Kokopelli

I'm late to the party....I only recently learned about Kokopelli.  I had admired a beautiful shirt my son was wearing.  The fabric had an unusual repeating design that my son said was the mythical Hopi music god, Kokopelli.  Of course I was off to the internet to find out more about this Hopi god. 

Kokopelli is the only anthropomorphic petroglyph to have a name, an identity and an established gender.  Depicted as a hunch-backed playing a flute, Kokopelli is a symbol of fertility, music, art, healer and story teller.  The images of Kokopelli are derived from ancient Anasazi glyphs found throughout the American southwest.  They appear on Hohokam pottery, but petroglyph carvings precede the Hohokam, dating back 3000years,

The god has always been a source of music, dancing and spreading joy to those around him.  He carries a bag of unborn babies which he gives to women wanting a baby, and he also carries seeds for planting.  He brings rain for successful harvests.  Traveling from village to village, playing his flute to announce his arrival, he trades old songs for new ones, and the nights are spent dancing. 

Due to Catholic missionaries influence, the image of Kokopelli was 'cleaned up' and the emasculated version has been adopted as a broader symbol.  Modern images of Kokopelli always show him with a flute and a bag, which makes him look hunched-back. 

Kokopelli history, photos of petroglyphs and art work can be found on the internet.  I discovered that his image is a popular decoration , especially on men and women's clothing, dishware, coffee mugs, bedding, pillows and towels.

Castles

Castles come in all sizes, shapes and forms.  They are spectacular structures, some remembered for historical reasons, some remembered from fairytale stories about castles and knights.  But the castles I find most astonishing are castles, also known as human towers.

I had never heard of them.  It never even crossed my mind that anyone would have considered such a feat as building a human tower.  Oh, the little circus pyramids with a few people standing on the shoulders of one another... ok, but a tower?  It just goes to show you how far some people will go to try and prove something. 

I learned about human towers while watching a PBS program about the forces of nature.  Gravity, being a force of nature, is a factor in building these cultural phenomenon, particular to Catalonia, which are called Castells.  The tradition originated at the end of the 18th century when rival groups of people began to construct different kinds of human towers.

A castle has three definite parts: pinya (base), tronc (trunk), and pom de dalt (crown).  All the accumulated weight rests on the horizontal base, which stabilizes and strengthens the erected structure- and also softens the fall of climbers if a break in the tower causes it to collapse.  The trunk is crowned by children, who are more agile and light-footed.  The youngsters are in charge of climbing to the top, raising an arm and saluting the public.

There can  be several levels of supporting structures, each being added in a precise order with an allotted station for everyone within the group.  Building the tower is accompanied by special music as the last climber crowns the tower and raises an arm in salute.  The job is not finished with the crowning.  It has to be brought down safely to be considered completed.

Towers of 8 story were built in the '80s, but in 1995 a 9 story castle was given the name Cathedral due to overcoming the great difficulty when built and successfully completed.  On April 11,2012, China attempted to build the tallest 9 story castle, but failed when it collapsed.  India is also very active in building castles. 

Originally they were only built on Sundays, but over time they have become so popular that they are constructed on any day of the week, at festivals and at competitions in other countries.  Its fascinating to watch the many attempts on YouTube, and even more so watching the videos on how the base is constructed.  Its truly a heart pounding experience to watch a very small child climb a tower, crown it, then scramble back down to safety.   

Marathons

I just did a marathon.  Not the running kind.  A television replay of the series, Downton Abby, which aired for 6 seasons from 2011-2016 on PBS.  It was a take off on the famous Up Stairs, Down Stairs, a story about how the landed gentry of England lived in contrast to the servants that catered to them. 

Downton Abby depicts the years between 1912 and 1925, years before and after the first world war.  Relationships, behavior and hierarchy delineated what was acceptable and what was not.  Conventions, rigid rules and traditions comprised the structure of society, but the ride of the working class changed the stability of the aristocracy. 

