December 20/21 2020

23. events of two days

 

Sunday morning. You had a busy couple of days. Friday, your sixty-inch Sony, given to you by Kim and Paul when they took your older fifty-five inch Sony Kim had bought for you and Carol in 2013. This is after they had bought a new sixty-five-inch television a few years ago. So, your sixty-inch black screened, then the audio dropped to a whisper, then nothing. You did about two hours-worth of research, and you both decided on another Sony because of the picture quality and style. You upgraded to an XBR65X800H HDR Processor and 4K X-Reality PRO  LED/LCD Sony. Paul ordered it for you from Best Buy Friday (Kim took the money from your account as you asked), and Paul picked it up Saturday morning with Kim's Honda Odyssey. It took Paul and Kim two hours to take off the old TV and fully set it up on the wall brackets. Paul also hooked up the Internet and Cable along with the Harmony remote and Alexa. While this was going on, your home alarm systems began short beeping for their first replacement backup batteries. Kim and Paul came back later with a larger ladder and batteries to replace the house's seven or eight alarms. – Ms. Havisham

 

1120. The older we become, the more we depend on Kim and Paul for periodic assistance, such as yesterday's events. Also, Kim gave us our (late ordered and received) photo Xmas cards already addressed, which we hand noted and signed this morning. They will be mailed tomorrow. The technological changes in televisions are amazing. This Sony was on sale for eight hundred dollars, down from a thousand. A couple of years ago, this upgrade (now a standard) would have cost much more than we paid. Kim and I had a discussion on changing those alarm batteries. She insisted that neither of us should be climbing ladders. I was a bit taken back by Kim's rather aggressive rebuke but acquiesced (at least she isn't taking our car keys). 1134

 

Mid-afternoon. Carol is napping, and you have dropped Story Ten onto a document for refreshing; however, presently, you are not mentally ready to work. Ms. H.

 

1440. I found an interesting Christmas article.

 

Drop it in. – Ms. H.

 

**

SCIENCE ALERT

 

PLANETS WILL ALIGN IN THE SKY ON MONDAY. IS THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM COMING BACK? 

 

ERIC M. VANDEN EYKEL, THE CONVERSATION 

18 DECEMBER 2020 

 

On 21 December 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will cross paths in the night's sky, and for a brief moment, they will appear to shine together as one body. While planetary conjunctions like this are not everyday events, they also are not particularly rare.

This year's conjunction is different for at least two reasons. The first is the degree to which the two planets will be aligned. Experts predict that they will appear closer during this conjunction than they have in nearly eight centuries and brighter.

But the second factor, and the one that has thrust this event into the spotlight, is that it will occur on the winter solstice, just before the Christmas holiday. The timing has led to speculation whether this could be the same astronomical event that the Bible reports led the wise men to Joseph, Mary, and the newly born Jesus – the Star of Bethlehem.

As a scholar of early Christian literature writing a book on the three wise men, I argue that the upcoming planetary conjunction is likely not the fabled Star of Bethlehem. The biblical story of the star is intended to convey theological rather than historical or astronomical truths.

LEADING LIGHT

The story of the star has long fascinated readers, both ancient and modern. Within the New Testament, it is found only in Matthew's Gospel, the first-century account of Jesus' life that begins with the story of his birth.

In this account, wise men arrive in Jerusalem and say to Herod, the king of Judea: "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage." The star then leads them to Bethlehem and stops over the house of Jesus and his family.

Many have read this story with the presupposition that Matthew must have been referencing an actual astronomical event that occurred around the time of Jesus' birth. The astronomer Michael R. Molnar, for example, has argued that the Star of Bethlehem was an eclipse of Jupiter within the constellation Ares.

There are at least two issues involved in associating a specific event with Matthew's star. The first is that scholars are not certain exactly when Jesus was born. The traditional date of his birth may be off by as many as six years.

The second is that measurable, predictable astronomical events occur with relative frequency. The quest to discover which event, if any, Matthew might have had in mind is, therefore, a complicated one.

BELIEFS ABOUT THE STAR

The theory that the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn may be the Star of Bethlehem is not new. It was proposed in the early 17th century by Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, and mathematician. Kepler argued that this same planetary conjunction in or around 6 BC could have served as inspiration for Matthew's star story.

Kepler was not the first to suggest that the Star of Bethlehem may have been a recognizable astronomical event. Four hundred years before Kepler, between 1303 and 1305, the Italian artist Giotto painted the star as a comet on the Scrovegni Chapel walls in Padua, Italy.

