Contemplating a Good Day

Jalál {Glory), 15 Jalál (Glory), 147 BE - Saturday, April 22, 2017 CE about 5:34 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

It's been a good day, 

Not a great day, 

But a good day. 

I wrote a poem and accomplished several reviews on writing.com. I watched a video on YouTube called Baha'u'llah – The Secret of the Century. I posted on Facebook about my entry in my writing.com blog. I decided that I need to start walking again. This time of year, because of my allergies, I have difficulty making myself walk. I'm beginning to think that just an excuse and not a reason. On Sunday, after I finish one mug of coffee and a moon pie, I'll take a short walk around the corner and back. 

Morning Rituals

Istijlal (Majesty), 9 Jamál (Beauty), 173 BE - Thursday, May 5, 2016 about 5:44 AM Pacific Daylight T ime 

Morning always seems to come so early. It wakes up slow and stretching wondering what the day will bring. Each morning brings specific rituals that help the morning and myself wake up to face  the unknown possibilities of the day. Some morning rituals are about the same for everyone, so there is no need to go into those. Other rituals are different for each person waking up. 

My morning rituals consist of taking my thyroid medication before I even get out of bed, or in my case up off the recliner. I recite the morning prayer by heart, turn on the light, put on the coffee, and change from my nightclothes into my day clothes. Sometimes I change into my day clothes before I turn on the light or begin brewing the coffee. 

Morning rituals are comforting and give some stability to the day.  Stability is necessary to keep a person on track and moving forward undepressed. However, I think one should change the ritual are periodically and shake things up. That's why I waited until after I begin this entry to go into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. Usually I get my coffee before I begin composing poetry or blog entries.  

On my way back to the computer from the kitchen, I stopped to look out my front window. I wanted to see what the neighbor's dog was barking at. I still don't know why she was barking this early in the morning because she usually doesn't back at anything until later in the morning. There was one car parked across the street this morning. 

Most of the neighbors move their cars into the alleys behind the apartment buildings on Thursday because this is the day the street sweeper is supposed to clean Sunrise Avenue. We have to move the cars in back of the buildings because they give tickets to those cars still parked in front when the street cleaner drives past. I can tell you from experience that a parking ticket for that is $20.00. 

Goal for the next 12 or 19 months

Istiqlál (Independence), 4 Ayyám-i-Há (The Days of Há, 169 B.E. - Friday, March 1, 2013 about 8:10 A.M. Pacific Time

I have problems posting to this blog on a regular basis. There are several reasons for this, one of the reasons is finding subjects and themes.  Then there is the issue of time and interruptions that occur regularly. Therefore, I have decided that the best way to handle these situations is to plan to post every other day. I will also use specific themes for each day. The following is a list of those themes and will begin with the next post.

Free Write Sunday
Quote of the Week Monday
Haibun-Haiku Tuesday
Midweek Reflections Wednesday
Thankful Thursday
Poetry form of the Week Friday
Recyclable Saturday

I am planning to post every other day

‘Idál (Justice), 4 Kamál (Perfection), 167 BE – Wednesday, August 4, 2010 about 6:59 AM Pacific Time

After the difficulty posting I had yesterday, I am planning to post every other day to this blog. I am doing this because of a selfish motive. If I plan to post this way, I do not feel guilty when I miss posting to the journal. I intend making exceptions to this policy if the following occurs.

1. A Baha'i Holy or holiday Day
2. A holiday of some other type
3. A special event occurs
4. Mom has an especially good day
5. Mom has an especially bad day
6. Something wonderful or exciting occurs
7. An interesting subject I am researching

Right now, these are the only exception I expect to occur. Of course, other exceptions will occur from time to time. The intriguing thing about life is that it is never static, something is always occurring and sometimes these events affect my life and writing.

My Internet browser is slow

Kamál (Perfection), 16 Bahá (Splendor), 167 BE – Monday, April 5, 2010 about 1:01 PM Pacific Time

Suborn bullheaded persistence does not work with my browser. It is slow accessing website, the message says “waiting”, but there is never an answer because it continues to wait.

Patience does not work with my browser because it does not do anything except wait. If I press the “enter” key enough times it eventually takes me to the website, gives me an error messages or say the gate the gate has timed out. Of course, the gate timed out it took the browser long enough to get there.

Now that I have had my rant for the day, I am going to copy and past this into the blog entry and hope, I am able to post it. There is a good chance that my browsers snails pace with cause the gate or something else to time out.