Melodramatic emphasis on weddings and deaths (discord and intrigue in between), elaborate rituals of dining with glittering silver and glistening wine glasses, appropriate attire for men and a stunning array of women's fashion, helped build the theme of Downton Abby.  Written by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abby is not an historical film, but much of the filming was done with an eye to authenticity.  It was amusing when the script introduced 'modern ' conveniences like the telephone and radio, but even during my childhood, those conveniences were still relatively new to our daily lives.

My family had one of he few telephones in town.  Back in those days, it was common for families with a phone to receive calls from people out of the area, or in another state, trying to reach a neighbor with important news. Someone would run to fetch the neighbor and to come as fast as possible.  We also used the phone as a news service. When the town fire whistle sounded at any time other than its usual Friday 12 O'clock test time, we knew there was a fire in town and we used the phone to ask a telephone operator where it was.

Until the invention of automatic toasters, forgetting to turn the slice of bread so it would toast on the other side, always burned the bread and smoked up the place.  One of our earliest radios had a huge horn that funneled the sound.  Then radios became more box like with dials and a built in sound system.  Radios along with newspapers kept us informed of world events.  Today, radios are so common, its hard to imagine an auto without one.

King Cobra

The other evening during the National News broadcast, a reporter told of an escaped King Cobra in Needville, Texas.  The 23 year old owner, who holds all the proper permits allowing him to keep venomous snakes, discovered it was missing about 7 in the morning.  He told authorities that he takes care to securely lock all the cages, and he doesn't know how the Cobra escaped. 

The venom from a single bite could kill an elephant, or 20 men.  A Dr. toxicologist in Houston, Texas was notified and an intense search for the Cobra began.  During the search, a Sheriff's  deputy shot and killed a  snake that turned out to be a Cottonmouth.  After 9 hours of searching, the Cobra was found and captured by a snake wrangler.

When this story aired, several of us started telling our own snake stories.  I do not like these slithery critters and make every effort never to come in contact with one.  At one point I would not even touch a magazine page if there was a picture of a snake on it.  When I was in high school, Biology was my favorite subject and I thought of becoming a Biology teacher, but I could never get pass the fact that I would have to be more knowledgeable about snakes....even having to touch one.

Years passed with my avoidance of same until I moved to Texas.  Then I came to the realization that I had to overcome my fear, at least to the point of not panicking at the sight of one.  Eventually I did reach a point where I only reacted with a moment of fright if I unexpectedly came across one.

At that time my parents and I lived in houses on either side of a long driveway.  On my parents side of the driveway were huge, ancient Oak trees.  On my side of the driveway were huge Pecan trees.  There was a footpath leading from my kitchen porch, crossing the driveway, to my parents kitchen porch.  The path was shaded by a long, upper branch of an Oak tree. 

From time to time we knew that snakes were in the trees after bird eggs when we heard birds screeching and flitting about as squirrels squawked.  One day we a snake that had staked out territory along the branch right above the pathway,  We could see it move in and out of a hollow hole in a side branch, but generally stretched out along the branch above the path. 

I had heard of snakes falling on people and I didn't like the idea of it possibly falling on me as I walked the pathway.  I telephoned the city hall where all the town officials had offices and asked for someone to come and shoot it.  They explained that it was illegal to shoot a gun within city limits, but they would see what they could do.  The next day one of the men that worked in the water department came with his gun and said he had been chosen to shoot the snake because he was known to be the best shot. 

He could see the head of the snake and said it would be a very difficult shot, but he'd try.  We all gathered around and were very quiet as he walked around to get the best view.  He said it would have to be shot on the first try because the snake would move back into the hole and he'd not get another chance.  When he finally aimed the gun, he just held the position for what seemed a long, long time.  We all held our breath, not daring to breath a sound.. Suddenly, there was an ear splitting gunshot and we saw the snake fall to the ground.  Afterward the shooter told us it had been an almost impossible shot, and that he was just lucky.  We knew he was being modest, but in truth, it was an exceptional accomplishment!  

Games

Games are such an important part of our lives, we must have a game gene.  we even start playing games within hours of being born; our fist game is called peek-a-boo.  During the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, 28 different games were played.  An additional 5 games will be included in the 2020 Summer games.

