13. my FB page today

Earlier today, you posted some photos of your wintery backyard and beyond on Facebook, something you have not done before. The photos and your commentary belong on this blog for their authenticity and because you had no prior thought on publishing them here. – Ms. Havisham

2048. I don't really see that what I publish on my Facebook page has any relevance to this blog. This blog is between you, Ms. H., and Grandma Earth, and the focus on this on the pre-publication of a book based on "Grandma's Stories" in The Merlyn's Mind series. 2051. The Facebook piece was not thought out in advance. It was a pretty winter day, and the snow looks refreshingly seasonable.

**

Richard H. Orndorff

 

Shared with Your friends

From Sunroom in Winter / Orange Township / Delaware Co. / Westerville, Ohio - just southeast of Alum Creek Dam and east of Africa Road and I-71. 

This area was the Underground Railroad. The freed slaves stayed right here on this farmland to travel further north. This is still sacred territory as far as I am concerned. Here is why. 

I met a man who had been born and raised a slave who lived on West Walnut in Westerville. I don't remember my thoughts at the meeting other than I was with my grandfather, Clell Orndorff, who resided at Knox and Walnut. I was standing three doors west on an old side porch, and Mr. Press Reynolds was standing on the porch with the screen door open. The house paint of the small one-story house was blue. With kind old eyes, Mr. Reynolds was like one of those granite stones that lined west to east across the street at Otterbein Cemetery. Mr. Reynolds told me he took the name of Press because, at twelve, he worked a tobacco press at the Reynolds Plantation in Virginia. He took the last name of Reynolds as he was friends with one of the owners' sons. The son and his wife still came up once a year and took Mr. Reynolds and his wife out to Sunday dinner. I was five, but I thought that was a wonderful thing to do, and so did my grandfather in the summer of 1947.

 

From the Sunroom

  

 

From the Living Room

 

From the Master Bedroom - just beyond the trees is the old Underground Railroad/ Africa Road with Alum Creek Dam less than half a mile beyond it. The black and white cat is Jadah (she has green eyes and is full of cleverness and wit.)

Selected and edited from my Facebook Page, December 1, 2020. 

 

**

 

This is worth the showing. Good night. – Ms. H. 

 

* * *

 12. seasonal thoughts

You have an inch of snow this evening. At dusk, you turned on the tree lights in your front bedroom window and also your small tree light post with a flickering post light on top, and tonight you left the ceiling porch lights off for a softer appearance with the outside garage lights and lights directed to the front of the house on. With the snow, it looks much more like a Christmas scene. – Ms. Havisham 

2216. I really don't feel like I am enjoying the Christmas scenery all that much. Carol decided to put some interior, seasonal items out, which is okay, she likes doing that, but I am not that religiously oriented. 2218

No, you are not at all, as a matter of fact, but your spiritual self is satisfied with what efforts you have put into the season so far. These efforts are more heart oriented that soul. – Ms. H. 

2221. I cannot imagine my soul having any part of this cultural scenery. I don't mind the season, and I like seeing the lights, etc., on most of our small neighborhood homes. If I remember right, we have forty-four, all small Craftsman-style houses, and yards of early last century. We have no street lighting, but each house has a similar yard pole light that lights automatically and is on until dawn. We like the simple, straightforward effect. Soft scene, but it is not heavy on the Hallmark Christmas card. I think of my soul being more interested in walking through the woods, night or day (when I could walk more steadily). I like solstice both Winter and Summer. One of my favorite times in all my life is when I had a morning paper route in Minerva Park. I first carried the Ohio State Journal, then when they folded, I carried the Citizen Journal. Few would be up. The papers were dropped off on our driveway about five o'clock or so every morning. I walked my route most of the time. No matter what the weather, I enjoyed the quiet walk. I was following the natural order, in sync with the stars and/or early morning light. It was nothing like the First Presbyterian Church, much more informal and natural, a being one with Nature and its own rules of time, setting, and place. 2242.