Scholars have suggested that Giotto did this as an homage to Halley's Comet, which astronomers have determined was visible in 1301, on one of its regular flights past the Earth. Astronomers have also determined that Halley's Comet passed by the Earth in or around 12 BC, between five and 10 years before most scholars argue that Jesus was born. It is possible that Giotto believed Matthew was referencing Halley's Comet in his story of the star.

Attempts to discover Matthew's star's identity are often creative and insightful, but I would argue that they are also misguided.

The star in Matthew's story may not be a "normal" natural phenomenon, and Matthew suggests as much in the way that he describes it. Matthew says that the wise men come to Jerusalem "from the East." The star then leads them to Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem. The star, therefore, makes a sharp left turn. And astronomers will agree that stars do not make sharp turns.

Moreover, when the wise men arrive in Bethlehem, the star is low enough in the sky to lead them to a specific house. As physicist Aaron Adair puts it: "the Star is said to stop in place and hover over a particular lodging, acting like an ancient GPS unit."

The "description of the movements of the Star," he noted, was "outside what is physically possible for any observable astronomical object."

THEOLOGICAL UNDERPINNING

In short, there appears to be nothing "normal" or "natural" about the phenomenon that Matthew describes. Perhaps the point that Matthew is trying to make is a different one.

Matthew's story of the star draws from a body of tradition in which stars are connected to rulers. The rising of a star signifies that a ruler has come to power.

In the biblical book of Numbers, for example, which dates to the 5th century BC, the prophet Balaam predicts the arrival of a ruler who will defeat the enemies of Israel. "A star shall come out of Jacob, [meaning Israel]…it shall crush the borderlands of Moab."

One of the most well-known examples of this tradition from antiquity is the so-called "Sidus Iulium," or "Julian Star," a comet that appeared a few months after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Roman authors Suetonius and Pliny the Elder report that the comet was so bright that it was visible in the late afternoon. Many Romans interpreted the spectacle as evidence that Julius Caesar was now a god.

In light of such traditions, I believe Matthew's story of the star exists not to inform readers about a specific astronomical event but to support claims that he is making about the character of Jesus.

Put another way, I argue that Matthew's goal in telling this story is more theological than it is historical.

Therefore, the upcoming conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is likely not a return of the Star of Bethlehem, but Matthew would likely be pleased with the awe it inspires in those who anticipate it. 

Eric M. Vanden Eykel, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF RELIGION, Ferrum College.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Selected and edited from - https://www.sciencealert.com/the-star-of-bethlehem-may-be-returning-as-heavenly-bodies-convered

 

**

1450. Now that I have reread the article, I can't really see any relative sense in dropping it in the blog. 

 

Define 'traditions' as the word is mentioned several times.

 

**

tradition - noun 

 

1 the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way: every shade of color is fixed by tradition and governed by religious laws. 

 

• a long-established custom or belief that has been passed on from one generation to another: Japan's unique cultural traditions.

 

• [in singular] an artistic or literary method or style established by an artist, writer, or movement, and subsequently followed by others: visionary works in William Blake's tradition. 

 

2 Theology a doctrine believed to have divine authority though not in the scriptures.

 

• (in Christianity) doctrine not explicit in the Bible but held to derive from the oral teaching of Jesus and the Apostles. 

 

• (in Judaism) an ordinance of the oral law not in the Torah but held to have been given by God to Moses. 

 

• (in Islam) a saying or act ascribed to the Prophet but not recorded in the Koran. See Hadith.

 

Selected and edited from the Oxford/American

 

**

 

1459. It appears to be the author's focus is to question the validity of the Bethlehem Star with a lasting impression of either wonder or doubt from the reader's perspective. This is similar to the objective of Grandma's Stories written surrealistically by Amorella. 

 

* * *

December 20/21, 2020

 

You and Carol are at Heritage Park, Westerville, and had a picnic from Potbelly's while Sueti Guimaraes, wife/partner of Alex Guimaraes, cleans your house once every two weeks on a Monday. Both are from Sao Paulo, Brazil, which makes understanding/communication easier. Sueti and Alex have been cleaning Kim and Paul's house for several years – good, honest people from Sao Paulo, in your estimation. They have one child and own a healthy business model. – Ms. Havisham

 

1434. I found the article online today. Good stuff to think on and wonder. 

 

**

SCIENCE ALERT

 

SPACE

MYSTERIOUS RADIO SIGNAL DETECTED FROM OUR CLOSEST NEIGHBOURING STAR SYSTEM 

 

RAFI LETZTER, LIVE SCIENCE 

21 DECEMBER 2020 

 

Astronomers hunting for radio signals from alien civilizations have detected an "intriguing signal" from Proxima Centauri's direction, the nearest star system to the sun, THE GUARDIAN reported.

