As I was listening to an interview on NPR today I was really struck by one of the statements made by Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short, Moneyball and now Boomerang – The Meltdown Tour. In discussing the potential default in Greece and in municipalities across America he said, “People want to have things they don’t want to pay...

This video, a clip from the BBC Series Human Planet, is a really interesting example of long term thinking. Can you imagine conceiving and designing a bridge that would require the roots of a tree to grow over many lifetimes to build it? I suppose you might think it isn’t really practical to think that way if a problem can be solved in the short term. ...

I wonder if most people truly understand the value of the human touch. One touch has so much power. Just think about the first time someone you were attracted to touched your hand or your face? Can you recall the electricity in your body and mind. That one touch created powerful physiological changes in your body. Flushed cheeks, rapid heart beat,...

Changing our perspective is often one of the most difficult tasks we face. We are often so busy we don’t have time to stop and think about anything from an angle other than the one we’ve already got set in our minds. The New World Dictionary defines perspective as a way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance . I see...

Do you remember the slogan from the 1970’s for Chiffon Margerine? “You can’t fool Mother Nature.” In their commercial, of course, you could fool Mother Nature. A lot has changed in the relationship between man and nature in the past 40 years. Man has begun to manipulate nature in ways that would have been inconceivable back then. Giant...

Last year I took a drawing class and the first thing the instructor discussed was the use of empty/negative or white space. The term is used for the space which is left blank in a drawing, painting, photograph or graphic presentation. This empty space is what allows the objects in the work of art to exist.  One of the best descriptions of negative is “space...

Last week I started a 4 week enrichment class at the University of Denver called Water in the World and the West.  Water, or the lack thereof, is a major issue in the West.  I grew up in Kentucky where there always seemed to be plenty of water.  After moving to Colorado I learned that it was illegal to capture the rain water falling on my roof to water my plants....

Continuing on with my reflections from having a garage sale and rereading Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s  Gift from the Sea I am also struck by how quickly our weather has turned to the cool crisp air of Fall.  It is fall that is the time of slowing down, shedding , preparing for the winter.  Since I am approaching 50 (next year) maybe that’s why I am...

I mentioned a few posts ago that I have been getting ready for a garage sale which has had me going through lots of old things to decide whether to keep, toss or sell.  Since I am an avid reader and lover of books it means I have a LOT of books about which to make decisions.   This is always tough for me.  I often take stacks of books to the local library that I...

“The Life of Every Man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another.  His humblest hour is when he compares the volume as is with what he vowed to make it.”   – James Berry This quote was in a newsletter sent to me by a friend over the weekend.  It really struck me to my core thinking about what it says.  It was especially...