You have written the way you remember it, being one with the greater nature of the world and universe, but you forget that a greater part of the Christmas scene to you was the birth of Jesus, who is to you, an example of the better angels of human nature. – Ms. H. 

2244. Those are my thoughts, true; though I don't think on them so much – perhaps I do think on them – in terms of my hope that our species lives up to its better angels. 2246. 

Good thoughts, Mr. Orndorff. All for tonight. – Ms. H. 

2248. We didn't even have much of a discussion; I'm rather surprised. 

None of this is new to you, Mr. Orndorff; you just don't often give it much outward consideration. – Ms. H. 

* * *

 11. Ten Generation Cousins?

You and Carol stopped by Kim, and Paul's this afternoon to loan Owen and Brennan your virtual reality game during Winter. Oculus I (Oculus II just came out). Paul is buying Carol's new iPhone 11 (mint green) (last year's model), now cheaper. They didn't have your black iPhone 11 also with 128 memory, so Paul's looking around. Walmart had a sale with Verizon, one hundred off. You each presently have an iPhone 6. Paul is going to sell your old phones on eBay. Kim and Paul are getting you both the new noise-canceling Air Pod Pros for Christmas, so you don't have to listen to the cars and trucks while sleeping. You still love your larger Bose noise-canceling headphones. - Ms. Havisham

1910. I wouldn't have thought the above had a spiritual effect on heartansoulanmind.  

These are presents without necessity, but welcome anyway. You and Carol give each other a new iPhone 11; you hardly ever give each other Christmas gifts. - Ms. H.

2159. Indeed. I cannot remember such a Christmas, other than an exchange of cards with Carol receiving a hundred dollars or a debit card for Barnes and Noble, and me receiving a hundred-dollar bill in the Christmas card to save or spend as I like (without guilt). We have been doing this exchange since 1972 when we returned home from Brazil. Some years we didn't even do that because we bought a new appliance or chair or television earlier in the year and that became our Christmas present to one another. It must be in our mutually mixed Scottish ancestry. 2206. 

In the twenty-first century, Carol's Uncle, Dr. John Hammond, took an Oxford University DNA test, as did yourself. The tests showed that you both may have shared a grandfather around the thirteenth century. During the Protestant revolution, one of the Hammond moved to present-day Germany for the new religion. In any case, there was a plausible connection with the Ohrendorf family in the same area of the country. Both the Hammond and the Orndorff family DNA's go back to West Scotland five thousand years ago even without the later possible connection. Somewhere along the line, an Orndorff had some of the male Hammond bloodlines. That's the story that got you interested in writing Grandma's Stories in the first place. – Ms. H. 

2222. This is true. I wondered about the unusual concept that Carol and I might be related way back, and I thought of all the people in the world who might indeed have been related in such a way and never know it. 

This is such a point to end today's blog. How many people are related in any five or ten generations, let's say cousin-wise? – Ms. Havisham

* * *

 10a. Heartansoulanmind awareness / 10b. Chapter Four

Ms. Havisham here. Time, distance, and place allow for dimensional awareness. What is awareness without time, distance, and place?

**

SELF-AWARENESS

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

Individuals become conscious of themselves through the development of self-awareness.^[22] This particular type of self-development pertains to becoming conscious of one's own body and mental state of mind, including thoughts, actions, ideas, feelings, and interactions with others.^[29] "Self-awareness does not occur suddenly through one particular behavior: it develops gradually through a succession of different behaviors, all of which relate to the self."^[30] The monitoring of one's mental states is called metacognition, and it is considered an indicator that there is some concept of the self.^[31] It is developed through an early sense of non-self-components using sensory and memory sources. In developing self–awareness through self-exploration and social experiences, one can broaden one's social world and become more familiar with the self.

According to Emory University's Philippe Rochat, there are five levels of self-awareness that unfold in early development and six potential prospects ranging from "Level 0" (having no self-awareness) advancing complexity to "Level 5" (explicit self-awareness).^[22]

·       Level 0: Confusion. At this level, the individual has a degree of zero self-awareness. This person is unaware of any mirror reflection or the mirror itself. They perceive the mirror as an extension of their environment. Level 0 can also be displayed when an adult frightens himself in a mirror mistaking his own reflection as another person just for a second.

