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Sometimes I think that we live day-to-day in a dense fog.  Then, once in awhile, something happens to clear the air and we see clearly. The air got cleaner for me today when I learned that the person with whom  I am sharing a garden this summer has a diagnosis of  "terminal" Cancer. (I learned long ago that the word "terminal" should be crossed out when talking about an illness. The better adjective is "life-threatening".  The truth is that no one (doctors) really knows outcomes for sure. They only predict, like soothsayers of old, except now it is Science, not the Spirits, that they invoke.)

It is unusual for someone to discuss his illness as openly as my neighbor does. Though I have spent significant time with the dying, his conversation drew me up short once again. He lifted my curtain of fog, and I realized with a start that what is happening today  in my life must be lived now , and not postponed for an uncertain future.  Reality is now, not next week, or next month, and anyone who postpones living vividly today, who waits to live more fully in some vague 'future', is truly in a "terminal" condition.  My neighbor, from what he said, lives very much in the now.

 

 

I still buy (only) the Sunday New York Times, though I don't know why.  I guess my addiction has not been completely broken, but I suspect a complete cure may be near. (I would not want to miss the occasional full-length feature which one cannot anticipate - like today's about Haitians living in tents on a road divider where constant fumes and fast moving traffic surround them. It helps put life in perspective. Another several-page story appeared recently about a quadriplegic 22-year-old American veteran of the war in Afghanistan that stays in one's mind for a long time.) 

Anyway, today's paper has an article discussing older adults who feel they must still ape the youthful behavior of younger generations (Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, etcetera, and lesser known 'sky-diving grandmas')  The article refers to "our obsession with health and longevity" as an extension of the Puritan ethic, i.e., "If I work hard and am a good person and am middle class, I will die a good (late in life) death."  Americans "tend to measure (successful aging) in terms of how active people are."

The article quotes a gerontologist  who says, "It wouldn't do...harm to reinstate some value to contemplation...Part of the pressure on older people to be successful and give back and volunteer and be active and play tennis is that we are a culture of doing. We really don't know how to be...that's stigmatized."

As I sat in the park early this morning meditating and working my water color drawings, I thought, "Activism in this culture is only getting worse."  Cyclists whizzed by me, joggers and runners thump-thumped past me (breathing heavily at my back).  When I went out to the sidewalk, children (and some adults) were on scooters. I saw (double) buggies and more bicycles. It seems that we have become so dependent on our copy-cat gadget attachments that, without them, we fear being arrested in public for nakedness.  So, no, I don't plan to try Mt. Everest any time soon, but a good start would be for 30 to 40-year-olds to start focusing inwards a little, (which might be called deep-water "thinking") beyond the whizz-whizz and thump-thump that also creates their illusion of being alive.

Here we are again, celebrating the birth of our wonderful country.  For me, as a citizen and a Korean War Veteran, it has always meant so very much because, being a veteran,  I believe that I can relate to all veterans - not that I had a tough a time of it as those men who fought for our freedom and survived Concord and Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, George Rogers Clark’s heroic expedition thru flooded terrain to capture Vincennes, Cowpens and Yorktown just to mention a few of the great battles which secured our freedom from Great Britain.  But I was awarded, as are all those men and women who come under enemy fire, the Combat Infantry Badge.  It is a small medal, with a replica of a Revolutionary War rifle mounted on a field of blue enamel and encircled by a silver wreath.   It is my most prized possession.

That ‘specialness’ I have always felt for the 4th of July is due, in part, to my Great-grand-father Allen Coberly - his Great-grand-father fought against the British.  Granddad, as we all called him, was born in 1858 in Bowden, West Virginia and died at the age of 92 when I was a junior in college.  He was a great storyteller and I remember well his stories of Yankee raids during the Civil War and the difficulty of living under martial law for almost four years.  But I’ll save those stories for another time.  What most fascinated me about his many conversations was his emphasis on how closely we are attached to our ancestors and to history.  He often related to me that, as a young man, he listened to the stories of old men whose fathers had fought in the Revolutionary War.  Because of him, I am just two conversations away from speaking with Revolutionary War veterans.  He made it all seem so relevant, so close to me and to him, and as a direct result of these conversations, I majored in history at West Virginia University. 

