neighborhood store

Do you know your neighbor? How about the house just past your neighbor? Most of the people I know do a good job at knowing the families that live near them. But it seems common in the U.S. for people to not associate with their neighbors. Why are we drifting toward this commonality? Is it important to know your neighbor? I think it is, and helpful too. As we building friendships we build a support system. A trusted neighbor can be so many things. A trusted neighbor can help watch your home when you are away, he can feed your pets, or water your plants. A big plus is that you can run to your neighbor’s house to borrow something you need when you are in a pinch, even if you never become long-time friends.

My oldest brother lived in Finland for about two years. He posed the question one holiday: “What would people do if this country (U.S.) shut down like Finland does?” He says that there is not one store open on holidays, the whole country shuts down. What wound happen in the US of A if all the shops were closed for the holidays? More and more stores and entertainments are opening up on holidays; anything to make the extra buck. That is the sword of capitalism! Anyway, would you get along if there was nothing open on Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas? More importantly, if someone knocked on your door and asked to borrow a small quantity of some household staple would you generously accept?

relatively oblivious

So I have lived in a bubble all my life. There are a lot of things that I take for granted and many other things I am simply unaware of. Many things I don't understand on a national level, let alone an international level. There are rules and standards that apply globally and had to be decided by somebody somewhere. I was thinking about time lines today and wonder what global committee took it upon themselves to decide how and where the world would be divided into 24 different time segments? Did some guy just decide this is how it should be and then everyone else just said there is no point in arguing it? What about the International Date Line, who picked the Pacific Ocean? Was it voted upon or did was it just that that is how it was and it worked.

After doing a little research I found that there are actually 40 different time zones around the globe, and discovered several interesting things regarding global timekeeping. One such peculiarity is that the IDL is actually de facto, drawings on maps and charts are simply the construction of the cartographers who make them. There is actually a lot to time zones and international time keeping and can get rather confusing. For example, do to a jog in the IDL there are actually 3 different days being observed for 2 hours of each one revolution of the earth. So it turns out that there is (or was) an international committee that decided on a few necessary items- the International Meridian Conference of 1884. I wonder how many people made it to this conference in 1885 or how many different countries were invited/ represented. They were the ones that decided a ‘Universal Day’ would be midnight to midnight GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) and thus the start and end of this Universal Day with the IDL falls opposite this median.

Once again one little intrigue has lead to a myriad of trivial information to be regurgitated over and over in my little brain. Knowing things makes you smarter!

time and money

Time and money are the two things that everyone wishes he and she had more of. It is striking to me the relation between the two and at the same time a stark contrast. Everyone is given the same amount of time in a day and days in a week. Time however is not equal to all. Some have less and some have more- only in the sense that time is lived and we each have more or less to live. Some live to their 100s while others die in youth or young adult life. Each person has only a given amount of time. Money however is seemingly endless, if you can find means there is no end to the money you may accumulate. Time is frequently exchanged for money. Time is a commodity. Just as we may exchange good for good, or money for something of necessity, time is exchanged for money. Time can be wasted as well as money and any other physical possession. Both time and money can be spent on things of little or no value.

So what is my point or the point of these ramblings? I don’t have a point to this, my friend and I were just discussing the topic earlier and I found it intriguing and thought to post it and invite others to contemplate such impractical notions. What if our money were like our time in that we had no idea how much we had left, would we spend it less cavalierly? Do we sometimes live out the time of our lives cavalierly? If money were finite and we only had so much how differently would we think?

hugs

Hugs are great, in fact I wish I had one right now. When life goes sour and the building blocks of life get kicked out from under you a hug lets you know that there is someone there who cares about you and what happens to you. Hugs can be for so many things and they mean different things from different people. They can be for happiness or excitement, for friendship or for appreciation. They can be for encouragement, for sincerity, for pleasure, for affection, or for understanding. Most importantly however, they are for comfort. Hugs provide comfort. The problem with hugs is that they are not given (or appreciated) very well from far away. That is part of what makes them what they are, that they are personal and embracing. Some people don't like hugs- I think they need to live a little. Hugs are two sided, there is a receiving end, which is a great end to be on but there is also the giving end. Hugs are gifts. They are an act of service and kindness. You can't very well have a hug if no one is willing to offer one. The interesting thing is once a hug is offered and excepted than both the giver and the receiver become receiver and both are embraced. In giving we receive! I am going to go find someone to hug. I encourage you to do the same; find someone one who needs a hug and give him or her your all.

mothers

Mother's Day was the other day and I got so busy with preparing my talk that I forgot to write my thoughts on mothers. My mother is a very special mom. She is amazing. I love my mother and I am glad that she know that. Without mothers I firmly believe that the world would fall apart, reverting to chaos and disaster. "Family: A Proclamation to the World" says that the disintegration of the family (of which mothers are a key part) will bring upon communities, nations and countries grave calamities. Without mothers society would be a chaotic nightmare. With this thought in mind this past week, thinking that without mothers nations would fall, I read a familiar church hymn and realized that though it is not about mothers its words speak of mothers and what they do.

They the builders of the Nation blazing trails along the way;
Stepping stones for generations were there deeds of every day.
Building new and firm foundations, pushing on the wild frontier,
forging onward ever onward

Service ever was their watch-cry love became their guiding star;
Courage their unfailing beacon, radiating near and far.
Every day some burden lifted, every day some heart to cheer,
Every day some hope the brighter

As an ensign to the nation they unfurled the flag of truth,
Pillar, guide, and inspiration to the hosts of waiting youth.
Honor, praise, and veneration to the founders we revere!
List our song of adoration Blessed, Honored Mother Dear!

I am certainly grateful for mothers. I am especially grateful for my mother. She has taught me so much and continues to teach by her loving example.