Notes - shyness / superfluous details

       Mid-morning. You noted this morning that actually you have ten hits on the first day of Dewdrop and one more on the next. Somewhere it was stated that you had four more hits on the second day and none since. This bothers you because earlier in the post you said you had four more hits. – Amorella

       0949 hours. As I realized I misstated the facts I wanted they clarified. Now they are and I feel better. Dewdrop is for me but I feel more comfortable putting it in a public platform. This is strange for an extremely shy person such as myself but that is the way it is.

       Post. - Amorella

       Mid-afternoon. You had Piada Street Italian for lunch and a Graeter’s for dessert. You both had salads and Carol had double chocolate chip and you peach ‘crème’. Presently you are waiting for Carol at Kroger’s on Mason-Montgomery Road. Much earlier today, when you were getting the paper a fawn scampered out from your yard and driveway, frolicking along the way for two houses up the street until she turned to the left and headed back into the woods and Muddy Creek from between the houses.   - Amorella

       1433 hours. Kay sent me a note this morning and a photo of Steve and myself. I asked her to send me the one that had her in the middle. Kay said she liked the fact that originally I used her and Ann as my inspiration for the twins in The Brothers segments. I’m still glad I revised them to be sisters in GMG. She liked the fact that I am including friends as partial inspirations for many of the characters and as listed in the Prefaces. We are bound outside of life, that’s how I see it.

       When your parents moved to Middleburg Heights, a southwest suburb of Cleveland in the summer of 1959 you choose not to stay and returned to live with your Grandparents Orndorff so you could graduate with your high school class, people you had been with since Kindergarten. Obviously, your heart lay with the Westerville High School Class of 1960. – Amorella

       1503 hours. Home. It is right up there with Otterbein Cemetery. If I had a childhood crossroad it would be at Walnut and Knox. I don’t know why I feel the attachment so deeply. Carol and I didn’t think twice about leaving Westerville and from age seven on I lived at 3128 Minerva Lake Road at the top of north side of the hill (in Minerva Park) up beyond the railroad track (which exists no more) off the 3C’s highway. I don’t think they call it the 3C’s anymore – probably it’s State Route 3. The three C’s were Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, a one time major route paralleled with US. Route 42 runs through downtown Mason from Louisville, KY to Cleveland.

       You get carried away with superfluous details, boy. – Amorella

       1534 hours. That’s one reason I normally keep my mouth shut. People aren’t interested and it is not polite to be boring. I learned this at an early age, that and not to ask so many questions; also impolite; particularly questions that were none of my business. I remember one I asked [great] Uncle Clayton (Grandma Schick’s brother). I said, “Why do you have such big shoes?” I was probably four at the time. He always wore these big ‘clodhoppers’, that’s what we used to call them – farmers’ shoes. He lived up on the Freeman farm in/near Lewis Center. I think it was Mom who was upset or embarrassed not Grandma. I remember another early comment directed to me – “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.” Wow. I can’t believe I am remembering this stuff. Why doesn’t that kind of stuff go away?

       You don’t have much of a social filtering system young man. Post. - Amorella

Notes - AM / Dewdrop / Brothers 12 / the plan

       Mid-morning. Jill is here for the cleaning, Carol is readying to leave as you have errands planned for the day. One is going to AAA to get her luggage checked for the Jamaica trip – new rules. She and Kim are getting excited about next week’s trip and Sharon and Gill’s wedding. After that you can focus on the Colorado trip in August. – Amorella

       1005 hours. We have taken trips periodically since retirement and don’t regret a one of them. Carol has never been to Colorado and I haven’t been there since 1960. Mostly it is about seeing friends/family in sometimes wonderfully different settings along the way to and from. That’s the way my memory reads it. So, shortly we will be off for the morning and lunch.

       Post. – Amorella

       Later in the afternoon. You had writing time before and after lunch at Smashburgers. Carol was reading the morning paper while you were working on Dewdrop and in the process published October 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, 2009 dates of edited metaphysical oriented dialogue between you and me, the Amorella. Carol is out watering flowers as it may not rain until Saturday. You were beginning to work on the Brothers Twelve segment when it crashed. You had decided to reference the Blake quote from Chapter Eleven – “Both read the Bible day and night. But thou readist the black when I read the white.” - Amorella

       You have completed the near final draft of The Brothers – Twelve. Add and post. – Amorella

***

The Brothers – 12  ©2016 rho, GMG.2

“I’ve been thinking about your book and I have a proposition for you.”