Each Olympic game is represented by an International governing body or Federation and the International Olympic Committee determines which games will be included in the events.  For any game to be part of the Olympics, they must be widely practiced in at least 75 countries, spread over 4 continents.

All sports are considered games, but not all games are sport.  The difference being sports have an athletic or physical element.  While I watched the various Olympic events, I realized many of our favorite games include playing with a ball.  There are probably more, but here are some I thought of:

baseball, soccer, basketball, football, golf, tennis, ping pong, catch, doge ball, jacks, bowling, jai alai, croquet, billiards, soft ball, la cross, cricket, field hockey, and water polo.  One thing leads to another and I thought about how we use sticks to play:  golf, fishing, baseball........ENOUGH  ALREADY  !!!!!

My Latest

My latest food fad is Mediterranean pita bread.  I get the pita rolls from a restaurant that bakes there own.  The round flat rolls are larger than a saucer, and have to be cut open for filling.  They are so good I often eat them without cutting them open and stuffing them with left-overs.

My latest preferred TV commercials are the Lincoln ads with Matthew McCaughey telling his dogs they can't have barbeque for supper, and the Capitol One ad with Samuel L. Jackson.

My latest read is a book by Laura Bates, Shakespeare Saved My Life.  Its a memoir reflecting the author's recollections of her experience teaching Shakespeare to prisoners in solitary confinement for a period of ten years.  She describes how the prisoners lives were changed and how her life was affected thru working with prisoners. 

The author completed her PhD at University of Chicago.  Although her academic training was Shakespeare, she taught introductory level classes in English Literature to inmates in a maximum security prison in Chicago. Earning a reputation for her work with prisoners, the Indiana State University Correction Education program arranged for her to teach Shakespeare to prisoners in solitary confinement in the maximum security unit at Wabash Valley, Indiana.  The 2 hour class was held one evening a week.

The prisoners, ages between 20 and 35, were locked in individual cells.  The doors had waist high apertures for passing food and handcuffing.  Voices could be heard, but their faces were only partially visible if they crouched down at the aperture.  During the class, Laura sat alone on an improvised chair in the corridor, the prisoners in cells on each side of the corridor.  The prisoners, considered the 'worst of the worst' had been in solitary  for various lengths of time; one had been in solitary for ten years. 

Amazingly, the prisoners  were attentive and always polite as they shared opinions and carried on discussions about  the emotions characters in the plays experienced, especially those in Macbeth, Hamlet and Othello.  They told how they related to Shakespeare as the author and the various characters.  They analyzed their own lives and even translated the plays into their street language.

Championships

I've been watching Olympic games. Only the worlds best athletes compete for Gold, Silver or Bronze medals. The games are very exciting to watch, and one has to admire the ability of the participants even when they lose. The contestants determination to win, plus rivalry between countries create nail biting moments in each sporting event.

There is another Olympiad where 'Mental Athletes' also compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Set up as a sporting event, the tournament consists of memorizing exercises in individual competitions. The top 8 contestants go on to the championship round.

The American Memory Championship was started in 1997 by Tony Dottino, president of Dottino Consulting Group after he met Tony Buzan, a British educator who started the first Memory Championship in London in 1991. There are now established championships in a dozen countries, including China, So Africa and Mexico.

There are two kinds of memory. Internal, the kind we are born with, and External, the memory stored outside our brains. Medieval scholars memorized sermons and plays; Roman Senators memorized speeches. After Gutenberg invented books, we supplanted our own natural memory with an elaborate external system of preserving everything we consider valuable such as literature, music, law, politics, science and math. It was no longer necessary to practice memorizing. Its more important to know where and how to find history stored in books, photos, museums, digital media, etc.

Memorizing has become a curiosity trick, but Championship tournaments are rescuing the ancient art of using mnemonics in memory exercises that anyone with an average memory ability can practice. There are many web sites on the net that teach and explain how to practice mnemonic techniques. Journalist Josh Foer in his book, "Moonlighting With Einstein" tells in some detail how to create a Memory Palace, an imagined space wherein strings with elaborate encoding are imprinted on one's memory simply by engaging one's spatial memory in the act of remembering. A string of numbers, a shopping list or a long poem are retrieved as visual images that had been arranged in the imagined space.

