6/27/14

     

Tucson Weather Today

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We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
--Plato

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Did You Know . . .?

Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1883, the volcanic island of Krakatoa near Indonesia erupted, killing thousands in one of the worst geologic disasters of modern times. At noon, the volcano sent an ash cloud 20 miles into the air and tremors triggered several tsunamis. This turned out to be just a small indication, however, of what would follow the next day. For four-and-a-half hours beginning at 5:30 a.m. on August 27, there were four major and incredibly powerful eruptions. The last of these made the loudest sound ever recorded on the planet. It could be heard as far away as central Australia and the island of Rodrigues, 3,000 miles from Krakatoa. The air waves created by the eruption were detected at points all over the earth. At least 35,000 people died, though exact numbers were impossible to determine.

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WORD FOR TODAY

craven  [KRAY-vuhn]
adjective
1. Characterized by abject fear.
2. Cowardly; contemptibly timid.
noun
A coward.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Paul Reubens

(born August 27, 1952)

Paul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, game show host, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman.

Sarah Chalke

(born August 27, 1976)

Sarah Chalke is a Canadian actress known for portraying Dr. Elliot Reid on the NBC/ABC comedy series Scrubs, Rebecca "Becky" Conner on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, and Stella Zinman in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She has also had a recurring role in the third season of ABC sitcom Cougar Town.

Chandra Danette Wilson

(born August 27, 1969)

Chandra Wilson is an American actress, best known for her role as Dr. Miranda Bailey in the ABC television drama Grey's Anatomy.

Barbara Bach

(born August 27, 1947)

Barbara Bach is an American actress known as the Bond girl Anya Amasova from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. She subsequently starred in Force 10 from Navarone with Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford. She is married to former Beatle Ringo Starr.

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One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.
--Henry Ford

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

     

Meditation, Yellow Balloons, etc.

It has been nearly a full month since I arrived here in Arizona.

This morning early just as the sun had topped the peaks of the surrounding mountains I wandered repetitively around and around the pool's fenced perimeter sipping sustenance from a cup of hot black bitter tea while Eva snarled and growled and barked in canine joy as she energetically leapt about snapping at startled flies and instinctively chased the scurrying and obviously terrified lizards into patches of protective cactus plants.

A pair of faded turquoise sweat pants and a thin pullover white shirt labeled BUBBA Burgers with my feet encased within a pair of 20-year-old Florida deck shoes was sufficient for comfort in the warmth of the beginning day.

Above, an Air Force fighter jet arrowed through the upper atmosphere leaving behind a mere whisper of wartime warning. And then I saw in the distance a completely silent high-floating yellow balloon.


The silent balloon traversed the city of Tucson and I wondered if it was the same yellow balloon I'd seen previously when it landed at the base of one of the Santa Catalina mountains a short distance from where I stood among the landscaped cactus garden near the swimming pool.


I think that if someone were to offer me a free ride in the hurtling jet-plane or even in that huge meandering hot-air balloon I would with a painted-on smile graciously decline the invitation. Why would any thinking human being choose to drift above the relative safety of the surface of the Earth? To escape from what dreadful land-based threatening event or situation?

Additionally...

Why would a human being force one's self to exist within a narrow cone of safety to daily munch organic raisins and 100 percent natural pecans after a breakfast of a single Fresh California Navel Orange in place of Crispy Bacon and Sunny-Side-Up Butter-Fried Eggs and Hash Browns and Creamy-Golden-Slathered-Toast rather than face ALONE a hypothetically hostile and frighteningly unknown environment?

Why do we human animals do any of the curious things we do?

One could meditate endlessly on the various ramifications of such a conundrum without ever having reached a satisfactory conclusion


"They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude."
--William Wordsworth

Is That A Threat Or...

I am sitting here at the keyboard quaking in my boots in fear of the AVT gang headed Tucson way. In fact, I am so fearful that I am unable to blog today. And my half-read novel is beckoning from the bedside table. And it's late. And I'm too sleepy.

Oh well.

More another day... if the universe so wills it.