Richard smiles, I couldn’t sleep last night so I headed to the basement and found my old college paperback of Dante’s Inferno, John Ciardi’s translation.”

“Where is this leading?”

“I was struck by what you said about the shape of Merlyn’s dream segments the other day. I tried to visualize such a segment and came up with stair steps.”

“I need a reference Richie.”

“Merlyn is climbing out of his dream into the present in a Grandma’s Story segment. He is moving up through the DNA as Eve moved up through his DNA in the last chapter of book one.”

“So you are saying Merlyn is consciously attempting to get to the present time and unconsciously he tries by way of a lucid dream moment.”

“Yeah, Rob.”

“Okay, Richie, is there any other Merlyn reference that has a stair step analogy to it?”

I found a big one in one of Grandma’s early stories in book one.”

Robert, “Hendrix?”

“No, Dante.”

“What does Dante have to do with anything?”

“Dante climbs down into Hell with the help of Beatrice who symbolizes Love,” responds Richard, “and with the help of Virgil symbolizing Reason.”

“And?” says Rob gruffly, thinking about how he never finished The Divine Comedy.

“Virgil has to climb out. Once Dante reached the Ninth Circle of Hell where the traitors were, he had to climb up through Purgatory, then on through Paradise.”

“Isn’t that about where Grandma’s Story is?”

“In book two?”

“Yes, Richie. Merlyn has his lucid dream moment.”

I don’t remember what I write. That’s why I write it.”

“That was in the Grandma segment of chapter ten of this book,” intones Robert. “Jeez, Richie, where’s your mind?”

.

            Later, Robert is sitting alone at the kitchen table with an empty cup of coffee. Connie’s closed Bible sets at her place and it reminds him of Blake’s quotation: “Both read the Bible day and night. But thou readist the black when I read the white.” Richard’s mind is the dream not his brain. He has unconsciously split them in two separate entities. Freud and Jung were speaking of the brain. The unconscious doesn’t know the difference.

            People wonder on the meaning of dreams. Robert’s lips raised a slight smile automatically as he catches a connection. The mind understands things before the brain is aware. Wit first springs from mind, then the humor rolls from the tongue. It is the brain that is the mind’s shadow. DNA is a dimensional connection to the human dream projector. Richie thinks Merlyn is climbing up the text, that somehow Merlyn is inside him . . . like in that film Being John Malkovich, full of imagination coming out of the actor’s head.

            Robert suddenly focuses on the white saucer and cup. Why is Connie using this for everyday service? She is going to pass this china on to Jill. Why would she change her mind? Does anyone really know why anyone really changes his mind? We don’t say, ‘I changed my thinking; we say, ‘I changed my mind.’ The brain might do the thinking, but the mind does more and the center of Richie’s book is Merlyn’s mind, really of course, his own. The mind writes but it is the brain that does the editing.

.

            Richard drives into the College Cemetery and sits silently in the car where the roads cross. He stares at the front doors of the mausoleum surrounded by still white snow domed by the distinctly clear February afternoon sky. It is hard to have words, considers Richard, when pictures will do.

            It is more comfortable to sit in my study or in the public library to write, thinks Richard, than to sit in the cemetery. Why do I come here to get away? Where’s my mind anyway? It is not at my study, the public library or here at the cemetery. I wonder where Merlyn’s mind is; the dead Merlyn not my fictional one? With this, a once adolescent created poem flashes – every word from the interior of Richard’s skull.

.

Wicked thoughts plague at my twitching fingers,

and tip toe they in a swirl about my head, thinking

Lucifer ready to slither up from my shoulder blade.

Cold fog and heavy mist and foul night

rule Grendel-like on this barren stone in the heart,

the place where running quickly is a way of Iife.

I focus my mind on the stellar beauty of a quiet moonless night;

but slippery whisperings abound, suggesting I stay up

until I find some delightful way of ripping the stars out one by one. (798 w.)

