JUST HOW MANY SELVES DOES ONE HAVE?
Thanks, Glenn, for the welcome back. Within a week I will resume my Corning Self. Recall the shock I experienced upon opening my suitcase far off, in Adelaide, at my sister's home? Who was that chap and what was he thinking, I wondered. But, soon, I became that person...the fellow who is staying with his sister and has a schedule of work to complete, a different cycle to ride, and a different car to dritve (on the other side of the road, too).
I have had several selves whilst the travelling man. The self with my Adelaide daughter and her family, the self with my Sydney son and his family, the self with my friend Tom and his wife Tony, the self I am here with my Basalt daughter and my eldest grandchild, and the self I have when with my friends Frank and Mary and their family when I am in San Francisco, on the way to and at the end of the way back to Austalia. These selves aren't vacation or travelling selves, as when one chances upon strangers (say, at breadfast on the train). Each personal context is different and evokes a somewhat different Robert. They are sequential selves, each with their own history of relating and experiences shared with me but not with others.
What would happen if we could get them all into one room? Would they recognize each other? Well then, you might ask, Which is the real Robert? or, Is there a real Robert? Or you might remark, Robert clearly is in a state of temporary lack of sanity!
I might respond with, 'Well, how can there be a real Robert?'. Look at it this way: each of my body cells is replaced at between two and eight year intervals, the atoms making up the molecules of my life even more often. I discover that for every human cell of which I am constituted there are some 100 or so other cells; viruses, bacteria, and the like. It appears the real Robert cannot be found there. What about the Robert all alone? As a single person I spend a lot of time by myself, even talk to myself. After a day or so, I find it necessary to flee to the company of others, such a boring fellow!
If there is a single, real Robert, perhaps this singularity resides inside my head. But then I read that my brain, like all brains, is at work rearranging neural networks, according to experience. At a certain level, as Arthur Eddington once remarked, we are all local concentrations of energy within the great common flux, all joined together, the inanimate and animate, the unknowing and the sentient.
Perhaps then the self is an illusion, a concoction of the flow of the story within which I find myself. As Tennyson had Ulysses, the eternal traveller, say, "...I am part of all that I have met."
No matter, I have renewed acquaintenances, remet loved ones, and discovered afresh the joy of being with those whom I have met, even a few I thought were lost to me. Others of you I have not seen in a while. When I write this blog, I find myself thinking of some of you and wonder if the blog-self might do better to discover you who read these postings more often, or more systematically. I do not want to be lost from you, or you from me. Facebook helps somewhat but can be a bit overwhelming.
So, for the self that I become with you, many thanks.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
BACK IN THE US of A
ONE WEEK IN THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I am back. It has been quite a journey, perhaps equal to the circumference of the earth, or slightly more, by the time I am back in Corning, where my new roof will welcome me. Meanwhile, I am in Basalt CO, visiting with my daughter and granddaughter. It is snowing very nicely so some skiing will be in order.
When last I wrote, I was still in Adelaide and bushfires were raging in three states, mostly uncontrolled. I had decided to drive back to Sydney and was wondering how conditions might be along the way, as the highway would take me between likely fire-prone regions. I was in luck, managing to travel on two of the least hot days and not a fire in sight. I drove a leisurely journey, taking some kip (time out for sleep) at Wagga Wagga just over two thirds of the way and arriving in Sydney around 11 AM on the second day.
Adelaide has very wide streets and the road across the 'sweeping plains' has little traffic. Australia is largely uninhabited; imagine 21 million people living on a land mass about the size of the 48 States, mostly in the cities or close to the coast. I saw maybe three or four cars per hour on the road between towns. Coming into Sydney, things tightened up as the traffic became more dense and the roads narrower when off the freeway, so I was quickly hemmed about by the aggressive but courteous local drivers. Had me on my toes, you can be sure!
After four days in Sydney, catching up with family and friends, my son (Andrew) took me out to the airport and it was 'goodbye'. Once more, I was in luck! The plane was very under-booked, with at least three seats each for we Economy passengers. Stretched out, I made six hours of sleep and the cabin crew were very relaxed. All this made the 13 hour flight much less arduous...Hooray, Hooray!!
