BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good

Subject: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 02:15 PM

These last few days, there've been some heated exchanges going on, some confusion, some misunderstanding and irritation. That's all part of Mudcat, and it is something that I appreciate most of the time. But, today, everything is momentarily cool. Praise cool! I've been listening to an Early Country Music CD I won on eBay for the grand some of a penny a couple of months ago when I was too busy to listen to it. Last night, I just kicked back, put it on, and realized to my embarassment that I really feel nostalgic about some pretty corny 1940's and 50's country music. When I was growing up, I thought I hated it, but I guess it snuck up on me. Who'd ever think I'd want to hear I Love You So Much It Hurts Me? Or Bouquet of Roses?
Guitar Boogie and I'm A Long Gone Daddy, maybe. But Sweeter Than Flowers by Moon Mullican? I didn't even know I had heard it.

This thread is about absolutely nothing. It's not policital, it's not religious, or irreligious. It's not about unpleasant facial features or my next door neighbor's cat. So, what's going on in your LIFE that you're enjoying? I don't care what it is.. I'm interested.
Politics may pass for being "life," but so is doing nothing. An honored pastime.

A little mundane never hurt anyone..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 02:17 PM

I heard the First Robins of Spring this morning!! Yippee!!

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 02:21 PM

this thread pretty well sums my life up since the turn of the year.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 02:24 PM

My mum has just been discharged from the Intensive Care Unit about 30 mins ago. She has gone to another ward ( High Dependency), but it is a step in the right direction and I am over the proverbial moon.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: jeffp
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 02:37 PM

My primary source of joy these days is my little granddaughter, Halla. She's 10 1/2 weeks old right now and is just an absolute pleasure. She loves to hear her granddaddy sing to her. I'm sure she's going to get into a lot of trouble teaching other kids the songs I'm singing, though. I've already told my daughter that when they call from Kindergarten to find out where she learned all the drinking songs and murder ballads to just turn them over to me.

jeffp

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Amergin
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 02:44 PM

I think MMario meant to lead us all to this page: MMario's CD

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Amergin
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 02:46 PM

i forgot to mention...my main source of joy is my future bride...and the love she holds for me and vice versa...and our unborn child...BG

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 02:50 PM

My online class I'm taking. Tsalagi. I can speak and hear it, but never had the chance to learn to write and read it.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,Ebbie
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 03:02 PM

I'm enjoying a visit to North Carolina. They've taken me out to music several times- it was bluegrass the other night - and my niece has bright, alert, funny twins who just turned one year last week. Any baby is interesting and fun to watch but two of them is downright fascinating.

From the 'bird room' windows while we play cards and dominoes we watch finches, purple and gold and striped, and strutting mourning doves and brilliant cardinals and meticulously colored blue jays and loads of them, just outside. No hummingbirds yet, though.

Great fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 03:17 PM

How refreshing! That's wonderful news, Guest! And, I'm keeping my eye out for the first confused robin shivering out on our front lawn. (Or as my son used to so, shiveling.) And I just heard that the guy is coming to put a new roof on our house next week, after several months of leaking. I guess I shouldn;'t complain... we've had indoor running water. Anyone want a couple dozen pails?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: freda underhill
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 03:19 PM

i've been visiting my sister and her husband in Dungog (NSW, oz).
they have a lovely old house with a huge verandah. on saturday & sunday there was a heat wave.. by monday it had cooled down again, enough to sit on the verandah, having a cool drink, looking at the garden.

amongst all the other trees, there is a huge crepe myrtle tree in flower, covered with masses of dark pink flowers. birds drop by, drinking from their water fountain - i saw bower birds, cockatoos, galahs..

and sipping water with ice in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 03:26 PM

Sounds beautiful Freda. We'll be right over!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 03:30 PM

And God bless you and your future wife and child, Amergin! Joyful times!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 04:16 PM

What's good? The sun is shining, it's warm outside, I smelled a skunk today (excellent sign of spring around here), saw 2 spruce hens on my way home, saw a mama deer and her 2 babies that must be a year old by now (we'd been missing them since deer season..they must have gone into hiding)...the sun felt soooooooooooo good on my face today that I parked extra far away from my building so I could walk and enjoy it...yep.....those are good things. I'm busy, exhausted, interested and content. Life is good. Hope yours is too.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jeanie
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 04:18 PM

Great idea for a thread. Thank you, Jerry. You're absolutely right: quiet, usual, regular, mundane is just fine ! I was thinking that very same thing only yesterday and really appreciating and loving a plain old ordinary day. That feeling of "ordinariness" can be so welcome when it has been absent for a while. My mother and daughter had both been going from one health problem to another for month after month, which set my life totally upside down in helping them and I was starting to wonder whether we would ever have anything remotely like a "normal" week again.

