Mid-morning.
You had breakfast and read the paper not looking forward to sometime next month
when the Cincinnati Enquirer will be cut and spliced into a tabloid like the
Columbus "Star" when you were growing up.
Grandma Orndorff used to read the "Star"
religiously because she was into the horses, trotters in particular and into the
national entertainers who would dot the area periodically. She especially liked
the singers and jazz artists because she became personally acquainted with many
who graced The Grandview Inn in the fifties and sixties. Mike Fleish ran the
restaurant and Wilhelmina (Bookman) Orndorff was head chef. The Grandview Inn
was well known for its entertainment and steaks, which were as good as any that
I have tasted in my life. They were lean but juicier and with more fat flavor
in those days. The green beans and corn, etc. were served with real butter. The
drinks were never watered down. If they had had slot machines one would think
sheorhe might be in Vegas in those days.
This was memory tribute to Grandma Orndorff
and her professional life. Rather out of the blue, don't you think? - Amorella
It is a memory of how it was on the upper southwest side
of old Columbus in those days. I am glad I was a part of it. I'm sure Woody
Hayes would remember those Saturday nights. There was more to the world than
the Saturday afternoon Big Ten Conference football game. I saw my share of
those also. These days I like to
reflect on the joy of early growth. Why look back on anything else?
Post. - Amorella
When
Carol arrived home you were doing your exercises, which you just completed. You
also did the exercises yesterday but forgot to post. It makes you feel better
when you have a record of it. - Amorella
No doubt I
have an obsessive-compulsive disorder along with a smattering of other
disorders. I remember Dr. Paul Payne telling me that there is a broad range of
normal among human beings, but many of those who needed to see a psychologist
or psychiatrist never show up. I have never really bothered much about normalcy
ever since. People might say, "Get a life, orndorff" but I have one
and am presently enjoying it very much.
Today we will complete Grandma 13 and move
on. - Amorella
Not right this minute though, I'm ready for a quick nap.
Carol left the car out which means there are things to get done today. It is
dreary out and damp. I don't know which is worse. Dampness is not a good well
card to send to arthritic joints though, that I know positively well. I think
we are about to leave for the grocery. I need to change from my sweats. (1103)
1110
hours. This shows my ability to forecast the future. Carol decided to read the
morning paper first (and wait on the mail in case there are bills to pay)
before we head off for an errand or two. I changed anyway. And, I need to check
my email for the first time today.
Relax with a Sanskrit chant. One of the
reasons you enjoy them is that the language is as ancient as it is. You bond
with the human voice no matter what age the score was created in. It is the
same with listening to Gaelic and Latin voices in music. I am not in any way
offended by your humanity. In the back of your mind while viewing Hindu chants
you are concerned with the concept of G---D. In these books and blog perfection
is not expected or desired, boy. This is a given many choose to ignore or to glamorize
and take advantage of. Self-love and pride, boy. Nothing has changed on that
score. Post. - Amorella
1147 hours. I am having troubles posting this, Amorella.
I am not chastising. Besides, your having
troubles posting, accurately describes what I am talking about. -- See, that
brought a smile. Post. - Amorella
You
had a good extra long lunch at Panera/Chipotle, talking partly about your trip
West in April. You and Carol did have a 'rest' before lunch and she began
reading the April, Consumer's Report automobile issue before you could
get your hands on it. Also, while 'nap/resting' you listened to the Sanskrit
chants and the 'swaying only happened a couple of times and not long enough for
the 'experience'.
1441
hours. I am finding that if the chant is actually sung, that is, there is a
word story to the chant the lower eye muscle 'swaying' happens, but if it is the
"Om" chanted no 'swaying', but it is relaxing in its pace. Yesterday
as I listened to the chants I watched the video presentations also. Interesting
the visual images would flood my mind's eye during some later chanting. -- I
want to be 'in the spirit' of the Sanskrit chant when I complete the rest of
Grandma 13. I really feel I was 'into it' when writing the 365 word draft. I am
glad for that personal authenticity (subjective but meaningful to myself)
You are thinking, "Ten Thousand Names
for God" and wonder how your GemNest of Ten fits in this particular
spiritual dimension. - Amorella
I am but I didn't want to bring it up because it makes
me feel uncomfortable.
It is in your present nature to feel the
discomfort and you have it for good reason. - Amorella
I wonder if in the ancient stories the cardinal
directions were considered as a personification of a god or goddess that all
these manifestations in a variety of world religions, angels for example, are 'splinterings'
of G---D at least as far as the books are concerned. Perhaps it really doesn't
come up, but it might with "The Brothers" or "Diplomatic
Pouch" segments.
You and Carol are home, the groceries are
put away and it's time for personal relaxation. Jadah has made her way up on
your lap looking out the bedroom window and having her back and belly scratched
from time to time. You both worry about how Jadah and Ellie will be when you
are not home for about three weeks.