According to THE GUARDIAN, the researchers are still preparing a paper on the discovery, and the data have not been made public. But the signal is reportedly a narrow beam of 980 MHz radio waves detected in April and May 2019 at the Parkes telescope in Australia.

The Parkes telescope is part of the US$100 million Breakthrough Listen project to hunt for radio signals from technological sources beyond the solar system. The 980 MHz signals appeared once and were never detected again. That frequency is important because, as SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN points out, the radio waves band typically lacks signals from human-made craft and satellites.

Breakthrough Listen detects unusual radio signals all the time - between earthly sources, the Sun's natural radio output, and natural sources beyond the Solar System, there are a lot of radio waves bouncing around out there.

But this signal appears to have come directly from the Proxima Centauri system, just 4.2 light-years from Earth. Even more tantalizing: The signal reportedly shifted slightly while it was being observed, in a way that resembled the shift caused by the movement of a planet. Proxima Centauri has one known rocky world 17 percent larger than Earth and one known gas giant.

THE GUARDIAN quoted an unnamed source with apparent access to the data on this signal as saying, "It is the first serious candidate for an alien communication since the 'Wow! Signal,'" a famous radio signal detected in 1977 that also resembled a technosignature.

But THE GUARDIAN cautioned that this signal is "likely to have a mundane origin too."

Such more mundane sources include a comet or its hydrogen cloud, which also could explain the Wow! Signal.

Penn State University's Sofia Sheikh, who led the analysis of the signal for Breakthrough Listen, voiced her excitement about it: "It's the most exciting signal that we've found in the Breakthrough Listen project because we haven't had a signal jump through this many of our filters before," Sheikh told SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, adding that the signal is now being referred to as Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1, or BLC1.

An inherent challenge in searching for alien communications is that no one knows how aliens might communicate. No one knows all the potential natural sources of radio waves in the Universe. So, when signals arrive that seem even plausibly technological and don't come with easy natural explanations, it's tempting to make the jump to aliens.

So far, no data on this signal is public, and it's likely that even when it does become public, there will be no conclusive answers; that's what happened with the Wow! Signal after all.

This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.

 

Selected and edited from - https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-radio-signal-received-from-our-closest-neighbouring-star-system

 

**

 

Evening. It is ever your hope that if humans can't come to save their humanity, that others, aliens of a sort, will have humanity and mercy and renew my hope. – At the moment you wrote 'our' hope, then realized the truth of the moment, that it is 'my' (meaning 'your') hope. – Ms. Havisham

 

2241. Indeed, it is my hope, in the singular; such is the arrogance that I possess. 

That's all for tonight, Mr. Orndorff. Carol is in bed with the light on and Jadah resting comfortably on her lap. You are tired. Jadah left for a drink. Good night, Mr. Orndorff. Post. – Ms. Havisham

 

* * *

 * * *

22. comments and considerations

 

Early afternoon. You are a Macy's; Carol is looking for a new pair of gloves to lunch at the park via Potbelly's before other errands. The two inches of snow are off the roads; yesterday during the whiffs of snow (nothing like New York and Pennsylvania). You watched the first episode of "Midsomer Murders" (1997) on a subdivision of Amazon called Brit Box; another you want to watch is "Inspector Morris." You asked Kim to ask Paul to subscribe to the British "Acorn TV" and said you would pay for the series; those hopefully will not have commercials.  

 

On another note – you have not focused on Grandma's Stories because you are hopeful Carol wanted to drive more, and if she does, she needs a newer car with modern safety features. She is attached to the Honda Accord, so that was your first research. The best safety for the price is the 2021 Accord Hybrid Touring with a negotiating price of thirty-three thousand. It gets forty-three miles per gallon on nineteen-inch tires. The car has lots of new safety features, including braking at slow or fast speeds, and it is the most fun hybrid to drive, something you both like best about the Accord. 

 

Also, below, you have two articles; and would like a more metaphysical-like (the transcending of physical matter or the laws of nature) comment from your heartansoulanmind. I will underline points and comment at the conclusion of each article. – Ms. Havisham

 

**

SCIENCE ALERT

PHYSICS

IN A MIND-BENDING NEW PAPER, PHYSICISTS GIVE SCHRODINGER'S CAT A CHESHIRE GRIN 

MIKE MCRAE

11 DECEMBER 2020 

 

"I've often seen a cat without a grin," thought Alice. "But a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!"

It's an experience eminent physicist Yakir Aharonov can relate to. Together with fellow Israeli physicist Daniel Rohrlich, he's shown theoretically how a particle might show its face in the corner of an experiment without needing its body anywhere in sight.

To be more precise, their analysis argues information could be transferred between two points without an exchange of particles.

The theory dates back to 2013 when researchers based in the US and Saudi Arabia suggested a kind of freezing effect applied to a quantum wave still might not be enough to stop it from transmitting the information.