I would prefer to enter the entry directly into the blog, but with my browser, acting up I am going to do the entry this way today. I am almost as frustrated with the browser as I was with a normal phone line hook-up to the Internet. I am sure the issue is my browser and not my DSL connection.

Persistence pays off

Istiqlál (Independence), 5 Kalimát (Words), 166 BE – Friday, July 17, 2009 about 8:14 AM Pacific Time



Persistence pays off! I spent the entire morning attempting to make post to my blogs. The connection is slow this morning and when I went to save a draft or publish the post it didn't work. I think the problem is a combination of the weather and a telephone hook-up to my Internet provider. I'm going to have to get DSL there is just no getting around it.



It took me two hours to make one entry to another blog and it appears I'm going to have the same difficulty making this entry. That's all right, eventually I will get the entry posted I just have to be persistent. I can't let difficulty with my connect stop me from making a post.



This experience is a transformative experience. Transformation is the reason a person encounters tests and difficulties. If it weren't for tests and difficulties neither human beings nor civilazation would advance.

I woke up tired this morning

Kamál (Perfection), 4 Nur (Light), 166 BE – Monday, June 8, 2009 about 6:03 AM Pacific Time

I woke up tired this morning, obviously I didn't sleep well last night. In addition, when I went to look at the copy of yesterday's blog entry, I realized I didn't do a spell check. That isn't like me, I usually do a spell check. However, yesterday I didn't and this morning I found some misspellings. Today, of course, I will do the spell check.

I have an appointment with my mechanic this morning to have the car fixed. I'm not sure how long that will take, but I don't think I will get back on-line until this evening. I need to write some check list for blog entries, get a couple of cartridges for my printer, and pay my Internet connection fee. There's probably other things I need to do, but I can't think of them right now. When I do think of them I'm going to put them on my to do list, which I can't print out until I get cartridges for the printer.

I’m falling asleep

Jalál (Glory), 14 ‘Azamat (Grandeur), 166 BE – Saturday, May 30, 2009 6:49 AM Pacific Time

I'm falling asleep so I guess I should get off the computer and attempt to get some sleep. That wouldn't be my first choice, but today I'm gong to have to do that. The air went out Thursday afternoon or evening, it just blew hot air so I turned it off. There was no use it letting the unit run when it was just putting out hot air. The house is cooler with the air off then it is with it on.

Since I didn't make any post yesterday, I thought I'd better make a post today. I'll get back on line after the house cools down again. I bet back on between 9:00 PM and midnight. I the mean time any writing I do will be in my pen and paper journal. I'll write the stuff off line or off the computer and then copy it into the appropriate journal. Actually, what I'll probably do is take notes in my pen and paper journal about what I want to say and them compose it when I can get back on later today.

I'm sleepy so I'm not sure I know what I'm saying. I'm going to post this entry and get on with something else. I need to download one of my e-mails today or the messages will be two many for me to deal with.

Maybe it's the Rain and the clouds

Jalál (Glory), 1 Mulk (Dominion), 165 BE – Saturday, February 7, 2009 about 3:26 PM Pacific Time

I'm in a down mood today. Perhaps it's the rain and the clouds that cause this mood. It's been raining all day. I look out of my living room window and see the clouds. The rain has given me an idea for a character.

I think I'll call the character Rain and have him or her born on a rainy day. Someone born on a rainy day ought to have a rainy mood. I know the day has affected my mood. Of course, winter affects my mood.

It's almost spring, another few weeks and the first day of spring will arrive. That will help my mood. However, I still have a character with a rainy day personality to put in a story. Perhaps a Science Fiction story, all though I have started it out as a Fantasy story.

It raining outside, the ground is wet and the water is running down the street. The rain has lasted most of the day. I still have to decide if I want my character to be male or female. I started out with a male character. His father, since the story started as a Fantasy story, had the title of Lord. I'm not happy with the way the story is going.

Perhaps the problem is my mood and the cloudy wet weather. I took some papers to the garage to put in the recyclable bin and got my feet wet. All right, maybe I should have changed my shoes. The shoes I am wearing have holes in the bottom and the water comes through. Actually, that sounds like a good way to start off a story.

How would the son or daughter of a Lord of whatever the name of the kingdom feel about getting his or her feet wet? A rich person would react differently to getting his or her feet wet then a poor person. All right, I'm brainstorming here. I do that when I'm not sure about the character or the story. Normally I don't brainstorm on-line, but I needed a blog entry today.