.

            This is not who I am today. Why then does memory root out these ancient unforgotten words?

       2006 hours. We ate out of the refrigerator tonight and watched NBC and ABC News as well as two “Property Brothers”. No more TV tonight. I am feeling rejuvenated after working on two projects today. Tomorrow I am working on Brothers – 13, then, once that is completed, the Brothers – 14 segment. After that the plan is to do the remaining Grandma segments or the remaining Pouch segments. I haven’t decided which to do first. Once those are completed it will be time to do the three remaining Dead segments, which, of course, will be from scratch.

       Sounds like a plan boy. Also, we can also work on Dewdrop along the way. Perhaps so that when the book is finished we will be into 2010 on Dewdrop. – Amorella

       2027 hours. This is fine with me, Amorella. A different set of objectives will change the routine. I will certainly feel more personally satisfied once GMG.2 is completed. As for other projects I’ve recently considered they’ll go on the back burner for now. Fortunately for me I am still alive to continue writing.

       Post. - Amorella

Notes - doctor / working on two projects

       After noon. You had your appointment with Dr. B and she pronounced you, “Perfect”. You laughed and told her you would tell Carol tonight just before she went to sleep. You both laughed at the dark humor. She laughed thinking of Carol laughing. You said Carol would laugh for at least a day. You did pass all your tests and the A1c is 6.5, which she considers very good. Your tests for Dr. G were also good according to Dr. B.

       1226 hours. With Dr. B happy, I’m happy with the results.

       You have been working on the Brothers Twelve segment for the last hour. Earlier you and Carol watched some TV, one was first episode of “The Tunnel” on PBS – you are semi-interested, perhaps Carol is more so. – Amorella

       2239 hours. I worked on setting up the first ten days of October, 2009 for the Dewdrop project also. I couldn’t find it all so I went back and copied it directly from the blog and reversed the order. I have  had four viewers on the site; better than none.

       You and Carol had a good day visiting Kim, Paul and the boys yesterday. Lunch was at the Liberty Tavern in Powell. Post. - Amorella

Notes - binding / thankful

       Sunday morning. You are waiting for the last sections of The Enquirer – wanting to read George Will’s column since CNN this morning says Will is leaving the Republican Party because of Trump. And, Garrison Keillor’s column is very funny according to Carol – she laughed aloud all the way through it.

       You had take out from Potbelly’s for lunch then drove up and under an old shady maple in the northern sections of Rose Hill Cemetery for a naturally quiet lunch. You have been thinking about what Kay suggested as she asked where it would be easier to pick up book one (which you couldn’t think of the title to). – Amorella

       1518 hours. It was a little embarrassing then I remembered and quietly said that I should have finished the three GMG’s, but that I was burned out and that I only had three more chapters of GMG.2 to complete and that I should get on it. Everyone around us was quiet. I changed this book so Kay and Ann wouldn’t be twins. I think I made them sisters a year or so apart, but anyone who had read my notes would know they were the twins who inspired my concept originally.

       It is a way originally to keep you and your friends bound together for longer than life. This is also true by listing your friends in the Preface of both sets of trilogies. – Amorella

       1630 hours. I don’t believe I set out to do this consciously. It gives me even a greater reason to complete the Great Merlyn’s Ghost trilogy. I had not thought on this – binding my friends and me in fiction. This is actually very settling. I should have realized what the books were really about.

       The books are about more than this boy, but gathering your friends within is a good thing. Post. – Amorella

       1535 hours. I don’t think as much as I should. I do need to work on those chapters. It was so good to see Kay yesterday. 

       After a light supper of a banana with peanut butter on top and water you have begun work on Brothers Twelve and have the documents and helps set out for the chapter. You do not want to think about the falling event of an hour or so ago but I want it documented. – Amorella

       1832 hours. I was placing the top of the birdbath back on its pedestal when I lost balance because the area of the flower garden goes downhill at that point. I made the mistake of moving my right foot outside the rocks surrounding the garden and as it was further downhill I really lost my balance and was moving fast one leg in front of the other trying to regain myself. I did manage to set myself on the diagonal rather than move straight down the hill. I grabbed a branch of Tim and Amy’s evergreen tree and thought that slowed me down I was quickly into a tumble still on the diagonal. I think that helped and though I hit the grass forcefully but controlled. No injuries, some by luck, and some by design. I am thankful nothing was broken.