"We found it extremely interesting – the possibility of communication without anything passing between the two people who communicate with each other," Aharonov explained to Anna Demming at Phys.org.

"And we wanted to see if we can understand it better."

The experimental model they base their calculations on is surprisingly simple.

Think of a corridor with one end capped in a mirrored door. In quantum physics, where objects aren't defined until observed, the door is both open and closed until it's seen, not unlike the condemned cat in Schrödinger's proposed thought experiment.

If a particle were to be sent down the corridor, its fate would also be a blur of possibility until its journey was made known. It would reflect and not reflect. Pass and not pass.

That's because the particle's wave of possibility has characteristics of any physical wave. There are crests and troughs governing the chances of the particle being found somewhere, and phases as it evolves over time.

Putting it simply, a part of the particle's phase describing its angular momentum, or spin, should change in relation to the opened or closed state of the mirror, according to the physicists.

Even when the particle itself should be nowhere near that end of the corridor, Aharonov and Rorlich found that it's almost as if the momentum should be capable of reaching out with a ghostly finger to touch the closed door, before carrying back a bit of information with it.

Particles aren't typically known to let go of things like spin or charge, to have them wander away and affect distant surroundings, no more than a smile is known to remain while a face makes an exit. 

"If you're talking about a cat and its grin, that's very strange," Rorlich told Demming over at Phys.org.

"But of course, all of this has to translate back to elementary particles, and if an elementary particle loses its spin because its spin goes somewhere else – maybe that's something we can get used to."

Aharonov is no stranger to the Wonderland-like absurdity of quantum physics. More than half a century ago, he worked with the renowned theoretical physicist David Bohm on an analysis involving non-local effects on particles in electromagnetic fields.

In what is now named the Aharonov–Bohm effect, a charged particle can be affected by an electromagnetic potential even if it's confined to an area where the surrounding magnetic and electric fields are both zero.

Think of a sailing boat zipping along when the ocean is still and the air is calm. Of course, 'something' must be nudging the vessel, you could argue. Without anything obvious forcing its motion, your eyes would move to the horizon with a sense of wonder what else might be responsible.

Just what that distant effect happens to be is as perplexing to quantum physicists as it is to the rest of us.

For things to move, something needs to cross its location and tell it which way to shift, or how fast. Things don't just decide all by themselves how to act.

And yet we already see some decidedly "spooky" actions in quantum physics yet to be fully explained. Waves 'entangled' by a past connection can instantly resolve into discrete particles that correlate with one another, no matter how distant they happen to be.   

Aharanov's explanation rests on a concept called modular momentum: a characteristic of particles that is hard to appreciate in great detail without a solid grounding in the varied math of quantum field theory.

Basically, unlike everyday momentum – which we can experience directly in terms of shooting bullets and floating bubbles – modular momentum has its place in the quantum world of waves of probability, as they ripple and interfere with one another through space.

This isn't quite the kind of momentum we'd use to describe how a pinball bounces about in a machine. But it is a kind of momentum that makes its presence known in how we calculate the possibilities of motion, even if the consequences of its actions are a little harder to imagine.

"Although it's very surprising that properties can leave their particles, it is not as surprising as to say that nothing happened and there was an effect," Aharonov told Phys.org.

Just what practical implications – if any – the groundwork might have will lie in the hands of future experiments and engineers.

For Aharonov and Rohrlich, the analysis aims to resolve the notion of what it means for particles to act locally, implying its properties – like the Cheshire cat's smug grin – might sometimes matter more than the whereabouts of its body.

This research was published in Physical Review Letters.

Selected and edited from - https://www.sciencealert.com/schrodinger-s-cat-gets-a-cheshire-grin-in-a-mind-bending-quantum-physics-analysis

 

**

 

Selections of this article I underlined remind me of how the elementary particles losing their spin may be akin to spiritual properties losing their biochemical (physical body) properties – becoming less and more in the moment – very Alice-like. – Ms. H. 

 

 

**

SCIENCE ALERT

PHYSICS

PHYSICISTS SUGGEST ALL MATTER MAY BE MADE UP OF ENERGY 'FRAGMENTS' 

LARRY M. SILVERBERG, THE CONVERSATION 

11 DECEMBER 2020 

Matter is what makes up the Universe, but what makes up matter? This question has long been tricky for those who think about it – especially for the physicists.

Reflecting recent trends in physics, my colleague Jeffrey Eischen and I have described an updated way to think about matter. We propose that matter is not made of particles or waves, as was long thought, but – more fundamentally – that matter is made of fragments of energy.

