Why? The demise of a family's best friend

His name was Freckles. A Cavalier King Charles, the dog of kings. A calm demeanor, but would run figure 8's around the house when a youngster.  Always underfoot, looking for  any piece of dropped food.  He loved vegetables, was fed pumpkin by my daughter so he would get his heart meds. He was 9 years and three weeks old and the vet said he could do nothing more for him. He could not climb the stairs. Fluid filled his lungs, his gums were purple. His heart could not keep him in a happy state. So he was "put down", "put to sleep".  We cannot, but perhaps we do do this for humans. It is, was the humane thing.
My wife cried, my daughter cried, my grandsons cried and I cried.  As it turned out, Freckles' last meal was a morsel of pecan pie crust. I laid it at his feet, he picked it up, moved a couple of feet, laid down with it and made a gentle meal of it.
When we got Freckles, he had to be named. A great search resulted in numerous possibilities, but no name. And then we visited my son's house, small kids fawning over this special dog. And there it was, actually there they were, Hayley's face next to Freckles or Hayley's beautiful freckled face next to a dog's freckled face. A name was born. Freckles.
A companion to us all.  Jack, age 8, was laying down with Freckles a few days ago, kissing him and looking deep into his eyes. My wife said "Jack why are you doing that?" Jack said "I know he's not going to be with us much longer" It was Jack that cried the most.
The loss of a pet, a dog reminds us of our own mortality and the mortality of those we love.  It reminds us of the special unconditional love that a dog brings. And in this case the unconditional love of not "man's best friend, but a "family's best friend". Rest in Peace, Freckles

Why? "we are what we think"

It is true, "we are what we think" and here is a golf analogy to illustrate.
I once played for the golf championship of the world. Ok, not the whole world but my two man team had won the Wednesday night league and we played the Thursday night league winners for the grand championship. When we came to the last hole and I figured we were one down. It was a par 5. I blasted a super drive, hit a nice three wood to 30 yards and pitched to 12 feet.  With complete focus I drained the putt for a birdie. My partner hit a nice 6 footer for par and the opposing team congratulated us for the win. You see, I had figured wrong. We went into the last hole not one down but tied. I have always remembered that small moment because of how my thinking affected how I approached that hole.  I believe if I had known we were tied I would have been less aggressive and would have tried to get nothing worse than a par. I thought we were behind, so I went all out. Yes the Championship of the world, won because I "thought" we were behind.  A small moment but a larger lesson, "we are what we think" and what we think makes us who we are. You can think your way to misery in your life or to happiness in your life. I choose happiness.

Why? Aniseikonia and the one eyed golfer

Aniseikonia. Now there is a word for you. It means one eye's image is smaller that the other. In my case, 30 to 40 percent smaller. In addition when viewing a straight horizontal line, there is a 10 percent dip in that line at the focal point. As I move my eye along that line, the dip moves and the line appears wavy. So what? Well my eyes do not work together and I tend to get a double image. For example four tail light instead of 2.  Faces on the television are scrunched in the middle and 30 percent smaller in my right eye.  So what? Well, to compensate I close my right eye and on many occasions become one eyed.  So what?  Well, two problems occur.  One is loss of right side peripheral vision and number TWO, no depth perception. Thus in the last 6 months I have become a one eyed golfer. So what? Well, with no depth perception my golf game has suffered. And that causes me to suffer. 
But as I sat in the office of Retina Eye Associates, waiting a hour and a half for a follow up on my 4th eye surgery involving a detached retina, I looked at the cast of patients awaiting service.  All old and suffering, many were much worse off than me. I do have 20/20 vision in my left eye. I have somewhat trained my left eye to be dominant and to over ride my formerly dominant right eye.  My golf game involvement with driver and putter is good. The depth of those shots is constant.  My iron play is sporadic and so are my scores.  BUT, to be out walking, enjoying the world of golf is still priceless to me. And if you didn't know, even blind people play golf.

Why? the meaning of the meaning of life

     Our enlarged brains have allowed us through science to determine that there are billions of galaxies with hundreds of billions of stars.  It would seem that there are billions of stars with planets that could support life as we know it.  So life as we know it and likely life as we do not know it exists.  We are not alone.  It is mathematically impossible that we are alone.  Life exists, we exist, but does this existence have meaning?
     Charles Darwin determined that an important purpose of this existence is to survive and and the concept of "survival of the fittest", that life has evolved and would evolve where ever it exists. The evolution of superior intelligence has given rise to the conceptual question, "what is the meaning of life?"And science tells us that the evolution of the superior intelligence of humans has existed for the merest blip of time in the age of this earth. Imagine if you will the earth and humans a mere 100,000 year ago or 100,000 years from now.  There are planets at the least in the millions with the conditions for life, no doubt many are millions of years behind us and many millions of years ahead of us.  No matter where in this continuum of life, evolution, arrival of superior intelligence the question of meaning of life? will arise.  Is there a simple, universal answer? yes

