Repost of “We mostly hit”…

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

This post has been the most popular post to my blog in the last 5 years!

Reposting it to bring it back to the front………….see why it must be popular!

Thanks to all of you! Keep reading!   AND Happy New Year!

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In the long run, we only hit what we aim at. Thoreau

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

Life's Lessons- Last Times's avatarLAWSON's Life's Lessons

What does Thoreau mean by that quote?  Sometimes we hit a lot of things that we don’t aim at……………..literally his quotation isn’t completely true!

So what was he “getting at”? The English language (and all others) have so many similar meanings for words and gestures…………even tonal sounds and body language that it’s a wonder we don’t get more confused than we do when trying to understand others! And now with the arrival of Facebook and texting…………..communicating successfully is even more of a challange!

Thoreau’s comment means that what we concentrate on……….focus on……….really believe can happen……………really want to happen…….happens most of the time! Why are some people more successful than others in this exercise? They try harder! They REALLY FOCUS!

So create your own world…………….what do you want? Do you belive you should have it? Do you believe you can get it? Then get it!  Be specific in what you want………….if…

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Scandinavian Authors/Lars Kepler/Stalker

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

It all started with The Hypnotist and now the 5th book in the series is here!

One of the best marketing tricks in the books is to keep people in suspense and wonder. When the first book came out it was a question as to WHO was the author. Here was a book that is an instant success and a mystery about who wrote the book! Turns out it is a husband and wife team………….check out the book cover for more details.

STALKER is one of the most riveting,  graphic, very disturbing books I’ve ever read! At over 500 pages long it is an in-depth study of how events in a person’s life can cause traumatic psychological damage!  It is disturbing and so entertaining that once you get into the first 100 pages, it is very hard to stop reading and wait until tomorrow to finish it to see who the murderer is! Many clues are given and the murderer could be any of 3 or 4 people…………….I did not pick the right one! And probably you won’t either!

I’ve read THE NIGHTMARE and THE HYPNOTIST and now plan on reading the other two.

LARS KEPLER will continue to write I’m sure………and let’s hope someone will buy the movie rights and make  great movies out of these books!

p.s. If you think you are alone and no one is watching you ……………………you are wrong! You know that feeling you get that makes the hairs on you neck stand up.?…there’s a reason for that. Someone is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now go buy the book!

 

 

 

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2016 Year End Looking Back and Forward

Posted on December 31, 2016 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

Looking Back:  Everybody seems to agree, this year has just “flown by”! Busy! Busy! Busy! It’s kinda like the old saying, “No one says that they wish they had spent more time at work when they’re ready to give up the ghost!” SO, do you wish you’d spent more time Busy, Busy, Busy instead of  “smelling the roses”?

Each year I make a list of 10 things that I want to accomplish during the upcoming new year. This year I did VERY well on my “to-do list”. On those things that I didn’t quite finish, they will show up on this year’s list as items to be sure to complete next year!

Lessons Learned about getting older change every year!!!! A lot of the things I used to want to do………now I don’t (actually I can’t do them)….and the secret is I don’t care. That in itself is a realization of “freedom to choose” as we all do have. Yes, we all have a choice in things………………so, choose what you will! Live with it you must!! LIVE WITH YOUR CHOICES! You made them……….so don’t bitch about them to others. Learn from your mistakes and move on.

This year has been getting rid of things (some really nice and some just junk) ……..the really nice things giving them to people who will and can use them……..the just (good) junk……to Goodwill or other organizations that will be sure to get them to people who need them. Cleaning the closets in your life and mind open up space for good to come in…Getting rid of old stuff makes room for new stuff………it really works!!!

What on Earth is going on in the world!? It looks like all nations are determined to get ready to push the red button before anybody else can! Let’s pray that some nut doesn’t decide that he/she has been selected by voices to push it! But it might just serve us right for making the button possible in the first place. 2017 will in the very least be interesting! And this time next year where will we all be!? Doing what!? I hope it is using electricity! And heat! And air! And Freedom!

An interesting little story that was used in a Hallmark movie this year as a story told to a young child:

[The Angels of Heaven were celebrating one Christmas by singing hymns of praise and glory to GOD in the highest. While they were singing a dark and mysterious stranger started strolling amongst them through the great hall. Who was he?  No one would say his name. He was allowed to walk through the hall  and he called out to many of the angels by name. He was said to be the most beautiful of all the angels and they all became silent as the stranger broke into a song of his own! When his song was finished he was allowed to take anyone with him who wished to go and many decided to follow him out. IT was painful to watch because as many of the angels broke rank, HE knew what a terrible mistake they were making. Because “A house divided against itself cannot stand!”]