The 19th USA Championship was held May 7th, 2016 in Hershey Pa. There were 3 events.

1. Spoken Words. Contestants had 15 minutes to memorize 200 words organized numerically in 5 columns, with 20 words per column on 2 pages. Starting with number 1, remember as many as possible consecutively. 15 seconds to answer.
2. Three Strikes You're Out. contestants had 15 minutes to listen and review written facts about 6 different people, their names, date of birth, where they lived, their pet, favorite 3 hobbies, favorite car, favorite 3 foods. After retention period, 15 seconds to answer.
3. Double Decks O'cards. Contestants had 5 minutes to memorize 2 decks of 52 playing cards, identical, previously arranged in the same exact order, but not mixed and with different colored backs. After the memorizing period, there was a 2 minute hiatus prior to recall, and 15 seconds to answer.

Dancing

Well!  What do you know?  I'm learning to samba.  Well....not really...just the basic steps...so far.  During the Olympics when the samba was introduced, I was amazed when the camera focused on a very young boy dancing the samba.  His footwork was remarkable, and from time to time, the camera focused on him would breakaway and pan the stadium to highlight various dancers, many of them doing very fast advanced steps.

I thought physical agility was required to do the dance, but the body movements seem to flow naturally once you learn to bounce and move the hips as one's weight is shifted. The dance steps look complex, but its easy to learn the basic steps.  I went to a web site teaching 'samba in 4 minutes'. 

Samba music is very fast, and it takes practice to do the steps fast.  Good samba dancers do the advanced steps and can twirl and strut without missing a beat.  I have no illusions about my becoming a good samba dancer.  I'll probably never get much further than the basics, but I'll have fun practicing.  And, who knows, maybe if anyone reading this is interested, they too can learn to samba from a YouTube.

Home Made

An acquaintance recently brought me a big pot of gumbo.  My friend is from Louisiana where they make the world's best gumbo.  When I suggested she could make some real money selling her gumbo to local catering services, she laughed and told me her Mother's gumbo is even better than hers.  I encouraged to think about it seriously as a side line to her regular accounting work. 

I told her about Mom's success at selling something home made.  It had come about quite by accident.  Mom had b baked a pie for someone.  A day or so later, a woman, who had eaten a slice of the pie, came to Mom and asked her to bake one for her. The woman was giving a special dinner and wanted to serve a pie like the one she had eaten and would gladly pay for it.  Mom agreed and the woman arranged to pick it up on her way home from work.  The next day she phoned Mom and said how everyone raved about the pie and would Mom bake another.  Within a couple of days, Mom was taking orders from several of the woman's friends. 

Requests for different pies, apple, berry and cream pies began to keep Mom busy in the kitchen and Dad began to help her.  It wasn't long before half the morning was used in baking pies.  Mom was so pleased to know that people liked her baked pies, and,  she liked having the extra spending money.  The word spread and orders for Mom's fresh baked pies increased.  The hours of baking started earlier and earlier each day and began stretching well into the afternoons. 

It wasn't long before baked pies covered the kitchen counters, the dining table and some makeshift counter space,  The baking of pies became labor intensive and I stepped in to help.  At each days end, after all the pies had been picked up, Mom, Dad and I would heave a sigh of relief and complement each other on how well the day had gone.  But, eventually, we began making off-hand remarks to each other that selling pies wasn't as much fun as it had been in the beginning.  Mom began having second thoughts about running a pie business, and decided to close up shop,  She stopped taking orders. 

Before the pie business started, she and Dad had been talking about taking a trip with Aunt Bessie.  After closing the pie business, they did take the trip.  Mom, Dad and Aunt Bessie drove from California to Florida.