"It is mathematical, sum up all the purposes of life and you have found the meaning of life" heaton

Why? Diets of the mind

"Of course, of course, diets of the body are important, but diets of the mind reign supreme.  But what would that be? Imagine imagination, humor, dark brooding thoughts, the forms of art and war, love and hate, drama, history, on and on. Consume it all because there is thankfully an infinite list and room for it all. An infinite feast, consume it all, consume it all." heaton

Why? Diets of the body

Why "Gluten Free".  My grandson, age 14 has been big on sports for the past 5 years, football, basketball, baseball. Through it all he has suffered many physical and health problems. A seemingly endless intestinal problem, knee growth plate, foot growth plate, broken finger, broken arm(twice), broken foot, never ending Achilles tendon pain. And through it all he has been an exceptional athlete. An example, a starting safety(one of the smallest players on the team) on the Washburn Rural Seventh grade team. When their starting quarterback went out for the final game and the number 2 became the starter, he was asked to become the backup quarterback.  He asked "why me?". The coach said "because you have all the tools".  He could run, kick(he was the punter) and throw.
My daughter was watching television late one night and the subject of gluten free diet came on and it was a REVELATION.  It had stopped Achilles tendon pain. She began a 3 week test on a strict gluten free diet on my grandson and the results were astonishing.  His feet stopped hurting(he had played sports with pain for 5 years and it was gone).  His energy level skyrocketed and intestinal issues resolved.  It has been a sort of miracle.
The drawback is that the gluten free diet is not easy (no wheat, barley and rye products). The good thing is that grocery stores have gluten free products in abundance. The second bad thing is higher food costs, but that trade off is worth it. This will be a life long diet and it will not be easy to maintain. Thankfully, the struggle is and will be worth it.

Why? I had an event

Yes, I had an event a few days ago and it triggered thoughts.  I woke up(thankful for that) a few days ago with no vision in the lower left portion of my right eye. Now a year or two ago I had a flurry of floaters in that eye. Quite scary, ribbons of black particles crossing, drifting, frightening. Went to my ophthalmologist and was told it was not serious and would clear up. It did.
This event was different, but was it related? As I watched the Dan Patrick show I was thinking(maybe this will clear up). It was a neatly curved area, almost like a fat pie wedge that was peripheral, not in the center of my eye. Two hours passed and I called Dr Zeavin(Gensler Clinic). A hour and a half later I was in Kansas City-Retina Associates.  DETACHED RETINA  A gas bubble was put in my eye. This put a slight pressure on the detached area. I slept upright for three nights with a following laser surgery to "staple" the detached area. Prognosis good.
If a detached retina is not immediately treated you can become blind. I was fortunate. My instinct for self preservation and the skill of eye specialists saved my sight.(for now)
I have had many events in my life. Some good, great, wonderful, full filling, some not so good, bad, terrible and perhaps even beyond redemption. The scales that weigh the good, bad are not evenly balanced and the weight of the terrible at some moments heavily out weighs the good. But I always add to the good, the love of family, friends, knowledge, country and the good side of the scale wins.
Well sorry to say but this needs an up date.
About 10 days ago a dark shadow appeared on the right center of my eye, after waiting a day it did not improve so I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Batle( Topeka Retina Associates). the result was another trip to Kansas City for surgery. This time I have a full eye bubble of gas. The results are a bit mixed.  I currently have a narrow shadow from 3:30 to 6:00.  This may be permanent.  It will take 8-10 weeks for the bubble to disappear.  I will begin one eyed golf next week.  My left eye is 20-20 and I knock on wood for that. I remind you "You may beat me, but I am not beaten. I cannot be defeated or beaten by anything or anyone. I will never,ever give in or give up. Even in death I am not defeated". heaton 

Why? Meanderings

Meanderings from the midlands.  The election of Barak Obama confirms that in a democracy the left can win and will win if most things are equal. This is simply because of numbers.  There are many more people on the left of the political spectrum than the right, more poor than rich. This does not detract from democracy itself. Democracy allows for freedom of speech and the ability to influence and even change the course of history by an individual or group.  The expression of ideas allows the collective mind to advance society.
     Capitalism has created a better life for most. Unfettered it has and will create wealth Barons. These Barons can and will use that wealth to control the economy to their benefit and to the detriment of the masses. It needs to be fettered.
The Far Right has gained control of Kansas. The wealthy have already benefited with tax cuts.  These cuts have created debt that will affect funding of public schools. The wealthy do not put their children in public schools.  The wealthy do not like democracy and the dogma of the Far Right will lead to the loss of freedom.
     Manhattan Kansas is a vibrant, growing community.  Its center piece is Kansas State University. Both city and university owe a great debt to Bill Snyder.  His genius, his philosophy, his dedication to and love for the Kansas State "family" has created a universe all its own.  A universe of togetherness and pride.