FROM FIVE TO ONE

The ancient Greeks conceived of five building blocks of matter – from bottom to top: earth, water, air, fire and aether. Aether was the matter that filled the heavens and explained the rotation of the stars, as observed from the Earth vantage point.

These were the first most basic elements from which one could build up a world. Their conceptions of the physical elements did not change dramatically for nearly 2,000 years.

Then, about 300 years ago, Sir Isaac Newton introduced the idea that all matter exists at points called particles. One hundred fifty years after that, James Clerk Maxwell introduced the electromagnetic wave – the underlying and often invisible form of magnetism, electricity and light.

The particle served as the building block for mechanics and the wave for electromagnetism – and the public settled on the particle and the wave as the two building blocks of matter. Together, the particles and waves became the building blocks of all kinds of matter.

This was a vast improvement over the ancient Greeks' five elements but was still flawed. In a famous series of experiments, known as the double-slit experiments, light sometimes acts like a particle and at other times acts like a wave. And while the theories and math of waves and particles allow scientists to make incredibly accurate predictions about the Universe, the rules break down at the largest and tiniest scales.

Einstein proposed a remedy in his theory of general relativity. Using the mathematical tools available to him at the time, Einstein was able to better explain certain physical phenomena and also resolve a longstanding paradox relating to inertia and gravity.

But instead of improving on particles or waves, he eliminated them as he proposed the warping of space and time.

Using newer mathematical tools, my colleague and I have demonstrated a new theory that may accurately describe the Universe. Instead of basing the theory on the warping of space and time, we considered that there could be a building block that is more fundamental than the particle and the wave.

Scientists understand that particles and waves are existential opposites: A particle is a source of matter that exists at a single point, and waves exist everywhere except at the points that create them.

My colleague and I thought it made logical sense for there to be an underlying connection between them.

FLOW AND FRAGMENTS OF ENERGY

Our theory begins with a new fundamental idea – that energy always "flows" through regions of space and time.

Think of energy as made up of lines that fill up a region of space and time, flowing into and out of that region, never beginning, never ending and never crossing one another.

Working from the idea of a universe of flowing energy lines, we looked for a single building block for the flowing energy. If we could find and define such a thing, we hoped we could use it to accurately make predictions about the Universe at the largest and tiniest scales.

There were many building blocks to choose from mathematically, but we sought one that had the features of both the particle and wave – concentrated like the particle but also spread out over space and time like the wave.

The answer was a building block that looks like a concentration of energy – kind of like a star – having energy that is highest at the center, and that gets smaller farther away from the center.

Much to our surprise, we discovered that there were only a limited number of ways to describe a concentration of energy that flows. Of those, we found just one that works in accordance with our mathematical definition of flow.

We named it a fragment of energy. For the math and physics aficionados, it is defined as A = -⍺/r where ⍺ is intensity and r is the distance function.

Using the fragment of energy as a building block of matter, we then constructed the math necessary to solve physics problems. The final step was to test it out.

BACK TO EINSTEIN, ADDING UNIVERSALITY

More than 100 ago, Einstein had turned to two legendary problems in physics to validate general relativity: the ever-so-slight yearly shift – or precession – in Mercury's orbit, and the tiny bending of light as it passes the Sun.

These problems were at the two extremes of the size spectrum. Neither wave nor particle theories of matter could solve them, but general relativity did.

The theory of general relativity warped space and time in such way as to cause the trajectory of Mercury to shift and light to bend in precisely the amounts seen in astronomical observations.

If our new theory was to have a chance at replacing the particle and the wave with the presumably more fundamental fragment, we would have to be able to solve these problems with our theory, too.

For the precession-of-Mercury problem, we modeled the Sun as an enormous stationary fragment of energy and Mercury as a smaller but still enormous slow-moving fragment of energy. For the bending-of-light problem, the Sun was modeled the same way, but the photon was modeled as a minuscule fragment of energy moving at the speed of light.

In both problems, we calculated the trajectories of the moving fragments and got the same answers as those predicted by the theory of general relativity. We were stunned.

Our initial work demonstrated how a new building block is capable of accurately modeling bodies from the enormous to the minuscule. Where particles and waves break down, the fragment of energy building block held strong.

The fragment could be a single potentially universal building block from which to model reality mathematically – and update the way people think about the building blocks of the Universe.

Larry M. Silverberg, PROFESSOR OF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING, North Carolina State University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

 

Selected and edited from -- https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-suggest-energy-fragments-is-the-best-way-to-describe-matter

 

**

 

The above article reminds me of the physical attributes of thought, thinking of thought as a fragment rather than a whole. A thought would appear to be whole unless the thought leads to a question. In actuality, what is the difference between a thought and a question in their separate grammatic forms? Both are nothing in an existential sense. The meaning of each is not the thought; it is the endpoint, at least from a soul's perspective, and this triggers the heart and/or the mind, both also nonphysical. Ms. H. 