So, on this special day, I feel as though I can almost here their voices - those brave men and women who made the Fourth of July the celebration that it is of our freedom.  Remember those folks who came before us and fly an American Flag to commemorate them and their deeds.  Happy Fourth!

Given the week that has preceded this lunar [partial] eclipse how could one reasonably be surprised that all was but a foreshadowing of what was about to be!-

The main cosmic event(s) of the 'morrow ironically occur between just after Midnight and shortly after 6AM  - when most people will still be fast asleep at least on the East Coast.

However, this cosmic cocktail has been in 'prep' mode for so long that its already been a 'player' - influencing the destiny of so many individuals, groups, events, etc. - that it has become veritable cosmic wallpaper.

There have been so many manifestations this week of the 'morrow's sunrise cosmic shower - to name a few - the General that couldn't stay; the oil spill that can't stop gushing; the tennis match that wouldn't end; the so-called banking regulatory reform legislation that may put more banks and more consumers out-of-business before cash registers can even ring; the World Cup soccer championships elevating under-kickers; the first year anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson.  

All of the afore-said is mere cosmic putty awaiting the very stark, stiffening stare-down of this impending cosmic implosion.

What's rare about this partial eclipse is that it 'ties one on' with so many other planets in a very unfriendly coercive cosmic cha-cha.

Tonight at 9:21AM [E.S.T.] the Moon entered Capricorn [born between 20 December and 20 January].

In almost an hour thereafter the Moon made a tense aspect to Uranus - the planet associated with the unexpected.

On Saturday, at 12:41AM [E.S.T.[, the transiting Moon will oppose Mercury - communication skills and the overall ability to comprehend events will diminish.

At 1:35AM [E.S.T.], the Moon will square Jupiter - tendencies to excess will rule the night.

By 5:12AM [E.S.T.], the Moon will conjunct Pluto - that may foster day-break urges to get to the bottom of something, anything. 

And at 6:08AM [E.S.T.], transiting Mercury will square Jupiter - watch that impulse to tell tales...exaggeration rules the roost!

Finally at 6:30AM [E.S.T.], the main event:  the transiting Moon opposes the Sun.

This Full Moon will particularly impact those born in or around March 26 and October 26 - in a forcefully challenging way.

But we are all in this one together.  The culmination of the cosmic rip-tides associated with this particular cosmic conflagration will be around for many, many Moons to come - New, Blue and otherwise.

Be sure to live it up this first weekend of the Summer of 2010!  

     War is like a pawn shop.  When it's over and you've won, you learn the shop and your 'treasure' are gone forever.

     Who could imagine in the tony setting of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival that a documentary about war and all its trappings would garner the Grand Jury Prize!

     RESTREPO has won more hearts and minds than perhaps any war ever could  aspire.  RESTREPO is no arm-chair General's diatribe nor pablum-soaked morality tale about war being hell.  RESTREPO is war - un-censored, un-cut, un-filtered and in-your-face - nine-three minutes, non-stop.

     Think you can take it.  Don't even bother with that calculation.  See RESTREPO.

     But before you do there are three critical time-lines to bear in mind.

     Firstly, Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN deployed to Afghanistan in April 2005.  Murphy, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously, led a four-man SEAL squad that covertly infiltrated into the 9,000 foot Hindu-Kush mountains along the Pakistan border on June 27th, seeking to capture or kill high-value Taliban targets. Though wounded Murphy still engaged the fiercest firefight as he moved to higher ground, openly engaging electronic outreach for help, for which he signed-off, "Thank you." 

    Although a Quick Reaction Force instantly mobilized to reinforce the SEAL squad, eight Navy SEALs and eight Army Night Stalker commandos succumbed when their MH-47 helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade and imploded.

     The remains of Lt. Murphy were located during a combat search and rescue operation on July 4, 2005.