Thank goodness, all has settled down, life is getting back to an even keel, and it was such a good feeling to go buying plants in the garden centre with my mum, then coming home and making pancakes with my daughter. Simple, everyday, family weekend things. Then today, daughter well and gone to school, and me sitting at my desk at the window, looking at the buds in the garden outside hiding those tiny leaves just peeping through, radio playing, starting a new piece of work....so glad to be having a plain old regular day. Added bonuses: the days are getting longer; hearing from old and new Mudcat and "3D" friends; and I found out that Gordon Giltrap is playing a gig in Chelmsford this Friday and I'll be able to go to it. I haven't heard him play live for years.

Something to do, someone to love, something to look forward to. According to an old Chinese proverb, that's the recipe for happiness. Most definitely.

- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Joybell
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 04:54 PM

Oh yes. Quiet. We love that too. Just back from a wonderful festival in the bush. A bunch of us gathered under the stars among the ti-trees and ferns and sang songs in turn and together. Now and then you could wander off and listen to the banjos and fiddles over a bit. A harp here, a group of musicians there, but there was room for single voices too. Now I hear only cows and birds and that's lovely too. Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 05:11 PM

Quiet is very good. I'm now addicted to BBC Radio 7 - no music, just plays, books and comedy/sketch shows. The pictures are definately better.

Then again, it could be that they've upped my medication and it's just the voices in my head.....

It's lovely to just sit and think I don't have to do anything today, but if I do, I can do it tomorrow instead.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 05:21 PM

And you can get Radio 7 on your computer too, via this page

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 08:32 PM

I finally got around to un-freezing my grapes from last years harvest and what a delightful smell. Crushing those grapes for my wonderful wine to be and typing with purple hands.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,freda
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 08:37 PM

out the back of my sister's house, she has a hundered year old grape vine, hanging with beautiful, sweet dark purple grapes.... yum..

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Sam L
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 09:07 PM

I'm learning to play a djembe drum--never played percussion before.
My kids' band is going pretty well. They're starting to write tunes, and I put chords to them. They sing right on pitch and come up with little melodies. They're getting where they can play their parts and sing a bit too. I never even sang out loud til I was 11, and it was hideous at first--I was too shy.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 11:28 PM

I'm seldom actually quiet. I just get loud in different company. :~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 11:33 PM

Can we add twice? My chemo is working, we think. Never know, so you hope and boast when you can.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 23 Feb 04 - 11:48 PM

Well it's quiet now, but then it's nearly 5.00am here and I'm having an insomniac burst. Sometimes quiet is just too damn twitchy!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: freightdawg
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 12:04 AM

The most peaceful feeling in the whole world is being at about 13,000 feet with the setting sun at your back. The wispy clouds on the horizon have joined with the sun to turn the far eastern horizon the most delightful crimson red. The huge mountain range in front of you has already experienced sunset, and it has lost its red hue and is slowly changing to a deep purple. The lights of the approaching city have begun to twinkle, and the brightest star (or maybe it is a planet) can be seen as well. The air is as smooth as a baby's bottom and, with the radio turned off, there is nothing but the throbbing of the engines to even indicate you are moving through space. The world seems so immense, and human squabbles seem so small.

"With Eagles and Horses I'm Flying Again" --John Denver

Sigh,

Freightdawg

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,freda
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 12:04 AM

thanks Jerry and any other peaceful lifers... why don't you come to Oz on weekend of 6th March - some of us are going camping at St Albans, a picturesque village north of Sydney, taking our voices & instruments for a peaceful weekend of camping & music.

Bob, Sandra, Jennyo, Alison and any other sydney catters - Bill Bekric has initiated this one - you'll get an email from me about this tonight.

xxfreda

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 12:52 AM

frieghtdawg, come back to Colorado, all is forgiven!**bg** (My granddad, born and raised in Colorado, left once to open one of the first auto garages in Kansas City, I think it was. One day, he came home from work, looked at grandma and said something about they were going home to Colorado; he HAD to see his mountains and live among them, again!)