 

2254. I'll end this here. I don't know whether the above comments by Ms. H. are reasonable or not. I assume they are because I understand the words in context, but the science (knowledge background) is beyond me. [Note: I did not make grammar changes in the articles above.]

 

* * *

 21. STORIES FOR THE DEAD, NOT THE LIVING

 

You were both rather down in the dumps this dreary rainy day until deciding to go to Lucky House Chinese rather than nearby Smashburger in south Westerville. You both had your favorites lunches, wonderful atmosphere, polite waiters, excellent food, and the bill was less than eighteen dollars; you upgraded the tip. You are both feeling much better about the day. – Ms. Havisham

 

1647. The concept of a better world is fading away, but I hope our species survives long enough to mature into a kinder and more tolerant species in the long run. I am becoming more realistic and should have realized the vast difference between possible and plausible. With story number ten, I'll be twenty percent complete on this book. 1653.

 

* * *

We can work on Story Ten, Orndorff. – Grandma Earth

 

2145. I hesitated on the capital O, Grandma Earth; I sense you are more comfortable with the lower case. Perhaps this is my error. 

 

We are both more comfortable with the lower case. - Grandma E.

 

2151. Let's make it a lower case between us in this Blog. Strange perhaps, but I am more comfortable with an upper compartment with Ms. H. Actually, I'm still more comfortable with a capital G and E with Grandma Earth. -2155

 

The reason you prefer that I don't use 'orndorff' is that Amorella did; it was her prerogative, or it appeared to be so to you. – Ms. Havisham

 

2158. I make you all real in my head when I type you out, but I have forgotten more than once that does not make you whole in everyday reality. I can accept you are representations, symbolic representations, and poetry; however, Amorella always appeared to be outside myself. Indeed, she was from my unconscious self, which made her more unique, more real, more unearthly, more spiritual, and less self-created. She originally appeared of her own accord, and last Spring, she disappeared by her own accord. 2223.

 

You wrote the above as if you were speaking to an Angel. – Ms. H. 

 

2226. I wrote it as an honest heartansoulanmind. 

 

That is the difference. You did. This is what makes all of your work unique and at the same time insignificant to the average Reader. You write for a Reader in a different spiritual dimension. Bare tree stories. Stories that are boneless and meatless -- stories of dark humor and irony.

 

2236. I can accept this. I write stories for the Dead, not the Living. 2237.

 

* * *

 

We can work on Story Ten tomorrow, orndorff. Let's mark the above as a reminder: STORIES FOR THE DEAD, NOT THE LIVING. Grandma E.

 

Use this as your lead-in title, Mr. Orndorff. Enough for tonight. – Ms. Havisham

 

2242. Sounds honest to me. – rho

 

* * *

 20. Descriptions, then Story Nine and Comments

 

Friday at dusk. You are at Innis Woods, a Metropolitan Park in Westerville. Carol and Cathy walk the path, waiting for the Christmas/Holiday light to be turned on. The day was quite pleasant weather-wise, but it is quickly cooling. You had a Graeter's treat with Gayle about two o'clock and picked up a late take-home to lunch at BiBiBop. Earlier, you asked Carol if she wants a new Honda Accord as it would be safer, but she said no. Cathy asked if you would buy an electric cart to take you around on 'walking' park visits such as this, and you said no. – Ms. Havisham.

 

1649. I think we are getting too old to buy new things. I assume was are not going to live long enough to get the value out of them. Carol thinks it dumb to buy a new car when we already have the 2005 Accord to run around town if need be – good brakes and tires, six-cylinder engine that is quick and runs well, the car is quite clean inside. The outside is cleaned up with special wax for another couple of years, plus no rust and only a couple minor ping/dents here and there. It is an EX with all the bells and whistles of the time period, good radio, heater, speakers, and tan leatherette interior with dark metallic green paint, and the Honda is fun to drive just like at always has been with less than a 102,000 miles on it. 1658. 

 

You appear to be losing interest in this Blog, Mr. Orndorff. Why is that? – Ms. H. 

 

1705. It appears rather fruitless other than Grandma Earth and editing her stories for a near-future edition. Basically, it comes down to the fact that few people are interested in what I am interested in, and that works both ways; I'm not much interested in what other people are interested in. I am enjoying a quiet time in life. I have always found something to keep my interest as I move along in the world. I read nonfiction of one kind or another almost every day. I have long been a reader and empathic, which allows me to figuratively be in two or three places at once – this is easily seen in my writing and developing stories, but I don't need to write to have this sense of being 'other' than what I am. I was interested in Tesla, but now that I can afford one, I am not so much. We don't go anywhere, and if we do, we will take the Avalon because it is roomier and more comfortable. I have had a good life. No complaints. I have been fortunate, but we have planned and worked with determination for what we earned in life also. We may not be so fortunate in old age. We both are showing memory and physical problems. Such is consciously living a longer life. 1729.

