Spiritual Stuff.

Later Sunsets.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

It seems like it was just yesterday when I had snapped this photo and posted a blog entry about the days getting longer. As I look at the date stamp, I realize that was back on April 19.

Working the early shift this week, I awoke at 5:30 to complete darkness. The wind was blowing in typical October fashion, making the leaves rustle and putting a slight chill on the air as we get ready for hints of winter predicted for this weekend.

I’ve often said that I feel a certain magic in the air during this time of year. It’s not a time to hibernate but rather a time to rejuvenate. I embrace the darkness of the shorter days by using all my senses to feel my way through life instead of just simply seeing it.

Even though it’s August 20th, there’s a cool breeze blowing tonight. It feels almost like an autumn chill. The trees in the backyard are rustling almost with that enchanting sound usually heard around Halloween, though it’s more than two months away.

I always find a certain magic in the cool breezes of autumn. It is then when I feel Mother Nature is at her most intriguing, getting this part of the Earth ready for a blanket of snow and long winter’s night. It’s my favorite season though it feels rather odd to experience when there’s still a month of summer left.

I’m hoping this is just a gentle reminder of what’s to come in a couple of months.

There are times when I often wonder if I’m doing enough in the world to contribute to the human experience. My job basically focuses on technology and I wonder if I am using my tech powers for the greater good. I think the Universe gave me some hints today about how I’m doing.

This morning I had three internet trouble calls in a row. For the most part it was pretty mundane, routine stuff. The first caller was a man who was waiting for an important software patch to be e-mailed to him. He had thought out servers had swallowed the attachment when actually Outlook Express was denying him access to it because it might be a virus that would be detrimental to the welfare of his Windows system. He assured that it wasn’t, I showed him how to get what was rightfully his, and then he asked me, “Why does Microsoft do that, anyway?” I gave him a brief explanation of the what and why of Microsoft’s thinking and then pointed him in the direction of Mozilla Thunderbird (a free, open-source alternative to Microsoft Oulook Express). He downloaded and installed it while I was on the phone with him and he made the comment that it seemed easier to use. He then thanked me for the information.

My second caller was an elderly woman who was having difficulties getting her e-mail, as she was concerned that she wasn’t getting any from anywhere. I took a peek at her mailbox and saw about 300 messages for viagara and the whatnot, and a few scattered e-mails from someone with the same last name. I relayed the information to her and she perked up and said “those are from my son in Iraq!” I became SuperTech and rid her of the spam, which was clogging up her mailbox and she was able to download the messages from her son. I then went in and adjusted her spam quarantine settings so that she wouldn’t get so many viagara e-mails. “What am I going to do with viagara?” she asked. She told me how much she appreciated my help and went on her way.

The third caller was another elderly woman who told me that she was 80 and didn’t really have much to do but read recipes and search for stuff on Google. She couldn’t get her ancient computer to dial in like it has since it was new seven (!) years ago, so I walked her through her dial-up settings, airing out my rusty knowledge of Windows 95 along the way. Like the previous caller, she was concerned about the spam she was receiving, her comment being “Why would I want to date a black man? I don’t mind that they’re black, but I’m 80 and I can’t keep up with them!”. I sort of chuckled and cranked up her quarantine settings, hoping to thwart of her electronic suitor. I told her to give it a whirl and call back if she had “fur diff else close EOB” (which in trouble ticket talk is shorthand for “further difficulties or we’ll automatically close the ticket at the end of the day”). She called and asked for me about thirty minutes later exclaiming with glee that she was able to dial in and get the recipe for the apple bundt cake she was making for the girls when they come over to visit this weekend. I told her I appreciated the follow up and to have a great weekend. She said, “You too J.P.!”

So I guess I made at least three people smile today. And it feels good.

