Loose Leaf Notes

1. Black Holes Could Be Gateways to Parallel Universes. Or A ‘Mirror World’ Could Be Hiding Behind Dark Matter, a hypothetical kind of matter that cannot be seen with telescopes but accounts for most of the matter in the universe. – More from 8 Clues that Suggest Parallel Universes Exist HERE.

2. Exist then exit?

3. Afternoon Testimony: The cows loud protest / is punctuated by crows / in a two-sided duel of complaint / The birds hold their song / in the noisy unrest / where the sun’s steady shine / is the one saving grace

4. “We must go out and re-ally ourselves to Nature every day. We must make root, send out some little fibre at least, even every winter day. I am sensible that I am imbibing health when I open my mouth to the wind. Staying in the house breeds a sort of insanity always. Every house is in this sense a hospital. A night and a forenoon is as much confinement to those wards as I can stand. I am aware that I recover some sanity which I had lost almost the instant that I come outdoors.” – Thoreau

5. So, the gravy came out great, but the turkey roasting wasn’t without drama.  For one thing, the 12-pound bird from Weathertop Farm was done an hour before I calculated it would be, and when I picked it up to reach the gravy fat, it broke into two parts. Then there was something about the temperature gadget that I borrowed from my friend Katherine melting in the bird. – More from Phase Two in Which Doris Gets Here Gravy HERE.

6. Shanti was impressed that our grandson Liam knew the gemstones inlaid in his wood pieces. He learned them from playing Minecraft. We might have been at this year’s most fun tour site.  Not only was there a paper airplane contest, but Bryce got to wood-burn a sign, there were cookies and origami paper to fold and the Fat Bean truck was there with the best soft tacos for lunch.  – More from Trifecta of Talent, a 16 Hands post HERE

7. All I want for Christmas for everyone is THIS.

8. I’m one of those people who think politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions and I want to be in on the decisions that affect me as much as I can. I don’t think politics is separate from the rest of life, and I believe there is truth to this Gandhi quote: “Anyone who says they are not interested in politics is like a drowning man who insists he is not interested in water.” – 2008 blog post

9. What I won’t be getting for Christmas this year HERE. 

10. Brush Ninja is best site I found this week, and HERE is the gif that my grandson Liam made with it.

11. My brother Jim was a single father for ten years.  On another online tribute, posted by our cousin’s wife, the caption under a picture of Jim with his kids reads: “Jim’s kids came first.  He adored his son, Brian.  He never missed a basketball game that his daughter, Valerie (a star player in high school who won a college scholarship for her basketball skills), was playing in.”  The Blue Hill Observatory, where Jim volunteered, is planning a dedication ceremony to honor him.  They’re raising money to erect a flag with a tribute to Jim inscribed on a plaque set in its base.  All this for a guy who didn’t think he accomplished much in life, a guy who, when I asked him, “Jim do you think you’d try for a liver transplant if you need it?” answered, “No, give it to someone who enjoys life!” A guy who, when asked by Kathy with a video camera, “Who are you?” answered with a laugh, “A loser.”  A guy whose key chain read, “Not a happy camper.” – From The Jim and Dan Stories, chapter 6 HERE.

12. The belief that we are the same one moment to the next, or one year to the next, is a delusion. The brain and body is constantly in flux. There is nothing that corresponds to the sense that there’s an unchanging self.” When there is no consistent self, it means that we don’t have to take everything so personally. – More Science and Buddhism agree: There is no “you” there HERE.

13. Scattering the sum of parts / Examining proof of concept / I’m leaving my poet’s thumbprint? Love letters to whom it concerns – read The Older Poet in its entirety HERE. 

__________Thirteen Thursday