Four days in San Francisco with good friends and very happy times and then it was onto the Amtrak 'California Zephyr' bound for Glenwood Springs CO, via Nevada and Utah. Probably the most arduous section of my travels when considering it takes 26 hours. But, well compensated by the scenery as one traverses the Sierras, the interesting folk one can meet, and the final section along the Colorado River. From Glenwood Springs (a pretty 'spa-town') it was just 30 minutes by local bus to where I now am.
Finally, two days to myself as my granddaughter and her mother were off at a moguls competition. My granddaughter returned with Second Place (the competition must have been really tough!).
Travelling not only broadens but also wearies the mind, not forgetting the body! Maybe I am getting too old for all this travel in one great pile of miles. If I am going to do all these miles again, I think it may be continally from East to West. The Trans-Siberian Rail journey comes to mind! An acquaintance of mine, a little older than I (I had best be careful, as she reads this blog), did this a year or so ago, so it has to be on the cards. I have friends in Thailand, so another travel adventure can be stitched together.
In the interim, I am considering a longish cycle ride in the Rockies. So...watch this space!
When last I wrote, I was still in Adelaide and bushfires were raging in three states, mostly uncontrolled. I had decided to drive back to Sydney and was wondering how conditions might be along the way, as the highway would take me between likely fire-prone regions. I was in luck, managing to travel on two of the least hot days and not a fire in sight. I drove a leisurely journey, taking some kip (time out for sleep) at Wagga Wagga just over two thirds of the way and arriving in Sydney around 11 AM on the second day.
Adelaide has very wide streets and the road across the 'sweeping plains' has little traffic. Australia is largely uninhabited; imagine 21 million people living on a land mass about the size of the 48 States, mostly in the cities or close to the coast. I saw maybe three or four cars per hour on the road between towns. Coming into Sydney, things tightened up as the traffic became more dense and the roads narrower when off the freeway, so I was quickly hemmed about by the aggressive but courteous local drivers. Had me on my toes, you can be sure!
After four days in Sydney, catching up with family and friends, my son (Andrew) took me out to the airport and it was 'goodbye'. Once more, I was in luck! The plane was very under-booked, with at least three seats each for we Economy passengers. Stretched out, I made six hours of sleep and the cabin crew were very relaxed. All this made the 13 hour flight much less arduous...Hooray, Hooray!!
Four days in San Francisco with good friends and very happy times and then it was onto the Amtrak 'California Zephyr' bound for Glenwood Springs CO, via Nevada and Utah. Probably the most arduous section of my travels when considering it takes 26 hours. But, well compensated by the scenery as one traverses the Sierras, the interesting folk one can meet, and the final section along the Colorado River. From Glenwood Springs (a pretty 'spa-town') it was just 30 minutes by local bus to where I now am.
Finally, two days to myself as my granddaughter and her mother were off at a moguls competition. My granddaughter returned with Second Place (the competition must have been really tough!).
Travelling not only broadens but also wearies the mind, not forgetting the body! Maybe I am getting too old for all this travel in one great pile of miles. If I am going to do all these miles again, I think it may be continally from East to West. The Trans-Siberian Rail journey comes to mind! An acquaintance of mine, a little older than I (I had best be careful, as she reads this blog), did this a year or so ago, so it has to be on the cards. I have friends in Thailand, so another travel adventure can be stitched together.
In the interim, I am considering a longish cycle ride in the Rockies. So...watch this space!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
ADELAIDE...ONE WEEK TO GO!
I AM INTO MY LAST TWO WEEKS (FORTNIGHT) in Australia (Oz).
The more we are into Summer, the further we are into the BUSH FIRE season. This is Earth’s hottest, driest continent and it is getting hotter and drier. When it does rain, Instead of gentle rains, we not have long periods of virtual deluges and widespread flooding. The weather, and therefore the country, is much changed from the days of my youth. Dorothea Mackellar’s poem, My Country, has well expressed our feeling for the land Down Under:
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me
With climate change the shift is more to terror, the terror of widespread and truly horrifying fires. The pervasive bush, mostly comprised of beloved gum trees whose leaves contain volatile eucalyptus oil, becomes tinder dry and laden with heavy, very flammable underbrush. Climate change has also made more likely strong summer winds and these can transform once controllable fires into fast spreading maelstroms.
