Rainy Ramble

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a Ramble here on Older Eyes – Buds Blog. In case you haven’t been around here long (who has these days), a Ramble is a post I write when I want to post but have nothing in particular to say. Or sometimes … like today …when there are serious topics I don’t feel like writing about right now. It is raining here in Socal, heavy rains predicted through tomorrow. The locaL news here treats every incoming rain storm like a major event but there is some cause this year … the possibility of mudslides in areas affected by the fires last summer, including Anaheim Hills where Mr. and Mrs. Eyes live. Mandatory evacuations have been issued in nearby Corona and voluntary ones a five minute walk away from our house. We are about a block from the fire line so we will probably not be evacuated. I am sitting in my car in the park. Yes, my phone is on so I can get any evacuation news.

Solitude Lost

I really can be sociable.   As I’ve aged, I’ve gotten better at small talk, even in situations I wouldn’t choose.  I’ve become more open-minded about people, too, less inclined  to decide based on a first impression whether I’d like  to talk to you or not.  In part, that’s been due to joining some men’s groups with a diverse membership that got me out of my element … or more accurately, taught me that my element was broader than I’d previously thought.  But part of me has always been a loner.  As a boy, I took long walks alone in the woods and as a younger adult, while I liked the social side of running marathons, it was the long, solitary training runs I loved.  I’m not running any more but I still value solitude.  I need solitude.

Solitude

My brother-in-law, Norm, is an email subscriber to Older Eyes.    He frequently sends me his review as a single emoticon without comment … there’s a happy face, a thoughtful face, and a head-scratcher when I get, as he says, Really Deep.   It’s a New Year and time for a .

I read several daily meditation books in the morning,  opening them at random to a page, hoping to encourage synchronicity to make an appearance.   The day before yesterday, I opened to a page in Dr. Bernie Siegel’s 365 Prescriptions for the Soul, Rx number 122, which talked about the importance of knowing yourself, recommending time alone as the best way to do that.