Faced with Choices

What if I take the wrong path in the woods, will that affect the rest of my life?  It seems to me that decisions are part of life and whether they are correct or not, you will have to live with them, or else you will be stuck at the crossroads.  They say that death and taxes are the two things that you can’t avoid in life, but if you are a Windows user, then software updates will go on this list.  Nobody said that life was supposed to be easy and you are not entitled to an easy life and not everything happens for a reason, but you can make something good out of every situation.

George Harrison recorded ‘Any Road’ in 2001 before he died, and it came out on his Brainwashed album in 2002 which was completed by his son Dhani.  Choice is an ability that people have to make decisions when they are presented with two or more options.  When you are traveling, you can go by a boat, a plane, a car, a bike, a bus or a train.  Sometimes are choices are made by spinning a wheel or rolling the dice, but if you don’t know where you are going, you could take any road to get there.  Life is journey, but it is all about enjoying the ride.

Oh I’ve been traveling on a boat and a plane
In a car on a bike with a bus and a train
Traveling there and traveling here
Everywhere in every gear

But oh Lord we pay the price with a
Spin of a wheel with the roll of a dice
Ah yeah you pay your fare
And if you don’t know where you’re going
Any road will take you there

And I’ve been traveling through the dirt and the grime
From the past to the future through the space and the time
Traveling deep beneath the waves
In watery grottoes and mountainous caves

But oh Lord we’ve got to fight
With the thoughts in the head with the dark and the light
No use to stop and stare
And if you don’t know where you’re going
Any road will take you there

You may not know where you came from
May not know who you are
May not even wondered how
You got this far

I’ve been traveling on a wing and a prayer
By the skin of my teeth by the breadth of a hair
Traveling where the four winds blow
With the sun on my face, in the ice and the snow

But ooee it’s a game
Sometimes you’re cool, sometimes you’re lame
Ah yea it’s somewhere
And if you don’t know where you’re going
Any road will take you there

But oh Lord we pay the price
With the spin of a wheel, with the roll of a dice
Ah yea, you pay your fare
And if you don’t know where you’re going
Any road will take you there

I keep traveling around the bend
There was no beginning, there is no end
It wasn’t born and never dies
There are no edges, there is no sides
Oh yea, you just don’t win
It’s so far out – the way out is in
Bow to God and call him Sir

But if you don’t know where you’re going
Any road will take you there

Written for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompts with today’s prompt being choices.

Is the Path Really Less Traveled

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost wrote the poem The Road Not Taken which at first sight and if you just concentrate on the ending of this poem, seems to be about a person that comes to a fork in the road and after contemplating which path that he should choose, he takes the road less traveled by and this positively benefited his life by taking the path that most others didn’t choose.  Poems can have many different meanings to different people, and certainly parts of this particular poem are very much open to interpretation, but the central character of this poem sees these two roads as identical and he admits that he had no real reason to take one over the other, so the end of this poem, which most people take as the real meaning, goes against everything that he previously said.  Frost is saying things and then he is second guessing what he just said.

He decides to take the path that “was grassy and wanted wear”, but then he clarifies that each path had about the same wear.  He feels disappointment because he is not able to travel on each path, maybe wondering what sights he might be missing on the other path, but he has no desire to come back this way again, because of how life and time affects everyone, and he comes to grip with the fact that he will never walk on that other path.  The last verse has five lines, but most people only know the last three lines and this is why they confuse the real meaning of this poem.

A man is hiking along in the woods when he is abruptly confronted with a fork in the path.  He pauses, he hesitates, and wonders if by travelling on one road instead of the other could make a difference in his life.  This is not about choice; it is about disappointment of being at a crossroads and crying over what might have been.  People like to think that they could travel down a lonely path possibly taking a great risk, and receive a great reward for making the right choice.  This poem is about the road that he didn’t try or what he didn’t do, or what he missed on the road that he didn’t take and it is not about having success for choosing one path over the other.  Frost is not con­gratulating himself for taking a that was less traveled by others, as this poem is more about the journey and less about the path that was chosen.