Walking Eagle, yeah!! Good thoughts and healing light to keep that good energy flowing.

Thanks, Jerry, for this thread. Good idea.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 01:02 AM

LTS Insomniac burst myself! Is that a medical term that I can use to explain this crazy business to my doc.? (;->)

Thanks to you, Jerry and Kat.

Sounds like the Israilei/Palistinian (sps.)situation is heating up on some other threads.

I have no energy....

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: dianavan
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 02:08 AM

BG - You are entering a period of joy and wonder. Best wishes to your family to be.

Walking Eagle - Tsalagi? What people? What a wonderful discovery for you.

Freda - I envy you! Its sunny here and definitely early spring but its still wet and cold. I am happy to sit by the fire on these damp evenings.

Jeannie - the good old ordinary days at home are my most favorite days of all.

Rustic Rebel - You froze the grapes first? Does that work? Yum!

...and yes, the early spring crocuses have arrived. I heard them singing.

Jerry - Thanks for creating a little oasis of peace.

d

d

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 07:26 AM

This is lovely, Jerry. Thanks again.
Me? I'm learning to laugh again. I'm learning that love never dies. I am learning that tears happen, day after day, but they are healing, too. I'm learning that although life is sometimes cruel, unfair, and full of suffering, it's still worth living.
I'm learning to cherish every single moment of every single day.

I'm learning the joy of playing the concertina. I'm learning that music connects us to those who have crossed to the other shore.

I'm on school vacation, the sun is shining brightly every day, I'm looking for a doggie companion, and my kids are sweet and bright and strong.
At a used bookstore yesterday I found a book on the Fisk Jubilee Singers that's reviewed in the newest Singout. And I found a 1905 publication of choral arrangements of "songs of plantation and jubilee as sung by" various groups like the Fisk singers. A gold mine!

My daughter and my best friend and I are going to lunch at a chocolatier today.

Here in New England it's still winter, but its back is broken, and spring will return.

Allison

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,Ellenpoly
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 07:36 AM

My Birthday is on Thursday, so I thought I'd contribute this to such a nice thread!..xx..ellen

(I've been holding onto this for a while, so it probably happened last year or so.)


In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70+ birthday.
Maya really is a marvel who has led quite an interesting and exciting life.

Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older. And, there on television, she said it was "exciting." Regarding body changes, she said there were many, occurring everyday...like her breasts. They seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist, first. The audience laughed so hard they cried. She is such a simple and honest woman, with so much wisdom in her words. Because of that I share this....


by Maya Angelou

When I was in my younger days,
I weighed a few pounds less,
I needn't hold my tummy in
to wear a belted dress.
But now that I am older,
I've set my body free;
There's the comfort of elastic
Where once my waist would be.
Inventor of those high-heeled shoes
My feet have not forgiven;
I have to wear a nine now,
But used to wear a seven.
And how about those pantyhose-
They're sized by weight, you see,
So how come when I put them on
The crotch is at my knee?
I need to wear these glasses
As the print's been getting smaller;
And it wasn't very long ago
I know that I was taller.
Though my hair has turned to grey
and my skin no longer fits,
On the inside, I'm the same old me,
It's the outside's changed a bit.
But, on a positive note...

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 08:32 AM

Thanks so much for sharing your life with us, Animaterra, Ellenpoly and all of you. I was reminded of the following writing, credited to Bishop Muzorewa. I used this as the text for My christmas Card back in 1990, and I still love to read it:

Love Them Anyway

People are unreasonable, illogical and self centered
   Love them anyway

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable
   Be honest and frank anyway

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight
   Build anyway

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth
   Give the world the best you have anyway

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives
   Do good anyway

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow
   Do good anyway

And now, lets all join in in singing Blessed Quietness

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: freda underhill
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 09:05 AM

that - was fantastic!







now all i can hear is the sound of my cat purring...

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Peace
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 12:40 PM

I have received many messages and posts of support from 'catters, people who have become good friends over the past few months. One of them is the man who started this thread. I thought that "while I all alone beweep my outcast state": and I realize that just ain't so. I am not alone. Fact is, there are more good people in this world than bad people, and lots of those good people are here.