Olympics

I'm looking forward to watching various athletic competitions in Rio, and I anticipate a spectacular opening of the games.  The traditional torch lighting and the parade of contestants is always exciting.  I find some of the sports more interesting than others.  Synchronized diving, swimming races and diving contests are my favorites.  I like curling, but it seems to take a back seat when more dominate sports take center stage. 

Recently PBS showcased the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.  As a child, the only thing I knew about the Olympics was that Jesse Owens won a gold medal which annoyed Hitler, who believed the superiority of Germans would excel.  I learned from the PBS program the detailed history of agreements and plans for the games in Berlin, including the proposed agreement that Jews would  be prevented from participating.  Eventually, after threatening to cancel the games, Hitler allowed one, a German woman to be part of the German fencing team.

Hitler used the games politically to foster his ideology of German superiority.  The stadium was the largest ever built for the games and the opening ceremonies more spectacular than those of previous games.  Ever since the 1936 games, each host country has emulated Hitler by building bigger and better facilities, and presenting grander openings; each succeeding one more awesome than the last.

Political Conventions

One down and one to go.  The Republicans had their convention in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Democrats will have theirs in Philadelphia, Pa.  Being a political junkie, I watch television coverage from beginning to end, and listen to all the speeches.  When panels of political experts with opposing views argue the pros and cons, I listen.  Aside from the political views, I pay attention to body language and how speakers appear on camera. 

There is a marked difference between how men and women give their speeches.  Women wear their hair in the latest fashion that often covers their face when turning their head, distracting viewers from the point they are trying to make.  They could take a tip from the Queen of England who never lets her hats, or other clothing prevent the public from seeing her face.

As I watch and listen to speakers, I become critical of men and women who constantly wave their hands and bounce their heads in attempt to illustrate their point.  Women tend to talk with their hands more than men do.  The sound of a speakers voice is also something I note.  Some women speakers have a shrill voice which becomes a screech when reinforcing a point of view or when an argument gets hot and heated.

I take notice of the suits and neckties men wear.  Tailoring and choice of tie gets my attention.  I compare fabric designs as well as color when several men are on camera.  I'm less critical of women if they look 'professional' meaning they are appropriately dressed and not looing as if they are dining out on a date.

My critical evaluattions of speakers won't stop me from watching all the political speeches.  I'll be sitting thru the Democratic convention just as avidly as I did the Republican one.  And when the conventions are over, there will be several months of debates and speeches to listen to.  Of course we won't know the outcome until November when a final vote decides who our next president will be.

E Gads!

Has the country gone to Hell in a hand basket?  There's trouble in river city.  What to do Percy?  What to do?
It seems as if everyone in the country is angry over something.  We are in the middle of a presidential election year.  The campaigns of the two opposing parties, seeking to win the election, highlight all the social ills of the country, and blame each other for having created them. 

As if that rhetoric and emotional turmoil wasn't enough, two separate incidents of police killing a black man, once again brought wide spread protests.  Whether or not, the killings were justified, emotions reached a fever pitch when protests against police escalated into ambushed killings of police officers. 

This country has faced many challenges and will undoubtedly continue to do so, but this challenge of racial intolerance is going to require a lot of talking and understanding to arrive at a peaceful and respectful relationship. 

Reading upside down update

I've finished Alexander McCall Smith's book, 'In The Company Of Cheerful Ladies'.  I still have to spell and sound out some words, but its getting easier.  I have trouble deciphering names of people and towns and have to peek at the words to verify the meaning.  This has been a 'pick up' task I gave myself, and I did keep a steady move forward.

Although I had read this book in2004, I was surprised to find myself looking forward to the next page.  The chapter endings didn't continue in the beginning of the next chapter.  In my memory, the story unfolds in a continuous fashion, but in reading it again, I discovered that it took little jigs and jags as details of location, new characters and traditions were added to the story. 

I found the book just as charming this time around as it was the first time I read it.  It was slow reading,, and I noticed that when I had to peek at a word, I had trouble finding my place again.  But constantly finding my place further down the page than I thought, I realized that my reading pace was picking up.

