Moving From Questionable To Confirmed

There are times when I thank God that the Shaw's Market, or Wal*Mart, doesn't have an x-ray security device as you walk in the door.  There are some things I would like to hide, and keep to myself.

It is normal to keep our foibles hidden from the rest of the world.  That is human nature.  What is also human nature is to occasionally let the cat out of the bag.

We can show the world what we strive so hard to keep under wraps by just opening our mouths,  writing some poorly thought out words, or, even more dramatically, walking into a glass door.

That is also pretty funny.

Sorry.  It is though.

Now, the key word here is "occasionally".  When we do it more often than that we move from the "questionable" column to the "confirmed" column.

My preference?  Keep 'em guessing.  Sometimes it works.

Then there are those that remove any doubt.  No need for an x-ray security device here.  No.  Just listen. Or, read what they write.

The good thing about those that "lift the sheets" so to speak, is that by exposing their inner "workings" we get to know them better, and are better off in dealing with them.   Helps you make more informed decisions later on.  Sometimes those decisions are made before you get to the alter, or even more importantly, at the polls.

Keep that mind when you hear of someone in a position of responsibility saying, writing, or doing something that you may have thought twice about before doing, or saying yourself.

Oh, and that x-ray above?  It's mine.  Somethings I don't mind sharing.

At least you know what you're dealing with.

It's OK To Speak With Your Hands

Using ones hands to perform a task is something most of us do without thinking about it.  As a nurse, my hands not only perform tasks, my hands also communicate.

How I touch, hold a hand, support a limb signals to the other person whether I am a threat, whether something will hurt more than usual, and if I am being careful.  Touch also conveys reassurance, confidence, knowledge, caring, and hope.  If I loose focus, that loss is felt at the other end of my fingertips by the person I am touching almost immediately.

Touch is that sensitive.

Often, I will scratch child's head at work with my fingers as I walk by them in the hall.  That touch speaks to them.  When talking to a parent about their child, I will often reach out and touch their forearm, or shoulder, when our conversation is done.  That small touch, my words, and our eye contact can do a great deal in reassuring them..

When done right, touch is important symptom of our human condition.

Touch can also be misinterpreted as countless office law suits will tell you.  When done at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons, to the wrong person, touch can elicit negative feelings as strong as the positive ones. Inappropriate touching is not good, and one has to keep the "Laws of Boundaries" in mind at all time.

For something so simple, touch is very powerful.

Last week I was pleasantly surprised to see a news report on Channel 5 about just how powerful touch can be.  You may want to check out the video yourself on You Tube.  (Click here for video)

We say so much through our hands, and touch is something understood no matter what language you speak. As the video shows, touch is understood even by those that know longer understand things in the world around them.  It is primal, and basic, and we should be more aware of its power, not ignoring it.

If done for the right reasons, wonderful things can be done through touch.  The video is proof of that.

Amazing what it can do.

Take The Other Road

Utely Road in New Braintree just off Route 67.
Click for larger image.

Sometimes I am guilty of the "it's-all-about-me" behavior.  Something I really don't like at all.  One would think Sturbridge was the only place on Earth worth writing about, visiting, living in, or dining in.

I have to take the blinders off once in a while to see beyond the tip of my nose, which doesn't make any sense at all, but I think you get my point.

There is a world outside our borders.

I am not referring to Paris, or Ankar Wat, I am talking about places like New Braintree, and Barre.  Local treasures.

Mary and I like to take off and go on "explores" to local places we have never seen.  Our horizons not only get widened, but awakened as well.

Yesterday we took off north on Route 148 to North Brookfield.  No reason, but we seem to concentrate on the other directions a lot more, and seldom go north more than a few miles.  Friday was "Go North Day", and we did.

Just past North Brookfield center we bared left onto Route 67 for a bit.  The foliage was still working its way to peak, but in some patches it was glorious.  The sun was bright, the top down, and we were cruisin' through early Fall in Central Mass.

I didn't bring my camera with me.  Big mistake, and something I don't usually leave behind, but this was a spur of the moment escape, and the camera in the iPhone would have to do.  The photo above does not do the scenery we saw justice.

This weekend will probably be the the last warm weekend of the year, so don't waste it.  There will be time for chores later, but somewhere in the weekend take a couple of hours, and head north, and open your eyes.  You will discover farm stands, and red leaves, apple orchards brimming with people picking, and waiting in line for a bag of apple cider donuts.  Go down that road you have never traveled.  You know the one, "The Road Not Taken".  You will be surprised how many of the weeks stresses fly out  the car window at 40 MPH.

The view above was taken just off Route 67.  Take a left onto Utely Road, enjoy the view, and then follow the road back home.

And, don't forget your camera.

Down Utely Road a bit from Route 67 on right.

View Larger Map

Autumn: That Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Fall along the shore of  Long Pond in Fiskdale.