 

* * *

 

Grandma is here while you are waiting on Carol at Kroger's off North State Street. We can work on Story Nine tonight. Drop it in. 

 

 

* * *

* * *

STORY NINE

I listen to everything people are thinking. I got a story that will fit this situation just fine. People discover mysteries in the world and consider some of them are supernatural. Just like the pea-sized ghost a few stories back. It is a natural thing to be interested in the ocean when you are born, raised, and die on an island, to begin with. The sea becomes second nature, so to speak, and second nature is what this story targets.

First, nature is what you see in this story. Second, nature is what you don't see. People think of one's second nature as a habit, but it is more of a habitat instead. The habitat is in the mind of a human being. In this case, it is an aboriginal walking alone along the ocean. Her name was Abbatoot. Three thousand years ago, she was walking that beach at the same time King Simon was being drawn to death for revenge.

Now, you would think there would not become a connection between Abbatoot and King Simon, but nature is not as it seems, just as people aren't as they seem either. Grandma Earth has a few tricks up her sleeve; you see, she always holds a few extra aces if she needs them. Some people silently think they can deal straight on with me even though they say out loud, "You won't catch me messing with Mother Nature." Grandma knows the inside truth.

* * *

"You won't catch me messing with Mother Nature," is what young Abbatoot muttered because a great storm just passed through. She felt lucky to only have lived through it. An old soothsayer had told the tribe the storm was coming because he sensed it in his elbows and knees. When he felt it in four joints simultaneously, he had come to understand it would be one hell of a storm, and that is what he told them. About half the tribe stayed. The other half walked to higher ground, where they felt more protected.

 

Those who stayed knew better, but there is a courageous thrill in meeting Mother Nature head-on. People who are conditioned to weather large storms understand what I'm talking about. It is exhilarating in the moments of confrontation. Suddenly you feel you may not survive whatever it is Mother Nature is throwing your way. You begin to realize the weather is not about you. This is the point when the excitement disappears, and people start praying to the goddesses and gods of their choice to let them survive, even if they stay whimpering.

Abbatoot was whimpering and humbly thankful she survived. She believed the moon goddess had saved her because when she awoke, the skies were clear, and the half-moon sat in the western sky opposite the morning sun. She had heard a story as a child that moon's brother, the sun, followed her across the sky because even though he was brighter than she was, she was a shape-changer, and he wasn't. Shape-changers are not entirely trustworthy because you don't really know who they are. Just because the moon goddess appeared only half full rather than full didn't mean the goddess wasn't completely full all the time.

While walking along the beach, she realizes that the truth in the world is like that, too, that half a truth was sometimes more honest than the full truth appears. Half a reality leaves room for imagination and wonder; the whole truth is a complete fact of nature though some remains are hidden. Brother sun and sister moon still follow one another across the sky east to west. Even the star lights follow this direction.

The north and south sky points hit her questioning mind this morning on her walk. What comes up on the north and goes down in the south? She has no idea. Whatever it is, it isn't visible; it is like half the moon. Visible or not, Abbatoot begins wondering if two objects also move across the father sky from the north to the south. 

The concept allows four points to suddenly come together in her mind. Abbatoot realizes and says aloud, "I am four points plus one, two arms, two legs, and one head." Then observing her right hand closely, she thinks, 'I have five finger or toe points at the end of each of the four points. She creates a distinct sound for each of the twenty points and one more for the head point. I am also twenty-one sound names for twenty-one points.

A vision flashes. What would I be without any points at all? She imagines a body without the limb extensions. What would be the point of no limbs but with a head? 

All thought and no action. What can you do but dream your life away? Thought dreams are what you can see as concepts while awake, but you cannot first know the images unless you are asleep.

The sun and moon move from east to west, so what moves from north to south? Thoughts move from the north, and dreams move from the south. Who chases whom across the sky of the mind? Ideas come in waves. The beach, which stretches east to west following the sun and moon, is real, but dreams are different. A thought or a dream, which is first and which comes second? Thoughts are cold as the moon appears cold; the sun is hot, as are the sex organs south of the head.

Cold moon thoughts and hot sexed sun dreaming. What a mix. She glances over her naked body. I have twenty digits plus two arms, and two legs equal twenty-four numbers, plus a head, and I have twenty-five digits. I have a nose and two ears, and thus I have twenty-eight extensions; men have twenty-nine. 

