Dirty politics with Dirty Harry

Just when you think summer has come, winter giggles and sticks her icy nose into my life. Not being much of a fan of winter I can stand it for so long, but not as long as it's been this year. Either I'm getting old and cannot remember or this has been a very long winter. Shivering is not my favorite activity, although it's the only activity I get to do lately. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I were talking; rather she was talking and I was listening. That is what makes us a great pair. She talks, I listen and our world goes rolling on. What she was talking about was summer. "When," she asked, "will summer really get here?" Of course, we can look at the calendar and pick out a date when summer is going to get here, but it is like playing the lottery, which I believe is rigged. I think picking the date of summer is rigged as well. I like to know who has rigged it because I would like to give them a piece of my wife's mind. We talked a l...

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I were in a little bit of a tussle this past week. Normally (whoever said I was normal) I stay away from such activity in our very humble domicile. Sometimes it is completely unavoidable. This was one of those times. I was in the study area of our home doing some kind of work when my wife came in, looked around with both hands on her hips and said, "What is all of this mess about?" At first, I didn't quite understand what she was talking about. In fact, I usually don't understand what she's talking about first off. Experience has taught me that if I just nod in the affirmative and smile the problem will go away. This time it didn't go away. "I'm referring to," she said rather sarcastically, "all of this mess in this room!" The problem I was having at the time was her definition of "mess." I have found throughout my married life that we differ on definitions. It is true, we use t...

The Universe: It is a dance of energy, made of thought, atomic structures and star dust. I am paraphrasing Albert Einstein there. Not only that though, reality is what we make it, it does not make us. I personally believe that reality is as benevolent or malevolent as we all affirm it to be. Indeed, we ultimately are in the driver seat although results and realities at times take a lot of time, energy and "mystery" to show up. What I mean by "mystery" is as follows: We all have the same materials to work with in reality which are thought, action, generation, matter, energy, space, and time. Although some may agree or disagree with me, everything in existence is made from these basic and realistic building blocks. Reality in itself can be controlled then, for the force we generate within ourselves ultimately is more powerful than the forces I mentioned and that force is ultimately consciousness. Without consciousness, everything is asleep to higher possibilities. Wi...

 to which is held by the best communicators. Those who understand that good communication is a fine art are constantly refining their artistic skills. In particular, they have mastered both the broad brush strokes and the more narrow lines produced by regular fine-line brushes. A few people even know how to employ the metaphoric air brush. GIVING FEEDBACK Here is yet another metaphor for you to consider when it comes to feedback: It is the gift that allows another person to keep on growing. Here are tips for delivering feedback--whether you want to make suggestions to a family member, co-worker, or friend. --Have an objective for the exchange. --Prepare in advance, whenever possible, in order to meet that objective. --Determine the right message, the right time, the right place. --Skip inappropriate humor, sarcasm, or belittling comments. --Establish a comfortable atmosphere. --Get to the point as quickly as you can. --Deliver critical information as quickly as possible. ...

This past week the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage said to me rather casually, "I guess you know today is November?" She's always joking with me and I assumed this was one of her jokes. "You can't fool me," I said quite sarcastically, "I know it's October." With that, she led me to the refrigerator where she had a calendar and pointed to me that today was the first day of November. It was hard for me to believe it; I thought she had made that calendar up herself. After thinking for a few moments, I concluded that she was right. After all, she's always right and I'm always left holding the bag. With a little bit of sadness in my voice I said to her, "Where in the world did October go? I'm not finished with October yet." "Finished or not," she said laughingly, "October is over and it is now November." I like to enjoy my time and I did not believe I had fully enjoyed all of October yet. That'...