My blessings and recent good news.

My daughters both entered a Karate tournament recently. They both took gold medals for pattern and one took gold for fighting. They learned some of that from dad. They also learned it's better to talk than fight, but that sometimes ya gotta do whatcha gotta do.

I learned that people care about others very deeply, even if it doesn't show on the surface.

I learned that we never really know what has happen to shape the thoughts of other people, and that sometimes we can't change that. But, we can change the way WE feel.

I leaned that love is NOT a four letter word.

I learned.

Bruce M

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: C-flat
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 02:08 PM

My partner, Julie, is away on a short break to Prague, leaving me and our seven year old daughter free to misbehave to our hearts content.
At age seven, every day is a great adventure to Josie, and she wakes early each morning full of excitement and vitality, looking forward to the day ahead. Her enthusiasm is quite infectious, to the extent that I find myself looking forward to doing the simplest and most mundane of activities too.
Today we were excited about making pancakes. Here in the UK many people still follow the tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, pancakes are rarely eaten at any other time of year, and Josie took responsibility for the mixing bowl while I risked personal injury by attempting to toss pancakes from a large, hot frying pan.
Of course we weren't just cooking pancakes, we were top chefs in a busy restaurant (Josie shouting out orders) "Two more pancakes for table 5!" etc.
I wouldn't say we made great pancakes but Josie reckons they're the best she's had!
Taking a lead from her mother, Josie has already mastered the art of "bossing" in the kitchen, making sure that I dry the dishes properly before putting them away, and ensuring that the worktops are free of any pancake debris before allowing me to sit down at the computer for 5 minutes. I see a future in management for her!
Tomorrow I'm taking her out for dinner, she's busy deciding what to wear as I type and I wouldn't be at all suprised if she hasn't decided what shirt I'll be wearing too.
Julie returns on Saturday morning and, although I miss her, I'm having a great time doing the ordinary, everyday stuff that us grown-ups do mechanically and without thought, because my companion still sees the magic of just being alive.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 02:14 PM

On Saturday, with a few good friends, I climbed Pen-y-Ghent in the Yorkshire dales. It was hard. The ways were steep and rough and the last 300' was almost real climbing. But I made it. Not bad, I thought, for a fat old bloke with asthma:-)I got to the summit and was grinning like a Chesire cat for a good 15 minutes. The weather was glorious. The views across to Ingleborough and Whernside then back to Fountains Fell were stunning.

We had passed Churn Milk Pot on the way up and I thought that was quite impressive. On the way down we passed Hull Pot. Sheeeeesh! The Hole is the size of a football pitch and the echo of the stream thudering down into depths beyond the scope of us mere mortals is tremendous. The walk finished with a cup of tea with whisky in while reading a good book in the pub lounge.

Then into a music and singing session to end all sessions. I went to bed at 3. The bar was, apparantly, still serving at 4! Jim (or was it Joe? Mmmm. Nevermind), the laid back barman from Swaziland took everything in his stride. The real ale (Timothy Taylors) was excelent and the company wonderful.

Yes, life is indeed good if you know where to look. And often made better by the absense of technology and the addition of some silence:-)

Cheers

Dave the Gnome

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 03:21 PM

Some old advice I try to take seriously:

"Stop for a minute, enjoy your day
Before you know, it will all slip away
What's all the hurry, What are your running for?
When you could be taking it easy, with Mr. Sunshine at your door

Stop what you're doing, put it away
Leave a note on the door that you'll be gone for the day
Life's there for living, no need to ask yourself why
'Cause while you're sitting there wondering, all those good times will pass you by

Sounds like great times, C-flat and Dave The Gnome. You're a wise man, brucie.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 05:12 PM

Dianavan, I had to freeze the grapes last fall because I didn't have the time to do the wine, but yes! It works great to freeze grapes and berries. I cleaned them all, picked them off the stems and washed them, put them in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Looks like I'll have 5 gallons or better when I'm done. Tomorrow I strain the pulp (purple hands again), add sugar and yeast. In two weeks I can bottle or drink, what ever comes first! I used to make jelly with my grapes until I found wine works so much better with them!

Beautiful thread. It's a good feeling spreading around here.

