Fireside I
It is to the Village Square that the townspeople come to exchange views and thoughts on their beloved spiritual philosophy, learning from each other in kindness and wisdom. Then when their minds have been filled, they retire to the tavern on the western side of the square where they share in social discussion, learning of each other’s events and challenges, happinesses and sometimes sadnesses, too. With a mug or glass in hand, they collect in front of the great Fireplace that dominates the long wall. Benches and chairs are often filled on market day with those who have come from farther away, bringing news of events and views the local people delight in hearing.
If you are feeling disoriented by all the philosophical talk by the fountain in the Village Square, then come sit down on the bench here with us for a while just to soothe your mind and share a mug of tea or coffee. Let’s all make sure the conversation is quiet and simple, caring and thougtful, exactly the kind of talk you might have around a warm hearth, the only light filling the room coming from the fireplace.
Good Morning, here we are again ready to let a little more light in our hearts today. So yes it will be a good day. I’m opening all the doors and windows to allow the crisp morning air to move through the house hoping to exchange the stale energy for a higher vibration. It is reminding me of a line I just read how we “have spent your (our) life in bringing truth to illusion, reality fo fantasy”. Is that what I have been doing? Allowing just enough light in my heart to keep functioning but never just throwing myself into full abandon…of course it is. (: So I shall pause for just a moment and recognise that Truth and let it be. It’s never to far away but I’m not so afraid to look at it …it’s a worthy companion.
I’m feeling a little heavy this morning along with the grey skies. That upsets me that I have allowed the color of the skies to dictate my energy level. But I can’t be distracted by that now; what is more fascinating to me is that in writting about the “grey” sky …I had a thought, what is the difference btwn the spelling grey and gray. I don’t think I really know the difference and that immediately sent me to do a google search and that is why it takes me so long to post. I send myself into multiple journeys even in mid sentence. The internet has finally given me permission to ask questions as the answers can be given immediately. I was always a lazy student and now I just want to sit and ask questions all day and marvel at the instantaneous wealth of information at my finger tips.
This is what I found:
The Difference Between Gray and Grey….By Bernie Zimmermann
In the third grade I was entered in a spelling bee. During one of the earlier rounds, I was asked to give the spelling of the word “gray.” Having a photographic memory, the image of a gray coloring crayon quickly came to mind. On its side, as is customary of most crayons, the crayon’s color was written. The spelling I saw on that imagined crayon (which most certainly came from an actual experience in my past) was g-r-e-y. So, that is how I answered the question.
When I was told my spelling was incorrect, I returned to my chair and tried to fight back tears (I really wanted to win, and didn’t feel I deserved to be leaving the event so quickly). Not minutes after I had sat down, one of the teachers in the room spoke up and said that she believed my spelling of the word gray was not incorrect. After some research (I believe we were in the school library, so it didn’t take long), it was decided that my spelling of the word was acceptable, and I was allowed to continue participating. I eventually ended up winning the spelling bee — something I was very proud of at the time — but that is neither here nor there.
The point of this story is, there are two acceptable spellings of the word gray. Prior to today I was under the assumption that “gray” was the more popular of the pair, but after two quick Google searches for “gray” and “grey,” I realized the difference seems to be very slight (on the Web, at least).
So what, then, is the difference between the two spellings? According to Google Answers, the two words have almost the same meaning in all cases, and g-r-a-y is simply an American derivation of the original spelling g-r-e-y. According to Flak Magazine, the difference can be chalked up to the same happenstances that led to organize/organise and judgement/judgment. Apparently e.e. cummings and Prince are partly to blame as well. However, among the several hypotheses for why gray and grey exist, I believe the following to be the best:
Gray is a color.
Grey is a *colour*.
So next time you’re faced with the choice of spelling the word “gray,” feel free to go with whatever spelling best suits you at the time. I think I’ll continue to use g-r-e-y, just because it’s been so lucky for me in the past.
Was that fun for you or just a waste of time? It was awesome for me! Now I don’t feel so gray (:
Clearing my calendar for katrina!!!!!!!!
I’m planning a Temecula trip myself for March 2011. Who else wants to commit (:
Hugs around the Village,
Annie
Annie, dear Annie –
That was surely fun for me !! (: If you were here in Riberao Preto (4 hours from Sao Paulo) in Brazil, you would have seen me burst out laughing right from the second paragraph onwards (with the Google digression riff (:)
Yay !!
a
ps. I don’t know why I did that “Yay” there, but there it stands (;
Hello There in Sao Paulo!!!
Laughter feels soooo good!
Yay!
oops that’s Riverao Preto not Sao Paulo ….must google
With a b instead of a v, Annie, if Google you must (:
lots of love – thanks for making me laugh. it sure does feel Yay !!!
