Hmong

Giving of TIME may be a gift of what matters most. Time spent with those from another part of the world and another culture. A call to serve the Hmong. The terms Hmong and Mong both refer to an Asian ethnic group whose homeland is in the mountainous regions of southern China. There, they remain one of the largest sub-groups in the Miao (Chinese:苗族) minzu (nationality) along with other related ethnic minorities. Beginning in the 18th-century, Hmong people migrated to Southeast Asia and today live in northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. Following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975, a large number of Hmong/Mong people sought refuge in several Western countries, including the United States, Australia, France, French Guiana, and Canada.

Stuff Matters sometimes, or at least it make you feel at home

Trucks, books, running, all matter in different ways.

A run that matters more than others mentioned.

Running is a good time to ponder, "What Matters Most", then again it is a good time to not ponder anything. Over the years I have run alone and at times with a friend to talk to. The best runs are walks with my best friend. Those runs "matter most". Then again some runs matter because they help you escape the pressure of stuff that doesn't matter as much.

Got Books

Home Sweet Home...........

Things change. I may have to pack up the top shelf so the place looks neat. My dad's hat, a basketball signed by Karl, John and the boys, a bell from a schoolhouse in the 1920 time frame, a couple of law books from the Pocatello Library distress sales a cowboy bought in a yard sale, perhaps 13 medals for finishing the St George Marathon, a grandfathers typewriter and a model of a 32 ford hot rod, globe of the world, and o yes, Books. The ship I brought back from Korea a few months ago. One of the chairs says University of New Mexico on the back sort of like a brand on the wood. Then there is a Idaho State University cup and a picture of the top of a calendar that says 1888 to 1988 Pocatello First ward and it has a picture of a painting titled "not alone 1847" of pioneers coming across the plains. Great picture. It was on the entire front wall of the chapel I attended as a youth. It is shown as a side picture on the blog. Just below the Amazon reviews link of some of the books on these shelves.

Pride, and a need for a better life.

A Statement of Pride rising high above the sidewalk, downtown Albuquerque


El Paso on the other hand is different. It has no North side that I can identify. It has a lower valley. That is from the Rio Grande and probably the part below I-10. The above that is the Valley. Fort Bliss in in the middle of the upper Valley and to the East is the biggest housing spread you can imagine. It is new and goes on for ever. The base is getting ready for a lot of folks and figures it will last a long time. To the west you find UTEP and a mountain range. The mountains here shown are part of these. They are the highest points in Texas. A road goes around them by UTEP to the West Side and then another road goes through them to the West Side. I have been staying a lot on the West Side. Las Cruces is up the road from there about 35 miles. A very large pole with a very very large Mexican Flag is just over the border across the river in Juarez. This flag can be seen for miles and sort of just hits you in the face as you drive toward the border on the Freeway. Pride is what this flag is about. Proud of a heritage. Even so the place where the flag sits is the worst part of Juarez. The city of 3 1/2 million or so is layered I am told. Some of the worst is by the border. A lot of poverty. People live in cardboard boxes and have zero income. The some of the city is more upscale. Some from one side help those on the other. Help can mean food. It leaves the question of how much help can it take to make a difference. It is interesting to find many quietly working to help. Often one person at a time. Pride and need exist together. A proud people. So much need.

Texas, the proud home of BJ 4 or 6 days a week it seems.

Mike's new apartment. A flower on a bush near the apartment. Then moving South moving into Texas. Texas sort of seems different. Maybe stuff really is bigger there. Maybe the roads aren't as good cause as Mike says they don't spend any money on their roads. The sign says "proud to be the State of George W" or something like that and of course a lot of folks are not proud and don't like that on their sign. The Texas adventure is a little demanding right now.

I need to post more than I have here I suppose.

Fire, Ice, Beauty and Vice

A Korean flower, a mountain range by Las Cruses. A interesting Sunday. I bought a camera and perhaps it is just as well that the pictures today were such that I was unable to post them. Just still trying to master the way to hook up to the camera. The day started with a trip to pick up cars left at the warehouse. Unloaded furniture last night for Mike's new apartment. Then we went downtown and walked across the bridge to Juarez. It was a short visit, at probably the worst part of the town, even though the entire place has a lot of challenges. I was embarrassed to be in a place like that on Sunday. The stay was short. I missed attending church today and again wished that I had been there. This was one of the few times missed but the more important fact was that it was necessary to help Mike.