       Post. - Amorella

Notes - plain and simple - good friends, good time

       You stopped up to see Kim, Paul and the boys and ended up taking a nap before heading to the class picnic. Steve brought chairs for you and himself – quite kind of him to do so. You had the lunch provided and chatted with old friends. Everyone appeared to have a good time. After lunch Kay and Ken stopped by at your table and you had a nice chat. About three-thirty you said your good-byes and returned home. – Amorella

       2216 hours. Your description is plain and simple but emotionally seeing, listening and talking to everyone in our area was wonderful, good for heartansoulanmind. I’ll keep my thoughts private but they are certainly known to those few I gave hugs and handshakes. It was especially good to see Kay once again, and Ken too, as well as Steve, of course, and Fritz and the others I see at the Uptown suppers most every two months of the year. We have a good Class of 1960, which alas is dwindling more each year. We lost three this year, Bev C., Bill M. and Ruth Ann N. I hope to see no one leave this next year. One never knows.

       Post. - Amorella

Notes - Friday and the furrows

       Late afternoon. This morning after your last forty minute exercise of the week you spent more time working on various ways to get the sync to work on the Garmin GPS. Finally after doing that Garmin specialists suggested you called and found you were supposed to be using a micro cord. The specialist was patient and very helpful and he soon realized the problem. You thanked him and after working on the gutter by the garage you and Carol headed to Penn Station for an excellent tasting lunch and on errands, the last of which was to Best Buy for the right cable. The tech fellow was also quite helpful and made sure you had the right sync/charge micro cord for the Garmin (which they sell). After a stop at Lowe’s for a new soaker hose and stone and at Kroger’s for essentials forgotten yesterday you plugged the Garmin into the MacAir and it worked, not on Garmin Express but on Garmin Web Updater instead. – Amorella

       1658 hours. I am much relieved that it was, after all, a simple fix. I had marked the wrong cord for sync then could not find the original so I bought a new one. All is well. Tomorrow, I have a trip to Westerville for the day for the annual senior class picnic, which I missed last year. Steve had called and asked me to come this year as well as Kay, who asked if I would be there, especially since I said I would be there last year and was not because an acute illness that morning.

       You and Carol raided the fridge for supper again tonight and watched BBC, NBC and ABC News before calling it quits. Kim suggested you come up early tomorrow, so you will; leaving then about seven-thirty. Tonight you are reading then a bath before an earlier bedtime. On Monday you are going up the Kim and Paul’s just for the day while Carol and Kim visit the stores one more time before the Jamaica wedding trip. You are feeling good as you learned about the Brexit vote earlier today and predicted Scotland will have another referendum to leave the rest of Britain. BBC suggested it might happen. - Amorella

       2000 hours. This is awkward. I did make the prediction because I think that is what many a Scot wants. Then they could join the EU themselves – they have had a connection with the French (Europe) since Medieval times – nothing new there. Maybe, if they were free, they could have their own royal family once again.

       Post. - Amorella

      2007 hours. I am really looking forward to seeing my high school friends tomorrow. We are slowly falling into the furrows of forever more.

Notes - I need to actually write

       Late morning. You are waiting for Greg the plumber to attach the remaining faucet and shower apparatus in the hall bath that will then be complete except for a light touch up on the ceiling paint after yesterday’s grouting. This will be completed when they begin work on the master bath in August. You and Carol are quite pleased with Lawrence Kessler Construction so far. – Amorella

       1058 hours. The hall bath looks new even though only parts are. No one will know it isn’t all new. Very few have been in the bathroom anyway who aren’t family and a few close friends. We are not social community people. We like the bath’s contemporary look; it needed freshening.

       Earlier you got your blood test for Dr. Sherrod G., your nephrologist. You have an appointment next Friday afternoon. – Amorella

       1106 hours. I am hoping my kidney tests are okay. This is the first year I did not have to return for a visit every three to six months. I also like my other two doctors: Jeffrey M., general practitioner, and Vina B., endocrinologist.