Written for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompts, where the challenge is to use the word – Path.

Formless Reflections of Matter

A dark star is seen streaking through the sky
Then it crashes, pouring its light into ashes.
An LSD trip sends my reason into tatters,
the forces tear loose from the axis.
It is like a searchlight casting for faults
in the clouds of delusion that are all around me.
Shall we go, you and I while we can
Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds?
We can experience rare moments of bliss that create happiness
Making our lives worth living
Will we find any answers as we watch when the
Mirror shatters in formless reflections of matter?
Intense distortion and altered perceptions reveal
a glass hand dissolving to ice petal flowers that are revolving.
A mysterious lady slowly disappeared
Lady in velvet recedes in the nights of good-bye.
Destruction comes and rebirth follows death
Shall we go, you and I while we can
Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds?
The old ways have to transform to the new.

Written for GC and Sue W Weekend Challenge – Reflections.

What’s Up Doc

Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny, and I want to say that you are looking really great for someone who turned 80 years old today.  I am so happy that I grew up with you and your fellow cartoon characters and that I was able to go on many an escapade together with you.  I never made it all the way down your rabbit hole, but beneath the surface of the night while I was laying in my bed, I did dream about you.  When I was young, I had trouble distinguishing between my R’s and W’s which had nothing to do with the locale that I was from, it was natural for a kid my age that watched Elmer Fudd, and I often said wabbit instead of rabbit.  My speech teacher had me say things like, “Bitter bananas” and I had to repeat many things to satisfy her.  Elmer Fudd may have been the worst hunter ever and even though he could never get a break from that wascally wabbit, he would have never made any money at this, despite all of the labor that he put into his hunting.  I just ran out of shows to watch on Netflix and I am thinking about checking out Umbrella Academy.

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompts – Locale, for the Daily Spur prompt – Natural, for FOWC with Fandango – Escapade, for Midwest Fantasy Devereaux Frazier and Beth Amanda Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge – Beneath the surface of the night, for Jibber Jabber by Sue – Satisfy, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Bitter bananas, for Ragtag Community – Umbrella, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Labor Money Break, for GC The Main Aisle and Sue W Nan’s Farm Weekly Prompt – Characters and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Dream.

Potholes

John Lennon and Paul McCartney scanned the Daily Mail for Jan 17th. 1967 and their eye caught the following short article, “There are 4000 holes in the road in Blackburn Lancashire, one twenty-sixth of a hole per person, according to a council survey.  If Blackburn is typical then there are over two million holes in Britain’s roads and 300,000 in London.”  And though the holes were rather small, They had to count them all, Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

Written for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Potholes.

 

Reason to Rock

In the early 1960s big-band swing dances declined and gave way to rock ‘n’ roll, as the large size of these groups made touring very expensive and complex, compared to small, 3-5 member groups that came later.  Teenagers were still listening to music that was sweet and soulless, manufactured pop with a beat for crooners such as Bobby Vinton and Bobby Vee.  In 1958, Link Wray’s ‘Rumble’ was banned from the airwaves because it was a whole new sound and people did not like stuff that was different.  The same year, Bobby Darin, was relaxin’ in the tub and he found out that there was a party goin’ on.  The older hollow-body electric/upright bass eventually began to slink away into obscurity, as the curious new Fender bass guitar was first seen in the hands of Lionel Hampton’s bassist Roy Johnson who waxed on its ease of playing and transporting as well as its tonal presence on stage.

Pop music was blended with country when Lynn Anderson had a big hit with Joe South’s ‘Rose Garden’.  Jimmy Buffett never blew out his flip flop because he needed some new Summer footwear, as he stepped on a pop top, which can be dangerous when you are drinking one Margarita after the other, and having trouble finding the salt.  In 1967, the 1910 Fruitgum Company had their most successful chart hit with a song based on a children’s game ‘Simon Says’.