Robert Frost poem first presented in 1964 at the time was considered something special. Desire and hate both seem so destructive. Speaking of contrasts

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Shoulda took more pictures or stayed I suppose

Maybe Mr. B. Bunny was coming on highway 25 from California or maybe he was coming from the East. Big difference in the outcome of a left turn. The bigger issue rather than El Paso or Salt Lake which indeed could be the difference is Albuquerque itself. What a really nice place. Why would anyone want to turn. Guess that is not a good direction to go today so I might mention that the road sign here seems to offer some insight. Perhaps it is a political statement. Maybe it is a message as to what one ought to do when one turns right. Then again it might be more to do with clear thinking one way or another. May have to find something else later to add to all l of this right left focus

Half a building and the cornor where two states and a country touch

Off on the top of the mountain is a statue that marks the place where New Mexico, Texas and Mexico touch. It is a shot out of the right car window as I drive to work from spending the night in Sunland Park which is around another mountain to the West of El Paso. Looking out the left side window before too long from this spot is UTEP. Then below that picture is the new whse facility. What looks like the far end is actually the middle of this building. New Camera to shot some daily shots.

Barb Wire, Tango, Jimmy, James and Hunters

As far as fences are concerned if they are in the country I like barbed wire. I don't really know why?

As far as the Tango or Waltz, see yesterday.

This all started on a favorite blog a few days ago and I am still sort of with it.

Tango or Waltz? Tango

James Brown or Marvin Gaye? James of course.

Wildflowers or arrangements? Wildflowers, not arranged please.

Cello or Trumpet. Cello of course.

Watch wearing or not? The time is right on the lower left hand of the screen, who needs a watch. Or else I can ask.

i-Tunes or something else? i-Tunes since I don't know what something else might be. Works great on a run. Don't know how I got along with out it.

Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford? Come on who says either of them ought to be on this list. Jimmy at least stands for something even if he has read too many of his own books its seems. Both seem like nice folks.

Willow Tree or Pine? Come on again who says either of them ought to be in competition with the other. They are both fine things. Willow fits one mood. Pines are good.

Sophia Loren or Liz Taylor? come on, really, did you ever see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Well it was Paul that caught my eye.

Matt Damon or Ben aAfleck? come on, really, I wouldn't recognize either one of them if they knocked on the door selling Jimmy Carter's a wonderful man books.

Socks or Barefoot? Ok, KJ in socks me barefoot is fine. She likes wool ones in the winter, ya know.

Gathers, Hunters, or Accountants? Come on. Who are we kidding here. Don't own a gun. Never did. Never will. Put me down as a hunter even so. Gathers are ok.

Tango or Waltz, down "which" Road

I was reading my favorite blog the other day and the questions asked were sort of revealing, I suppose. The question that caught my attention was

"Tango or Waltz" ?

Seems obvious that I am off on shaky ground here. I couldn't dance my self out of a paper bag and never could. Then again it may depend on where the dance is taking place. I would love to be able to dance. If I close my eyes and can almost see myself dancing. Course maybe the answer is I can feel myself dancing cause I just don't see me in this picture. Then too like reading our thoughts allow us to "see with different eyes". Ok now I see it. Yes, Tango. That is what I want to do. Tango down the path. Tango with my favorite person. Tango. Move gracefully. Like the pciture, "just us". The two paths I have pictures of here lead to very different places. The graceful one, the one that really sort of dances and is far less traveled takes one to the Temple Door in Seoul Korea. The other, far from graceful, still interesting but more of a trip than a dance is a street nearby. It leads everywhere if you are so inclined.

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The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with as sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.

The Cats not in the hat and probably has some good insight into the real meaning of it all

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The "Grand Cat" is visiting with us.

This is one smart cat. I remember the quote from the first lines of the second act of Cats, the play. In fact I have quoted those lines a lot over the years....................

In the Play Cats the second act starts out saying that one "had the experience but missed the meaning". Take a hard look at this Cat above. Do you think for one minute that this cat does not know exactly what is really going on. The real meaning. Of course the cat might be thinking hard about what your saying. Things change. Obviously things change. We move places we never thought of and we finally like cats. Life is indeed amazing. Short message today. Tomorrow is another day.

Pressure makes Diamonds

Diamonds are only lumps of coal

that stuck to their jobs.

Coal, isn't something I think much about. I recall several friends growing up who had coal stoves in their houses and they had to shovel coal into a bin often. I remember those homes in the winter and they were warmer than the ones that had oil furnaces. I remember reading about folks in Wales who came back each night from the coal fields singing. I have several stories of past relatives who were coal miners. My great grandmother had two brothers who were coal miners. I really like the song coal miners daughter by the way. I also quite like this quote above. I think the best advice anyone could give a young person starting a career who wanted to succeed is to "show up". Sticking to the job is good too.

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I was thinking a little about the words to Coal Miners daughter and oddly enough I had just looked through my Grandfathers journal.

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My mothers dad also worked in the mines. He wrote in his journal of being buried alive in a tunnel cave in. Looking closer at this journal I noticed how he stuck to it. He said he worked hard. He talked of hard times. Layoffs. Temporary work. In one paragraph he says they "put in the crops, hauled wood for the winter and took care of the hay" He added that they were happy. The family was together. They worked hard.