I've chosen a mystery for my second read.  'Hard Christmas' by Barbara D'Amato.  There are 30 chapters and 282 pages.  It may well be Christmas before I finish.  Reading upside down is a brain game and I plan on continuing the game.  Incidentally, two acquaintances have started reading upside down since they learned about my project.  I'll report my progress and update it from time to time. 

Empires

Empires come and Empires go.  I've witnessed the disintegration of one such during my life.  At one time, the sun never set on the English Empire, but with the loss of India, the 'Jewell in the Crown' as Queen Victoria called it, the Empire was diminished.  Now, since the United Kingdom's Brexit (shorthand for Britain and exit) vote to leave the European Union, its highly likely that Scotland will vote for a second Independent referendum, and Northern Ireland will be able to vote on reunification. 

The European Union is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries.  It was started after WII on the premise that trading countries would avoid going to war with each other,  It has grown to such an extent that it has its own parliament setting rules for environment, transport and consumer rights, including such things as mobile phone charges.  No one knows how the vote will affect treaties and trade deals.  These agreements are so tangled; merging and re-merging in a way that leaving the EU will affect the rise and fall of global currencies. 

When the dust settles, there may be a smaller England, but we have to remember history repeats itself.  Empires fall and new ones appear on the scene.  When I visited Italy, I had a moment of 'history enlightenment' when I walked among the fallen marble columns where the Roman Forum used to be.  I had never cared much for history, thinking it dull and boring, but after seeing the Roman Forum, history has been my favorite reading material.  

We may not like the results of the UK vote and the changes it will bring, but there's no denying that we'll be watching history in the making.   

My New Favorites

My new favorite hot-weather drink is Jamaica.  I first learned about this refreshing drink when I visited Mexico. Jamaica is made with dried Hibiscus flowers, brewed like tea leaves.  Its a beautiful ruby red color, sweetened to taste, and often spiced with a cinnamon stick and a few slices of ginger.  Sometimes a splash of lime juice is added or a fizzy drink which makes a bubbly version.

As the years passed, I brewed it less and less frequently, but when the daytime temperature reached 100 degrees, and the forecasts of 100 plus degrees days were soon to follow, I began thinking of chilled lemonades and iced teas.  Then out of the blue, I remembered Jamaica.  Instead of making only a glass at a time like I used to, I now keep a jar of concentrated Jamaica in the fridge and dilute it with chilled water. 

Another new favorite is an old favorite once remembered, Key Lime Pie.  A restaurant here specializes in Key Lime Pie and a serving lasts me four days!  The graham cracker crust is so thick, its a dessert by its self.  The pie is served with a huge tea cup size strawberry, with its stem still attached,  on the plate.  It definitely requires a take out box to bring home.

My new favorite comedian is Kate Mc Kinnon of Saturday Night Live.  Her satirical portrait of Hillary Clinton is priceless!  I like the other characters that she plays, but her 'Hillary' is worth a 24 carat gold star!

My new favorite book is by Michael Sims.  Its a collection of Victorian Detective Stories.  The title, The Dead Witness, is taken from the title of a story in the book.  The collection depicts the evolving character of a detective from the first detective story published in 1837, the year Victoria became Queen, to the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Sherlock.

Carpet of Flowers

The other day while I was looking at some 'step by step' photos on how to make a Decahedron Himmeli Mobile, I scrolled down the page and became fascinated with a photo that didn't have anything to do with Decahedron mobiles.  It was a photo of a flower carpet in Brussels on the Grand-Place.  The huge, brilliant colored design was awesome, and seemed to be on a higher level than the ground people walking on.  Of course my attention was diverted from mobiles to what and how this display was created.

The photo led me to Brussels official web site where I learned the following about the flower carpet, its history and how its construction.  There is also a webcam focused on the Grand-Place which I plan to watch when the 2016 carpet is laid in August.

Every two years the Grand-Place of Brussels is covered with a carpet of begonias for only 1 weekend free to the public.
The first carpet was in 1971 on the Grand-Place.  It was the work of landscape architect E. Stautemans who was inspired by other carpets in diverse Flemish cities.  The peculiarity of the Brussels flower carpet is its place on the Grand-Place. It measures 77 meters by 24 meters. 