The idea was simple

Kamál (Perfection), 8 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Monday, January 26, 2009 about 7:54 AM Pacific Time

I idea was simple, focus on uncluttering and setting up a spreadsheet with all Mom and my debts in it. My filing system can only be described as creative and it isn't working for me. Therefore, I decided to revamp it and unclutter. I didn't post to any of my blogs all weekend and I didn't get as much done as I wanted to do.

I did succeed in getting somewhat depressed about the bills, but that passed after I got into the process of putting the stuff into the spreadsheet. The idea is to just put the dollar amount down without thinking about it and I don't get depressed. This is another step in my process of transformation.

All right, I did get some stuff accomplished over the weekend. I took one can of trash to the curb on Friday evening for pick up Saturday morning. I found out that it is a two hour walk to and from the Food 4 Less on the corner of Sahara and Eastern. I also found out that if I do take that walk again, I'm going to take a push/pull cart with me no matter how little I get.

I bought enough stuff Saturday to carry home, the problem was I didn't consider my back and how it would feel after I carried the items home. My back is fine now, but Saturday night and Sunday morning it didn't feel so good. This is another step in my process of transformation. As long as I learn from my mistakes, I'm doing OK.

Vineger in the Mop water

Istiqlál (Independence), 5 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Friday, January 23, 2009 about 1:04 PM Pacific Time

My grandmother put vinegar in the mop water when she mopped her linoleum floors. The house had linoleum throughout the house. Grandma never had carpet or tile in her house. When she mopped the kitchen and bathroom floor she put vinegar in the mop water.

I'm not sure why she did that, perhaps it was to make the linoleum shine or to kill germs. I never did ask her why. There were a lot of thing Grandma did that I never asked her why she did them. Now I wish I had because it would have been nice to know. My grandmother used vinegar for a lot of things. She used vinegar when she cooked. She used vinegar when she cleaned.

I remembered this last night when I went to clean the spaghetti mop head. I have to get a new mop head for that mop, but for now I'll just clean it with vineger. I don't put very much vinegar in the water because a little bit will do. I've about decided that I don't like spaghetti mops. I don't like sponge mops, they are worse then spaghetti mops. At least, a spaghetti mop cleans up better then a sponge mop.

I have to get a new mop head and I'm considering getting a new mop. I know it's a waste of a perfectly good mop handle. I'm still looking for the perfect mop to mop my floors. All right, maybe there is no such thing as the perfect mop. Perhaps what I need to do is look for the attributes I want in a mop and then find one that comes close to what I want.

I have to admit that the perfect house-cleaning item would be a robot or a house that cleans itself. I want a robot that will do everything from laundry to mopping the floor and cleaning the toilet. However, I still need to get another mop head the next time I go shopping. I also need to make a grocery list, but that is another blog entry.

My Shampoo smells good enough to eat

Istiqlál (Independence), 19 ‘Izzat (Might), 165 B.E. – Friday, September 26, 2008 about 3:16 PM Pacific Time

My shampoo smells good enough to eat. It smells like tropical fruit, which is just fine with me because I can wash my hair every day and not worry about damaging it. At least, I think I can; not that it could damage my hair any worse then it is now.

When I was growing up, if you want your hair to look good, You washed it with raw egg (I still don't know what that was suppose to do) or beer. I tried both as a teenager and neither one seemed to do all that much for my hair. I remember I had to rewash my hair after the egg to get all the egg-goop out of it. The beer seemed to make my hair shiny, but my hair smelled like beer and I had to rewash it to get the smell out.

At least with my present, store bought, shampoo my hair has a nice aroma to it and I don't have to rewash it to get the smell out. I'm trying think what else I did as a teenager that I would probably think twice about doing today. I've thought of several things, too many things to put in a single blog entry.

Life is a challenge

Fidál (Grace), 9 ‘Izzat (Might), 165 B.E. – Tuesday, September 16, 2008 about 3:48 AM Pacific Time

Life is a challenge
24/7
a joyous experience.

I'm in a journaling contest at writing.com called "Follow the leader". Each day one of the participants writes a leading entry in his or her blog and the rest of the participants respond to the entry in their blogs. This contest started on September 11 and ends on October 1. I'm put my responses in my writing.com blog Snow Melt. My leading entry in this contest was on September 12 with the title "Coffee and Chocolate".