An interesting sideline here:  Some people believe that Satin (Lucifer) agreed to be the Devil for 2000 years. It was agreed in Heaven that in order for all souls to know and understand the Divine nature of GOD they must experience the opposite….the Evil (the absence of Good) and therefore somebody had to be BAD. After the 2000 years were up Satin could no longer stand being outside of the glory of GOD and said that it was up to other angels to step in and be “the bad guy” and thus we had bad guys such as Hitler and others step forward and do their time in the bad seat! ” AND all are forgiven and taken into the arms of the Almighty GOD!” So there is hope for us all! Amen! Amen!

I plan to use more pictures next year especially in the garden blog entires. Excuse me now, I’ve got to make out the 10 items “to do, wish list” for 2017!!!! Don’t forget to make yours!!!!!!!  The Professor

 

 

 

 

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Gardening in the South (SMEGA) Zone 8

Posted on December 23, 2016 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

This year (2016) has been a challenge! We had a very early spring and a blistering hot summer that lasted into early October. The fall was warmer than usual and looks like the winter will be too. At the end of the year we’re over 4 inches behind our annual rainfall. So next year changes will be made!!!! 

ROSES: As the summers get warmer…………ah NO, Hotter….the roses just can’t take the over 95 degree temperatures! For March, April and May they do well………..but until mid or late October they don’t! Changes!

  1. We’ve already moved a lot of the roses out of the full sun areas into more shaded ones. This year those roses did better so that will continue into 2017. No more tea roses or grandiflora or florabunders………….just a few more drift roses in full sun.

Knockout roses!!!!!! We all thought we had a perfect rose………….well, some kind of               virus got 4 of our roses this year!!!! Had to pull them up and get rid of them.

So what is the plan to adjust to the hot hot summers and deer and squirrels?

2. Use plants that are drought resistant and are not bothered by deer and squirrels!

YES, there are such plants!!  Lantana, Nandina, Forsythia, Spanish bayonets, Cactus     varieties, 4 o’clocks, Cleoms, and there are many more.

There are two places (areas) to plant, Inside and Outside the electrified “deer fence”!

3. Above are some of the Outside of the fence plants……….so here are some of the                      good ones that are IN the fence!

Viburnum, Japanese Magnolias, Daylillies, Crinum Lilies, Amaryllis Bulbs,                              Begonias, Salvias of many colors, Gerber Daisies , Iris, Small shrubs, Hydrangea,                      and  many more. Be creative and some good advice I’ve gotten: if a plant doesn’t do              well in one location, dig it up and move it to another. Some I’ve had to move 3 times              to find the right spot! But when you do you’ll feel really good about it and yourself!

4. There are a lot of cactus plants that do well during our hot summers! Find somebody              that is growing them and ask for some “bulblets” or “pups”! Try using seed                              planting! Growing perennials means you get plants that come back every year! And                  you can trade with other gardeners to save money and make friendships!

5. Since all of the nurseries sell plants in small containers you need to be very young                  indeed to get some plants old enough to bloom!  And with such small root systems              it is hard to get the plants to survive the first year much less grow into larger                            plants. So either buy 1 gallon or larger plants OR buy the smaller ones and don’t                      plant them in your yard until the 2nd year after they have a good root system                            developed. This works with trees such as dogwoods and cedars and most others. Let              them grow into 3 gallon container pots and then put them out where you want to                    leave them in the yard.

6.   Camellias, Camellia Sasanqua, all types of Azaleas, Weigela, and Hollies of all                       types make great specimens for your yard.

Remember, true gardens never give up on a plant…………they just may have to move it around a bit and keep on loving it! Patience is a virtue! Yeah, right!

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Scandinavian Authors…Update Gunnar Staalesen

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

Just finished Cold Hearts and Where Roses Never Die. Both are great reads! I continue to look for the earlier books and a new release will be coming out in 2017: No One Is So Safe in Danger!

I was excited about the books after I read the first copy I was able to find………..since then I’ve read 6! Just found out that a lot of the books have been adapted into movies, Norwegian with English subtitles and I plan on getting a 12 pack of DVD’s. The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo was filmed with subtitles and I like the foreign version of the 3 films better than the American version of the first one. SO, I’m looking forward to a winter of catching up on the books and the movies!