       Mid-afternoon. You finished lunch at Smashburgers and are stopped at Kroger’s on Tylersville and Cox before heading home. You had a chat with the owner’s daughter Susan K. about how you missed Smashburgers in Florida. She said there are a few stores in Atlanta, and this is when you discovered her mother is the owner of this store. The hall bath will be ready for use tomorrow. You have been toying with getting back into the remaining chapters of book two, realizing that you do want the revised editions for the boys to read when old and if they wish. – Amorella

       1504 hours. Yes, and I made a promise to Uncle Ernie also. I could at least work on chapter twelve and be done with it.

       The last book only has twelve chapters. That’s a plus. – Amorella

       1506 hours. And, it is worth the note, Amorella. – I made a new folder with the remaining chapters for working.

       You and Carol raided the fridge for supper then watched some TV ending up with an episode of “Doc Martin”. Post. – Amorella

       2248 hours. We had a laid back evening. Ever refreshing. 

Notes - incapacitated? / a bit spooky and self-entertaining

       Almost noon local time. You are waiting for Joe to come and finish the hall bath this afternoon. Earlier you did your forty minutes of exercises, this you have done five days a week since last Christmas. – Amorella

       1152 hours. I have kept up and I ought to until we leave for Colorado in late August. I don’t know how I’ll do on the trip. I am taking the smaller weights with me. If I can get in two to three miles a day equivalent on the Fitbit that will have to do when I can’t do the full exercise.

       Time will tell, boy. – Amorella

       1157 hours. I have never literally understood that phrase; odd that you drop it in. I understand the overall concept – time will show the demonstration of your action or inaction, but Time doesn’t tell anything except move forward and even then it is we who move forward time just exists within our dimensional sense of relative situations/events or non-events. I don’t think even the Dead can have non-situations sense being dead, like being alive is a condition. One is either literal or figurative in a statement – ‘time will tell’ is obviously figurative – but this should be able to be expressed literally also.

       Your mind blanks out in such considerations. Heartansoul sit there (figuratively) waiting. – Amorella

       This is a human condition; heartansoul waiting. Are they incapacitated?

       No. Post, Amorella

       You finished the September 2009 metaphysical dialogue with a total five Dewdrop postings. You still see little purpose in it and were thinking about adding a humorous commentary on the dialogues at the end of each month for a bit of self-entertainment and perspective. – Amorella

       1930 hours. The thought did cross my mind sometime in the last hour. Looking back on the dialogues I can already see my imagination riding freely along. Reminds me of the little invisible fellow, a haunting spirit, I picked up from Otterbein Cemetery one day long ago. He wanted to ride on my shoulder as I walked Uptown Westerville so he could see the sights – that’s how I remember the event. One of the mental worlds I sometimes find myself living in is a bit spooky, but overall it is entertaining and not really so serious. 

       Such is your dark humor lifting a slightly crooked smile, old man. Enough for tonight. Post. - Amorella

Notes - on the way to Mason /

       Morning. You are at Easton Mall in front of Chico’s after Donuts at Schneider’s and first a stop at Mom, Dad and Mary Lou’s gravestones. The ladies are looking for more clothes for Sharon and Gil’s Jamaica wedding in a couple of weeks. Afterward, you and Carol are homeward bound. – Amorella

       1012 hours. So far it is pleasantly partly cloudy. I’m sure it will warm up. I just want to get home and take a nap. Last night Paul tried to help me get Garmin to recognise my devise. We were not successful but I did get a message from Garmin this morning and I’ll see if it works this afternoon. It uploaded free updates in March without a bit of trouble. I love the machine, awesome GPS. I’ll wait to upload this once we are home (more secure than a shopping mall).

       After noon. You are stopped at the Tanger Outlet Mall about half way home. Carol is checking out Chico’s. – Amorella

       1254 hours. It is still a pleasant partly cloudy/sunny day with a bit of southwest wind – flags are flying straight out just off I-71. I am wondering if I should continue with Dewdrop. I will keep on it privately but I feel I am wasting blog space as the blog is so specifically focused, especially since it is the same material (slightly edited for clarity) that is already on this blog.

