PRISMS AND POLKA DOTS

Stayed up till 4 a.m., then couldn't fall asleep.  Next thing a nightmare woke me up.  It's my own fault for allowing my brain to get involved in a deposition taken in a financial fraud and abuse lawsuit.  The person being deposed is a minister who claims to have been visited by Jesus on many occasions.  Jesus Himself made this minister an Apostle and conferred on him the power to heal people suffering from cancer to Aids.  At times, the attorneys got into a verbal sparring match, but the prosecuting lady attorney held her ground.  That's the part that intrigues me.  The entire deposition is a litany of ministerial untruths.  Without letting my thoughts out of the box, let's just say that it's entertaining.  

Sleep is one of life's wonders, isn't it?  Every living creature or person requires it every 24-hours.  Without sleep, the body cannot function properly, we wear ourselves out faster, and our moods are affected.  A lack of sleep makes us cranky for one thing.  Our Great Designer created a way to shut all of us down for a few hours.  Even during wars, both sides take time out to sleep during nighttime darkness.  There are tactics of surprise attacks during darkness, yet, the need for sleep is always there.  

Since making our late-life transition almost eight years ago now, we have thrown routine to the winds.  Many nights we defy the norm by staying up really late.  Both of us are guilty of this, and I think it's kinda cool.  Retirement is the time of life when we are able to design our own days, rather than have to obey our masters.  Oh, our staying up late is in the minority, 'cuz there are people living at Venny who still rise and shine when the rooster crows.  Forty-four years of being slave to an alarm clock gave me the good sense to appreciate not having to do that anymore.  Five days a week our alarm clock would ring at 5 in the morning, I'd get out of bed, make a pot of coffee, and jog for 3 miles around the small town when it was still dark out.  Today I wouldn't do that, with all the weirdos lurking.  

Today is Sunday.  A day to kick back and be lazy.  Just this morning I read a meme that pointed out we aren't being lazy, but we're in energy-saving mode.  It's that business of the words we choose setting the stage for interpretation.

Today, June 2nd, we observe National Cancer Survivor's Day to honor those of us who show the world that there is life after a diagnosis, but, sadly, not for all.  My personal approach to my cancer diagnosis was an aggressive double mastectomy, which freed me from wearing a chest harness and those vice-like physical exams.  My surgeon praised my decision and for embracing my new life mantra....Flat Is Where It's At.  I have my doctor to thank, as it was he who insisted I have one of those vice-grip exams.  When I didn't want the exam, he looked at me and said:  I know you are stubborn, but I'm twice as stubborn.  I respected him as my doctor, so I respected his firm instructions.  To this day I value any level of stubbornness.  The business of digging one's feet in the ground and not budging can be life-saving.  Life doesn't always have to go my way.

Nothing else newsworthy from my little corner.  The herb garden and tomato plants on the deck are growing nicely.  Yesterday a few more trees were planted on the Venny grounds.  The trees are being donated by one of the couples currently living here.  Like the boyfriend says, there can never be enough trees.