- Amorella
Carol
called you down to watch an older "White Collar" and now she is
watching the local news before seeing one of her unwatched programs. As for the
personifications and manifestations it is not going to come up, as it would
make you too uncomfortable. Besides, we can work around most anything, boy. -
Amorella
1715 hours. I'm glad you didn't say, "We can work
around anything."
Even in a fiction one can't work around
everything, it's a known rule. - Amorella
That has an ominous tone to it.
1816
hours and I have completed Grandma 13. Yesterday I would not have thought the
beginning, nor today would I have thought the ending until now.
This is an acceptable story, boy. Add and
post. - Amorella
First I need two or four lines of poetry from Grandma.
(1822)
Consider
this after supper and some relaxation. Then we will post. - Amorella
2150
hours. I am not so sure about the last two lines; they are interpretative but
seem to fit. The total words are 801.
The last two lines are ambiguous. Lord Shiva
is known for his ambiguity. This will do. Add and post. - Amorella
***
Grandma's Story 13 © 2001-2013 rho, draft
I have a little story for you,
noted Grandma. This narrative takes place in a narrow area of India in the
sixth century. Thar stands tall along the upper Krishna River in the
Maharashtra state in the Western Ghats mountain range. The eight hundred mile
river flows east to west across India to the Bay of Bengal. To the far north is
the Indian desert of Sahara-like sand dunes. To the Krishna River’s far
southwest coast of India in the present day Kerala state are coastal
semi-evergreen forests. This limited area of the subcontinent has the Indian
Ocean to its west and the high Western Ghats Mountain to its east.
Thin Thar and his still beautiful
full-bodied, long black haired partner, Malabar sit eating some fruit on a
large ash gray boulder on the south shoreline of the Krishna. Behind them about
three hundred feet is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple has
long been destroyed but it has a near twin still standing and in use in the
state of Bihar, the Mundeshwari Devi Temple. Both towered temples were built
for the worship of Lord Shiva in the early first century. A younger couple, Goa
and Comorin, come out of the entrance to the small temple and see the backs of
the older couple lounging on the rock.
An ever so slight wind, a seeming
inconsequential breeze with a flit of bliss, accompanies Goa and Comorin on
their now judicious walk to see their friends and to innocently ask how it is
that Thar and Malabar long ago had come to be married and to live in such peace
with one another.
Thar
rose and stood loincloth naked while Malabar sat. In solemn tone he declared as
he had many times in the years before, "There will be great floods from
these mountains to our north."
With
her feet dangling in the cool water and turning her head slightly to her left
and up to see her husband's eyes looking down, Malabar grumbled, “There are always
floods, Thar," then with a twinkle in her eye, added, "And droughts
too; nevertheless, we cannot wade across the Krishna without getting our feet
wet."
Thar
turned his head having observed Goa and Comorin within a few feet of the rock.
"Hello,"
said Comorin energetically, "We thought we saw you from the Temple."
She paused as Malabar turned their way. "What's wrong," she blurted,
"Thar stands while you sit?"
Malabar
did not bother to stand. It was easier to look up at the three of them.
"Thar is the problem," she stated matter-of-factly, "He wants to
wade across the great Krishna without getting his feet wet."
"You
need a blessing from Lord Shiva," declared Goa earnestly, "to wade
the Krishna without getting wet feet."
Attaching
to the immediate humor of the moment, and to the quick twinkling exchange
between husband and wife, Thar replied, "What blessing would that be, my
young friend Goa, so that I may wade and not have to take a boat across to keep
dry?"
Perplexed
by the sudden question Goa ran his mind through the moments of meditation they
had just spent in the Temple. Goa lowered his eyes and confessing, "Only
as a soul can you be liberated from the physical, Thar; thus being alive you
will have to take a boat across the river."
Malabar
smiled warmly at her two young friends, "That is just what I told him,
Goa. Thank you for clarifying this for me." She touched her husband left
leg in friendly jest and continued, "See, Thar," she looked knowingly
as any woman in her position would, "What would I do if you waded across
and I was left here alone?"
Thar stood
tall and scratched his head, he looked seriously at their two young friends and
then down at his wife, "Come, Malabar" he said gently, "please
stand so we four might stand together as two couples." He paused as he
helped her up. The four witnessed a sudden and unannounced meeting of common
human spirit.
Thar
immediately realized the four were standing together in the cardinal directions
unaware. "We will soon be the North and South winds and in time you two
will be the East and West. Lord Shiva speaks in such a heartfelt meeting as ours
and as such the four of us beyond ashes and smoke will dance over the Earth and
not a one of us will retire with either wet feet or dry soles."
Old
Grandma Earth smiled; nodded her head and quipped, "Not everything in the
world is as loose or as tight as it seems." She continued in a calm,
"Transcend, transcend, a beginning,
a middle and an end
While talking to a thousand, to a couple, or to
a single friend."
***
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