Rustic

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 05:16 PM

dianavan,

Sorry, I didn't see your question to me. Tsalagi, pronounced jah-la-ge, is the written and spoken language of the Cher oo kee. see the sameness in the pronounciation? We call ourselves Tsalagis our alphabet is actually a syllabary using two or three regular letters for each character. It's a bit of work and fun. Our class has set up a chat room and we try to use as much of the language as we learn each week.

WaDo ah le ( Thank you and take care)
Julie

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 05:27 PM

I just noticed that the people posting to this thread are the ones that I value opinions of in the other threads. We ARE valuable poeple and we DO about a lot of things and other people.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 05:57 PM

Wine making.... alonggggg ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I made wine for many years, carrying on a tradition of my father. Dad used potatoes for corks (never heard of anyone doing that,) but it worked fine. Many years ago, I used to do a Fiscal New Year's Eve party on June 30th (our fiscal year was from July 1st to June 30th.) One year I had something like 14 different varieties of wine I'd made. Everything from dandelion and boysenberry to peach and pear. Some was good and some was not so good, but after a few glasses, it all tasted good. Like like the wedding feast at Canaa, except we never ran out..

And I'm with you, Walking Eagle.. many of my favorite folks on Mudcat are coming in... it feels mighty good..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Allan C.
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 06:31 PM

It is a dull, overcast day here. Rain has pelted down intermittently and by now has thoroughly soaked the city of Dallas. The clouds are so low they almost seem to touch the tops of the trees. A damp wind sways the branches.

A blue jay perches briefly in the top of a small oak that sits so close to my third floor window, I could reach out and touch the bird, if it allowed. The jay seems to improvise a fan dance as it pulls first one wing and then another to its bill and rearranges the damp feathers. It then shudders from head to toe and then inspects to see if this action got the rest of the feathers aligned properly. Dissatisfied with the result, it repeats the shudder. Then, as though the bird suddenly remembers a previous appointment, it takes flight, winging out of view.

The branches of the tree are dripping with rounded prisms, each of which holds a glowing, inverted view of the world around it. The gray sky seems much brighter in these strange reflections. Thousands of such droplets hang randomly throughout the branches. The added weight of raindrops cause these wet convex lenses to roll off their perches, soon to be replaced by another.

The normally dry gully below is rushing with water. I can hear it as it gushes its muddy way into the forest beyond. Few sounds are as peaceful.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 07:04 PM

Well after an early start (about 3.00am), I'm just enjoying this quiet moment. No TV or radio on, no child shouting, no neighbours partying, just the hum of the computer and the gentle burp of Sloe Gin digesting.....

I may even be getting a little sleepy.....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: ranger1
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 07:25 PM

I'm new to Mudcat, but you guys have saved my sanity. I'm winding down on my high-stress temp job for the "off-season" and getting ready to go back to the woods to work at my real job. It has been a real pleasure getting home from work and logging on to Mudcat to see what's going on. My little bit of quiet time between work and when my partner gets home. Thanks, all!

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Peace
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 07:51 PM

ranger1,

You said, "I was the only female at a SuperBowl party, and the only who saw the merchandise in question happened to be one of the guys and the only person with kids! I'm sure there's a connection to be made there somewhere!"

Hope you're not sayin' goodbye. I love your humour.

Bruce M

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: dianavan
Date: 24 Feb 04 - 11:12 PM

Walking Eagle - I heard sometime back that the Tsalagis had a written language (way back when). Can you tell me more about your language and its history? I also remember something about a printing press.

I really appreciate this calm place. I'm a fish out of water in this big city and can't wait to get back to my island life where I hear nothing but the waves lapping at the shore and the birds singing. Actually, soon there will be lambs. I remember waking up in the morning to their bleating; looking out to see them playing amongst the daffodils.

Thank goodness for yoga! I have a hard time finding quiet in the city. After years of solitude, I hear every bit of white noise. Lost my immunity I guess. Please paint more pictures with your words. It really helps.

d

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 12:12 AM

After many discouraging days in which everything I tried seemed to go wrong, I suddenly noticed that the sides of my stove (cooker) look burned and rusty at the top. So I covered the ugly areas with strips of aluminum, which are held in place with 6 x 1/2 inch sheet metal screws. I had to go to the hardware store for a new hacksaw blade and a 7/32 inch bit, but it was worth it.

How empowering it is to rip through metal by hand!

