I was summoned to jury duty yesterday afternoon. I was actually hoping to be picked as I've always enjoyed serving on a jury. The room was packed with prospective jurors, only six to be chosen from the lot. It was going to be a short civil suit having to do with credit card debt collection. The lawyer had thick gray hair and reminded me of Raymond Burr in his later productions of Perry Mason--a nice looking man but carrying around an enormous amount of excessive weight. He asked each prospective juror, one by one, a series of questions relating to credit card use, trying to ascertain one's position regarding the collection of such debt. So, I was really taken aback when my turn came and his first question was, "Mr. Hicks, is that a purse you are carrying?" "No," I replied, "it's a backpack." "Oh, I see," he said, "please forgive me if I insulted you." I immediately responded by saying "I do find that remark to be quite offensive." Again, he apologised. He moved on to his next question, "Mr. Hicks, are you an athlete?" "I am an avid yoga practitioner," I said, noticing that several people turned around in their chairs to have a look at me. My palms were beginning to sweat, but I sat up straight and turned on my assertive self. "My wife does yoga" he said, "well, she used to. Always trying to get me to join her, but I never did." "Well," I said, "I think you would benefit tremendously from it." Okay, here I was jabbing back at him, doing the same thing he had just done to me, something I do not believe in doing. Impulsive retaliation. Take me to that place of non-reactive calm, I said to my Silent Witness. I need your help at this moment. The rest of the conversation was pleasant, and he said I would be an excellent juror for this case. (I did not get chosen).
I made my first trip to Europe when I was 23 years old. I was fascinated at how many men carried these neat hand held, zippered "wallets". Many have loops that you can put your hand into and let them dangle from your wrist. I bought one and have carried one ever since, replacing them every few years. In recent years I've thrown it all into an ergonomic shoulder bag sold at Relax the Back and other places, but I often just pull out my hand held man-purse and just carry it alone (wallet, checkbook, cell phone, pen, comb, fingernail file, iPod touch). I have only had one person make a negative remark about this in 36 years and it was a friend of a friend struggling with accepting his own homosexuality. There are studies that show that some men who suffer from lower back pain can alleviate the pain dramatically by not carrying their wallets in their back pockets. Definitely not a skillful way to sit.
I watched the tiniest baby opossum moving toward the fountain in the backyard yesterday. Somehow he barely managed to climb up the side, but when it came to drinking the water, it was so far below the ledge he was on that he spent several minutes exploring his options. He finally decided to go for it, and eased himself down towards the water, finally able to drink by clinging to the top ledge with his hind legs, and drink he did. It is so hot and dry and I cannot remember having so many dry windy days. Then he fell into the water, way too deep for him to stand up in, and I watched as he helplessly tried to climb out, his paws slipping on the Mexican tiles. I knew he would never make it out so I rushed out and scooped him out and placed him on the ground. He was so tiny and skinny, I wonder if he will survive. Where is his mother? It has been a busy week for me, and I've spent very little time staring out the window on to the landscape of the backyard, and I marvel at the fact that I was watching at that very moment. I do think nature talks to us. We have a hummingbird feeder hanging from the eaves in front of the kitchen window. It has to be refilled every 3 days, at least. Earlier this morning as I was sitting here at my desk, a hummingbird came to my bedroom window, hovered for more than a few moments, then left. I checked the hummingbird feeder and it was empty.
I had my third colonoscopy in 15 years this week and will find out the results of the four polyps the doctor removed. This is an extremely important procedure for anyone who has any family history of colon cancer.
It has been several years since I've worked with an Oil and Gas Company representative, negotiated the terms of a lease, and gone through that whole process of proofreading a detailed 50 page legal document at least twice. There have been a flurry of emails and phone calls and dealing with family members. I always end up with hurt feelings, but that's just me. Things went smoother and faster than they ever have in past years--from beginning to end it all happened within the span of about 3 weeks, and not the many months of protracted engagement of pitting one company against the other in an effort to secure the largest possible bonus lease consideration. I am happy the process is over, and now it's just wait and see if they drill, and if so will it be the usual dry hole, a marginal producer, or maybe something different. Perhaps a little bird will tell me.
I made my first trip to Europe when I was 23 years old. I was fascinated at how many men carried these neat hand held, zippered "wallets". Many have loops that you can put your hand into and let them dangle from your wrist. I bought one and have carried one ever since, replacing them every few years. In recent years I've thrown it all into an ergonomic shoulder bag sold at Relax the Back and other places, but I often just pull out my hand held man-purse and just carry it alone (wallet, checkbook, cell phone, pen, comb, fingernail file, iPod touch). I have only had one person make a negative remark about this in 36 years and it was a friend of a friend struggling with accepting his own homosexuality. There are studies that show that some men who suffer from lower back pain can alleviate the pain dramatically by not carrying their wallets in their back pockets. Definitely not a skillful way to sit.
I watched the tiniest baby opossum moving toward the fountain in the backyard yesterday. Somehow he barely managed to climb up the side, but when it came to drinking the water, it was so far below the ledge he was on that he spent several minutes exploring his options. He finally decided to go for it, and eased himself down towards the water, finally able to drink by clinging to the top ledge with his hind legs, and drink he did. It is so hot and dry and I cannot remember having so many dry windy days. Then he fell into the water, way too deep for him to stand up in, and I watched as he helplessly tried to climb out, his paws slipping on the Mexican tiles. I knew he would never make it out so I rushed out and scooped him out and placed him on the ground. He was so tiny and skinny, I wonder if he will survive. Where is his mother? It has been a busy week for me, and I've spent very little time staring out the window on to the landscape of the backyard, and I marvel at the fact that I was watching at that very moment. I do think nature talks to us. We have a hummingbird feeder hanging from the eaves in front of the kitchen window. It has to be refilled every 3 days, at least. Earlier this morning as I was sitting here at my desk, a hummingbird came to my bedroom window, hovered for more than a few moments, then left. I checked the hummingbird feeder and it was empty.
I had my third colonoscopy in 15 years this week and will find out the results of the four polyps the doctor removed. This is an extremely important procedure for anyone who has any family history of colon cancer.
It has been several years since I've worked with an Oil and Gas Company representative, negotiated the terms of a lease, and gone through that whole process of proofreading a detailed 50 page legal document at least twice. There have been a flurry of emails and phone calls and dealing with family members. I always end up with hurt feelings, but that's just me. Things went smoother and faster than they ever have in past years--from beginning to end it all happened within the span of about 3 weeks, and not the many months of protracted engagement of pitting one company against the other in an effort to secure the largest possible bonus lease consideration. I am happy the process is over, and now it's just wait and see if they drill, and if so will it be the usual dry hole, a marginal producer, or maybe something different. Perhaps a little bird will tell me.