Australia is a Commonwealth and much much responsibility relating to the general wellbeing of the country is allocated to the Federal government. Lots of research has been done about the causes of these large fires, how they develop, why some homes survive, and how best to combat them. In the partnership between the Federal and the State governments, the result is much more local regulation about where and how homes may be built. Outside of the cities (where the professional fire brigades are located), fire defense and control is in the hands of volunteer units united under Emergency Fire Services organization. These are organized under a regional and state structure. Citizens train to control and fight fires in all rural areas, called out as unpaid volunteers as crises arise. This not only ensures high local investment in fire safety but also rapid response. This is a cost effective approach and means that money spent on firefighting is targeted to equipment and training. Even so, the onset of Summer is a time of mounting anxiety general, even in the cities, and when a fire erupts, of real terror.
Just now, hundreds of fires rage across the continent, many uncontrolled as yet. In a week or so, when I drive to Sydney, I need to be careful to plot a route that avoids possible danger areas. My daughter and her family are presently in Canberra and due to drive back in a day or two. Many fires now bracket the route they had planned but, with some weather relief in sight, it should be OK.
Adelaide, where I am now, is the capital of the driest state. As I may have said in earlier posts, the central city area is one mile square and surrounded by parklands, as you could see should you use Google/Maps. As I have already written, it is a most charming city, situated between hills to the East and the long gulf to the West. There are many sporting venues dotted through these parkland (cricket, football, basketball, tennis, swimming pools, bowls, croquet, and so on) as well a zoo, extensive botanical gardens, and large cemetery (joke: where is the ‘dead centre’ of Adelaide?). Even so, large open tracts remain and much work is in progress to return these to their natural state. Many miles of bicycle trails afford pleasant rides.
Tucked away in one corner, between the light rail line linking the city to one of the numerous beaches and the southern city limit, are most pleasant gardens through which I often wander on my morning walks. There are lots of shade and many pleasant nooks, many with small fountains. Here are some photos from my most recent excursion.
Above: the natural landscape
At left, as you can see, my sojourn in Adelaide has reduced me to a ghost of my former self!
Use of a small stream
and shady nook.
This is 'it' for Adelaide. I hope that some of you will be able to visit some day.
If from North America, make sure your sojourn justifies the long flight. Of course, at least five of my North American readers have not only visited but also lived here.
No doubt, they will correct my errors and gross exaggerations! Or at least forgive them.
The more we are into Summer, the further we are into the BUSH FIRE season. This is Earth’s hottest, driest continent and it is getting hotter and drier. When it does rain, Instead of gentle rains, we not have long periods of virtual deluges and widespread flooding. The weather, and therefore the country, is much changed from the days of my youth. Dorothea Mackellar’s poem, My Country, has well expressed our feeling for the land Down Under:
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me
With climate change the shift is more to terror, the terror of widespread and truly horrifying fires. The pervasive bush, mostly comprised of beloved gum trees whose leaves contain volatile eucalyptus oil, becomes tinder dry and laden with heavy, very flammable underbrush. Climate change has also made more likely strong summer winds and these can transform once controllable fires into fast spreading maelstroms.
Australia is a Commonwealth and much much responsibility relating to the general wellbeing of the country is allocated to the Federal government. Lots of research has been done about the causes of these large fires, how they develop, why some homes survive, and how best to combat them. In the partnership between the Federal and the State governments, the result is much more local regulation about where and how homes may be built. Outside of the cities (where the professional fire brigades are located), fire defense and control is in the hands of volunteer units united under Emergency Fire Services organization. These are organized under a regional and state structure. Citizens train to control and fight fires in all rural areas, called out as unpaid volunteers as crises arise. This not only ensures high local investment in fire safety but also rapid response. This is a cost effective approach and means that money spent on firefighting is targeted to equipment and training. Even so, the onset of Summer is a time of mounting anxiety general, even in the cities, and when a fire erupts, of real terror.
Just now, hundreds of fires rage across the continent, many uncontrolled as yet. In a week or so, when I drive to Sydney, I need to be careful to plot a route that avoids possible danger areas. My daughter and her family are presently in Canberra and due to drive back in a day or two. Many fires now bracket the route they had planned but, with some weather relief in sight, it should be OK.
