I have as much privacy as a goldfish in a bowl.
[Princess Margaret]

When I started this blog three weeks ago, I did so as an experiment and learning experience. I saw it as a public journal of sorts and selected topics as they came to mind. Like Topsy, it just grew. I still intend to keep it general but today I’m on my soap box.

A couple of years ago, I was arrested, spent eight terrifying hours in the county lockup and was released without apology and without being told why it had all happened. After a sleepless night, I went into my Nancy-Drew mode and investigated the situation starting with the sheriff’s office. I discovered that a woman with a name similar to mine was in contempt of court for non-payment of a debt. Some law clerk did a sloppy job of research and put my name, address, social security number, etc. on the warrant. The clerk got that information from my land title company. It took six months and a trip to court to get my police record expunged.

Yesterday, a friend of mine sent an email with a link to a web site that publishes information about people. Not only were there a multitude of references to me but some of the information was in error and there were links to many other sites that offer similar information. It is a bottomless pit. If Princess Margaret were still alive, she’d notice that there are millions of other goldfish in the bowl.

If it weren’t for crooks, opportunists and incompetent law clerks, I wouldn’t care if I were living in a fish bowl. However, in the real world, this is a dangerous situation. I’m old enough to know that any sense of security is an illusion — there is no such thing as security but we still need to protect ourselves to the extent we are able. I haven’t the foggiest notion about what to do about this except to be aware that the situation exists.

The cure for boredom is curiosity.
There is no cure for curiosity.
[Dorothy Parker]

[Photo taken at St. Fagans, Cardiff, Wales]

Windows, doors, gates, portholes — all of these inflame my curiosity and make me stop to think. If you stood on my left as I shot this photo, you’d see a path to a manor garden. If you were on my right, you’d see the road to a little church. That difference in viewpoints is a common experience to us all, but it always amazes me.

Not only do two people standing at a window have different viewpoints, one person does as well depending upon which eye is open. It puts me in mind of more abstract points-of-view. We each have our own window on the world. The view is further effected by our perceptions and influences we may not even be able to define. I always try to remember that I cannot see another’s view entirely as he or she sees it. No wonder it takes an effort to understand other people’s viewpoints.

This is where curiosity spurs me on. Attempting to see the world as another person sees it broadens my view. Do you see blue the same way I see blue? Do you interpret a smile the way I interpret a smile? Do you perceive pain the way I perceive pain? I am curious about what you see through your window on the world.

Love is an act of endless forgiveness …
[Peter Ustinov]

I’ve been thinking about the difference between loving someone and liking someone. I think love is a gift of eternal caring that I offer someone. It endures no matter what — even if they don’t accept my gift. Liking someone, on the other hand, is a subjective reaction that depends upon both my perceptions and the way the other person chooses to interact with me. I can think of several people to whom I offer love, whose traits don’t appeal to me at all. I’ve reached a stage of development where I do not seek out the companionship of people who bring strife and other negative things into our interactions, but I can love them. There are times when that person is me and I know I need to mend my attitude in order to like myself even though I always offer myself the gift of love. Maybe that is part of what it means to love our enemies. I’m thankful that we aren’t told to like them as well.

Come Saturday morning
I’m goin’ away with my friend…
We’ll travel for miles in our Saturday smiles…
[Dory Previn]

My friend’s name is Toby. Here he is with his Saturday smile. I’ve learned a lot since he came to live with me. He learns simply from activities of daily living. When the phone rings, he jumps down from my lap because he’s learned that I’m going to get up to answer the call. If I go to the door with my keys, he runs to the car when he gets outside. If I have a letter in my hand, he leads the way to a mail box. I didn’t intentionally teach him any of that.

Who knows how a dog thinks? We often ascribe human characteristics to a pet because we interpret some behaviors as love or loyalty. I guess it doesn’t really matter. He brings out the best in me and rewards me with puppy kisses and Saturday smiles.

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they toil not, neither do they spin.
[Matthew 6:28]

The first part of Chepstow Castle in Wales was built in 1067. I was duly impressed. The flowers didn’t seem to be though. I was enchanted that they took up squatter’s rights in the nooks and crannies of the old stonework. One yellow bouquet looked like it had been planted in a window box, but was simply hanging on to a ledge. This pink-flowered plant clung to a vertical wall. It gave a new meaning to another flower quote, “Bloom where you are planted.”

A thousand daily little things
make their offering of pleasure
to those who know how to be pleased.
[Henry Ward Beecher]

Home is the place where I can unpack my mental suitcases — the place where I can let my soul catch up with my body. I hope yours is too.