Where Roses Never Die: has one of the best “twisted plots” I’ve ever read and there are 2 separate crimes running at the same time that are surprisingly entangled. I rarely cry (“real men don’t cry!”) but at the end of this book the tears streamed down my face!!! Staalesen is that rare author that tells you a lot about the country and the people and the situations that set the crimes into action in such detail that you believe you can really see (feel) the people (characters) in your mind and heart!

Staalesen is just a little older than most of the other Scandinavian authors I’ve been reading and I really enjoy experiencing some of the stories that took place earlier in the history of Norway.

PBS USA  ALERT……………Shetland, a PBS series about an Island in Scandinavia that started last year was GREAT! I am looking forward to Season 2 this next year! Watch it!

BEST WISHES FOR HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A BLESSED CHRISTMAS OR WHATEVER YOU CELEBRATE THIS TIME OF YEAR. IT IS THE SEASON FOR UNIVERSAL LOVE AND LIGHT!

 

 

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GREAT SCANDINAVIAN WRITERS!

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

They just keep on keeping on coming along!!!!!!  Gunnar Staalesen

This author is a little older than the others that I’ve been reading and therefore some of his earlier books are hard (or impossible ) to find in English translations…..BUT I intend to persist and obtain ALL of his books!

The first two that I was able to find: Yours Until Death…published in 1979 in Norwegian but not in English until 1993! I found a used but in good shape library book with the original cover on it! The second one  was published much later in 1995 ………….The Writing On The Wall.

This author is unique……………he has a sense of humor, a real talent for understanding the psychology of human beings in all kinds of situations (what makes them do the things they do) and brings the characters and the locations where they are to life so vividly that you can almost feel the cold wet rain slamming against the old windows of the rundown flea-bitten 6th century church where the pigeons have taken over!

I follow about 7 Scandinavian authors now and enjoy them all and was surprised to find that yet another and different one popped up in my search engine! I know…there must be hundreds of them!

As I’ve mentioned before I like to start with book 1 in a series and learn about the main character’s personality and the locations and watch them change as they grow older.  In this series I’ll just be lucky to find the earlier books if I can…………..

Keep tuned……………I’ll let you know later about which ones are the best and if I can find them all!

AND I understand that 8 of the books have been made into movies!! Not available on DVD via Amazon or in USA……….that I know of……………some web site will show them but I don’t know much about that so I’m going to wait a while and hope Amazon will put them on board……..soon!

 

 

 

 

 

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HOW DO WE LEARN PART 3

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

Depending how long you’ve been on Planet Earth, you may remember The Star Wars Movies! Yes! They started out with IV, V, VI…………..THEN I, II, III………crazy! And there was a big GAP between the sets!

TNT network did a great thing recently! They replayed all of the them in order one right after the other but on separate nights and I cheated! I recorded them and watched them during the day ………..not 6 nights in a row. BUT WOW! Somehow I missed the first 3 when they came out….possibly because there were so many questions about who was related to whom and how did the bad ass Darth Vader come into being!? After watching them all again it turns out that the series is a Fantastic Epic of Good versus Evil! AND all of the “magic” that makes the series work is based on Quantum Physics! YES!  NOTE:  See my blog, “How To Get What You Want”, we’re building bricks!

Good versus Bad!  EVERYBODY has Good in them…..and if they are honest….BAD too.

“There but for the Grace of God go I!”………….”OMG, I came just this close to getting caught!”  “I almost made the biggest mistake of my life!”  Sound familiar? YES! You know it does!

We are all faced with situations that tests us! And just like the Star Wars movies…….the Dark Force is real! Hate, revenge, greed, anger, envy, lying, stealing are clothed in many different disguises to make it seem just the right thing to do. The Dark Force (the devil, Satan, Lucifer and their scores of demons) fight dirty! Like in Star Wars, Darth Vader turned to evil to save the life of the one he loved! HE was promised that his love would live if he gave his soul to the Devil! And that is how we are tested…………instead of earning the good we want we are presented with the easy way out………….just give your soul away and you’ll gain riches and love and power. BUT there is always a catch! Nothing is free!