Adelaide, where I am now, is the capital of the driest state. As I may have said in earlier posts, the central city area is one mile square and surrounded by parklands, as you could see should you use Google/Maps. As I have already written, it is a most charming city, situated between hills to the East and the long gulf to the West. There are many sporting venues dotted through these parkland (cricket, football, basketball, tennis, swimming pools, bowls, croquet, and so on) as well a zoo, extensive botanical gardens, and large cemetery (joke: where is the ‘dead centre’ of Adelaide?). Even so, large open tracts remain and much work is in progress to return these to their natural state. Many miles of bicycle trails afford pleasant rides.
Tucked away in one corner, between the light rail line linking the city to one of the numerous beaches and the southern city limit, are most pleasant gardens through which I often wander on my morning walks. There are lots of shade and many pleasant nooks, many with small fountains. Here are some photos from my most recent excursion.
At left, as you can see, my sojourn in Adelaide has reduced me to a ghost of my former self!
Use of a small stream
and shady nook.
This is 'it' for Adelaide. I hope that some of you will be able to visit some day.
If from North America, make sure your sojourn justifies the long flight. Of course, at least five of my North American readers have not only visited but also lived here.
No doubt, they will correct my errors and gross exaggerations! Or at least forgive them.
Friday, December 7, 2012
A WEEK OF ADELAIDE, TOP TOURIST LOCATON IN OZ
SOME DISCOVERIES DURING MY FIRST WEEK in my home city where I was schooled, completed two undergraduate degrees , did Seminary and so on.
Once again I was amazed in the experience of opening the case I had packed and left here almost a year ago.. Who was this person who packed these things? What could have been in his mind at the time? And amost, Was this really me? A little like Rip vanWinkle waking up after an eleven-month sleep or a seaman after a yearlong voyage around the world. Note to Robert: next time, write down everything you pack and leave behind!
Luckily, my week of organizing myself included being able to watch the third CricketTestMatch between South Africa and Australia. Astonishing and puzzling as I know this to be for North Americans, these tests last for several days. No doubt at all but that cricket is a brutal and elegant game and no wonder it is played by 106 nations. Ony the major tests are so long, most games are much shorter, down to a day, The first two Tests resulted in draws but this time, the South African soundly trounced us, confirming their place as the top cricketing nation at the current time.
I have also discovered that we South Aussies have now caught up with West Australians as the most obese in the nation, threatening even the US, at about 61% of the population being outside the healthy weight range. But this may be related to the overall urban sprawl and poor public transport system that appears to require 81% of folk to drive to their workplace. Inevitably, I compare Adelaide with my other most favorite city (Portland, Ore), of a similar populaton but the only western US city to have contained its size as population grew.
For me, public transport in this city works really well but I do not have to travel to work each day. Like all Adelaidians, I love this city (more of us love our city than in any other city of Australia) and this has much to do with the charm of the central ciy which is one mile square and surrounded by parklands. Designed by an uban planning genius, William Light, it has broad streets and five spacious squares within one of which the founder is buried (guess the name of this square? Light Square!).
Broad streets mean wide sidewalks with plenty of room for restaurants a la terrace. Given the enormous racial mix of Aussies, this means one can dine on just about any cuisine from every part of the world. Oh yes, and then there is that delightful Aussie custom of the BYO (Bring Your Own wine or beer). The waiter will open the bottle for a very small charge, or even none at all. And wait for it...NO TIPPING!
Speaking of wine and beer, Adelaide has some great breweries...my favorite beer being Cooper's. As for wine, there are thousands of acres to the North and South of the urban sprawl that vintage according to many persuasions. chiefly German and Italian. I think it to be a fact that 70% of red wine produced in Australia is grown here...now tht is a lot of wine! The whites are excellent also and with all this sun, finish out very dry or can be transmuted to wonderful dessert wines
What I like about this time of the year is the flowering of the thousands of jacarandah trees so I have included photos of the streets, off which my daughter and her family live.
Well, you can see I am proud of my home city. It has amazing charm and is quite unlike the big cities like Melbourne and Sydney or even Perth to the West. However, it has to be admitted that the Summers are dry and very hot; this is a sunburnt country and land of sweeping plains, after all. To compensate, we have hills bounding the city to the East and wonderful, long sandy beaches to the West so that, in many respects it is like San Francisco, only pretty flat, with a climate almost an exact match. Only, no Bay and no Bridge.
