unread book list and put them in order to read. But I know there are many wiser than I that have read some good books. I want your suggestions. I'm thinking of those Top Ten on your list of books read. Books you suggest to others.

Now I will suggest a few guidelines. I'm thinking of two or three books in different categories. I have been reading mostly nonfiction for the last few years. I would like to branch out a bit. Below I will suggest some categories and list some books I have read and enjoyed. I will also list some authors that I have read and liked. Thank you for your help and let the eduction begin.

Classic "School" books--Shakespeare, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, 1984. I haven't read all the Classics a person should read, so what should I not miss?

Suspense/Westerns--I like Bourne and True Grit.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy--I used to read Bradbury, but haven't for years.

History/Politics/Geography--Lincoln Unbound, Undaunted Courage, Citizen Soldier, Napa, Sontag & Evans, Rediscovering America (John Muir). I tend to stay in this area, but would like other subjects.

Sports--Baseball certainly, but I also like sports biographies as they usually have to overcome some adversity.

Farming/Urban Gardening--I like narratives about how other people are doing these things and making it work for them.

Spiritual/Religious/Make You Think--Books in The Bible, Walden, Autobiography of Gandhi. It's good to drink deep sometimes even if you have a tough time swallowing.

Travel--Undaunted Courage, Travels with Charlie, Blue Highways, No My Mercedes is Not for Sale. There are many and I am forgetting some I've read and enjoyed.

Authors I Read--John McPhee and Malcolm Gladwell.

I have given these as suggestions for suggestions only. I am forgetting much and many, and certainly consider myself the most unread English major I know.

Interesting Food News

We support local food by buying at local farms and a farmer's market, and growing our own food. So it was with much interest that we stumbled upon this article about the best states to eat locally. Given our background, the fact we live in the largest food producing state of the union and we have sampled the food of Napa County somewhat, we expected to be able to puff up our feathers a bit at the results. California is number. . .

38.

Goodness gracious, 38? Well, it just goes to show a few good restaurants do not make a food culture.

Blog Response

I got on my soapbox this morning over at Root Simple about leaf blowers and water. Figured I'd print it here also.


Mow, Blow and Go is the mantra here for many landscapers. The drought is starting to change some minds, though. Many of the landscapers are using this job as a step up from farm work or as a replacement for lost ag jobs because of political water displacements.

The real issue is that many landscape as if they are living in the Northeast with a climate of summer rain. CA is more like a desert. If water is going to be used on land it should be for growing crops, either farmers or home gardeners.

We have no grass in our yard nor in the garden we work in our neighbors back yard. All water used is for food production. We use drip irrigation and minimize the water usage to what the plants need to survive and produce. Yet if you look at many of our small town's yards they are lush and green. A huge paradigm shift needs to take place or we will be the next Dust Bowl here in the San Joaquin Valley.

Bad News / Good News / What the Heck?

I just received a letter from the state retirement system about our account. It seems I was overpaid on part of my disbursement and I need to return the amount. I received this notice through the regular mail at a cost of $0.46 when I usually am notified by email. The retirement system will deduct 5% of my monthly check until the amount is repaid. I can't send a check to reimburse, it must be deducted. Bureaucracy in action.

The amount? 2 cents.