Y A Y ! !
of course y’all mean YEY
Yaaay! Most entertaining Annie et al
I read through all your posts and it was great fun! What I got: Annie has to ask Mark to give her a hickie she can show her son; the candle room has a lovely new home chez Nina; Debbi’s unbirthday to be celebrated at the end of this month; Anil is an E.T. in Brazil which is good practice for learning to be an E.T. everywhere on earth; daytime dreams are just nightime dreams that seem a tad more real, but aren’t; Leonard Cohen is one hell of an amazing spiritual philosopher – very beautiful; Jesus is also resistant to ‘Jesus’ – he prefers just being one of the guys; Annie needs an attitude adjustment so she can help us with our displaced intentions and choices, as she always does so well.
Big hugs to Katrina (didn’t know it was such not-fun on your side), and to Nina. Aw, heck, hugs to everyOne, Lisi, Laura (how was the wedding??), Michele, Anil, Annie, Pam, Ruth-Anne, Anne, Leni, Zenbear, Zafu, Hedda (hi over there in Finland!), and…and… everyone else.
You guys make this one great place to visit.
On Nina’s post 750, just wanted to say that it was a beautiful experience and also beautifully written. This was lovely: “This cannot be lost. I can choose to lose it but It can not be lost and I am aware of a sacred space where we are eternally dancing.”
Morning,
Still a bit sleepy eyed over here. The sky is still grey/gray and I’m cycling uphill it seems.
I’ve been playing over a few lines from some previous posts in my mind: first one was a while back by murrill:
I suspect that I am in my spiritual “right place” when I am fully cognizant that I cannot control the events around me.
and the second from katrina:
Now, i just try to remember that i feel another’s ‘pain’ to convince myself that pain is real, and my real function is to forgive the impression it is real for ‘both’ of us.
Since these two thoughts have not left my daily ponderings I figured I needed to give them a little recognition so that they (read I) can honor the wisdom gifted to me.
Will have to return to this lofty place as a voice from the bedroom is telling me that he “needs a shirt” ….I’m a bit behind with my ironing…how will I get to my enlightenment with all these interruptions?
Annie, my Villagecat Rufus just tells me to tell you that ironing shirts to beloveds is a bona fide path to enlightenment.
I can’t seem to get the italics right…I can start it but I’m messing up on the finishing. Can someone refresh my memory?
Thanks and have a great day.
Hee hee Nina …yes, I actually don’t mind ironing just don’t like to be reminded that I’m behind. I told Mark I posted his request today at the Village and he gave me a tap on the behind and said “you know I hate asking you”. I said I know…(just to be fair Mark would readily take his stuff to the cleaners but I insist I can do it myself) These are the things we lock horns over. That reminds me to read murrill’s post again about thinking I have any control (: Thanks girlfriend!
Morning Annie,
I agree with Nina and Rufus, ironing is a yoga, though not one of mine. I was just being impressed that you turned on italics, and then you said you couldn’t turn them off. Hmmm, let’s try for turning off.
Well, that had to mean something because it secretly disappeared from the sentence. I forgot how to turn them on.
is this in italics? and now off?
(double check that i’m at the fireside)
oh! the brain is working today!
to turn them off you type a left carrot, then the forward slash, then the i, then the right carrot.
debbi, in case you read this, are you proud or what?
Good Morning katrina….
Hope it works…Hope she’s watching
Another Yay Day!
What’s a carrot ? (:
I think I want to learn this piece of technology too (:
Is < a carrot, btw ?
greater than symbol, maybe, let’s see >\i> italics
italics
oops, mine doesn’t work either, pam (:
how are you today ?
O.K. so how does one start the sequence?
I am doing good. And you?
no idea, my dear (:
doing *very* well, pam. (:
ps. yay – we’re chatting in real-time (:
Yes , this is fun.(-: are you and Shobha still in Brazil?
Yep !! love it here (:
we’re in a small town called “”riberao preto'” – about 4 hours from sao paulo.
How much longer do you get to stay and then where do you head off for?
hmm, wonder if should ask the major, XD – if we should install chat-software on one corner of this village ? not too technically savvy, so am not sure how one would go about that…. (:
plus, it’s a pain for those that type at different speeds. (i remember from some other post that you have difficulty typing long posts ? do i remember correctly, Pam ?
anyway, hope this is not a pain for you to have to type out this chat ?
love,
a
We’re leaving for Dallas on the 15th evening(next Wed). Back to my sis’s place. Direct flight from Sao Paulo> Love it (:
I am very slow at typing but am slowly getting faster. Annie googles. I wiki. Ribeirao Preto means Black Creek. Also nicknamed little California.
I used to love Wiki till I heard of one of the consequences of social media, and then the scales fell off (:
ps. The locals here tell me that it means Black River. I’ll check again with Shobha and her brother and his kids when we go for pizza at 8 pm tonight.
Twenty-some years ago I knew a fellow from Brazil. he was a student here a our tech college. His name was Flavio(not sure of the spelling it is pronounced flaw-V-oh) he was facinated by county-western music as he had never heard it before coming here. I made him a lot of casettee tapes to take home.