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: LadyJean
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 12:19 AM

Last week was less than encouraging. The Dean campaign tanked. I had a less than cheerful birthday. The weather had nothing to reccomend it.
On Saturday I bought the Chieftains "Down the Old Plank Road" and filled my apartment with bluegrass. Life is decidedly better.

LilyFestre, don't let ClintonHammond know about your skunk. He doesn't appreciate them.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Metchosin
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 01:23 AM

I learned some more wonderful things about LEDs (light emitting diodes) today and their promise in treating cancerous brain tumors and some other wonderful medical benefits.

I have been interested in them, particularly white LEDs for a few years, after reading about an engineer from Alberta who was struck by the lack of light in the villages of Tibet and how it limited reading for Tibetan school children. These wee beasties require hardly any power at all to produce light and have an incredibly long life.

He devised and produced white LED lamps that could be run on cheap, easily generated DC power and has been lighting up the pages of books for them ever since. I got so excited about white LEDs I even modified a few flashlights and started some other personal projects with them.

Today there was a news report that they are now being used to treat cases of SADs in place of other light sources, because, as yet not fully understood, they require half the treatment time to produce the desired affect that was found in ordinary full spectrum light.

White LEDs are actually in the blue light spectrum and it is thought that blue light may be the secret to the salutory effect on human depression. Photosynthesis in plants is stimulated by light from the blue end of the spectrum too and they are being used in that area also.

When I was seeking more information, I came across a few articles about LED therapy which is now being used in conjunction with light activated chemotherapy drugs. The drug adheres to the cancer tissue and the tiny LED light turns it on to destroy the cells. The LED light can penetrate through healthy tissue and unlike laser light, does not damage surrounding areas because the light is relatively cool.

They have also found that LED light from the red end of the spectrum greatly speeds the healing process and the lights are being used to speed recovery of radiation burns resulting from cancer treatment, particularly in the mouth and throat, and it ihas been found to speed the healing of other wounds as well and perhaps has antiseptic properties also.

All this from the little red light that first beamed out of the off/on button your stereo.

Wow! let there be Light.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 02:26 AM

Allen C.
All I can say is wow. You are beautiful.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: freda underhill
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 09:06 AM

well, its after 1.00 am. my cat is asleep on my arm.

its cooled own, & has been raining. what a good sound.







night all!

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 12:10 PM

Hi, Animaterra:

Your message gave me such joy! It sounds like Spring has already arrived in your heart. One of the songs we do that I've always loved is Looking Back. It was recorded in the 50's by Nat King Cole, and it's a song I've sung most of my life now. When I asked Frankie in the Messengers to sing it, I wrote a third verse to make it more specifically spiritual:

Looking back over my days
I never gave the good Lord praise
But if I had one more chance,
I'd never do that again

I know you have the CD of the Messengers, and the song is on there.
I've been doing a lot of "looking back" recently, and I certainly have been giving the Lord praise. Six months ago, my friend Joe couldn't walk six feet without being in extreme agony. He said it was excruciating pain. The root of the word is the same as crucify.. which has been described as the most painful death ever designed by man. Now, Joe seems younger than when I met him 8 years ago, and we can't stop rejoicing!

Perhaps the greatest beauty of quietude for me is that it gives me a chance to reflect on my life, and give thanks for all the blessings that have been bestowed on me, and my family and friends. And so, I give thanks for the lifting of your spirit and the realization that
when you love someone, they become a part of you. That can never be taken away.

I wrote a rare (for me) love song a few years ago with the chorus:

Love can be fickle, love can be vain
Ignored or rejected, but all the same
Whatever the cost, love is never in vain
For love lifts the lover

And you will always be lifted by the love you gave. And received.

Love,

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: ranger1
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 06:27 PM

Jerry Rasmussen, thanks for starting up this wonderful thread. All the positive energy here helped me counteract all the negative energy that I have been dealing with lately at work and then bringing home with me to infect my own living space. Today was a beautiful day full of optimism, regardless of all the petty bickering that goes on at work. Thank goodness it's only a temp job. I'm done on March 26th and then I go visit my mother in Washington State for ten days. After I get back, I go back to what I love: I'm a park ranger in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. I'm so glad I found this thread. And Brucie, I'll still be around, nice thing about where I live, is that the woods aren't very far away, no matter where one resides!

