​​ Christian Wiman wrote; “As a​​ small child I would​​ sneak into​​ my​​ parents’ room in the middle of the night and peel open their eyelids in the hopes that​​ I​​ could see what they were dreaming”. ​​ As an adolescent, I would sneak into my parent’s room and listen to them breathing. ​​ Dad had​​ sleep apnea​​ and would stop breathing, for what seemed like 10 minutes or more. ​​ I was afraid to awake him because he would growl at me, so I just stood there, silently waiting for him to take his next breath, not knowing when to sound the alarm if he failed to do so.  ​​​​ Consequently, I grew up with the fear that my father would die and leave mom, my brother Jerry and me, to fend for ourselves. ​​ But my father always took that next breath like a bolt of lightning from the sky, surprising and totally unexpected. ​​ I would be hard put to guess the number of times I stood by his side of the bed waiting for the noise his next breath would bring. ​​ I was probably 13-14 years old before I stopped doing that, but needless to say, my​​ anxiety​​ over Dad’s well-being stayed with me into adulthood. ​​ I seriously doubt that Mom & Dad knew of my frequent visits to their bedside. ​​ If they did, it was never mentioned. ​​ Dad took his final breath in October 1986 (Mom in March 1988) and not too many days go by that I fail to think of them. ​​ I am aware that a lot of my core values come from my childhood, but I also believe a fear of the unknown can have it roots in adolescence. ​​ “I asked for wonders instead of happiness, Lord, and you gave them to me.”…..​​ Abraham Heschel

I read recently that adults blink at a rate of about 20 per minute and babies only do it about twice per minute. ​​ The blink rate for babies increased if they were focused on something. ​​ I​​ have never checked​​ my blink rate and cannot possibly think of a reason to do so, but​​ ​​ I’m confident that when​​ “Our Maker”​​ sat down to design humans,​​ he had a logical reason for doing so. ​​ There are so many things about us,​​ as humans, we take for granted​​ without ever giving it any thought whatsoever. ​​ I am guilty of taking so many things in my relationships with others for granted as well. ​​ All of us have been given an infinite ability to develop our skill at communicating with others, but few of us do. ​​ I have several friends that love to write​​ (Frank, Vic, Reese)​​ and they do it without any thought of being paid. ​​ On occasion​​ they write books​​ to sell, but they are always sold for a modest sum. ​​ I have pondered the question of why people spend many hours at their desk writing about things for someone’s enjoyment/gratification​​ and​​ getting very few responses. ​​ I send​​ this missive out to about 60 friends via email (plus​​ 12​​ via USPS) and, on average,​​ I’ll get less than five comments. ​​ So​​ why do we do it? ​​ In my humble opinion, it’s an attempt to reach out​​ to​​ our friends that are far away and whom we seldom come in contact with. ​​ It’s a​​ desire​​ to focus on friendships and relationships that matter to us. ​​ For me, when I get a response from a reader,​​ my heart kinda gets a glow of satisfaction, knowing that what I have written something that touched someone. ​​​​ T.S. Eliot said ;​​ “We must remember that what a writer does to people is not necessarily what he intends to do. It may be only what people are capable of having done to them”. ​​​​ But,​​ Jorge Luis Borges, wrote;​​ “You are not what you write, but what you have read”. ​​​​ Hmmm, I think I have succeeded in confusing myself​​ .