Music would be changed forever with the advent of Jimi Hendrix.  The Spanish Castle Ballroom which was constructed in 1931 and located outside Seattle had served as a popular venue for young aspiring musicians and other men of mystery since its inception.  The club started changing during the time when a young Seattle musician named Jimi Hendrix started frequenting this place along with his Gibson amplifier.  Jimi always had his amplifier in his car and when a band that was playing at this club had a problem with theirs, the skinny black kid went to his car, to snag his amp, and loan it to the group, if they would give him permission so that he could play on stage along with the band.  Lots of bands blew their amps in those days, so many would let him play with them as long as he loaned them his amp.  Hendrix’s lingering fondness for Seattle’s music scene is indicated by the fact that years after he left the Northwest he penned ‘Spanish Castle Magic’ in tribute to his days hanging out at the old roadhouse.  The club was demolished in April of 1968, roughly a year after the release of this nostalgic tune.

It’s very far away
It takes about a half a day to get there
If we travel by my, dragonfly
No it’s not in Spain
But all the same you know, it’s a groovy name
And the wind’s just right
Hey!
Hang on my darling
Hang on if you want to go
Hear it’s a really groovy place
It’s uh, just a little bit of uh, said uh
Spanish Castle Magic
The clouds are really low
And they overflow with cotton candy
And battlegrounds red and brown
But it’s all in your mind
Don’t think your time on bad things
Just float your little mind around
Look out! Ooh
Hang on my darling, yeah
Hang on if you want to go
It’s a ha, as you can see
A really groovy place
It’s just a little bit of
Spanish Castle Magic
Yeah baby, listen
Yeah, It’s all in your mind babe
Ow! Yeah
Hang on my darling, hey
Hang on, hang on if you want to go
Oh girl, that’s right baby
It’s a, a little bit of
Spanish Castle Magic, hey
Little bit of
Spanish Castle Magic
Hey, I can’t sing this song
Yeah baby
Get on baby, yeah
It’s all in your mind
Little bit of daydream here and there
Oh, yeah, oh, hey!
Everything’s going to be alright

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Slink, for the Daily Spur prompt – Fruit, for FOWC with Fandango – Tub, for May Writing Prompts – Men of mystery, for Ragtag Community – Snag, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Problem Ease Whole, for GC The Main Aisle and Sue W Nan’s Farm Weekly Prompt – Summer footwear and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Rose.

Circle K Cannabidiols

Marijuana laws are changing at a rapid pace across all 50 states, making many people a bit confused in these times.  Cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, comes from the hemp plant, a cousin of the marijuana plant.  Selling CBD products is illegal, but buying them is legal sometimes.  Cannabis is a plant of the Cannabaceae family and contains more than eighty biologically active chemical compounds.  The most commonly known compounds are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).  Both THC and CBD are members of a chemical family called cannabinoids.  Cannabinoids are plants oils, and cannabis comes packed with more than 100 versions of them.  THC is known for its psychoactive effects when consumed with cannabis, or marijuana and it produces what many people consider a “high,” or an altered state characterized by euphoria, pleasure, or heightened sensory perception.  CBD is nonintoxicating, as it does not cause you to get high, but it does have some medical benefits that will help people with anxiety and depression.

The 2018 Farm Bill says that cannabis plants and derivatives that contain no more than 0.3 percent THC on a dry weight basis are no longer controlled substances under federal law, thus hemp and its derivatives are now treated as agricultural products rather than controlled substances, but the FDA still has the authority to regulate these products.  That means hemp-derived CBD is legal in the United States unless outlawed at the state level.  The FDA has approved Epidiolex, Marinol and Syndros and selling unapproved products with unsubstantiated therapeutic claims is not only a violation of the law, but also can put patients at risk, as these products have not been proven to be safe or effective.