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 06:31 PM

LOL LadyJean! I'm not a big fan of skunks myself...especially when they come a'visiting with our 8 dogs.....but I will say that they are the cutest little things and the only time I appreciate them much is when I catch the very first scent of one....I know warmer weather and more light is on the way!!!!!!   :)

Michelle *directing all further skunks to ClintonHammond's house*

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 09:42 PM

You're welcome, Ranger. We all need some positive energy... especially with all that's happening around us.

I was a Geology major and know what you mean about the beauty of the wilderness.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: dianavan
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 10:04 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 26 Feb 04 - 03:05 AM

Jerry has always been the eye of the storm. The center of calm, and the beauty of the Mudcat Cafe reality. He is our reflection of the glorious beauty that we all hold inside.
Jerry I'm always glad to see you start a thread for balance, because you know that once in awhile we all need you to start a thread for our balance. Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 04 - 08:01 AM

Thank you, Rustic Rebel. I am driven to start threads like these, because I need them. Like everyone else, I am bombarded with cynical, angry outbursts, depressing and frightening news and challenges in my own life. I need a constant reminder of the beauty and hope in our lives, in order to keep my balance. There IS a heart to Mudcat, and many inspiring stories to tell. I start these threads because they lift me up.

The first verse of a song I wrote years ago says it all:

"I take cold comfort in thw ways of man
I see no justice in this land
I feel the anger of the un-stayed hand
May my heart find rest in Thee

There is a basic human, goodness, dignity and strength that is too often overlooked in the yammer of bad news. I see it in all those who have contibuted to this and other similar threads and I am thankful for it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,Ebbie
Date: 26 Feb 04 - 10:18 PM

What a great thread. I'm sitting here unwinding from the last few days of traveling around in Virginia and North Carolina. I had a wonderful time but the days were full.

I spent my teen years in Virginia so we drove around seeing all the places I used to know so well- Staunton. Waynesboro. Greenville. Fishersville. Some of them were so changed - so built up and busy or just plain gone - that it was only by lining them up with the mountains and the rise and fall of the nearer landscape that I could hope to pinpoint where a house had been 50 years and more ago or where an event had transpired that had helped form me all those years ago.

In Floyd, Virginia, on the way up to the Shenandoah Valley, for a few hours I visited a beloved friend and her husband. I last saw her 6 years ago but previous to that it had been much longer a separation. As I told other friends later, it had been 43 years since I'd last seen her but within five minutes I remembered why I had loved her so. She is sweet and witty and coltish and wise. And she'll turn 70 this year! The spirit needn't age.

Came home today through snow for the last 100 miles. Apparently the rains that came up from the Gulf of Mexico earlier in the week have reached us as a snowstorm. Practically everything is cancelled for tomorrow. And it's still snowing. But it's very pretty- and the brilliant red of the proud cardinals at the bird feeders in the snow is breathtaking.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,Ellenpoly
Date: 27 Feb 04 - 11:35 AM

My dear friend Bob (the Deckman) sent me a quote yesterday for my birthday, and it was the best present I received (even including the glow-in-the-dark statue of the Patron Saint of Television (I swear this is a real saint, better known as St Clare, of the "Poor Clares" fame, who in her last years would see visions of the mass she could no longer attend, and so was named Patron Saint of TV by Pope Pius XII in 1958) sent by my friend Carol, along with a "Shakespeare Action Figure, with detachable book and scroll"...I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!!
But back to the quote...

LIFE IS NOT A JOURNEY TO THE GRAVE WITH THE INTENTION OF ARRIVING SAFELY IN A PRETTY AND WELL PRESERVED BODY, BUT RATHER TO SKID IN BROADSIDE, THOROUGHLY USED UP, TOTALLY WORN OUT, AND LOUDLY PROCLAIMING . . . "WOW! WHAT A RIDE!"

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 04 - 06:36 PM

That IS a great quote! Ellenpoly. Your name is the first word I've come across that I could use to rhyme with melancholy. I hope in real life you are never thus..

A friend of mine told me that the reason people turn to religion late in life is that they're cramming for finals.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,Ellenpoly
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 05:13 AM

Hey, Jerry, feel free to rhyme my name anyway you like, but I should warn you that it's really short for Polyhronopoulou (which rhymes with Holy Honolulu, if that's a help)..xx..ellen

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 11:10 AM

I've just returned from a 8,000+ attendee convention in Seattle. Pat and I (she went to museums and shops and things, I went to meetings and exhibits) returned to a newly carpeted basement room (blue with a faint hint of rose). This coming week the bookcases arrive, as do the books we've had in storage. We'll be moving furniture into the basement room this weekend.