A moon from quarter to half to quarter to full is four in twenty-eight to twenty-nine days. Therefore, the moon and human extensions have a commonality. We women, too, have this natural rhythm. 

'Whenever the sun and moon do meet, thoughts and dreams center at the feet. Toe touching is where we human beings most often touch our Mother."

I keep an eye on incidentals and fish along the beach's way and think of Mother and how she would walk through the Dead. 

As I walk nervous and faster, I find my thumbs touching the inner part of my middle fingers, which bend slightly as my forefingers extend somewhat. 

Abbatoot observes a large tower cloud separate at its head out over the ocean and another to the west. Two wispy clouds spread like long thin wings with a 5 or S shape in the middle. Abbatoot stops and, with a shell, made a replica in the sand of the S sign of the cloud. She concludes the cloud sign is significant.

Abbatoot glances back up as the cloud sign drifts west. Suddenly and without provocation, she turns around and heads back to her tribe.

It is right not to go on, thought Abbatoot. It is better not to kill the Shaman who ordered us to leave our place. He had a right to the request. Likewise, we who decided to stay and weather the storm had the right to remain. We each determine our own way.

Following the beach back to her people, Abbatoot thinks how grateful she is to still have her limbs attached to her body. She never deciphers the 5 or S sign with wings, but she is sure the moon has something to do with it. When Abbatoot returns to her tribe, she says to the group, "I know something I did not know. The moon makes cloud signs in the sky."

Later, the Shaman is amazed that she discovered this about the moon, and he spends days making the 'S' mark she had copied from the wispy cloud wings in the sky. 

Even more astounding to the Shaman is the fact that Abbatoot mentioned a human body without limbs. In those days, only the Shamans knew that the eternal ancestors, the Ungambikula, rose up in Dreamtime before humans were wholly created. 

They found the humans doubled over in clumps of shapeless sacks near the water holes, and with stone knives, the Ungambikula carved limbs and faces and hands and feet and finished the humans. After this carving was completed, the Ungambikula went back into the earth, into the eternal great sleep, but the Shamans knew this. 

The Shamans also knew another great secret: that ancient Dreamtime still exists between the beat of each person's heart.

 

How did Abbatoot know the fact that humans at one time had no limbs? How did she make up the sounds for the counting of numbers? No one knew. The old Shaman was passed the age of worrying and trying to comprehend such things. If she knew something he did not know, he would take the time to learn it.

 

Abbatoot helped the Shaman memorize the distinct sounds she gave to the numbers of digits human beings had, right up through twenty-nine. What he liked best, though, was her description of dreams. Dreams are reliable, she told him. Dreamland is invisible on the outside, but it is a reality, nevertheless. The Shaman pointed to the north and secretly told another Shaman, "We know Dreamtime, now we two know the Ungambikula's sleeping place. It is presently under the lands in the north."

 

Grandma laughed, "Those two Shamans kept at it until the end of their days. Neither could understand how Abbatoot could have learned a secret about Dreamtime and gathered something from the moon goddess they did not already know. Besides, she named things that didn't exist, the numbers from one up through twenty-nine. 

Some tried to imagine one more extension on the human body, but they could not come up with a place or a name, and neither could Abbatoot. Then, one-day, Abbatoot came running to the old Shaman and excitedly says, "I thought of one more extension; the belly button!"

The Shaman laughs and replies, "Don't tell anyone." The old Shaman did not know what else to say, yet he continues, "The belly button is not an extension, Abbatoot; it is something less than one."

* * *

Grandma bends over and slaps her thighs. Then, as she stands and unconsciously readjusted her enormous bosoms, she breaks into more laughter. Grandma notes, "I guess you had to be there to get the intent. I sent my warm bosomy winds out of nowhere, and . . .."

Abbatoot sniffs breeze and suddenly thinks:

 

The button is rounder than a digit of one, 

And sits in the belly as a visual lesson.

 

What once was for feeding and appearing quite square

It is left as a no-thing but a fleshy dip in air . . ..

* * *

Grandma Earth whispers another stanza:

Alas, today Abbatoot would be considered quite a hero --

Discovering or inventing a no-thing, the skin-sinking zero.

* * *

Grandma Earth and Mr. Orndorff feel this story is dark-humored and laugh out loud funny. I think it is sad that Abbatoot didn't get the significance. She didn't put two plus two together. In my sense of the spirit world, zeroes don't exist as long as there is One. – Ms. Havisham

 

2225. Where in the world did this come from, Ms. Havisham? 2226.

 

Where do you think, Richard? Ms. H. 

 

2228. I reflect, but I am no reflection, Ms. Havisham.

 

Neither am I, Mr. Orndorff.