Do you know the difference?

Allow me to introduce you to the Yellow Jacket Wasp.

Profanity Warning!

These little bastards are fucking mean! They are considered to be beneficial because they eat other insects like mosquitoes, apids and the like. I have become acquainted with them, quite painfully 6 times in the past week.

Yellow Jacket

They will defend the colony very aggressively. A giant, pushing/chasing a lawnmower over the nest is to be attacked mercilessly. The sting is painful initially leaving a sharp ache the rest of the day.

Ground-nesting insects

When the ache subsides, what you are left with is not unlike a large mosquito bite that itches for a week or more. I am amazed at the tenacity and courage of these little fuckers. Imagine giving your life trying to kill a creature several thousand times your size to defend the queen and her brood.

What I have learned.

1. They only nest annually
2. Only the inseminated queen survives the cold winters (not sure how I don’t care)
3. She starts a new colony in spring
4. Late summer the nest is at its highest density (ah now I am beginning to understand)
5. Upon discovery stay away, let them settle down and take another pass if necessary.

The Takeaway. I have a profound curiosity for all of God’s creatures. There is something to be learned from nature that I can apply to the miracle of life and existence.

Courage, what are you willing to give your life for? Survival of a representative republic?(that’s a worthy blog post by itself) Tenacity, How adamant are you about your faith? I feel I could be better. Defense of your family. I know I can be hard on them, but I only want what’s best and will expect the same in return.

God bless all of you and thank you for reading to the end.

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There’s always room for improvement!

And boy, do I have some. Astronomical in size comes to mind. What brought this on? One might ask. Well, I’ll tell you. If you have been following along, you know of my desire to help. Well, it has become painfully apparent the I can do more.

Through reading blogs, scripture, news and so on. The question arises, what have you done for “the least of mine”. Not a lot I must admit. Lately, though I have given some dollars to those requesting “anything helps” at intersections.

I had, in the past that these people were actually just doing this for their job and that they probably made more money than I do. Upon reflection, I found within that this was devoid of compassion.

Like it or not-Fall is upon us

Another area in my sorted life, where I find room for improvement is in refraining from the judgment of others. This has been brought about reading from Thomas Merton’s No Man is an Island “If we are to love sincerely, and with simplicity…We must somehow strip ourselves of our greatest illusions about ourselves, frankly recognize in how many ways we are unlovable, descend into the depths of our being until we come to the basic reality that is in us, and learn to see that we are lovable after all in spite of everything”, and that we are loved precisely because of our flaws.

As I emerge from the other side, I am better able to love, any and all. And, most important understand.

I gotta say!

Or more appropriately, I have to say! I am in complete awe of the community that is WordPress. I am also immensely grateful for the expression put forth by all whom I enjoy following.

I have mentioned this before, but I had no idea how important it is to follow, read, like, and comment on other’s creations here, when I started. I am also a bit surprised at how much I have begun to and enjoy doing such. I found that when I took my little eclipse road trip, the while away, I missed being able to read what everybody’s been doing. Safely anyway, while driving.

I definitely have been bitten by the WordPress bug.

Hello bug

The variety and depth of the content produced here are astounding. I find myself experiencing a full range of emotion. Joy, peace, admonishment, sadness, caring, uplifted, informed. In the words of Thomas Merton “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”  All of you who I read, and some are hardly aware while others are quite close, almost intimate, do this for me. You touch me. From the depth of my soul, I thank God for you. And I thank you too!

I’ll be reading you. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Delusion

noun

A delusion is a belief that is held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, or other effects of perception. Wikipedia

Wait, What? What of Faith then? It goes on, Whew!

Many religious beliefs hold exactly the same features, yet are not universally considered delusional. Praise God, Jesus, Allah, Shiva, et al.

Sunrise

How many of us can say that we haven’t been deluded at some time or another?

The Sacred and the Ordinary

Mystery Blogger Award

Alas, I have been nominated for the Mystery Blogger Award. I will thank Emerging From The Dark Night for this. I would also like to thank the creator of the award, Okoto Enigma’s Blog

Rules

1. Place award logo in post-I found one in Google images not sure if it’s original
2. Name and link to creator of the award
3. Thank and link to the blogger that nominated you.
4. List the rules
5. Tell readers three things about yourself
6. Nominate 10-20 Bloggers. Notify by commenting on their blog
7. Ask 5 question of your nominees
8. Share link(s) to your best Post(s)

So Here we go! Three Things

1. I am 68 1/2″ tall
2. I walked 133,438 steps last week doing my job (self employed-Landscape Maintenance)
3. I miss the ocean

Answers

Where do you feel most at home? I’m am working toward and getting better at, Right Here!

What lights you up inside? Helping people

What has been your deepest heartbreak? Not having the drive or initiative to do as good as I could growing up.

What do you feel is one of your strengths? Curiosity

What is your favorite way of relaxing? A great meal out with friend(s)

My Nominees

Find Your Middle Ground

RobertCDay

FitRecovery

Real Life As An MSW

My Valiant Soul

A Soft Place to Rest

Orbis Marketing

Mitch Teemley

Cory Melancon

J-Dub’s Grin and Bear It

Questions for you

Favorite Movie-Mine is The Sting

Favorite musical artist- Mine is Joe Satriani

Best meal out what did you have and who were you with- For me there are too many to remember

Favorite Vacation Destination- Mine is Kaanapali Maui

Goofy Question Favorite Cartoon Character Mine is Tazmainian Devil- Loony Tunes

Best posts

Oh boy, this is going to hurt.

The Longing

What even is that?

So there you have it…Voila

Mine

What of me is mine? This body flesh and all will be consumed by the earth

What of my soul? surely belongs to God and is not mine and never was.

My actions are derived from what’s there for me to do and what my wants include, from that I may be compensated to barter for shelter and sustenance.

My thoughts, too are formed from desires and needs.

Then the urge to share, through communication of my native language in written form, is a drive that I cannot take credit for.

An appetite for nutritious food for my soul, reading expertly expressed ideas and experiences, discoveries, conjectures, and conclusions. voice instead

The curious and miraculous rhythm of nature and all that I am able to grasp of that. Engaging in work and physical activity, for no reason than to experience that and do it well.

Consider the patience and vigilance until they find something to grab onto

None of it can I claim is mine or belonging to me. What of you is yours?

 

What am I afraid of?

To be honest with you, I can’t put my finger on it. I’m fairly level headed, open-minded I am committed to improving myself. I still can’t shake the idea that I’ll be found to be unappealing, odd what have you. I am petrified at the thought of putting myself out there and opening myself up for disappointment and ridicule.

I like who I have become. I want to be counted on, to be thought about and anticipated. Perhaps, I should give myself more time. I’m still afraid.