Only two hermits remain. The ninth hermit has been joined by a tenth. They live on a small ranch in Central Texas with The Dogs of Hermits’ Rest. He does not hang out in bars anywhere near as much as when he was trying to be Li Po.
Other than family and music and song writing, his interests include writing. He has authored many technical tomes, several short stories, and a novel. He does have a day job or two, and he re-publishes some of his writings for those here.
For more information, see the complete profile.
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Wands over pentacles for sure today. Neither my paycheck nor my wire transfer has processed yet. So I am running on empty in the capital department. Not very productive at work today either. But it was a good day to see friends and talk. Tomorrow’s for church. I haven’t been in years.
Some things turn out all wrong
And some things turn out all right
Some things don't turn out at all
But then again they might- - Joe Walsh
It was a helluva day. Big Mistake yesterday lead to Huge Consequences today. S2 found an email from EW and attacked me thru her. It was horrible and caused great pain, but it was done from pain. Hopefully, it will be cathartic.
I think that the therapist we are seeing is more interested in milking the insurance than in helping us cope with the issues. We spent today’s session on a misguided talk about our grandparents rather than working on issues. I know therapy isn’t fast but this approach serves no purpose.
Later S2 and I talked and started coming to terms with the division of property.
I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round I really love to watch them roll- - John Lennon
So it seems the guidance for today is to work hard and follow whatever direction I am given. K’un is a clarification of a previous hexagram which basically said to stand still: “Movement in any direction is disadvantageous.” That was the opposite of what has been turning up. Today’s course is pretty well charted already. Sticking to the plan seems the best way forward.
We’ve gotta roll with the punches
Learn to play all of our hunches
Makin’ the best of whatever comes your way- - Jimmy Buffett
Hmmm. An interesting card for a day that starts out with minor oral surgery.
Later. The dentist is good. He actually got the pain killer to work for almost the whole procedure. Then only a little aspirin and some psychic recharging the rest of the day. EW was very generous with me today. Bosslady also said I should go home. So I did. I should be back at work, fully functional and optimistic again tomorrow.
So how does The World fit today? Between the love and support I received today and some poetry I read, I found that my world is much more complete than I have any right to expect. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn’t a train…or New Jersey.
She ain’t ashamed to be a woman or afraid to be a friend.
I don’t know the answers to the easy way she opened every door in my mind,
But dreaming was as easy as believing it was never gonna end.
And lovin’ her was easier than anything I’ll ever do again.- - Kris Kristofferson
Good progress at work today. Then home to the dogs. Rose is at the age where she needs more attention than I can give right now. Buddy is still pouting, but at least he is playing with her.
Four of Swords was a good card for today. Peaceful. Restful. Recharging.
Tomorrow’s for the dentist and knives again.
Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,The dear respose for limbs with travel tir’d;But then begins a journey in my headTo work my mind, when body’s work’s expired—William Shakespeare
Enjoyed watching EW at work all day—assertive, decisive, glowing with enthusiasm. Dinner and then the first
Yin and Yang
Found the perfect gift for Dad, the man who needs nothing. I found him a daily ca lander of cross word puzzles. He turned off his Internet access when he couldn’t find a crossword puzzle he could run on a 19.2K connection. So now he will have one for every day of the next year.
The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part- - Tom Petty
OK. The surprise was in the support I continue to receive from my son. He has learned the lessons I tried to demonstrate for him over the last 25 years. Now it is his turn to help me remember them. He has become a man with his own standards of integrity, compassion, and honesty. I am humbled and honored.
Status quo was appropriate, too. It was a sleepy day, time to recharge the batteries and let pain and sadness wash over me, rocking me gently in the lap of the waves. By early evening, I think I was done with it. It’s funny how if you let the negative energies pass through you, you can come out the other side stronger. But if you suppress them or ignore them, they get stronger.
Spent the evening quietly watching TV with EW. Interesting way to get to know the bunch. The progeny may be a little confused right now, but they are good, smart kids and I like them.
It’s a mighty long way out of the darkness
To where the sun is free to shine…
Then the border guide took us by the hand
And led us thru the hole into the promise land beyond
And I can hear him now whispering soft and low
“Boy, when you get to the other side, just you run like hell.”- - McJohn, Blondo, and Kay
At first blush, this seems an unlikely card to draw at the end of a long and often happy relationship, but there it is. The last few years have been solitary anguish interrupted by fits of anger and joy. I am eroded, but I remain. And now it seems, I am free again.
What have I got to do to be heard,
What do I say when it’s all over?
And sorry seems to be the hardest word.- - Elton John and Bernie Taupin
After an interesting day, I have drawn the Magician on three successive cuts. This is the card of doing what needs to be done and acknowledging motivations. It is also the card of setting aside distractions and carrying out a plan.
It looks like the reckoning I have been postponing will come about just after midnight. Once again, I find myself praying. Let the pain heal quickly. Let the damage be minimal. Let me live up to my own standards.
The snow is a-lying up on Bewcastle Fells
And the wind strips the skin from my face
The bare bones of a tree give some shelter to me
Our bit is a draughty old place
Oh yes, it’s a draughty old place- - Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp
The World was really an appropriate card for me today. The pace of life has sped up beyond all expectations, and it seems that the future is in the hands of Fate. I am awaiting the outcome of decisions that are beyond my control at the moment and praying for the best. May the pain heal quickly. May the world settle into its new patterns with as little destruction as possible.
And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the dance- - Garth Brooks(?)
