General Musings – mountainbreakfast

What to Do? And new pieces of music

Theme 274

Piano Concerto, First Movement

Looking for meaning in life? Who isn’t? Here are some hints that may be helpful.

In sum, humans are the only species that can create, analyze, and catalog inspirational ideas in many forms that can be produced as helpful to others, or that can be written, drawn, danced, or sung, and which may evoke emotional responses, some of which may benefit others of the species or of different species. It is unfortunate to mistake the impulse to power, wealth, or influence as a “high calling.” These are usually narcissistic in nature and do not benefit the culture or the environment in which they flourish. Many of these drives have strongly negative effects on culture. In fact, perhaps the most difficult of dilemmas is finding a way to use power, wealth, and influence to advance the culture as a whole rather than merely advancing the individual’s own status.

The first goal in living should be to develop a life that is productive and helpful to the culture. This includes living responsibly and resisting temptations to personal gain at the expense of others. Then, invest in any of the last ten items on the list, and strive to achieve at the highest possible level.

Three Blind Mice

And two piano pieces for you musicians.

Three Blind Mice

Theme 61: Piano

Theme 32: Chamber Piece

A Word About Words

And another new song!

This is Theme 162, a contemplative piece.

Australia!

We had the great fortune to travel to Australia to my daughter’s wedding (is she the prettiest bride in the world?). After the wedding, Callie, Andrew, and his parents, Russ and Anne, showed us around Southern Victoria. This was one fabulous blast before the coronavirus took over the world. Callie&Andrew-56_websize.jpeg

On the Great Ocean Road, southwest of Melbourne, we spent some time with the Twelve Apostles (renamed from “The Sow and Her Piglets” to increase tourism). And we were lucky to see the tiny keystone arch, which might be gone by our next visit!

The birds jumped out as quite a spectacle: the Galah, noted for acting like a silly old man, the Crimson Rosella, probably the most gaudy bird we saw, the tiny New Holland Honeyeater, which eats nectar, the Cockatoos, which were everywhere, pillaging trees great and small, and finally, the Rainbow Lorakeets. This is just a start.

Some of the more striking features of the coast, besides the Apostles (Sow and Piglets) were along the cliffs at Mornington Peninsula National Park. This outcrop I call the Crocodile Mouth Headland. DSC09832 2.jpeg

Third Chronicles

Good Heavens! Imagine my surprise in finding in a disused attic this partial manuscript of Third Chronicles, a previously unknown book of the Bible. This should follow Second Chronicles, but is anachronistic, being written, obviously, by some sort of scribe in later times. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an ending. But check it out.

I’ll keep looking for the end of this book, maybe in another dusty pile in the attic.

Trump and Human Paedomorphy

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* (https://apbiophilia.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/paedomorphosis-an-introduction-to-human-body-plans/

Trail Building: My Forté

People don’t usually appreciate how hard it is to build a good trail. Often, the process begins by removing fallen trees. This is particularly taxing if they weigh over ten tons, which many of them do. I strained my knee on this one.

But I was able to stand this one back up, luckily. holding up tree.jpeg

And I was able to push these apart so they wouldn’t fall. This is the best strategy, but you might have to hold them for a few years while they adjust.

Sometimes you can just bend them down and out of the way.

Some people cut them and push the halves to either side of the trail, like I’m doing here.

Other times, a flying kick move is necessary to make the logs move.

And this is to say nothing of the rocks. OMG, some of them require enormous strength to move off the trail. Luckily, I’m up to it, although I shook the ground with this one, which blurred the photograph slightly. Sorry.

I had to pull and slide this one across another rock. Very hard. Tremendously hard.

And on rare occasions, you have to use a karate chop. Can you see my black belt?

I once gave this lecture at the high school where I taught for many years, during Morning Meeting on Monday. I ran the projector from the back of the auditorium, speaking into a mike, and I could hear the freshmen saying, “Oh, give me a break. Who is he kidding? He couldn’t move those things!” So I added to my monologue. “Some people doubt my ability to do these amazing things, but here it is, before your very eyes.” Thanks to Katie for taking these photos while offering encouragement while I worked.

Late Summer Ritual: Peaches!

We do this every summer, putting up enough peaches to last through the year. This year, Crest Havens from C & R Farms in Palisade. Great fun! An effective way to distract ourselves from the raging hurricane in Texas and Trump’s destruction of the beneficial aspects of government.