My pager had gone off in the middle of the night again for the third night in a row. Some produce company in the bowels of Syracuse had lost their phone service and it was time to become SuperTech; no time for tights, no time for a thunder clap, a flash of lightning or an orchestral accompaniment as I made the change, I’d had to act fast and I had to do it in the buff.

After burning what’s left of my eyesight out staring into the bright LCD in the dark of night, I did what I needed to do, involved the people that needed to be involved and forwarded said produce company’s main phone to a cell phone, I kicked back on the futon, hoping to catch the last hour of sleep before having to really get up to start the day.

It was then that I thought, “you know, it’d really suck if I were to die in my sleep right now.”

I realize that a thought like that is quite morbid, but when you’ve been jarred awake for the past several nights by the shriek of your friendly work pager, odd things start floating around in your brain.

It’s not that I’m afraid to die. At all. Despite what the bible beaters will have you believe, I just know in my heart and soul that there *has* to be something better than this on the other side. I just know it. This can’t be all that there is because, well, that would really suck. Think about it; if the meaning of life is making money for “the man” and trudging around with a bunch of basically insane lunatics in every facet of life, then life would suck royally and I don’t believe that the Universe would have it that way. No I think this is a proving ground. You do well, you go on to a better place. If you have more lessons to learn, well, then it’s try, try, try again for you.

After having these thoughts all race through my head, I decided that I would skip the futon, take my chances with another jarring pager announcement and snuggle up next to Earl. Because if I go, I’m going to go a happy man.

Erie Canal Trail.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Happy Summer Solstice. In the Wiccan tradition, today is Litha. It is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Today is officially the first day of summer.

To celebrate the nature-based spiritual vibe I’ve been feeling today, I took a nicely-paced, energetic walk. My walk took me along the historic Erie Canal. It was there that the sounds of the nearby roadways faded away and the sounds of nature came forward with birds singing their song, fish jumping a little bit in the canal and small creatures rustling around in the brush along the trail.

I often use the evening of summer solstice to take a step back and figure out how I’m feeling about things these days. Who am I kidding, I’m always doing that but I like to think it’s a little more special on the longest day of the year. For once, I think I’ll keep my thoughts and observations private and instead I’ll just say, “It’s all good”.

Here is the sun setting on Erie Canal Lock 20. It was a little bit after 9 p.m. (or 2100, as I like to think of it) when I took this picture. A cyclist riding from Buffalo to Albany along the canal trail had just set up camp for the night. I didn’t want to be rude and include his picture on the internet, but I nodded a hello in his direction as he busied himself with his tent.

Happy Litha.

Reminder.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Once in a while I need a slap upside the head from The Universe to remind me that when you look at “the big picture”, it’s really not that bad.

Work has been less than spectacular this morning. My non-Windows nature is running a little contrary to the Microsoft centric thinking of the company I work for. This gets me a little frustrated. I let it affect my mood, which I know I shouldn’t.

But then I get home and see a beautiful sight which I tried to capture to share on my blog. This little plant is the newest addition to our landscaping, having been brought home at the end of last month. The weather hasn’t shown her much sunshine since her arrival, however, today’s beautiful day has given her the opportunity to let her beauty bloom.

Seeing this flower today turned my mood completely around. I have a smile on my face once again and I’m ready to enjoy my afternoon at work.

Sometimes we need a little nudge from the little things to remind us that all in all, we can’t a little speck of dust on the big picture bring us down.

While I’m on the subject of dreams (see previous post), I must be really centered and focused lately because my dreams have been very vivid and very memorable.

It seems like every relative of mine that has passed on has been in my dreams over the past couple of weeks. Even people that I’ve never met are coming around to say hi. One of the oddest encounters was comedian Peggy Cass. Now I haven’t watched “To Tell The Truth” in about 15 years, but there was Peggy Cass, in glorious technicolor in my mind. She was telling me about Kitty Carlisle and how she’ll just live forever. Very odd.