     The second significant date is April 14, 2010 when the pullout of the remaining 120 U.S. soldiers from the Korengal Valley [Afghanistan] occurred.  Part of a strategy announced in 2009 by top American and Nato commander, General Stanley McChrystal, this force re-deployment sought to abandon small, difficult-to-defend bases in remote, sparsely populated areas and concentrate forces around major population centers.  Significant numbers of those outposts were established in the intervening years to monitor Taliban and Al Qaeda penetration from Pakistan but proved difficult to re-supply and defend.

     RESTREPO, a 15-man outpost named after a 20 year-old platoon medic killed in action, was one such exceptional stronghold.

     Thirdly, RESTREPO, a National Geographic Entertainment release, opens on Friday, June 25 in New York at the Angelika Film Center, with a national roll-out to follow. 

     Journey with award-winning journalists - Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger - as they 'entrust' [June 2007 to July 2008] with the soldiers of Second Platoon, Battle Company, 173rd US Airborne in the remote Korengal Valley, a sliver six miles long and one-half mile wide, in eastern Afghanistan. 

     As Winston Churchill once opined:  "Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result."

I don't get it.  At what point will the sports world (franchises, fans and owners) stand up and say "ENOUGH".    We have players using drugs, beating their wives and dogs, getting arrested and lo and behold...they're back in the game.  I think it started with John McEnroe and his juvenile tantrums that should have been stopped then.  It's gone on and on.  Now, France, with their soccer team storming off a field and today yet another tennis player actually spitting at fans and walking off the court.  I say ENOUGH!!  Forget fines....these sports figures make so much money that a fine is considered 'cost of doing business'.  I think that any contract player who is arrested should be FIRED!!  No ifs and or buts. Caught using illegal drugs or steroids?  FIRED!!Curse the umpire at a tennis match?  FORFEIT THE GAME!!   Maybe if we had made examples of these out of control people, the rest of them would think twice, knowing it could cost them their careers.    What are we teaching our children when these 'heroes'  never have to be reponsible for their behavior.?  Where is accountibility?   Or is the lesson if  you make enough money....you can do what you want without consequence.  Not a good lesson.....and certainly not sportsmanlike.  . 

Tuesday morning, intending to go to a meeting on Senior Activism, I found that the location had been changed and that I was in the wrong place – at least the wrong place for that meeting.  Instead, since it was a beautiful first summer morning and still cool, I wandered around a few blocks of the Lower East Side, enjoying the relative quiet of a neighborhood that was still half asleep and observing the signs of “gentrification” and night club life as I overheard resident talking in Spanish on the sidewalk. Small eateries and cafes as well as bodegas and specialty retail stores create an unusual kind of neighborhood. (Someone offered me a book about New York City recently that described  it as becoming a Theme Park City.  Not so, yet, on the Lower East Side.) .With a couple of hours I hadn’t planned on, I looked for a place to have coffee and read the book I carry with me for subway/bus rides. A few false tries (No, I wasn’t interested in watching the World Cup) and then I saw a small cafe on East 1st Street that offered seating on the street, shade, and coffee for $1.  Inside, a few Ivy League-looking types (unemployed?) sat at small tables with their laptops – a sign said Free WiFi.  

The service was courteous, attentive and wonderful – something you can’t always count on in New York.  I went outside to the front shade with my coffee and pain au chocolat and opened my book, every so often soaking up the cool breeze as it passed through the nearby trees.  I watched deliveries being made, men hosing down the sidewalk, a passerby singing aloud to himself a song about joy and pain.  I saw a man with long disheveled blond hair come out of a building across the street. He was wearing red checkered, ankle high sneakers. It was 11 a.m. and he probably just got up.  The “feel” of the neighborhood was like another country: Costa Rica, perhaps.  The calm was conspicuous in the normal frenzy that is New York. Each time the breeze came through, I marveled at how little it can take to enjoy life in the moment. Then the sun moved into my space.  It got hot and I left. 