Were I to remain after mid-January I might not be so gung-ho arount the weather as it really warms up as we go into February. Autumn and Spring are the best times to come, I'll bet that if you first came to Sydney and then on to Adelaide (not a bad idea as Adelaide is a gateway to Asia), Adelaide is the city that would be on your repeat list.
But I am not the tourist. This is a time to see my grandchildren and older family, to ensure maintenance on my sister's home (looks like I will really complete the three year maintenance targets I have set for her house), to cycle, walk about, and, this year for sure, do the beach, and just enjoy the company of the pleasant folk who live in this town and seem to be the happiest, friendliest, and most friendly folk for whom one might wish.
Monday, November 26, 2012
THE QUINTESSENTIAL SYDNEY SUNDAY
ONE DAY into my time here in Oz, I will write about it shortly. First, clearly the day to travel out of the US to Australia (Oz) is Thanksgiving Day and this may well be true for the reverse direction. After a most pleasant and enjoyable Thanksgiving Dinner with longtime friends out at Walnut Creek, I took the Bay Area Transport train out to the airport, with hardly anyone on board. The airport departure halls were very thinly populated; when I got to the United Airlines Departure Gate, once again not many folk were in sight. As I had adopted a leisurely approach to boarding, I thought most had already boarded (as indeed was the case) but the coach section was only half full. I scored three seats from the aisle to the window and was able to enjoy five hours of good sleep, considerably shortening the tedium of the almost 15 hours of hours of confinement on the flight.
The flight delivered me into Sydney around nine on Saturday morning and it took only two hours to be united with my Sydney family. I got as much sunlight as possible on the first day to adjust to the local tempo. It really helps to arrive in the morning to have almost the whole day getting about. Even so, I crashed early in the evening being overwhelmed by a good three hours sleep.
And so to Sunday morning…when we all went off to Bondi Beach around eight. My two grandsons are enrolled in the Surf Life Saving Club and were involved in organized games and training exercises. I was suitably ‘slipped, slapped and slopped’ with T-shirt, hat, and sunblock and survived the four or so hours of exposure. How pleasant to watchwatch these activities and observe the variously garbed (and not so garbed) several thousand Sydney-siders disporting themselves in on the sand, in the surf, and under the sun. As I remarked above, a typical Sunday morning for the many Sydney folk who live near the beach. A contrast to the sub-zero temperatures and possible snow showers today back home in Corning!
The only mar, later in the day,was the news that my son, while on his scooter, was brushed by a car cutting a corner on a narrow road. He sustained minor abrasions and a very nasty skin tear just above the elbow.Luckily, his scooter is still serviceable. As an owner of not a few motorbikes, most of which I fell off at one time or another, I well know that one’s first thoughts fly to the bike! It was not until late in the evening that we caught up on the details, when he returned from outpatient care. Fortunately, desipte the narrow space, he took effective evasive action and avoided more serious injury.
Sydney continues with visits with friends and family and then it is off to Adelaide
Monday, November 12, 2012
THE LAST WEEK!!!
JUST ONE MORE WEEK BEFORE I head off to Oz.
Autumn is well and truly here. I never have seen so many fallen leaves. How do the trees do it? I wonder. So I have been busy making compost and bagging up leaves I cannot use just now but will become very handy in the Spring when the lawn will need cutting once more and the only leaves I will have are those stored in large black plastic bags. Compost has been massive this year and I have two piles going.
The highlight of this month has been my 'Visit Robert's House' party the first Sunday afternoon of this month. What a blast! Must have had over forty people in the house at one point.
Many of you will have been wondering how much Corning was affected by Hurricane Sandy and the later storm. The answer is...Hardly at all. We got some good winds and some rain for two or three days but little damage. Power was out for folk who live up in the more hilly, and therefore more exposed, areas. Here in the valley, we were pretty snug. Precluded from outside work, I read prodigiusly around the next posting for another blog ('BeliefAccordingTo...'). This has turned out to be really hard work but I hope to complete that posting this week.
