Ffolkes,
With a loud ‘POP’! a running young man appeared out of thin air on a round platform, which sat in solitary silence upon the top of a moderately large hill. The young man stopped running as soon as his feet hit the platform, and he came to a halt near the edge. From his vantage point on the platform, he could see across the small valley below to the sheer-sided, massive mountains on the far side. A small, intensely white orb was setting behind the mountain, and the lengthening shadows spoke of the approaching night in silent harmony. As he watched, lights began to appear down in the valley, lighting the windows of what appeared to be a small village of perhaps eight or ten buildings. More yellow than white, the lights blinked and danced in the still cooling air, and gave promise of welcome. The young man stood for a moment, gazing down, then turned and walked rapidly to his right, where a small vehicle sat waiting. Inside he could see the profile of a young woman with long, flowing hair, black as the oncoming night. She turned to face him, and offered a brilliant smile, which lit her whole face, changing her appearance from merely attractive to blinding beauty. “Welcome home, Ari,”, she said, “I’m glad you’re here. You’re just in time to help us celebrate.” The young man, whose face had remained grim, gave a small smile, and breaking his silence, said, “Thanks, Lina, it’s good to be home. Has everyone else arrived?” “Yes,” she replied, “you’re the last, as usual.” His smile returned, and he settled back into the seat as the car began to move, following the road which seemed to appear before them magically as it moved. (to be continued….)

Hmm….interesting. It seems our young man has fallen into an adventure of some kind. I suppose further episodes will tell us the rest of the story….I’m as befuddled as you are, as this is just coming out by itself, without any kind of plot line or plan. Kinda fun, actually! We’ll see where it goes from here….. Well, brain freeze…..since nothing else even remotely entertaining is coming to mind, I guess we will proceed to the meat of the program. Today’s offerings are my favorite type of aphorisms; succinct, pithy, and deep as a 1000 year-old well. It takes a good grasp of language to persuade so much truth to reveal itself in one line, and these folks demonstrate their mastery well. A couple of them, specifically the poem  (or part of one) and the last line were included just because of the picturesque structure and brilliant use of words to build strong images in the mind. Even if one doesn’t know exactly the point they are trying to make, it feels good just to read them. Or maybe that’s just me….well, anyway, enjoy!…..

“Although a cloth be washed a hundred times, how can it be rendered clean and pure if it be washed in water which is dirty?” — Nagarjuna (c. 100-200 A.D.)

“Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, utters another” — Homer (c. 700 B.C.)

Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
— Dylan Thomas

“The only problem with seeing too much is that it makes you insane.” — Phaedrus

“Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.” — Eric Hoffer

“Forward goes the vanguard of the lunatic fringe,tickling the death clowns of normality.” — HealNorm

“tickling the death clowns of normality.”  Absolutely brilliant! Brain on, and engaged; proceed with the day….and y’all take care out there…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.gigoid

Kowabunga!