The carpet is planned one year in advance.  A committee of non-profit illustrators, graphic designers and landscape architects plan each edition around a theme.  Scale reproductions of the subject is realized in several project stages.  Quantity and number of flowers, and combinations of color are determined.  Shapes and colors of cut flowers are calculated in the hundreds and thousands and reserved long in advance.  A life size drawing is put on a transparent plastic sheet. 

On the day before opening, the spaces between flower motifs are filled in with rolls of sod.  When the carpet is laid, 120 volunteers install the million begonias within 4 hours.  Each edition has a composed musical theme and concerts are played every evening, accompanied by a light show and fireworks. 

The fragrant tuberous begonias used in the display are native from the West Indies and resistant to all weather conditions, intense sun, violent winds, rain, and cold.  The colors range from vivid to delicate pastels.  When the carpet is made, they are placed close together, (300 per square meter) to prevent then from being blown away.  They create their own micro-climate.  If there is a heat wave, the sod is watered to prevent wilting.  If the weather is too wet, the grass grows 4 to 5 centimeters within 3 days and the flowers remain fresh, preserving their splendor during the 4 days of display. 

The 20th edition in 2016 is scheduled for Friday August 12 to Monday August 15.  It will celebrate 150 years of diplomatic relations and friendship with Japan.  Brussels Grand-Place is considered the most beautiful central square in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Its construction commenced in the 15th century.  It was razed after 3 full days of bombardment by the French Army in 1695, but was rebuilt in less than 5 years later.

Minding My P's and Q's

I'm making progress in my project of reading a book upside down, but I really have to pay attention to some of the characters.  Especially the letters P and Q.  They are easily mistaken for B or D.  The same goes for A and E, although distinguishing A and E have become easier as I get more practiced.  Those letters appear more often.

I still have to spell out some words to understand them.  I also tend to anticipate the next word, often incorrectly, consequently not getting the right tense or meaning.  Example: detect, detective, detected, detects, detection and detecting.  I've also discovered that when I put the book down and pick it up again many hours later, I have to re-orient myself to think upside down, but after reading several words or a sentence, it becomes easy and I can read more quickly. 

I remember that names of font designs used to be printed on the fly leaf of books, but as long as the printing was legible, I didn't care what font design was used.  They may not even be mentioned in publications any longer, its not listed in the book I'm reading.  Whatever the design in my book, the letters f and i join in some words so it looks like an h.  I have to back track to decipher the meaning of the word.  Examples: 'first' and 'find'.

I am gaining an appreciation of art work in font design!  Its amazing the things one notices when trying something new out of the ordinary.

Moving Buildings

I recently watched a television film documenting the relocation of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.  Because shoreline erosion threatened the lighthouse, it was moved 2,900 feet from its original 1890 location, to a place where it will be safe for a hundred years.  When the decision was made to move the lighthouse, a year was spent in planning the move.

I was spellbound as I watched the preparations for the maneuver to take place.  When the moving actually began, the lighthouse was pushed along a track system as it rested on horizontally mounted jacks.  It only moved in 5 feet increments, then the jacks were reset along the grid beams.  The incredulously difficult undertaking took 23 days to finally place the lighthouse in its new location in July 1999.  I have tremendous admiration for those who have the knowledge to attempt such a feat, and then actually do it.

I've seen houses being moved and its always an amazing event.  Years ago, one of my uncles worked for a company that moved houses, and he often related stories about moves that were particularly difficult.  I've even seen houses being moved down the highway with police on motor bikes directing traffic, and I always marveled at the slow but sure progress being made.  Several years ago, a neighbor had a house moved from a nearby town to a lot across the street from me.  It was to be placed on the slope of a hill, some distance from the street.  To my untrained eye, it looked like a ticklish job and I wondered how the men would achieve the move without incident.