My wife bought me a Davis Weather Station (Vantage Pro2) for Christmas,​​ and​​ she​​ gave it to me early so I could replace my old one. ​​ The old one​​ chose to start transmitting incorrect information after many years of reliable service.  ​​ ​​​​ Needless to say, the new one has​​ all the bells & whistles and required reading a lot of instructions to install it​​ correctly. ​​ It took me three days to finish the installation, get it to communicate with my desktop console,​​ and then connect to the Weather Underground online (www.wunderground.com). ​​ If you want to see the weather at our house just insert the following station ID into “Search Locations” on that website: ​​ KVAPOQUO11.  ​​​​ It will show “Westover Shores” and then our station ID. Click on that link and it magically appears.  ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

I decided recently to install a floor in the​​ “Lean-To”​​ on our shed. ​​ I sat down, planned how I would construct it, the materials I would need, and determine if I had the necessary skill level to accomplish such a task. ​​ It took me three days to do what a decent carpenter could​​ probably​​ do in three hours, but it looked good after I finished,​​ and I was sorta proud of it. ​​ A couple of days later I decided I wanted to screens on​​ both​​ ends​​ of the lean-to leaving the front open. ​​ So,​​ I ordered​​ the necessary screens and installed​​ them​​ but it​​ wasn’t as easily done as I​​ had​​ anticipated. ​​ I have come to the conclusion, after 27,725​​ spins on this planet we call earth, that most worthy things are, by nature, hard​​ to accomplish. ​​ That not only applies to tasks we want to get done,​​ but to friendships we want to maintain, hearts we want to touch, and a Savior we strive to convince that we are worthy of his blessings. ​​ I work to keep my life simple,​​ putting​​ things that happen in perspective as to their real importance in my life. ​​ I find that to be a balancing act that can be extremely hard to do. ​​ I try to look at finding joy in my life as an Easter Egg Hunt. ​​ Joy is tucked in small cramped places as well as sitting on the balcony of a cruise ship. ​​ It’s sitting at your granddaughter’s table eating with your great-grandchildren and bathing in the love and laughter that surrounds you. ​​​​ It can be me talking to you on the phone , each of us sharing a part of our life with each other.​​  ​​​​ And, yes, it can be installing a floor on​​ my​​ Lean-To and adding side screens. ​​ 

I ran across this quote the other day;​​ "Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon".​​ ---​​ Susan Ertz. ​​​​ I have given some thought as to what that could possibly mean. ​​ Immortality means perpetual life after death. ​​ I think that, perhaps, what we want is to be remembered after​​ we​​ die;​​ at least, by those we count as friends & family.  ​​​​ Yeah, on a rainy Sunday afternoon I may rummage around trying to find something useful to do,​​ but I cannot equate that with an inability to​​ want to be remembered long after I have transitioned to the other side.​​  ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

​​ I​​ was reading an article a while back that contained the word,​​ amanuensis, and had absolutely no​​ idea of its meaning. ​​ Of course, off to the time-worn dictionary I go to discover it’s meaning​​ to be: someone skilled in the transcription of speech (especially dictation). ​​ I doubt that I have ever seen that word before,​​ and I began to wonder how many other words there were that I was unaware of? ​​​​ I did​​ a little​​ research​​ and this is what I came up with:

The Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for​​ 171,476​​ words​​ in current use, and​​ 47,156​​ obsolete words. To this may be added around​​ 9,500​​ derivative words included as​​ subentries. ​​ There is a website (www.languagemonitor.com) ​​ that has the English Language word clock and says​​ the​​ English​​ language passed the Million Word threshold on June 10, 2009.​​   Currently there is a new word created every 98 minutes or about 14.7 words per day.​​ The English Language​​ Word​​ Clock​​ stands at:  1,005,366. ​​ ​​​​ So, ​​ about how many do I, personally, know? ​​ This is what I discovered:​​ Most adult native test-takers range from​​ 20,000–35,000​​ words. Average native test-takers of age 8 already know​​ 10,000​​ words.​​ Average native test-takers of age 4 already know​​ 5,000​​ words. Adult native test-takers learn almost 1 new word a day until middle age. ​​ Hmmm, I wonder what happens after middle age? ​​​​ It’s about at this point that I notice your eyes start to glaze over…..too much information​​ .

Well​​ that’s it, another missive on random​​ thoughts and​​ things happening in my life. ​​ I hope you enjoyed the view from “My Window on The World” and that your life is filled with joy wherever you may be.