Medicare Part D.  I hate the process of enrollment every year when we have umpteen plans to decipher, each representing some lobbyist who broke the legs of certain politicians.  Yes, the "mafia" is everywhere, and especially in the health insurance industry in this county.  I hate the fact that my Medicare Part D insurer is a California company that set up shop (got an address) in New York State to cash in on some of the lucrative Medicare Part D business.  I hate the politicians who created Medicare Part D, and promoted it as a benefit for elders, but  it is really a boon for private insurance companies who then contribute to re-election campaigns. I hate the nasty unsigned letters these greedy companies send if a monthly payment does not arrive on time.  So. they are going to close the donut hole  - in ten years or so, as it turns out.  BIG DEAL.  Everything about the Senior Prescription Drug Plan needs to change, beginning by ALLOWING MEDICARE TO NEGOTIATE DRUG PRICES WITH PHARMACEUTICAL companies, or allowing the purchase of prescription drugs from Canada.  Americans pay much more for certain popular medications than do any other people in the world.  If one wants to see corrupt politics in action, just start with Medicare Part D.

Solstice greetings!  On the eve of the most superb sunrise of 2010 - the SUMMER SOLSTICE - a Comet has surfaced in the East. 

What a cosmic double-header!

The lead-up to the Summer Solstice is always so energizing and delightful.  And to have a Comet in its path is trully scintillating!  A sweet dollop of shimmering sunshine...

Make merry!  Make wishes!  Make peace!

At 7:13AM [E.S.T.] the Moon enters Scorpio - especially favoring those born from 20 October through 20 November.

Shortly thereafter the transiting Moon will trine the transiting Sun - now that's a veritable Monday morning blues'-chaser if ever there were one.  That inherently benefic aspect is the cosmic place-holder for jaunts, joys and juggernauts of jelly-donuts [sugar-less]. 

At 2:40PM [E.S.T.] the Moon makes another lovely aspect - a sextile formation - with Pluto transiting Capricorn.  That's the backdrop for rock-solid accomplishment, endurance and sustained communication.

At 7:27PM the transiting Sun squares Uranus:  that's big-time cosmic OUCH!

Caveat:  duck rather than dare.

At 9:20PM [E.S.T.], the transiting Moon sextiles Mars in Virgo - again, a very balanced/energetic aspect.

But by 11:22PM [E.S.T.], the transiting Moon will square Venus in Leo.  That's all glowering & grime.

What a really good night to tuck in early - and give one's Self a hug!

Sweet Dreams.

 

 

I have been trying to assist an 86-year-old woman who has about five major issues to resolve, and she is relentless.   Sometimes after 30 minutes or so on the phone with her, I have to end the conversation as politely as I can, hang up and just hold my head to get my brain waves back to normal.  Her insistence can wear me down, and yet I say, Bravo -don't let the b----ds get you down.

Trouble is, that kind of feistiness can look like a certain kind of craziness....at least in a world where lying low is the modus operandi of mainstream survival.   (Unfortunately, not everyone is James Joyce who can turn craziness into an art form!  Art rarely comes from a mainstream kind of mind.)

Yes, this woman was/is an artist.  But her unflagging belief in herself is truly remarkable.  For example, she has a problem with the landlord where she has lived for almost 60 years -he wants her OUT, but she will not yield and insists that he is a dishonest piece of humanity.  She keeps fighting. 

She was in a long term care facility twice, each time as the result of a different medical calamity.  The facilities would only let her leave if she was returning to a "safe" environment.  As an artist, she would be returning to an environment full (wall-to-wall) of potential hazards.  She agreed to stay temporarily elsewhere and, using her cane, goes each day, in the heat of summer, to "clean out" her space so that she can  live there again.  She seems not to be making much progress, and  basic repairs have to be made by the dishonest piece of humanity that is her landlord.  Will he make them?  She keeps going.

She has applied for SCRIE, the rent program, and is missing some documentation.  She thinks she knows where it is and will try to find it in the radical disorder that is her life.  Fear not, is her reaction

The bank closed her account because of an irregularity with a check, so she no longer has a bank.  The closing may have been accelerated by the fact that they (the bank manager) didn't want to deal with her anymore.   She is looking for a lawyer.

Her Verizon telephone doesn't  always work, she says, and she constantly gets automated voice messages in response to the many places she calls that are supposed to provide help with her problems.

Her financial resources are minimal.

She occasionally falls back on her bed in exhaustion, but only to rise again and continue the fight of daily living.  I think she is a marvel and, sometimes, when I am facing a hassle, I think of her.  Bravo.