Two more weeks . . .

Blog entries this month will be sporadic and, on some days, will be non-existent. Moving time approaches and finds me strangely upset when I allow myself to think about it. To 'dwell' upon it. Two more weeks until I board that plane.

Often I must consciously and forcibly wipe away the mounting apprehension I feel at simply forcing myself to begin, to continue, and to finish each small task. Such as packing another box. Such as staying awake instead of drowsing in my chair.

Things are chaotic, both physically and mentally. I can feel the tenseness in all my muscles. Can not seem to relax this body that seems to ignore what my consciousness attempts to tell it. That there is nothing to fear.

The 'tremor' that began a couple of years ago is growing more noticeable. When I look at my face in the bathroom mirror I can see that tremor as my whole head trembles. And my hands. And I can no longer consciously still or even slow the quivering.

Fear. Such a powerful and insidious emotion.

My daily walks are growing more difficult. Some days I feel that I cannot complete the two-miles as my steps drag one after another toward home. I can feel the quickening of my pulse, the rapid pounding of my heartbeat, and steady breathing becomes difficult.

I am eating way too much. As if food is my drug, my tranquilizer. Which is most certainly is.

Why do I think anyone else is 'truthfully' interested in reading such drivel?

The smartest thing I could do at this time is stop writing until after the move has been completed.

Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
Be fair or foul or rain or shine
The joys I have possessed, in spite or fate, are mine.
Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.

--Horace

Higher Power, Scene 1

-- Content Deleted by Author --

Nothing To Fear But . . .

FEAR

Via Google, this is what I have learned about FEAR so far.

The emotion of fear stems from several hormonal and neurochemical responses in the brain. The source of fear is there.

Hormones are released throughout the body. They trigger defensive mechanisms such as raising adrenaline and cortisol levels, and increasing heart rate and respiration. The "fight-or-flight" response. The chemical action is meant to stay active for only a few seconds or minutes, just enough time for a person to react to the object of his fear.

What do you think happens, however, when that object is not real? What if it's simply a situation created by your imagination? In this case, for many people, the high levels of adrenaline and increased cardiorespiratory rates remain in the body for longer periods, adding more stress and consequently making the body experience "burnout" and total exhaustion.

So, it seems that fear is basically nothing more than a chemical reaction within the brain. Oh Wow! Just knowing that makes my fear more controllable.

Right . . .

FDR had something to say about Fear:

"The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself."

And so did Adam Rulli-Gibbs:

Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself

Villagers scurry like ants at

the howl of the chimera

and the griffon's call.

Nowhere to hide from the hydra,

the centaur, or the dragon.

Man-eaters one and all.

One man alone will stand his ground

and, like a mountain,

bars the way.

The stance, the face, the attitude.

All say he fears nothing but fear.

...

We visited his grave today.

Copyright Adam Rulli-Gibbs

2004 - 2006

No, that is not all I have to say about FEAR. But I am still contemplating the years I've lived with my own fear and how I have reacted to it throughout a lifetime. And I am not sure how much of this recollection and self-examination I wish to reveal about (or to) myself. Or how to do it. Personal Memoir? Essay? Fictional Account?

More about this later . . .

It takes time, you know.

What Is This Thing Called Fear?

For several days I have been researching the subject of FEAR. And I was surprised to find that there is not much of value to be found. Those famous quotations most of us are most familiar with are seemingly not original thoughts at all but merely re-worked repetitions of earlier statements made by long-dead, supposed philosophers.

One thing is certain. Research is unbelievably time-consuming. I've spent the last four hours reading other peoples ideas regarding FEAR. And I have learned nothing new whatsoever.

It's almost as if this notion of FEAR is not a reality in itself, but is merely human-intelligence's mental embellishment of the lower animals' natural reactive instinct

But of course I know FEAR is more than that. I just don't know what that 'more' is. Yet.

People react to fear, not love;

they don't teach that in Sunday

School, but it's true.

--Richard M. Nixon

Well . . . back to the research. Maybe I will have more about the subject tomorrow.