I'm also scheduled to participate in the "7 Day Journal Writing Challenge". I'm not sure when this challenge will start because there isn't enough participants yet. I'm going to use the same blog to write my responses to the challenges. Since the titles of each entry are a different format, there won't be a problem tell them apart.

I'm looking forward to the new contests. It's not that my life isn't challenging enough already, but sometimes I find myself search for blog entries and for subject for poems and stories. These journaling contests get me out of my rut and help me find new subjects and new approaches to old subjects.

Between Dusk and Dawn

Istiqlál (Independence), 17 Asma (Names), 165 B.E. – Friday, September 5, 2008 about 3:13 AM Pacific Time

It is early and the sun hasn't risen yet, but it approaches the horizon. You can sense the approach of morning, the approach of dawn. Even in the dusk of morning, in the dusk of the twilight before dawn, my mind and soul knows that day is coming. The knowledge of the approach of day wakes me in the dusk of morning.

I'm not sure when I first began waking up in the dark part of morning. All I know is that I'm now waking up before dawn and watching the sky become lighter and lighter between the dusk and the dawn. This is a spiritual time of day, when dawn prayers are said and the first pot of coffee is made. Prayers and coffee seem to complement the early morning and start the day off on the right foot.

This morning I noticed that when I get out of bed my right foot touches the floor first. Of course, I'm right handed, so that may have something to do with which foot touches the tile of my bedroom floor first. I don't get out of bed immediately upon waking. I lay a few minutes looking out the window, looking at the darkness before the dawn. Then, with my right foot touch the floor first, I sit up, find my socks and shoes, put them on and get up.

Waking up in the dusk of morning has taught me a lot about myself. I don't like to go barefoot, even in the house. Getting up early has also taught me that dawn is the most beautiful and spiritual time of day. Some may argue with that, but for me I find that it is true. I think that is because most mornings, I'm the only one up and the house is silent and conducive to prayer, meditation, making entries in my gratitude journal or composing a blog entry.

I need to relax

Idál (Justice), 8 Asma (Names), 165 B.E. – Wednesday, August 27, 2008 about 5:32 PM Pacific Time

I need to relax. I need to take a one-day vacation and get away from everything. Unfortunately, that is not possible in the foreseeable future. Therefore, I will do the next best thing, I will put a long lasting light bulb in the light on my patio, fix myself an ice tea and sit on the patio, with my prayer book and journal.

I would like to go to one of the parks, but both the parks near to my house are closed at present. I have to drive across town to get to a park, which means planning more then just an hour. The closest park to the house is about an hour away. I have no intention of staying in the park for only an hour, when it takes me an hour to get there and an hour to get back home.

Maybe I can think of some other creative way to take a short vacation without getting out of Las Vegas. I will have to say some prayers about that. Writing usually helps me relax, but lately it seems the only writing I have done is my blogs, gratitude journal, and personal journal. Perhaps a new approach is called for.

I set my writing goals on a solar day, which is from sunset of one day to sunset of the next. Part of my writing goals is the amount of words I write in goal period. Perhaps, instead of doing a word count for each item as it is completed, I need to wait until the end of the goal period to do the word counts. Maybe, I am just being too obsessive about the word counts. At least it would be a different approach and get me out of my comfort zone.

Perhaps the vacation I need is to get out of my comfort zone. Do something different, something out of the ordinary. The one thing I am certain about, is that I need to relax and find a creative and inexpensive way to do it

Counting Sheep Doesn’t Help

Fidál (Grace), 12 Kamal (Perfection), 165 B.E. – Monday, August 11, 2008 about 8:39 PDT

Counting sheep doesn't help. I have to be at work at 6:00 AM on Tuesday, August 12. Normally I would be asleep, but not tonight. I can't sleep. I've tried everything that usually helps me sleep and nothing works. Therefore, I thought I would make a blog entry.

I will work from 6:00 AM to 7:30 PM, I will not be able to leave the polls, so I'm taking my lunch with me. I'm also taking a book to read and something to write on. I have everything ready to go. All I have to do is get up, take my bath, get dressed and leave the house.

The only problem tonight is that I can't sleep. That may be because I know I won't get home tomorrow until after sunset. My daily writing goal is, at least, 2,500 words between sunset of one day and sunset of the next. However, if I don't get home until after sunset, then I won't make the goal. I know it sounds silly not to be able to sleep because of something like that, but I think that's the problem. Therefore, I'll alleviate the problem somewhat by making some blog entries.