·       Level 1: Differentiation. The individual realizes the mirror can reflect things. They see that what is in the mirror is different from what is surrounding them. At this level, they can differentiate between their own movement in the mirror and the movement of the surrounding environment.

·       Level 2: Situation. At this point, an individual can link the mirror's movements to what is perceived within their own body. This is the first hint of self-exploration on a projected surface where what is visualized on the mirror is special to the self.

·       Level 3: Identification. This stage is characterized by the new ability to identify self: an individual can now see that what's in the mirror is not another person but actually them. It is seen when a child, instead of referring to the mirror while referring to themselves, refers to themselves while looking in the mirror.

·       Level 4: Permanence. Once an individual reaches this level, they can identify the self beyond the present mirror imagery. They can identify the self in previous pictures looking different or younger. A "permanent self" is now experienced.

·       Level 5: Self-consciousness or "meta" self-awareness. At this level, the self-seen from a first-person view is not only seen, but it is also realized that it is also seen from a third person's view. They begin to understand they can be in the mind of others. For instance, how they are seen from a public standpoint.^[22]

Selected and edited from Wikipedia

**

It was only so easy to understand the spiritual self-awareness in the relationship of heartanmind to the soul. Mr. Orndorff chooses to balance the heartanmind with the soul, but the balance is mindanheartansoul, almost as if the heartansoul were a 'natural' unit. The lyrics are familiar. - Ms. H.

**

HEART AND SOUL

Hoagy Carmichael

Heart and soul, I fell in love with you
Heart and soul, the way a fool would do, madly
Because you held me tight
And stole a kiss in the night

Selected from – https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/12763427/Heart+and+Soul

**

 Why don't people say the phrase mind and soul?

**

soul – noun 

1 the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal. • a person's moral or emotional nature or sense of identity

 2 emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance: 

3 the essence or embodiment of a specified quality: 

Selected and edited from – Oxford/American software

**

A person's moral nature or sense of identity shows the essence of the mind, and a person's intellectual energy or intensity also shows the mind's essence. Understanding a person's spiritual essence, herorhis human spirit requires, it seems to me, either heart/mind+soul or mind/heart+soul. Technically, the soul is regarded as immortal should, out of deference. Be written soul+heart/mind or soul+mind/heart. I, Ms. H., am being reasonable, am I not? I am not. Why? Because of another common phrase like heart and soul, body, and soul. Note, body, and soul sounds correct, not soul and body. How much different would an individual be without herorhis body in such a circumstance? How would it be to be conscious as a human spirit, not as a human body and spirit? – Ms. H.

* * *

The question above cannot be as completely discussed orally as it can be written. This story is about a beginning of writing. – Grandma Earth

 

CHAPTER FOUR

Grandma sashays and does a little calypso dance in her bare feet, throws her hands over her head, twirls, and claps three times. She smiles like the glow of a tropical sunset and whispers a secret, "I just love these little freedom stories because, in my eyes, they are real enough to be as true as any sunset or sunrise."

 

One ancestor, a shaman of about seven thousand years ago in an area near the Black Sea, stands by the fire one cloudy dark summer night and says, "I have a new story." This is about a man who can be in two places at once while he is still alive. He can be standing here like me, telling a story, and," and while he points to his north, continues, "be in the woods telling a story at the same time. How do you think he accomplishes this?"

This question invited the listener to give herorhis own plausibility. The shaman discovers he could be entertaining while instructive; he gives an unsolvable question no one can decipher to everyone's satisfaction. 'How is it possible for a person to be telling the same story in more than one place at the same time?' 

* * *

This story became famous because shamans worldwide were soon asking the question along the significant world trade routes. Storytelling helped pass the time on the journeys from Asia to Europe and Europe to Africa and from Africa to Asia. Some of these stories even migrated to the Americas.

