1.2.2022 – everyone standing

everyone standing
in a pool of gasoline
each with kitchen match

Based on the description of Nuclear War that every country was in a basement room together, standing in 4 inches of gasoline and that everyone had a pack of matches.

One goes, everyone goes.

It was said by either Richard Feynman or Carl Sagan and I could do the Google but just now I am happy to know someone said it.

It wasn’t Enrico Fermi.

It was Fermi who, at the Trinity Bomb test when the first Plutonium Bomb was set off on the New Mexico desert that if the gadget didn’t work, the US had just spent $2 Billion proving that nuclear bombs weren’t possible.

Fermi then added, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing to prove.

Today though, I was not thinking about Nuclear Bombs or Nuclear War even though I had just finished reading On the Beach, the 1957 novel about life in Australia AFTER the northern hemisphere is destroyed in a Nuclear War.

Australia had not been involved in the war but the nuclear fallout created by the bombs in the north slowly crept south and all life under the cloud is wiped out.

More on my mind was the story of of a feller who went into a grocery store in Atlanta.

He was was wearing body armor and carrying six loaded weapons — four handguns in his jacket pockets, and in a guitar bag, a semiautomatic rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun.

He was arrested and charged and then the charges were dropped and he was released and re arrested and is in jail waiting trial on charges of reckless conduct.

His lawyer said, “I mean, all the guy did was be in the store with guns,” he said. “I go into Kroger with a gun, and I don’t expect to be arrested for reckless conduct when I do that. Based on the information from the case, he didn’t do anything that would even remotely constitute reckless conduct. And shame on the state for even prosecuting him for that.”

I am not a gun person.

I do not feel that everyone having guns makes me feel safer.

I cannot understand how, if I owned and carried a gun, I would feel safer.

And it is beyond me how any law abiding gun person would feel safer if I had a gun.

What I feel is that everyone is standing in pool of gasoline and everyone has matches.

So far the gun incidents, known as mass casualty events, have been more or less, one person and a gun.

The mass casualty events that descends into a gunfight at the OK Corral and then house to house street fighting are coming.

It’s a death spiral and there is no way out of this.

Can’t go back.

As Willy Wonka said, You can’t go back, you have to go forward to go back.

I see no resolution to this issue other than the end.

Like the nuclear cloud in On the Beach, it is coming and cannot be stopped.

Inevitable and here now.

In On the Beach, everyone in the end, well …

1.1.2023 – kinda sums it up

kinda sums it up
twenty twenty two good bye
to another day …

I did not see it but I heard about it the next day.

The Ohio State Buckeyes kicked a field goal that, if good, would have beaten the Georgia Bull Dogs.

As I understand it, when the ball was kicked it was 2022.

By the the time the ball missed the uprights, it was 2023.

Earlier that evening, my team, the Michigan Wolverines fought themselves and the judgments of Football Officials and in the process gave up two pass interceptions for 14 points to the other team as well as leaving another 14 points sitting on the goal line.

Hard to win any game doing things like and they still could have won.

My team has never had a lot of success in these ‘Bowl’ games.

In 1979, Michigan lost to USC when Charles White of USC scored a touchdown even though he left the football 3 yards behind, on the other side of the goal line.

Last night, Michigan’s Roman Wilson rolled into the end zone with the football in his lap but the officials said he actually caught the ball and landed one yard outside the end zone.

These things happen.

Some where along the line, some sports writer put forward the opinion that after the Michigan-Ohio State game, any other game is a bit of a let down.

I have to agree with that.

Would I have traded this year’s win in Columbus, if it could have worked out that way, for a win in the Fiesta Bowl.

Now be honest.

BE HONEST!

And you know what?

No I don’t think I would make that trade.

What I would wish is that after beating Ohio State, Michigan could stun the world and say that is enough, we don’t need you silly reindeer games and stay home.

I think how I would feel had the last game of the season been that game in Columbus back in November and not that mess last night.

The thrill, not the bad taste in my mouth, until next year.

So it goes.

Michigan is 11 games away from being the first FOOTBALL TEAM ANYWHERE ANYHOW to win 1,000 games.

If they can run the table next season, that would make win 1,000 possible in the 11th game, a game on the road against Maryland.

Should they hit a bump and lose a game, that would make win 1,000 possible in the 12th game, at home, against you know who.

That’s next year, I mean this year, next fall.

Last year is over and done.

Taken as a whole 2022, had some high spots, some low spots and some spots in between.

Glad to see it gone though.

This decade seems to have lasted 10 years already.

And very glad to have a new year to look forward to.

And last nights game?

As Margaret Mitchell wrote at the end of her book, Gone with the Wind:

“I’ll think of it all tomorrow … I can stand it then.

Tomorrow…

After all, tomorrow is another day.

12.31.2022 – Ahhhh freudenfreude!

Ahhhh freudenfreude!
that bliss that you will feel when
someone else succeeds

I am not much on bucket lists or New Year’s resolutions.

I have to say there is nothing on my ‘list’ that I need to do or just would like to do before I die that would make my life complete.

I am a sinner saved by grace and while I know I need to work out my Salvation with fear and trembling, I also KNOW that when I do die, bold will I approach the throne, confident and wrapped in the gift of that grace.

Not much I can do or see here on earth to improve on that in my back pocket.

As for resolutions, I guess if its worth doing, it worth doing now rather than the an arbitrary state-by-date set by a calendar devised by people a long time ago.