My off line journals aren't a problem because I can compose those while I'm waiting for people to come to the polls and vote. However, the online journal entries are a bit of a problem when I don't have access to a computer. So rather then counting sheep to try to get to sleep, I'll write.

My grandmother never counted sheep when she couldn't sleep. Grandma Newland would do housework in the middle of the night. I will write in the middle of the night. but housework is something to be done during the daylight hours.

Going to Bed with the Chickens

Jamál (Beauty), 3 Kamal (Perfection), 165 B.E. – Sunday, August 3, 2008 about 12:14 AM PDT

I went to bed with the chickens yesterday. No I did not go to sleep in the hen house, even if I did have a chicken coop or hen house I wouldn't have went to bed there. Going to bed with the chickens means going to bed before sunset or around sunset, that's because most chickens roost at sunset. The problem with "going to bed with the chickens" is that you wake up with them as well.

Actually, I went to bed before sunset yesterday, which meant I got up before midnight. I went to bed around 6:30 or 7:00 PM yesterday and got up about 11:55 PM yesterday. After getting myself a nice tall glass of ice water, I turned the computer on. I haven't even made coffee yet; I haven't needed it yet. I'm wide awake.

Yesterday I was extremely tired in the afternoon. I know why I was so tired. I went out in the heat yesterday. We went to the bank, to get Mom's meds and then to Food 4 Less. We came back home, eat and I finished the work I planned. When I realized how weary I was, I fed the cats and went to bed. I said the rest of the prayers I had planned to say and then went to sleep.

When I woke up, at 11:55 PM, I thought I had slept all night. I thought it must be about 3:30 or 4:00 AM. I got up and looked at the clock. It surprised me when I saw the time, but I'm not sleepy or tired anymore, so there isn't any use going back to bed. Since I'm up I'll do some blog entries, check my e-mail and say some prayers.

I know better

‘Idál (Justice), 18 Kalimat (Words), 165 BE – Wednesday, July 30, 2008 about 7:44 AM PDT

I know better then to leave a blog entry for later in the day. If I do that there is about a 90% chance I am not going to get it written or posted. Life inserts itself into our plans. If the goal is to make a blog entry every day, then make the entry in the morning.

If something interesting happens during the day and I want to blog about it, I can make another entry. If I don't have time to make another entry that day, then I need to take notes about the event in my pen and paper journal.

I think I am going to have to start taking notes for blog entries anyway. I have a daily word count goal for each blog. If I make the minimum word count goal for each blog or piece of writing, then I am going to make the total daily word count goal. It may not seem like a big deal, but it is important to make the minimum goal because when I add all the minimums together they add up to the total.

In addition, if I set the goal to write and post in the morning, it pushes me to to wait until I complete the entry to rewrite and polish. In the morning, I have only a specific amount of time to write. I can write a blog entry in about thirty minutes, with spelling corrections included. However, I cannot stop and make corrections while I am composing the entry. Once I complete the entry, with any additions and spelling corrections I need then I can post the entry and get on with the next item on my agenda.

I'm still thinking about the Fourth of July

‘Idál (Justice), 9 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Wednesday, July 2, 2008 about 5:52 AM PDT

I'm still thinking about my Fourth of July entry. For three years in a row, my grandparents, parents and cousins went to Lake Karl Blackwell to celebrate the Fourth, four three years in a row accidents happened that were potentially fatal. After the third incident we didn't go to Lake Karl Blackwell any more.

I'm thinking back to those incidents and looking at them from my present perspective. Two of them could have been avoided, while the third was the result of technological failure and couldn't have been avoided. I think I'll describe one or more of those incidents in my blog entry. This means before the Fourth I'm going to have to write notes about those incidents.

It's been a long time since I wrote anything about those incidents and I need to review them a little more closely before I write more about them. I did write a poem several years ago concerning the happenings at Lake Karl (I hope that is how the name is spelled in this instance) Blackwell. I'm also going to have to do little more research on that Lake.

Writing another poem about them or perhaps three poems sounds like a good idea. I also used one of the incidents in a flash fiction piece. Writing two or three new flash fiction stories or a short story sounds like a good idea, as well. I’m not sure which I’ll decide on yet; maybe I’ll just make three different blog entries detailing the incidents.