This particular storyteller created a mysterious set of written characters that allows the story line's carving onto a tree. Other tribe members were taught to read the runes. Thus, someone could be reading the story in one place while it was being told simultaneously in another place entirely. Few could believe such a marvelous invention, but they soon discovered belief wasn't a part of the equation. Below is a modern translatable representation of what the shaman wrote.

* * *

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Now the characters you can see

 

H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P

Each as individual as you or me

 

Q, R, S, T, U, and V

Allow each of us to remain free.

 

W, X, Y, and Z

The beginning and the end carved on a tree.

 

And from Grandma Earth's tongue and hum.

Some familiar runes this way come.

* * *

Thank you for reading, it is our pleasure to write. – Ms. Havisham

* * *

 9. A Holistic Consciousness?

You feel you have an interesting article from Science Alert. Drop it in, please. Ms. Havisham

**

Science Alert: HEALTH

BRAIN SCANS CONFIRM THERE'S A PART OF YOU THAT REMAINS 'YOU' THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE 

MIKE MCRAE

27 NOVEMBER 2020 

At the very core of your identity, a kernel of self-awareness combines memories of the past with the fleeting sensations of the present and adds a touch of anticipation for the future.

The question of whether this ongoing sense of 'you' is as robust as it feels has intrigued philosophers and psychologists throughout the ages. A new, small psychobiological study weighs in, looking at brain scans to conclude that at least some part of you is indeed consistent as you grow and age.

"In our study, we tried to answer the question of whether we are the same person throughout our lives," says Miguel Rubianes, a neuroscientist from the Complutense University of Madrid.

"In conjunction with the previous literature, our results indicate that there is a component that remains stable while another part is more susceptible to change over time."

Self-continuity forms the very basis of identity. Every time you use the word 'I,' you're referring to a thread that stitches a series of experiences into a tapestry of a lifetime, representing a relationship between the self of your youth with one yet to emerge.

Yet identity is more than the sum of its parts. Consider the allegory of Theseus's ship, or the grandfather's ax paradox – a tool that's had its shaft replaced, as well as its head, but is still somehow the same ax that belonged to the grandfather.

If our experiences change us, swapping out components of our identity with every heartbreak and every promotion, every illness, and every windfall, can we truly say we see ourselves as the same person today as we were when we were four years old?

You can be forgiven for thinking this sounds more like philosophical navel-gazing than something science can address. But there are perspectives which psychology – and even the wiring of our neurological programming – can flesh out.

Rubianes and his team focussed primarily on the 'how and when' of neurology dealing with familiar faces, relying on previous research that suggests visual self-recognition can work as an indicator of making a connection with one's impression of self.

In what's known as the self-reference effect, we do a better job of recalling or recognising information if it's personally connected to us in some way, such as seeing our own face in a photograph.

While there's plenty of evidence supporting the phenomenon's existence, the exact timing and mechanisms of the process in our brain remain an open question.

Conflicting studies have highlighted different neurological processes for distinguishing our own face from others, highlighting diverse regions of the brain used to recognise and attribute meaning to sets of familiar features.

Determining the kinds of neurological activity involved can tell us whether we're simply triggered by recognizing our own face, like meeting an old friend, or making an actual connection with the self it represents, both past and present.

To work this out, the team conducted a recognition task with a group of 20 students. Each was presented with 27 images, including some of their own face, the face of a close friend, and an unfamiliar face, all at different life stages.

Each image flashed up on a screen one second at a time, during which the participant had to press a button to identify who they saw: self, friend, or stranger. A second trial asked them to identify the person's life stage: childhood, adolescence, or adulthood.

Meanwhile, dozens of electrodes were busy scoping out the mix of brainwaves buzzing from their grey matter, painting a map of activity.

That map, and the timing of the participants' responses, strongly suggest that our impression of self – that sense of 'I' – gets updated throughout our lifetime, giving it stability. We really do process that gap-toothed portrait of us in fourth grade as ourselves, not just a familiar image of a kid who happens to share our memories.

The study also uncovered interesting similarities in how we process impressions of our past self and our close friends, hinting at complexity in how time might shape impressions of our identity.