We'll find quiet here. The hurly-burly is done, at least until our two friends arrive from the East next Saturday.

It's snowing right now. I want to build a fire (there's a fireplace), put out a comfortable chair, read a good book while sipping a good brandy, and watch the yard fill up with snow.

Maybe I'll do that this evening, and try to find the small, still center point of the hub.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: dianavan
Date: 29 Feb 04 - 12:44 AM

Rapair - A fire in the fireplace is a wonderful idea when its time to relax. I love to sit in front of the fireplace when its rainy and grey or snowy. If I start to feel blue, it works like a charm. Something primal, I guess.

The "fire in the fireplace" is sooo big in Vancouver, that there is a Christmas program on t.v., THE YULE LOG (complete with crackle and hiss ), that is about eight hours long. It is very, very popular. I think it may be local but I'm not sure. Do any of you know of this program?

Just finished meeting a deadline. Whew, time for a glass of wine and a long hot bath.

AAAaaaaaaa - thanks, Jerry

d

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Feb 04 - 01:23 AM

Mets, thanks for sharing that' It is fascinating!!

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: JennieG
Date: 01 Mar 04 - 01:25 AM

Quiet inside is as good, if not better than quiet outside.....
Yesterday for the first time in a long time I felt happy. Without going into details, suffice it to say that the past few years haven't always been good so hopefully things are starting to turn around.
Bought a bookmark the other day with a quote from T.S. Eliot:
>Time that you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time<
I reckon that is my new philosophy!
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: freda underhill
Date: 01 Mar 04 - 03:47 AM

hi jenny

margaret walters bought me a good bookmark once - it said:

how pleasant it is to do nothing, and then to rest awhile afterwards..


I know how you feel.

all my best wishes

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Mar 04 - 07:34 AM

My 28 year old son, who has gone through more struggling in his life than I have at 68 had spent the last few years intensely concentrating on trying to become a better person and catch up with a lot of emotional growing up he was behind on. I talked to him the other night and where he usually has a whole check list of things he feels inadequate about, he was very relaxed. He says he's just decided to take a break on all this self-improvement stuff and enjoy listening to music, reading and doing nothing. I felt so good about that. He's become more comfortable with living with himself. Now, he deserves some quiet time, just to enjoy who he has become.

Jery

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Mar 04 - 09:18 AM

I have a neice who's going to graduate from college this coming May. She likes to go hunting. Not because of the the shooting, but because it gives her *another* chance to sit alone and quietly in the woods, listening to herself and what's around her. Not many 22 year olds can do that. Heck, not many 92 year olds can do that!

(She rarely takes ammunition with her and has never shot anything but paper. She just likes to go do this, as well as take hikes alone in the woods and state parks. As for her safety, well, I wouldn't want to lay an unwelcome hand on her....)

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: GUEST,freda
Date: 02 Mar 04 - 01:48 AM

my brother in law Bill is a landscape artist.

he gains as much satisfaction from sitting in the hills or beaches at his easel, doing the initial paintings, as he does in the more developed semi abstract finished work in his studio. Landscape painting has given him hours, days, weeks and decades of time outdoors painting. He is a big, powerful farming man with strong opinions - but his paintings are very lyrical and sensitive.

he also paints from his boat, landscapes and oceanscapes.

When I went to visit my sister and Bill a couple of weeks ago, he gave me a beautiful painting, which is now in my living room. When I look at it, I feel his enjoyment of the trees in the painting, and his keen observation of the shapes, shadows and pinks and golden yellows of the countryside near Dungog.

Subject: RE: BS: Ahhhh! Sometimes quiet is good
From: JennieG
Date: 02 Mar 04 - 02:01 AM

Freda,

That painting sounds glorious, and I like your bookmark too, it's great! It's peaceful here, the cats have been fed, the windchime outside the kitchen window is slowly chiming (in the key of D Major - my Christmas present from Himself) and life is good.

The only drawback ----

I now have to turn into The Kitchen Goddess and feed the humans. I cook, he washes up.

Cheers
JennieG