The rain and cold (we have days now when the temperature is below freezing) have held me back somewhat on the last House Project, concreting and tiling around the front of the Sunroom, This will stop the mild intrusion of moisture and reflect more winter sunlight into this room. It will function as the rear entrance and mudroom once I am back in early February. I am looking forward to sitting there in the warmth while the snow lays round about (smooth, and crisp and even, as the carol goes). The story of this last outside project I will tell in a posting on the 'HouseAccording...' blog. I should have the tiling finished mid-week or so when I will be able to post photos of that little bit of work. Did I say, 'Little bit of work'? I have had to mix the concrete by hand (oh, how miss that nice electric motor driven mixer I had back in Oz!). I have done that for five separate slabs, not to mention the earlier work for the underlying fill and the excavation before that. Today I put down the first nine tiles and felt very satisfied with myself.
So, it will be off to Oz early next Monday morning. First to San Fancisco to stay with friends for a few days, until Thanksgiving Dinner with them, after which I will hop on the BART out to the airport to disappear into the big tin bird then to emerge on the following Saturday morning in Sydney. Not looking forward to the long flight and it is a wonder to me that I can do it. But then, I have had lots of practice as I have been making that flight about one a year since 1987. Now that I am getting to be an old chap, perhaps I will make it less often. Speaking of old chaps, one of my brothers just had his 87th birthday. The other is a year or two older.
This time I will see all my family... my son and daughter and their partners (in Sydney and Adelaide), my sister (in Adelaide) and five of my six grandchildren, especially anticipating meeting for the first time my third granddaughter, Pepper. Also, along the way, lots of old friends to revisit and catch up on things. On the way back to Corning, I will detour via Colorado to catch up with my elder daughter and eldest granddaughter. Of course, there will also be some skiing.
I will write news along the way.
Autumn is well and truly here. I never have seen so many fallen leaves. How do the trees do it? I wonder. So I have been busy making compost and bagging up leaves I cannot use just now but will become very handy in the Spring when the lawn will need cutting once more and the only leaves I will have are those stored in large black plastic bags. Compost has been massive this year and I have two piles going.
The highlight of this month has been my 'Visit Robert's House' party the first Sunday afternoon of this month. What a blast! Must have had over forty people in the house at one point.
Many of you will have been wondering how much Corning was affected by Hurricane Sandy and the later storm. The answer is...Hardly at all. We got some good winds and some rain for two or three days but little damage. Power was out for folk who live up in the more hilly, and therefore more exposed, areas. Here in the valley, we were pretty snug. Precluded from outside work, I read prodigiusly around the next posting for another blog ('BeliefAccordingTo...'). This has turned out to be really hard work but I hope to complete that posting this week.
The rain and cold (we have days now when the temperature is below freezing) have held me back somewhat on the last House Project, concreting and tiling around the front of the Sunroom, This will stop the mild intrusion of moisture and reflect more winter sunlight into this room. It will function as the rear entrance and mudroom once I am back in early February. I am looking forward to sitting there in the warmth while the snow lays round about (smooth, and crisp and even, as the carol goes). The story of this last outside project I will tell in a posting on the 'HouseAccording...' blog. I should have the tiling finished mid-week or so when I will be able to post photos of that little bit of work. Did I say, 'Little bit of work'? I have had to mix the concrete by hand (oh, how miss that nice electric motor driven mixer I had back in Oz!). I have done that for five separate slabs, not to mention the earlier work for the underlying fill and the excavation before that. Today I put down the first nine tiles and felt very satisfied with myself.
So, it will be off to Oz early next Monday morning. First to San Fancisco to stay with friends for a few days, until Thanksgiving Dinner with them, after which I will hop on the BART out to the airport to disappear into the big tin bird then to emerge on the following Saturday morning in Sydney. Not looking forward to the long flight and it is a wonder to me that I can do it. But then, I have had lots of practice as I have been making that flight about one a year since 1987. Now that I am getting to be an old chap, perhaps I will make it less often. Speaking of old chaps, one of my brothers just had his 87th birthday. The other is a year or two older.
This time I will see all my family... my son and daughter and their partners (in Sydney and Adelaide), my sister (in Adelaide) and five of my six grandchildren, especially anticipating meeting for the first time my third granddaughter, Pepper. Also, along the way, lots of old friends to revisit and catch up on things. On the way back to Corning, I will detour via Colorado to catch up with my elder daughter and eldest granddaughter. Of course, there will also be some skiing.
I will write news along the way.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
IT'S THAT SORT OF DAY...
"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat
Rain, rain, rain; and yet more rain, and...
I am in the third day of a head (becoming chest) cold.