Of course, it's important to note that this study was conducted on small sample size and is far from the final word on the topic.

Finding a rigid neurological underpinning for our sense of self that is tweaked by time and experience neatly reflects other studies that suggest there are also cultural influences over how we perceive identity.

Significantly, neurological descriptions of the specific brain bits responsible for sorting oneself from strangers can better understand why some people don't share this impression.

Disturbances in that thread of recognition often define conditions such as schizophrenia, putting individuals at increased risk of self-harm.

"This demonstrates the importance of basic and clinical research alike in the study of the role of personal identity, as this promises to be a much more important concept than was previously thought and may play a fundamental role in psychological assessment and intervention processes," says Rubianes.

Some days we all feel a little like we're uncertain of just who we are. Rest assured, there's a good chance that deep inside your brain, you're always going to be there.

 This research was published in Psychophysiology.

Selected and edited from -- https://www.sciencealert.com/brain-scans-confirm-there-is-a-part-of-you-that-remains-you-throughout-your-life

**

Continual visual self-recognition appears to be a reality in this small study. Still, from my perspective as your heartansoulanmind, the conscious and unconscious self-recognition takes place in the designated area of included time and experience within the human spirit, no matter what name you give to it. What good would it be for your spirit to survive physical death if it did not retain the meaning and depth of personal pronoun, "I"? – Ms. H. 

**

I (PRONOUN)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The pronoun I is the first-person singular nominative case personal pronoun in Modern English. It is used to refer to oneself and is capitalized, although other pronouns, such as he or she, are not capitalized.

The grammatical variants of I are me, my, mine, and myself.

ETYMOLOGY

English I originates from Old English (OE) ic. Its predecessor, ic had, in turn, originated from the continuation of Proto-Germanic *ik, and ek; the asterisk denotes an unattested form, ek was attested in the Elder Futhark inscriptions (in some cases notably showing the variant eka; see also ek erilaz). Linguists assume ik to have developed from the unstressed variant of ek. Variants of ic were used in various English dialects up until the 1600s.^[1]

Germanic cognates are Old Frisian ik, Old Norse ek (Danish, Norwegian jeg, Swedish jag, Icelandic ég), Old High German ih (German ich), and Gothic ik and in Dutch also "ik."

The Proto-Germanic root came, in turn, from the Proto Indo-European language (PIE). The reconstructed PIE pronoun is *egō, egóm, with cognates including Sanskrit aham, Hittite uk, Latin ego, Greek ἐγώ egō, Old Slavonic azъ and Alviri-Vidari (an Iranian language) اَز az.

The oblique forms are formed from a stem  *me- (English me), the plural form *wei- (English we), the oblique plurals from *ns- (English us), and from Proto-Germanic *unseraz, PIE *no-s-ero- (our, ours).

CAPITALIZATION

I (and only this form of the pronoun) is the only pronoun that is always capitalized in English.^[i] This practice became established in the late 15th century, though lowercase i was sometimes found as late as the 17th century.^[2]

Selected and edited from -- Wikipedia

**

I have a comment on the subject also. Though I am a personification, I understand Consciousness existed before the physical Universe. Some philosophers and mythologists have suggested everything has a consciousness of one sort or another. – Grandma E.

How a piece of nonliving matter might have a sense of self-awareness is beyond me. However, matter may perhaps have an essence of being.  Gravity, Space, Time, and Matter, might in some part including the four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water, and the four conditionals: hot, cold, wet, and dry may have a transcendental soul sense (a holistic, metaphysical body) through inner connectional physical and metaphysical-like tensions and/or forces. As long as the proposition in this blog holds G-D is G-D, it is a plausibility. Consciousness (awareness), or its intent, has to begin with something living or nonliving. This is enough for tonight. Happy thoughts. – Ms. H.