The house and workers arrived on my street in the morning, planning to have the house on its final location by the end of the day.  The street was blocked off preventing any traffic entering, and also preventing those living on our block from driving their vehicles in or out.  Aside from the owner, there was a man in charge with a crew of about 7 or 8 Mexican who spoke only Spanish.  It was a very hot day and the work was tedious, exacting and non-stop, but the work progressed smoothly; the men worked carefully and in a choreographed manner.  I was one of many onlookers and we all were impressed at how hard the men worked.  When the final push came to set the house on the planned spot, the men worked fast and furiously to place the house exactly in the right spot.  It was amazing how deftly it was done, And, in one day!

My New Project

My new project is one that will take some time to accomplish: I'm reading a book upside down.

I had read that reading a book upside down was a "brain game" so I decided to give it a try. I browsed through my books looking for a font that would be easy to read upside down, but all my books had the same size printing. I selected 'The Stranger' by Albert Camus, a translation from the French by Mathew Ward and began reading, but it wasn't long before I decided it would be better as a beginning upside down reader, to choose something a bit lighter.

After sorting through the books, I picked an Alexander McCall Smith book, 'In The Company Of Cheerful Ladies' which is a charming book with engaging characters, and one of his series about 'The NO. 1 Ladies Detective Agency'. We are so practiced in reading that we intuitively understand meanings of words and sentences without checking the dictionary, but in reading upside down, I often have to spell out a word in order to decipher it and know its pronunciation.. Consequently, I can't anticipate the next word in a sentence. I also have to pay attention to punctuation in order to keep the thread of the story making sense.

Its slow going and it will be some time before I can sail through the pages like I do reading right side up. It will be a while before I actually finish chapter 1... and there are 21 chapters total. I'll update my progress from time to time.

Neurobics

One of the most fascinating books that I've read lately is Keep Your Brain Alive written by two authors, Lawrence C Katz and Manning Rubin. They say that when we occasionally change the way we perform daily routines, we create Neurobics which is an additional way of nourishing the brain. The authors describes in detail how memory cells are created and stored in various area of the brain, and how Neurobics help create memories. Unlike logic puzzles and memory tests, Neurobics uses the senses of touch, smell, hearing, spacial memory and emotional sense.

Representations of events, people and places are associations and are stored in many areas of the brain. Incorporating Neurobics into ones life is not a quick fix, but will give your brain a good workout by making new associations and activating circuits that increase and strengthen associative cells that prevent mental decline.

There are three conditions required for creating Neurobics.

1. involve one or more of the senses in a novel way.
2. break routine activity in unexpected and non-trivial ways.
3. engage your attention.

The book includes numerous ways that are easy to practice and that do not entail lots of time.

The following are some of the suggestions.

• Change your writing hand
• Change your olfactory association of waking to coffee by keeping a container of favorite aromas bedside for a week such as vanilla, peppermint or rosemary
• Shower with your eyes closed using tactile associations
• Read out loud or listen to someone reading
• Brush your teeth with your non-dominate hand
• Read upside down
• Learn Braille
• Start a new hobby
• Keep a cup of coins in the car cup holder. At stop lights determine denomination by feel alone
• Grow a garden
• With eyes closed using spacial memory, unlock the car door, sit and buckle the seat belt, insert the ignition key and locate the radio and windshield wipers

These ideas sound simplistic, but having had personal experience of being forced to practice several of them due to temporary physical limitations over the last several years, I found them surprisingly difficult.

A year ago I broke my right wrist and had to use my left hand to write letters to my sister, Esther. She had stopped using her computer and due to her profound hearing loss, we exchanged letters 2 or 3 times a week. I actually got very good at writing with my left hand. Presently I'm being forced to NOT use my left thumb due to surgery. The Dr. had zapped a spot of skin cancer on the knuckle just below the thumb nail. Because it became infected, the Dr. removed the nail. It's almost well, but my thumb is extremely sensitive and I've had to use my fingers in a way to hold things. I no longer look like I'm trying to hitch a ride, and my thumb is almost well enough so that I can start knitting again.

Now I practice reading upside down when I'm in a waiting room with magazines. So far I've only read magazine advertisements, but one of these days I'll might try reading a regular book.