In other words, a good day to do a post to the Blog.
Actually, I have been out and about somewhat, including a visit to a local coffee shop to meet up with interesting people, and some minor shopping.
There is no longer any drama to report on the house project. All the interesting work has been done (you recall, knocking down walls, building a sun-room and extending the deck, agonizing choices about colors, painting, and the like). As I have remarked elsewhere, lately it has been clean up, fix up, and repair. To do myself justice, I have just about finished painting the deck and put up an outdoor clothes line (something you can hang out the washing to dry on, saving lots of energy). Hardly anything sufficiently of note to post in another place.
Furniture has begun to arrive and I am very pleased with the overall effect; at left a picture of the living area. It is all starting to feel like "home". No doubt I will eventually be overcome with a desire to post to the House blog.
Meanwhile, this is a update on "the state of Me".
Which, apart from this cold (mercifully tending to be brief or at least not too inconveniencing), is not so bad at all.
In fact, I have been greatly enjoying some learning on several fronts. Driven by personal need and also the need to do another posting to the Belief Blog, I have been reading in cosmology, particularly books by Brian Greene (The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality, and would really like to get to reading his The Elegant Universe) Although these have been best sellers, I will admit that it takes some fortitude to read them all the way through. If you live in the US, these books have their video counterparts in the Public Broadcasting Service's Nova series. Since PBS has the copy-rite, these may be accessible via the Internet elsewhere. I get them by streaming video from Amazon.com.
While I decline to have TV (one of the more pernicious components of current life), I do have a TV set and special router to access a wealth of information via broadband Internet and streaming video. And no interminable and constant interruptions by commercial advertisements!
Getting back to cosmology...these readings provide an excellent review of the progress astronomy, physics, and mathematics have made over the last two hundred years in describing the world around us and, indeed, our own very selves.
A remark by Einstein (that he believed in Spinoza's God) has taken me back to review the work of this amazing Seventeenth Century philosopher and then, sideways as it were, into that century when scientific empiricism was beginning to stir, and intellectual life was beginning to set itself loose from the bondage of religious authority and the 'armchair' thinking of traditional philosophical analysis. Despite that I had four years study of Philosophy in my first degree, I had paid little regard to Spinoza. Par for the course, really, as until recent times, he has been greatly overlooked. A book I have enjoyed and found extremely useful is by Matthew Stewart, The Courtier and the Heretic, which delightfully tells the tale of Leibniz and Spinoza, and their parallel ideas.
Spinoza laid the foundation for the argument for separation of church and state and, as importantly, for the separation of scientific inquiry from subservience to theological dicta. Actually, he was the 'bad boy' of theology as well as philosophy, in an age when most thinkers still felt the need to doff their caps to religious authority. He pushed on into areas of thought and analysis too daunting for others, sometimes at great risk to himself. Spinoza forswore wealth to pursue philosophy, lived a life humble in all respects, making his living as a lens-maker. His excellence as an artisan put him in contact with leading figures in microscopy and astronomy. He had a wide correspondence that included Isaac Newton.
Nowadays, he has been rediscovered by cosmologists and also by neurologists (for his ideas on free will and emotions). Just in case you might want to follow up the latter, I recommend Antonio Damasio's book; Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain.
I have also gained a new respect for Jewish thinking in the matter of God. Especially Amy-Jill Levine's 'The Misunderstood Jew' and the most readable 'The Gifts of the Jews", by Thomas Cahill (a fast and informative read from Sumerian times, through the story of Abraham, to the return of the Jews to Canaan, with penetrating commentary on the lasting contributions of Jewish thought to our times).
If you want to get a better understanding of the Bible, I suggest you try: Whose Bible Is It; A Short History of the Scriptures, by Jaroslav Pelikan. If you can access the PBS Nova series, The Hidden Treasures of the Bible is an unbeatable modern summary of the history of the Hebrew Scriptures and a good match to The Gifts of the Jews, mentioned above.
None of this may interest you all that much but it will let you into what has been interesting me these last several weeks.
It is just over 50 years since my graduation from theological seminary and subsequent ordination to the Christian Ministry. It turns out that the mid-seventies onward (when I was more interested in clinical and neuro-psychology) was quite an exciting time for biblical scholarship, biblical archaeology, and serious inquiry into how theology might better serve modern thinking. It has been fun catching up.
― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat
Rain, rain, rain; and yet more rain, and...
I am in the third day of a head (becoming chest) cold.
In other words, a good day to do a post to the Blog.
Actually, I have been out and about somewhat, including a visit to a local coffee shop to meet up with interesting people, and some minor shopping.
There is no longer any drama to report on the house project. All the interesting work has been done (you recall, knocking down walls, building a sun-room and extending the deck, agonizing choices about colors, painting, and the like). As I have remarked elsewhere, lately it has been clean up, fix up, and repair. To do myself justice, I have just about finished painting the deck and put up an outdoor clothes line (something you can hang out the washing to dry on, saving lots of energy). Hardly anything sufficiently of note to post in another place.
Meanwhile, this is a update on "the state of Me".
Which, apart from this cold (mercifully tending to be brief or at least not too inconveniencing), is not so bad at all.
In fact, I have been greatly enjoying some learning on several fronts. Driven by personal need and also the need to do another posting to the Belief Blog, I have been reading in cosmology, particularly books by Brian Greene (The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality, and would really like to get to reading his The Elegant Universe) Although these have been best sellers, I will admit that it takes some fortitude to read them all the way through. If you live in the US, these books have their video counterparts in the Public Broadcasting Service's Nova series. Since PBS has the copy-rite, these may be accessible via the Internet elsewhere. I get them by streaming video from Amazon.com.
While I decline to have TV (one of the more pernicious components of current life), I do have a TV set and special router to access a wealth of information via broadband Internet and streaming video. And no interminable and constant interruptions by commercial advertisements!
Getting back to cosmology...these readings provide an excellent review of the progress astronomy, physics, and mathematics have made over the last two hundred years in describing the world around us and, indeed, our own very selves.
A remark by Einstein (that he believed in Spinoza's God) has taken me back to review the work of this amazing Seventeenth Century philosopher and then, sideways as it were, into that century when scientific empiricism was beginning to stir, and intellectual life was beginning to set itself loose from the bondage of religious authority and the 'armchair' thinking of traditional philosophical analysis. Despite that I had four years study of Philosophy in my first degree, I had paid little regard to Spinoza. Par for the course, really, as until recent times, he has been greatly overlooked. A book I have enjoyed and found extremely useful is by Matthew Stewart, The Courtier and the Heretic, which delightfully tells the tale of Leibniz and Spinoza, and their parallel ideas.
Spinoza laid the foundation for the argument for separation of church and state and, as importantly, for the separation of scientific inquiry from subservience to theological dicta. Actually, he was the 'bad boy' of theology as well as philosophy, in an age when most thinkers still felt the need to doff their caps to religious authority. He pushed on into areas of thought and analysis too daunting for others, sometimes at great risk to himself. Spinoza forswore wealth to pursue philosophy, lived a life humble in all respects, making his living as a lens-maker. His excellence as an artisan put him in contact with leading figures in microscopy and astronomy. He had a wide correspondence that included Isaac Newton.
Nowadays, he has been rediscovered by cosmologists and also by neurologists (for his ideas on free will and emotions). Just in case you might want to follow up the latter, I recommend Antonio Damasio's book; Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain.
I have also gained a new respect for Jewish thinking in the matter of God. Especially Amy-Jill Levine's 'The Misunderstood Jew' and the most readable 'The Gifts of the Jews", by Thomas Cahill (a fast and informative read from Sumerian times, through the story of Abraham, to the return of the Jews to Canaan, with penetrating commentary on the lasting contributions of Jewish thought to our times).
If you want to get a better understanding of the Bible, I suggest you try: Whose Bible Is It; A Short History of the Scriptures, by Jaroslav Pelikan. If you can access the PBS Nova series, The Hidden Treasures of the Bible is an unbeatable modern summary of the history of the Hebrew Scriptures and a good match to The Gifts of the Jews, mentioned above.
None of this may interest you all that much but it will let you into what has been interesting me these last several weeks.
It is just over 50 years since my graduation from theological seminary and subsequent ordination to the Christian Ministry. It turns out that the mid-seventies onward (when I was more interested in clinical and neuro-psychology) was quite an exciting time for biblical scholarship, biblical archaeology, and serious inquiry into how theology might better serve modern thinking. It has been fun catching up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