An idealistically fine 4th of July 2007, this last week

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For us it 4th was a neighborhood event. The view from the back of our house within a few days of the 4th was as you can see, spectacular. Then again the 4th's events, for me, connect to the picture from 1509 below. Both in a way reflect part of this years "4th of July" time. No risk here in sounding boring and making folks figure this is not 4th of July stuff. However, telling you more anyway, we went to another neighbors house in a different direction. We had some good food, sat in the back yard and enjoyed ...................

each others company. Listened to some good music some of which was from the 1940's and 50's and all of which was patriotic. We listened to a recording of President Roosevelt in prayer. What do folks talk about as they sit around the back yard? Well three of us spent some time on Aristotle and Plato. We had all be re reading and updating ourselves on Aristotle. You see even these folks gathered in Raphael’s "The School of Athens" are kind of relaxed. Could have been the 4th of July the day this picture was captured. Many seem to just be enjoying stuff. The two in the center were Plato on the left and Aristotle on the right. By the way, the School of Athens was painted in 1509 or 1510 and it was part of Raphael's commission to decorate the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. (At the same time, Michelangelo was next door painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.) The School of Athens was Raphael’s vision of the community of intellects from the classical world; the greatest philosophers, scientists and mathematicians of antiquity. I often figure our time in Northeast Albuquerque has been one where we found the scientists and mathematicians. Lot of smart people around everywhere but the science labs in our area attract an interesting group. In some ways it gets down to whether your finger is pointing up as is the case with Plato center stage above or out as with Aristotle also center stage. I figure Plato is what I like about life and Albuquerque and Aristotle is like what I have found here in the neighborhood.

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This could take way too much space to really say much about this thought I will just offer one idea to support this. Scientists and mathematicians remind me of Aristotle's conclusion here, and Plato reminds me of why I enjoyed the back yard discussion that took less than an hour of our several hours fun time.

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Idealism vs. Realism is the difference shown but up or out. With his right hand Plato points upwards, indicating that the ideals of Truth, Beauty and Good are not of this world, but lie beyond, in the realm of pure Ideas. Aristotle takes exception to his teacher’s position. He holds his right hand straight out, his palm facing downward toward the earth, - the solid world of material reality. So for him the ideals were not really eternal or seperate but just here with us, around us, perhaps part of us. Back then it was said that everyone was born either a Platonist or an Aristotelian

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I find myself an idealist. (today at least)

Sun in Flight, Fierce tears, good night

4th of July,

This holiday is one where we had a neighborhood event to start and a neighbor and friend event to finish. I have wanted to go on a run all day but I don't think I will get go. My road extends north on one road and back south on the other. (The road above is one I really like. Guess I will like the next road too.) As noted yesterday I really like the bronze horse's. This is one that I didn't show yesterday. Looking back over a couple of weeks I of course have had a lot happen. Interesting changes . Aside from the changes I had the occasion to respond to an email from an individual who had made some bold statements. I had taken occasion to send him a Dylan Thomas poem. I mentioned his bold statement and complimented him on the fact that his words did indeed "fork lightning". Then he wrote back and mentioned that he had cancer and wondered if my poem was an omen. I wondered why I had sent it but then I don't see this poem as one that is about a problem but about having a good attitude. I mentioned that he may just figure that he might fight with some rage and of course that we seek the light in all we do.

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We were wondering today about a move. We really like our "ward" and our friends. Our daughter told us recently about a comment perhaps offered or at least considered when folks move into a new ward or place for that matter. The question could be, "how did you like your last place"? The answer then would follow that if you didn't like it then you won't like this one. And of course if you loved it you'll love this one. Why not. Why not rage against anything but light.

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Today someone told he had recovered from some problems. That he was "back". He told me he was able to be his good old obstinate, in your face, stubborn guy and he was looking forward to it. I of course encouraged him. I of course told him to "rage, rage against the dying of the light and do not, do not go gently into the night". I passed the poem on again. I of course really hope he is doing better. Hate to have my words fork lightning instead of offer light.

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Along that line, 'isn't that horse great". Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, might indeed right a bronze horse.

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Do not go gentle into that good night
By Dylan Thomas

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Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears,

I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night.

rage, rage against the dying of the light.

some guy making a choice, apparently

Yesterday Zach and I went for a 4-mile walk/run. It was my regular path. The path follows a long street to the North and then crosses over to a long street back to the South. Along the way I can see bronze horses and a bronze buffalo in the front yards of homes that are set in a very open desert setting. The horses are real eye-catchers. Love to see what seems to be the spirit of adventure caught in bronze.
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Running is about seeing new things, perhaps with renewed eyes, and finding old things and thinking and talking. Music can be the companion as much as the sights or the person next to you.
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Crossroads can be considered. Left or Right. North or South. Options and Choices. Yesterday's run offered a lot to ponder, I think.