In Florida, possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of one-year imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1,000.  Possession a stash of more than 20 grams of marijuana is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $5,000.  Under the 2019 Senate Bill 182, medical marijuana is now permitted in Florida, if you have a prescription to use it for treating a condition.  The Florida Department of Agriculture has said it’s not legal to sell hemp or CBD in the state.  But Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is pushing legislation currently under consideration that would make state and federal law consistent in dealing with CBD’s.  Police have been mostly hands-off in the meantime.  The few examples of police cracking down have been against retailers, not consumers.   Since June 2015, a new trend has taken root across Florida where several cities and counties have passed similar ordinances that give officers the discretion to replace arrests for possession of under 20 grams of marijuana with citations.

Canada can hold their heads high up, stand proud and exult in their new freedom, as recreational use of Cannabis was legalized in 2018 and the owner of the Circle K chain of retail stores, Canada’s multinational convenience-store business has announced that it is investing in Fire & Flower Holdings Corp., owners of the Fire & Flower Inc. cannabis retailer in Canada.  Fire & Flower offers a curated selection of hand-picked strains, in addition to apparel and accessories such as dab gear, grinders, housewares, and more.  Two of the biggest drugstore chains in the United States, Walgreens and CVS, will start selling CBD products in select states, according to media reports.  It seems like CBD’s will soon be everywhere, but you should always consult a doctor before giving it to a young boy or girl.

CBDs are people pleasers, but they can cause side effects, such as dry mouth, diarrhea, reduced appetite, drowsiness and fatigue.  If you are taking an oral CBD, the best way to make it work would be to hold it under your tongue or swish it around in your mouth before swallowing.  Listening to music while taking CBDs can make this a cathartic activity.  By taking CBD, you can get into the groove better as it is known to be an effective mood and focus enhancer, so it might be nice to take while you are playing Guitar Hero.  The chemical in CBD has the ability to affect our nervous system and it is becoming a magical, catch-all remedy that is being added to all sorts of products.  Some people are slathering CBD cream on their face as a moisturizer, because it has been found to reduce free radicals and help with the reduction of things like sun-induced aging.  Manufactures are producing an array of scented beard oils and balms, shave creams, and colognes that people can use for their personal grooming.

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Exult, for the Daily Spur prompt – Hero, for FOWC with Fandango – Stash, for May Writing Prompts – People pleasers, for Ragtag Community – Fatigue, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Confused Boy Work, for GC The Main Aisle and Sue W Nan’s Farm Weekly Prompt – Personal grooming and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Cathartic.

Vibrant and Happy

Who’s to say that an apple is red or that grass is green?  The human eye can physically perceive millions of colors.  But we don’t all recognize these colors in the same way.  Some people can’t see differences in colors and this is referred to as color blindness.  This usually happens between greens and reds, and occasionally blues.  Color blindness occurs when light-sensitive cells in the retina fail to respond appropriately to variations in wavelengths of light that enable people to see an array of colors.  The photoreceptors in the retina are called rods and cones.  If some type of defect occurred, or there is an absence of these cells in the retina that are sensitive to high levels of light, then you may not perceive colors the way other people do.

Razzmatazz is a new color and it ranks at #11 on the list of The 20 Best Crayola Crayon Colors of All Time.  Primary colors can’t be made through the mixing of other colors and secondary colors are those that can be created by mixing two primary colors, like purple, green, and orange.  Razzmatazz is a rich shade of crimson-rose, or a red-pink and it was created by playing around with RGB codes (the three primary colors, red, green, and blue, that are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors is actually the color system that best matches the human eye) and messing with HSL values (hue, saturation, and lightness), as well as Hex codes for layouts and design.  For the color red, the Hex color code is #FF0000, which is ‘255’ red, ‘0’ green, and ‘0’ blue.  Your computer monitor can display 16.7 million colors and designers use CSS Cascading Style Sheets to create colors, which is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language like HTML.  SCSS Sassy Cascading Style Sheets allows splitting the code over several files without impacting performance.