So just how much value do you put on your soul!? Your soul is the only part of you that survives the death of  your body! IT is what you really are. You were created and will always be………..so are we here to experience good and bad or is the goal to be just good and experience only that? Where does BAD fit in? Could it be that you need to experiece bad so that you know what GOOD is?

IF you turn to the Dark Side of the Force……….can you come back to the GOOD side? Think about it!  What do you think? What do you believe!? IT is from these things and situations that we learn! ISn’t that why we are here?!

I believe that we all come from the LIGHT SIDE OF THE FORCE! We may fail and join the DARK SIDE only to learn that only the LIGHT SIDE is where there is Happiness and Peace eternally. So why would anyone want to join the forces of evil and live in the Dark!?

I wish I had all of the answers from THE GREAT OZ! Don’t you!?

 

 

 

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Getting What You Want part 2

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

I AM A QUANTUM THINKER!

In Part 1 we discovered Brick 1…………..defining EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT!

Brick 2 is BEING GRATEFUL!……………………Why would that matter? Who cares if you are grateful or not? YOU DO! EVERYBODY DOES!!!!

  1. You are unexpectedly late in getting home from a trip………bad weather, no communications, so for 3 days you aren’t home. When you do get home your neighbor across the street tells you he noticed that your trash can was out for 2 days at the street and he moved it back behind the house for you to avoid people knowing you weren’t home. He also noticed your dog in the back yard stayed outside all night and had no food or water so he provided both for “Jasper”. 

You had moved in only 6 months ago, so you didn’t really know the neighbors, but                you were thankful that he had moved the trash and fed your dog and told him you            appreciated his thoughtfulness.

NOTE: When the Angels brought the essence of life to Planet Earth perhaps millions of years ago……many different types of life forces were brought to see which ones would thrive and prosper and most of all, SURVIVE!  Many didn’t and were wiped out…..But the key piece of information here is that the Ones that did survive and beat all odds were the two that learned how to live together and profit from pooling different skills and talents to keep alive. And then there was only one! US (The Urantia Book)

 

Being Grateful and Thankful: Take a minute and thing about these things,

  1. If you are living in the USA, it has been over 130 years since we had a war on our soil! True we have fought wars but not here. When you look at many places around the world where children have never known peace (and quiet) maybe you realize just how fortunate we are and how grateful we ought to be!
  2. Expressing a thankfulness of our blessings opens a door for good to come into our lives.

Showing appreciation and thanksgiving is the cement that holds life together. Remember that and be thankful!

We will talk about Brick #3 next time…………..Intent

                             

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How do we learn?…Part 2

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Life's Lessons- Last Times

I had some really good comments/discussions about the vulture and the man in the desert..previous blog/see list…………bottom line……….you either made the choice for the vulture or the man based on the information you thought you had, the religious background you have, your morals and ethics. AND who’s to say who is right or wrong? BUT you always have a choice! YES always!

Television: YES, THAT great wasteland of information…………..BUT it is a fantastic way to learn a lot about a lot of stuff from the safety and comfort of your own abode!

The long hot summer is giving hints of breaking into fall and so we usher in another television season of football, comedies, dramas, history, science fiction, etc.

The Hallmark Channels: As I have “preached” in my blog before, I use the Hallmark Channels as a buffer from all of the rest of the programs on TV. I watch a variety of shows from the above list and a lot of them are “heavy/deep/violent” and as I watch them I learn about different types of life styles, different types of people and what some of the many possibilities of lifetimes there are on this old world.

Starting October the 1st for 4 straight Saturday nights the Hallmark CH has movies of the season……several of the summer series will be ending……….Chesapeak Shores……….one of the best that has come along in the last several years. IF you’ve missed it, go to a Hallmark store and buy the season 1 DVD!!!! The good guys win, the bad guys lose! EVERY TIME! And sometimes we NEED for that to happen just to keep our heads on straight!

The actor in Mr. Robot just got another Emmy for that show. I watched 2 episodes and although the acting is very good, even great……..I couldn’t keep watching the show. Why would anyone want to watch a heroin user who is  crazy  make up his life in his head about getting revenge on people who don’t really exist!? I’ll just have to do my learning somewhere else!!!!

My point being is that you and I will learn from different sources…………….pick the ones that you are comfortable with and let the others go…and find your own “Hallmark Channel” to keep you focused on a world where good things to happen to good people and so do bad things happen to good people……but good always prevails over bad! And to me that’s a good thing!

Just keep on learning!

 

 

 

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