A number of months ago I had a dream, or rather I like to call it an encounter, with my cousin who passed at a young age. It was a beautiful experience and as I type this and think back on it, it sort of makes me tear up now. Ever since that night, I’ve had more and more dreams or encounters with relatives that have passed on. It’s almost like Lindsey went and turned a neon light on over my bed and said “hey, he gets it, go say hi!” Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cats, dogs, old movie stars, Bewitched characters; they’re all coming around and saying hello while I sleep peacefully and occasionally call out in my sleep, only to startle Earl, myself and the cat awake. It’s not a bad feeling by any means. I find the whole thing quite fascinating.

I’m feeling all spiritual today. I don’t know if it’s because I slept surprisingly well last night, because I had a rather sedate weekend or if it’s because maybe I have indigestion or something, but I’ve been thinking this morning about this whole chaotic existence we call life.

As a reincarnationist, I believe that we all have a journey to follow down a pre-chosen path. We are here for a reason and that’s to experience all we can experience and then learn from what we’ve encountered. As we reincarnate, we subconsciously know what we’ve learned in previous lives, though we can’t remember the specifics, and then we add more to our “knowledgebase” as we continue to move down our chosen course.

Remembering these beliefs helps me curb frustration I feel towards people that I view as acting rather idiotic. The person that drove through the red light. The woman that pushed an elderly man out of the way in the grocery store. The man that seems to be stumbling his way through life, making one bumbling mistake after another. I just tell myself that these people are learning, just as I’m learning how to be less frustrated and more tolerant of others. Some of us have reincarnated more, jumping into the pool with both feet and swimming to the other side so that we just get back up on the diving board and do it all over again, while others stick their toes in, try the water out for a little bit and then sit and watch from the sidelines for a while before doing it again.

Some people don’t like the idea of a pre-chosen destiny. “You’re destined to be smart.” “He’s going to be rich and famous.” “She’s going to die at a young age.” When these things occur, not only is the subject learning from the experience, but those around them are learning from the experience as well. LIfe is a great puzzle where all the pieces fit together in an intricate pattern.

Next time you’re sitting somewhere, depressed because whatever is happening doesn’t seem right, instead of thinking about how dreadful the situation is, try to concentrate on learning from what’s wrong with it and what you need to do to make it right.

Gosh, that previous paragraph sounds quite preachy and bossy. But it’s something that I’ve just figured out for myself over the past couple of months. And I just needed to share.

I’ve been doing some work on our media center this week as I’m busy building a computer for the main entertainment system so we can play computer videos, pictures and such on our big television.

As I was messing around with our TiVo tonight, I ran across Xena:Warrior Princess on Logo. I didn’t know Logo was showing the series, but as a huge fan of the show I’m quite glad that they are, so she’s back on our Season Pass list.

There was a quote from tonight’s episode, “The Debt II”, that I particularly liked. It has a spiritual flair to it so I decided to add it to my journal. I’ll share…

“The entire world is driven by a will– blind and ruthless.
In order to transcend the limitations of that world,
    you need to stop willing.
Stop desiring. Stop hating.
To conquer others is to have power; to conquer yourself is to know the way.”

Today is the winter solstice. In the northern hemisphere, today has the shortest amount of sunlight. Believe it or not, days start getting longer until summer begins in June.

When I left for work this morning around 6:30, the moon was still shining brightly and the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. I find moonlit darkness so enchanting. I revel in the twilight. I feel closest to being on my game when it’s dark outside. Humans aren’t suppose to be nocturnal, but I truly think I’m an exception to the rule.

I found a very interesting description of Yule here. As I read the article, I must admit that I found the history behind the holidays of the season very interesting. Perhaps in 2006 I will devote some serious study along these lines so that I don’t feel as uninformed as I do right now when it comes to spiritual topics.

So while some groups are arguing on what to call this season, please take a well wisher’s “Happy Holidays” in the spirit in which it was intended. After all, regardless of the celebration this truly is a joyous season.

Happy Yule. And Blessed Be.