That being said, I admit I enjoyed reading 6 Ways to Strengthen Your Relationships in 2023, By Catherine Pearson.

In the spirit of the New Year and looking ahead (maybe not forward) to the 2023, I pass along Ms. Pearson’s 6 Tips.

  1. Assume people like you.
  2. Don’t underestimate small acts of kindness.
  3. Embrace the power of the casual check-in.
  4. ‘Turn toward’ your partner throughout the day.
  5. Acknowledge the ‘normal marital hatred,’ too.
  6. Cultivate ‘freudenfreude.’

That’s it.

The article does give some background on each tip, but just by themselves, if read introspectively, has just enough words to make the point.

And it’s is that last that really caught my eye.

Cultivate ‘freudenfreude’.

Ms. Pearson writes;

Unlike schadenfreude, when we take pleasure in others’ misfortunes, “freudenfreude” describes the bliss we feel when someone else succeeds — even if it doesn’t involve us.

There are benefits to sharing in someone else’s joy.

It can foster resilience and improve life satisfaction.

Freudenfreude.

I was not aware of the word but maybe I was aware of the feeling.

My sister Mary once wrote of our Mother something like, that our Mom had the gift to enjoy and be proud of other people’s good fortune without being or appearing to be envious.

Freudenfreude.

I think of my Mom at Church.

I remember how people would seek out my Mom to tell her things.

They got a job.

They finished school.

Their child was getting married.

It didn’t matter what.

But what ever it was, my Mom was excited and happy for the news and excited and happy in such a way that whoever was talking to her was pleased that she was excited and happy for them.

I remember a Sunday sermon where the Pastor was preaching on spiritual gifts.

He mentioned the gifts in the Bible like the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy.

Then he mentioned everyday things.

The gifts of song.

Some people can just sing, he said.

The gifts of teaching.

Some people can just teach, he said.

Then he said some people being happy, so happy they can just make you feel good.

Some people, if you just sit next to them, make you feel good.

Then he paused.

Then the Pastor pointed over to the left at my Mom.

“Go sit next to Mrs. Hoffman.”

“FIND OUT HOW SHE DOES THAT!”

Freudenfreude.

At my Mom’s funeral, we all got a chance to say something about our Mom.

My brother Tim demonstrated calling my Mom with good news.

He took out a cell phone and showed how you would punch in her number and say hello when Mom answered and then tell her the good news.

He immediately took the phone from his ear and held it arms length.

And we all laughed.

Because, no matter the good news, Mom would SCREAM OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and if you didn’t hold the phone away from your ear, you stood a good chance of losing an ear drum.

My Mom felt bliss expressed when someone else succeeded.

Freudenfreude.

My Mom and my 4 youngest kids Lexi, Ellie Dasia and Jack

Seems like there hasn’t been a lot of freudenfreude going around lately.

A lot of schadenfreude in today’s world.

A lot of just plain meanness.

A lot of just plain ugliness.

A of lot of watching other people dealing with meanness and ugliness.

A little Freudenfreude …

The bliss we feel when someone else succeeds — even if it doesn’t involve us.

Ms. Pearson closes with this paragraph.

One easy way to experience more freudenfreude is to check in with your friends and loved ones about their small victories or the bright spots in their day.

Doing so turns you into a “joy spectator” — and gives you an opportunity to see the people around you at their best.

Going into 2023 I plan to engage freudenfreude.

Going into 2023 I want to take advantage of any opportunity to see the people around me at their best.

It can foster resilience and improve life satisfaction.

For both of us.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh freudenfreude!

Happy New Year.

12.30.31 – You get away with

You get away with
huge amounts craziness in
the hallway she says

The passage in question reads: You can get away with huge amounts of craziness in the hallway,” she says, “because it’s not an area you spend much time in.”

The passage in question is from the article: ‘You can get away with craziness in the hallway’: at home with colour expert Annie Sloan.

The article closes with this:

Throughout the house, one-off finds jostle for space, and picture frames hang slightly askew.

“Things do move around quite a lot,” admits Sloan.

“People tend to think that the house is done now, that I’m not going to do anything else.

But I think it’s a good idea to keep our homes in flux.

Everybody is in some way creative – I’m just very keen on helping people find that creativity.”

I have never heard of Annie Sloan.

But I like her.

I like her a lot!

And I feel the same way.

Everybody is in some way creative.

I’m just very keen on helping people find that creativity.

12.29.2022 – a reasonably

a reasonably
accurate and coherent
auto biography

one important thing!
don’t have a real story you
don’t have a real self

Two stanzas a six syllable word in the wrong spot.

Oh well, my blog, my rules.

Taken from the passage:

A reasonably accurate and coherent autobiographical narrative is one of the most important things a person can have. If you don’t have a real story, you don’t have a real self.

As it was written in the opinion piece, The Sad Tales of George Santos, by David Brooks, in the Dec 28, 2023 New York Times.

Mr. Brook’s comments:

America has always had impostors and people who reinvented their pasts.

(If he were real, Jay Gatsby might have lived — estimations of the precise locations of the fictional East and West Egg vary — in what is now Santos’s district.)

This feels different.

I wonder if the era of the short-attention spans and the online avatars is creating a new character type: the person who doesn’t experience life as an accumulation over decades, but just as a series of disjointed performances in the here and now, with an echo of hollowness inside.