* * *

 

 

 8a. 53 years / 8b. Grandma: understanding

One month before Christmas, and you are sure Owen and Brennan are getting excited. You are excited too, but for today. For the first time in decades, you and Carol are eating out for your anniversary; this is your Fifty-Third. You remembered at five-twenty on the clock last night, and you both rushed to Hallmark (also a tradition) for the card exchange this morning. Last night you also thought you'd pull a joke on sister Cathy and send a note asking if they wanted to go to 101 for dinner at five o'clock. Surprisingly, she said yes – you thought it was too close to Thanksgiving (as you always do) for evening restaurant food. So, now you are going. Tomorrow morning Carol is baking a crispy custard pie (her Mom's recipe), which everyone loves. She bought an apple pie from Kroger as a second choice or if anyone wants a second piece or both. One pie will do six to eight people in your family. – Ms. H. 

1251. We cleaned up this morning, and Carol is taking a needed nap. It has been a good day, which began with a delightful kiss, not the usual peck (if any) for a retired man's get up and stay the day. We snuggle. 1254.

You are reminiscing your first date with Carol. Carol's roommate was your sister, Cathy. This was her first semester at King Hall, Otterbein College (now University). Cathy wanted to go to the Varsity Club (a restaurant) across from the OSU football stadium on a Friday night. I was to provide transportation. I decided to ask our cousin David Short to come along, so he did. This was the makeshift date. We were sharing our first pitcher of beer and sandwiches when I noticed David was attracted to Carol. I was acting like an older brother, which I was, and didn't like that Carol was attracted to David but not in the same way David was attracted to her. At least, this is how I saw it at the time. I immediately discovered I was jealous. I couldn't believe it. Carol was my sister's roommate, and I was about five years older. David was four years older. Later, and time to take the girls back to the dorm, you dropped David off at his house in Westerville and took the girls on campus. Once at King Hall, you asked Carol out, and she accepted, assuming I would be a fun and safe date. Cathy was not too happy, not at all. Cathy's boyfriend was back in Cleveland (where Cathy lived with your parents) going to Cleveland State. On most of the early dates, Cathy came along with Carol. You didn't mind because the three of you had a good time checking the local bars around the OSU campus. Westerville was a dry town at the time, famous for being dry. Students who wanted to drink had to bring it in (not allowed on campus) or go to the bars outside. This is your heart talking, of course. – Ms. H. 

1327. It wasn't that long ago. We were married in 1967 in Alexandria, Virginia, at a Methodist Church near where Carol's parents lived at the time. Dad Hammond was at the State Department on two-year home leave from the American embassy in Saigon, after which he and the family returned to South Vietnam to live. Mom Hammond took Carol's three sisters out on the last government loaned plane. Dad stayed until the last moment at the embassy with other American and foreign personnel trying to get their South Vietnamese employees and their families out to the United States before the Fall of the country. 1337.

Those are the quick memories that come to heartanmind. This personal memory business will not be typical, Mr. Orndorff, because this blog is not about you per se. It is about how understanding some things is, at times, more important than actually knowing things. – Ms. H. 

* * *

Understanding how to fish is better than knowing how to fish. Reinforcement below. – Grandma Earth

**

understanding - noun 

 

the ability to understand something, comprehension: the emotional heart

. 

• the power of abstract thought; intellect: the human mind

 

• an individual's perception or judgment of a situation: this is between the heart and the mind

 

 

• sympathetic awareness or tolerance: empathy in heartanmind

 

• an informal/unspoken agreement or arrangement: trust in heartanmind

 

 Selected and edited from the Oxford/American dictionary

**

What role, if any, does the soul play in human understanding? Ask I, Grandma Earth.

What role, if any, does the soul play in human behavior? Don't forget to define "soul" from your perspective before expanding your private thoughts on the subject if you have any. If you don't have any thoughts on why you do or do not have a soul, this is not the blog. Have a good day in any case. – Ms. H.

You, Carol, Cathy, and Tod had a good red wine with dinner, your treat. Everyone enjoyed the conversation, and Joe, the head chef (and their son-in-law), stopped by a couple of times to chat before and after your eating – a quite enjoyable wedding anniversary dinner. Cathy was at the wedding, and Tod was almost family at that time. They were married on August 3, 1968. Carol was in the wedding, and you were an usher. – Ms. Havisham

* * *