Friday, March 21, 2014

Kaleidoscope



It was March 2011, when my son, working in Calgary, Alberta, questioned me, “When do you plan to commence your blog writing?”  I responded that although I had given it much consideration, I was not yet prepared due to many unknowns.  “Mom, I have a couple hours NOW.” Friends had been encouraging me...he was pushing me...however, I knew that to BEGIN something new, I must START. Using Team Viewer on our computers, my son patiently walked me step by step, by step, by step through the process...even to selecting a background scene conducive to my writings.  For lack of a better title, we simply called it…INTRODUCTION ~ as a foray into this venue.  This became my first publication three years ago:

The Kaleidoscope has always fascinated me.  As a child, I was given one which I treasured. It makes “magic” with light and mirror. Ancient Greek words were the source of its name... (meaning beauty...form or shape...vision or view) creating vibrant, optical wonders! Various patterns and colours can be seen which I equate to Life! With every “turn of the road” we meet a new experience.  Every birth year, our values and goals often alter.  Circumstances affect us either positively or negatively. As with a song writer, the lyrics are usually founded on personal emotions and situations of drama and humour or other genre.
         
          The articles I write, are personal to me over several years, which I am pleased to share
          with you on “Merle's Kaleidoscope of Life”.  I welcome your comments.

Thus...this became my first publication three years ago
and has become my “transport” for over 300 posted articles.

Every day we hear about “changes” which we call “News” from petty to significant. Consider: designs of vehicles...new laws enacted...change of political parties...road directions...requirements for food purchases...trends in fashion...selection of friends...decision outcomes...discoveries affecting our future.

Space Enterprises
When in grade 5, each student was required to make a speech presentation to the class.  I had seen an article about...A Trip to the Moon...which became my pictorial speech.  NO ONE EVER BELIEVED this could actually happen...and neither did I.

Remember when we were taught in school that there were 9 planets in our solar system? Now…8. The IAU (International Astronomical Union) in August 2006 stated that the definition of “planet” no longer included Pluto which is now designated as a “dwarf planet”.  Consider the exploration of Mars and with an intended flight scheduled for 2025 with “new citizens” on board begin habitation on this planet  Karen Cumming, a Hamiltonian (former teacher and  journalist) is one of 75 Canadians who made the cut for a one-way ticket. She comments, “You can't win if  you don't buy a ticket.  I've certainly bought a ticket.  And the jackpot is a wild interplanetary ride!” 

Found 20 Light Years Away:  the New Earth
A recent publication states:  It's got the same climate as Earth,  plus water and gravity.  A newly discovered planet is the most stunning evidence  that life, just like ours, might be out there.  Above a calm, dark ocean, a huge bloated red sun rises in the sky ~ a full ten times the size of our Sun as seen from Earth.  Small waves lap at a sandy shore and on the beach, something stirs.  This is the scene (or may be the scene) on which is possibly the most extraordinary world to have been discovered by astronomers: the first truly Earth-like planet to have been found outside our Solar System.

Abbot and Costello at the Lake
( published in a British Columbia Fall Magazine 2009
is this cartoon and conversation about a geographic discovery)
Another Lake...and Another Lake:  These are the official names of two lakes northwest of Peachland, about 35 kilometres as the crow flies.  It took some sleuthing, but we tracked down Jim Mountford, who was a boy in 1951 or 1952 when he discovered “Another Lake”.  While exploring the area around Johns Lake,  where he'd been fishing with some friends, he entered a hill and spotted the long, narrow pool.  When he told his dad he'd found “another lake” , Gordon Mountford decided  the name was a good one.  “He thought it would be quite funny to have someone say, “Where's so-and-so today?” And he'd reply, “Oh, they're at Another Lake,” explains Jim.  “My dad has quite a sense of humour!”

Another Turn of Life's Kaleidoscope
depends on one's interpretation.

Joni Mitchell, singer, song writer and artist, reflecting on her creative life and legacy, writes that her music has progressed from folk and pop to jazz.  “The trick is that if  you listen to that music and you see me, you're not getting anything out of it.  If you listen to that  music and you see yourself, it will probably make you cry and  you'll feel a new experience within yourself.”

Technical Difficulty:  A cartoon pictures an older woman, desperately sitting in front of her computer and states, “I keep hitting Escape...but I'm still  here!!!”

Thank you, Carolyn for sending the following poem:
The computer swallowed Grandma!
Yes, honestly, it's true!
She pressed “control and enter”.
And disappeared from view.
It devoured her completely,
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.
I've searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
I've even used the Internet,
But nothing did I find.
In desperation, I asked Mr. Google
My searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found “online”.
So, if inside your “inbox”
My Grandma you should see,
Please “Copy, Scan and Paste” her
And send her back to me.
(Anonymous)

Merle Baird-Kerr...written March 12, 2014
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