All the colors on the spectrum have already been discovered and you will never see a new color in your lifetime, although you may see new tints, shades or tones of existing colors.  A colorant is an additive substance that is mixed into or applied in order to change the color of a material or surface and these can be worth hundreds of millions to the labs who discover them, as they open up countless new design and manufacturing opportunities.  Creating them takes a lot of hard science–and a big dash of luck.

We have to thank Crayola for the growing popularity of online use of many new colors.  There is a Razzmatazz Schnapps which looks pretty tasty, but the color razzmatazz was invented by Crayola in 1993, and was first found in the Big Box of 96.  The color is found directly in the middle of magenta and red on the color wheel.  You can thank Laura Bartolomei-Hill for the name, as she was the one who named the color at the age of five during Crayola’s Name the New Colors Contest.

Written for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompts monthly color challenge where today is Razzmatazz.

Life During Wartime

Most things that I took as normal, have stopped making sense now.  I am usually an upbeat person although I often remain aloof, however I avoid complaining and the last thing that I want are disappointing disasters that are part of a dystopian future.  I would like to think that we will all eventually recover from this pandemic, if we learn how to navigate with caution.  I am certain that everyone has heard enough advice on what they should be doing to protect themselves through these rough times, but it will be hard for all of us to retain our sangfroid while the grocery store shelves are empty and all of the events that are representative of a normal life are being cancelled.

I have always been a big fan of the elbow bump, mostly because I don’t really enjoy touching other people, but if contact must be made, this is the way to go.  My hope is that we will invent a vaccine that will cure all of the infected people, and also become a remedy for all of the jilted nerves and worried minds that need to be cured.  There is a lot of misinformation out there and myths about the coronavirus and people are so confused at this time, so any thread of information has the chance of going viral.

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Aloof, for the Daily Spur prompt – Recover, for FOWC with Fandango – Jilted, for March Writing Prompts – Disappointing disasters, for Ragtag Community – Sangfroid, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Cancelled Rough Thread, for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompt – The elbow bump and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Advice.

Doubly Isolated

The life of a farmer is a difficult one, mixed with perpetual toil in good weather all through the busy season. and perpetual loneliness sets in when bad weather and winter comes along.  The work done by the farmer’s spouse is especially challenging, as she is condemned to a life of hard work from early morning to night, day after day, and year after year.  If a farmer leads an isolated life, the life which his wife leads is doubly isolated, as it is unfathomable how much time and effort is involved in running a farm.

The farmer’s wife is often frustrated and overwhelmed handling the paperwork and farm finances, running errands, researching new farming techniques, figuring out what they should plant and when it was time to harvest.  Raising the chickens and other livestock always seems to be the wife’s job and that is very time-consuming, and tiring.  Most times it is just easier for her to do the work herself, instead of getting into a debate of whose task it is.  It is despicable that the farmer always finds time to smoke his tobacco and strum his banjo, while his wife stays busy doing laundry and sewing, as a woman’s work is never done.  Somehow this does not seem fair!

The threat of droughts always has them praying for rain, floods have them praying it will stop, there are always weeds, and insect damage that they must contend with.  A farm is a wonderful environment to raise kids, as they learn proper work ethic and the values of hard work.  The day came when the kids left for college and the wife was waiting to sell all of the chickens, so they could have a long overdue celebration.  With the children gone and the work load being less, her husband said, “All I need is you, so tell me what you want.”  The farmer’s wife replied, “It would be nice to be pampered and I love eating chocolate.”

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Isolated, for the Daily Spur prompt – Despicable, for FOWC with Fandango – Debate, for February Writing Prompts – All I need is you, for Ragtag Community – Waiting, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Chocolate Isolated Spouse, for GC and Sue W Weekly Prompt – Celebration and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Pampered.