First day back at work from “vacation.” I have never been so glad to be at the office in my life.
For the Homework Assignment:
When we came to the station all the trains were rusty
The air was empty and the platforms overgrown
There were old tin cans and cats and the doors were crusted
With mud and leaves and names carved long ago
and the rails go on forever in a silver trail to the setting sun
You can follow them anywhere you want to go- - Al Stewart
Rose has forgiven me for taking her to the vet. She even growled at me while we played this morning. Soon she will be barking! Oh, joy. She is 10 weeks old and already weighs more than 12 pounds, so her bark will probably sound like thunder.
O shut the door! and when thou hast done so,
Come weep with me; past hope, past cure, past help!- William Shakespeare
Got Rose into the vet today. She has not forgiven me yet. She cried all the way there, shook while we were there, and cried all the way home. OlderDog even took pity on her and groomed her a bit.
And that was the good part of the day. Mostly it was a day to be survived, except for the Ace of Cups.
The reasons I can't stay don't have a thing to do with being in love
I understand that loving a man shouldn't have to be this rough
And you ain't the only one who feels like this world's left you far behind
I don't know why you gotta be angry all the time- - Tim McGraw
Rose was confident enough to bark at me today. She wanted to play rough, so I let her. She learned quickly: to control the wrist, sit on the elbow. She is such a good dog. Vet was closed again today.
The evening was filled with music. Song is therapeutic, providing direct access to the soul through the breath. I don’t think I have ever had so much fun playing and singing.
If he’s waiting for anything, he’s waiting for death, and he’s curious about what the face of death will look like. Will it be an old woman who creeps through the world with a scythe, or will it be a beautiful young girl who approaches him with open arm?
—Ivan Klima
My main computer fried tonight. (Ironic that I was helping someone else fix a similar problem earlier.) My fall back system does not have the horsepower to do much. So the next few posts will be brief. I may pretty them up later.
The Eagle's gift of freedom is not a bestowal, but a chance at a chance.
—Carlos Casteñeda
Since my card was the card for today, I decided to draw a supplemental. The two of pentacles is a good card. It goes well with Lu.
Rose has driven Buddy completely out of the house. He is having trouble coping with this frisky intruder, but he treats her kindly. He even almost played with her when he thought I wasn’t looking.
This is where I grew up. It may explain a bit about me. All the smart kids in my class could identify dozens of chemicals by smell. We knew that if you actually heard the explosion, you were OK. I once slept through a plant explosion that blew open the front door of my house.
It’s a strange place really. You can drive for hours and the scenery doesn’t change much from what is pictured. Just coastal flatlands interrupting pestilent pustules spewing steam and god-only-knows-what into the air. I remember reading by the light of the burn-off flares. I remember one time when I was in my late teens, I had a “sunburn” on the left side of my face from driving by a flare that lit up the night sky for miles. I had the windows in the car all rolled up because it was freezing, but I had to turn off the heater for awhile.
Helplessly hopingHer harlequin hovers nearbyAwaiting a word—Stephen Stills
Lots of tension today on the work front. I’m not there, but I can feel it from 30 miles away. The decision will be made about who gets the job that has opened up. CFE is up for it and is a little upset with me for recusing myself from the selection process. But that was the right thing to do—from the work perspective anyway.
Rose is adjusting to her new humans. She will plop down and roll over on her back to chew on me. This morning she had her first encounter with DogsNextDoor. They started barking at her, even though fully grown, they are no bigger than she is now. She took the back steps and the pet door at full speed, even as I opened the back door to see what was going on. She didn’t slow down until she was in the bedroom. She hid for all of a minute and then came out to fuss at me.
Well, the offer at work was made. CFE did not get it, nor did MEd. Yang won out. I am saddened, but the choice was between winners. So there can be no losers in this, even though it may feel that way now to those who didn’t succeed. Still it feels like this morning’s queen was misleading. Perhaps I’m just looking at it wrong.
Tried out with a new (for me) singing group. I had forgotten how good it feels to breathe and harmonize. I think I’ll fit in. Beer good.
Up on your wall hangs your degreeYour parents craved so much for youAnd though you’re trained to make your markYou still don’t quite know what to do—John Kay and Nick St. Nicholas
- Today’s Card
- The Hierophant. Security at the expense of freedom. Sometimes it means an ability to subvert and escape that authority.
- Today’s Hexagram
- Hsu (Waiting).No changing lines. Status quo for the immediate future. Water (danger and mystery) in the forefront with Heaven in the background.
Rose continues to make progress with Buddy. No longer afraid of being eaten herself, she turned his aloofness to her advantage. Since he doesn’t want to be where she is, she now bullies him away from his food dish after she eats her own. She is trying to become the chow hound. But he reluctantly let her sleep with him at least part of the night, and they spent some time together ignoring each other in the back yard. Siblings!
This is me, for what it’s worth. This picture was taken in April of 2006, just before I got my hair cut. I’m prettier now but still just as scary looking. Grrr.
It’s too much expect, but it’s not too much to ask—Mary Chapin Carpenter
This is for yesterday. I have never blogged before, so this is kind of a test case. I want to see how much I can influence what is displayed.
I drove out to pick up a new puppy with CFE and had a long, rambling talk on the way. Coworker, who fosters pups for the ASPCA chapter in his community, had a new litter of pups up for adoption. (I couldn’t do that. I would have to keep them all, and where would I put them?)
Of course, Rose—Coworker named the litter after the characters of