Autumn.   Officially it's here, although it has been slowly ramping up for weeks and weeks.  I saw my first red leaves of the season in Weston, along the turnpike, on August 3rd.  Since then I have been that much more aware of its slow unveiling.  When one is aware of the seasonal changes around them actually occurring, the colors, smells, and sounds are enjoyed that much more.


I have been on the other side when November 12th rolled around, and I stopped and looked around me at the bare trees, grey skies, and cold air, and wondered what the heck happened, and where was I when it did.


No more.  I gave up all that distraction years, and years ago.  Now, I am very in tune to the changes, and enjoy each one as if I am turning pages in a really good book.


Usually, I won't buy mums until Fall is here, but this year I felt that the color was missing in the yard, and I splurged a bit early.  I'll take down the Summer wreath from the front door today.  In  a few weeks, after the first frost, I'll remove the annuals, cut back the perennials, and begin cleaning up around the yard.  While I am putzin' about outside I will be planning our next adventure inside the house.  I like to do inside projects in the Fall and Winter, but this year I was sidetracked, and refurbished the kitchen in July and August, and rebuilt the bathroom floor, as well.  It felt strangely out of season.


As we spend more time on this planet, we find ourselves developing more, and more routines like those I perform each Fall.  Routines can be  comfortable, familiar acts that give us solace when we are performing them.  This is how closing one season in the yard, and preparing for the next one affects a lot of us, it's comfortable.   Such simple rituals, but they bring on that wonderful peaceful, easy feeling.


In the late Winter, very early Spring, I react differently to the changes about me; I get a yearning, and excitement for all things green, bright, and warm.  In the fall, it is the winding down from all that, and time to put away, rest, and renew.  


It is very much a peaceful, easy feeling.

It's Time To Get Back To Basics

A little to the west of us, in Brimfield, there is a bit of a furor going on concerning the placement of wind turbines on West Mountain.  Seems that some folks in Brimfield feel that ten huge 262 foot tall wind turbines and their 253 foot in diameter turbine blades would a bit much to look at.  The money offered, some feel, is not worth the loss of scenery.

I am all for alternative forms of obtaining energy.  Wind, solar, tidal, geothermal should all be utilized, but with a couple of provisos, one would be that the method selected to obtain the energy in a locality should be primarily used in that locality at a discount, and what energy is left over can then be sold onto the grid.  Just seems logical that if local residents change their zoning that they should receive something in return.  Some companies agree to pay the local government an annual stipend.  This is what the company would like to do in Brimfield, too.  $140,000 to $170,000 would be paid to the town each year.  Well, if you figure on $150,000 for the 3028 folks in Brimfield that comes out to about $50.00 per resident each year.

Big whoop.

What would be better would be a significantly reduced rate per Kilowatt hour of electricity for local residents of Brimfield.  Significantly reduced.  Now, that may be easier to swallow.

Another proviso would be that any structure that would be needed to obtain the energy must blend in with the rest of the topography, and not take away from the scenery an area may be known for.  This is solely for the benefit of those living in the town, and live there because of the beauty of the area, however it is probably the most difficult to do.

As I mentioned, I am all for alternative energy, but just because something is "alternative" doesn't always make it right, or a good match for an area.  Lots of thought, and planning, must be done in order to make the structures blend in with minimal disruption to the eye.  It can be done.

When we get our underwear all balled up in a knot here in town about sidewalks, intersections, extending sewer service, and Astro Turf on the ball fields we need to just take a moment and think of the issues other towns are facing, and how they deal with the issues.  Watch them, and see how they handle disagreements.  Do they put issues to a vote?  Do they negotiate well with vendors, and agencies?  Is a compromise part of their plan?

This past Monday evening both sides of the issue met at the Hitchcock Academy in Brimfield where questions were answered by First Wind, the company looking to build the wind turbines.  This coming spring of 2011 there will be a Town meeting in Brimfield, and one of the items up for vote will be whether or not to change the zoning to allow First Wind to build the towers.

Ahhh.  Town meetings.  Remember those.  We just had one here in town.  A special one.  Lasted about 30 minutes.  Annual town meetings are great ways to get things done in a town, or to pass on some things, too.  Expensive things like bricks, silly things like Astro Turf on high school ball fields, and important things like new police cruisers, or fire trucks should be voted on at town meetings, and for the most part, they are.

Then again, there are some things that local leaders take upon for themselves, and decide for us.

Can't do that, though.  Nope.  We're still in charge, and whether they are selectmen, state representatives, or congressmen, they represent us.  They don't act on their own without our input.

But, it seems that they are, and may even continue to do so.

We deserve better than that.

Speak loudly, speak frequently, ask questions, and expect answers that do not insult your intelligence, play word games, or sound as if Professor Irwin Corey is the one responding.  Expect straight, civil, accurate answers, and if they cannot give one, then expect them to find the answer, and give you a time when they will get back to you.

This is so basic.

It"s time to get back to basics.