Fun going down memory lane !! 🙂 (sometimes, i guess (: —-
I never much was into Brazil until I met Shobha. Then it turns out that my blind grandfather, who lived and died in India, never travelled outside India, apparently told my aunt that the one country he wanted to visit in the world was Brazil !!
It was an odd co-incidence. Like somehow I had fulfilled his wish, which I didn’t even know about until post-marriage to Shobha.
It’s a lovely country. But very insular. Quite the opposite of the US in that sense, which I sense/experience as a much more open country with wider horizons.
Hey Pam, dear friend –
Have to run now. I should get ready to be leave the house by 8 pm local time (it’s already almost 7 pm here). Am still in my pajamas after waking up late in the day today !!
ps. Am thinking of signing up for Annie’s Temecula trip in Mar 11. It’s a very inviting thought (: Ciao ciao for now.
That is interesting about your grandfather. BTW if you don’t mind my asking how did you and Shobha meet?
Have fun Anil. it was fun to talk in real time. Now you are having a “real” vacation if you are still in your PJ’s.(-:
Hi everybody: No internet yesterday, and bad connection today, but it was pretty fun to read at all your posts. Thanks everybody for making my day lighter.
Thanks Katrina for your kind words, I always love to read your posts, it´s as if I am hearing you, and I am very happy that you are coming daily.
Really liked all your conversation Annie with Anil and also Pam´s, and Nina´s posts. And thanks Bernard for being here again.
Lots of hugs to all and much love, Lisi
Pam and Anil, yes, a ‘left carrot’ is the less-than sign, and a ‘right carrot’ is the greater-than sign.
You start-italics with —
just putting an i between the two left & right carrots (like it’s own little sideways tent).
then you end it with the same tent but a forward slash and the i within it. Pam, your example in #771 above needs that first carrot to be a less-than and you need to use the other slash, called a forward slash because its top leans forward. Techie-talk with Jesus. For crying out loud, italics are needed sometimes, when needing to stress stuff.
You can put a b in, instead of the i, and you should get bold , and maybe putting a u in there, instead of the i, will give us underlined – problem is, you never know till you push send.
WELL, bold worked, but not underlined. May need some more research, and less relying on memory.
Loved this sequence from the above real-time conversation…
Pam: I am doing good. And you, Anil?
Anil: No idea, my dear.
Hmm. A Village general meeting in Temecula, March 11? That’d be quite the party, eh? We’d have to be very well behaved, though. Think we could do it?
Sorry about your poor internet connection, Lisi. Hope it gets all healed up.
Nice to feel your presence, Katrina.
Italics:
< i > my thoughts here < / i >
But without the spaces between the characters. We’ll see if this works.
Oh this is wonderful …these tutorials with Jesus on how to clarify our communications with a particular sequencing of symbols. A backward slash vs a forward slash…so close but no cigar. And bold is important too!
Does anyone find it interesting that our little Village has so many problems with connecting to the Internet? Lisi, RuthAnne, Al, Winnie, and those are the ones we know about. It may just be easier to all meet in Temecula and ask Ken if he can be a guest speaker at our town hall meeting. How fun would that be?
Have a Great Day Everyone!
test
Ooo, it worked! Bernard put a space between the symbol sequences and the words you want italiced. YAY!
March sounds like a plan i can do! It’s always tempting to do the 5 (actually 6) day stretch in Feb, but Ken does tend to spend those last couple days reading from the most frightening parts of the text — and i usually have my head in my hands trying to figure out WHY can’t i just give up my ego and get it !!!
Hi all lovely friends,
I just wanted everyone to know I am still reading sometimes and whenever I can read I am very grateful. I’m doing quite well and just experienced two full days of inner peace and many times no thoughts and no fear and no body discomfort and joy. I could see when an ego thought formed and easily had no judgement. This is after of course many days of the usual chop wood carry water. I tried not to make a big deal of my deep peace and freedom but gratitude was flowing. Today, more so called discomforts have returned but I still feel more peaceful and more hopeful.
Got my beautiful girl Grace off to her first day of 4th grade this week and that went real well. We are not involved in any organized religion at this point with her. She knows I really love Jesus and she teases me about my “God book” and when she hears Ken’s voice on my CD’s she says…Ken Wapnick again! She used to tell me glorious “Jesus stories” when she was younger and we say a “blessing” to her every night.
Love you guys very much and thanks for all the thoughtful ponderings, Kendall
PS-I LOVED reading Bernard’s post about his trip to the ocean, what a gift to us all he is.
Kendall I would love for you to share one of Grace’s “Jesus Stories”. Also, I felt like I was watching you ride that Peace Wave the way you were describing your current experience…n i c e.
Nina dear, how ya doing today? Was great to listen to the boys step up to the plate and share from their hearts and minds.
It’s all Good. When I come here I don’t feel there is a separation only a sense of coming together.
xoxoxo
Annie
Hi Katrina – thanks for sending along the details. I’ll try the italics when I want to whisper in the Village (:
love you all,
a