       Your mother once said that if you write anything worth writing about be prepared to put your name on it published or not. As such it is more honest to have your work out in the open to keep you honest and true to yourself whether anyone else reads it or not. Thus, I want the material in a blog. – Amorella

       1302 hours. Keeping it public is more humbling. I can see that.

       You have a naked mind, boy. Let’s keep it that way. Your mind, when you write with my guidance, is as free as if you were already dead, that’s the way I see it. I find it refreshing whether anyone else does or not; and, by anyone else, I am also referring to you. Live with it. Everyone pays the Piper; this is your payment. You are not afraid of what is in your head. – Amorella

       1307 hours. Freedom is very important to me. If I were dead I would probably want more, not less. (This is an odd thought out of nowhere.)

       Post, if you like. - Amorella

Notes - a good family day / Cavs and Browns

       Late morning. You are at the south entrance of Macy’s at Polaris across the Parkway from Max and Erma’s. The trip up was quite uneventful and you are getting thirty-nine miles per gallon driving mostly at seventy-six miles per hour except in urban areas where you were getting forty-one miles per gallon. Yesterday when you filled up the car from the Florida trip you got forty miles per gallon even though you spent more than an hour at a crawling stop and go up the mountain in the congestion. The air was on but part of the time the engine kicked on to recharge the battery then the battery took over for a time. You were both quite surprised. – Amorella

       1137 hours. I told Carol I’ll have to mention this to Steve at the reunion picnic Saturday especially since when he called last week he was asking about the mileage. Once a EE student, always an EE student even if he was the head of the department. Steve has always been a WYSIWYG person. Most of my friends are. In fact, I can’t think of any of my long time male friends who are not. It is supposed to be in the nineties today. We arrived home to the same weather we had in Florida. Shoot, Mason even has a beach, though it is the water park, The Beach across from King’s Island. Watching people walk by I see a young woman with a horizontal striped short dress that looks exactly like one Carol had and wore in the States. In Brazil, at least in Sao Paulo, the dress was considered a bit too short. I think she wore it anyway. Carol was a rebel in her own way, particularly on women’s rights, which Brazil did not have in those days, well, neither did the States as far as that goes, but in the States the wife did not have to have the husband’s permission to leave the country. Obvious, (back to) fashions come and go and come back again. Carol always looked good in that dress. She still does look good. We get along pretty well as an old married couple.

       Early evening. You had brats and burgers, salad, potato salad and watermelon for supper at Kim and Paul’s. At noon you found Max and Erma’s closed so everyone headed to Olive Garden. Afterwards you stopped over to see Uncle John, Heather and Becky at the Methodist Senior Center in Dublin. Once at Kim and Paul’s you and Carol napped while Kim took the boys to jujitsu. Paul was on call. It is cloudy like it is going to rain. You are on the screened in back porch with a great view of the woods stretching east to west as far as you can see about a hundred and fifty yards behind the house. Post. – Amorella

       1929 hours. It has been a good family day for Carol and myself. I saw one deer earlier, now she and the others are no doubt embedded. Paul had the grill going, Linda and Gayle were also here for supper. I assume everyone is out to the side where the boys are playing basketball. That was one great game last night, the first time Carol and I ever watched a Cleveland Cavs game and they won the NBA championship for the first time. Most cool. The last time I saw a Cleveland championship was in 1964 when the Browns beat the Baltimore Colts at the Cleveland Municipal Stadium. If I remember right Jim Shumaker, Craig Brelsford, Dave Short and Bob Clawson and myself were at Jim’s grandfather’s apartment in north Westerville – might be faulty memory, but we watched many of the Browns games there.

       Post, boy. - Amorella

Notes - good R and R /

       You arrived safely home last night. It was a long day; you left the condo at 0515 and arrived home at 2301 hours. You lost the hours leaving early and then some because of a standstill (mostly) of traffic going up the mountain outside of Knoxville. – Amorella

       1031 hours. We think it was because of construction on I-75 – that’s what it looked like. Anyway, it was good except for the delay. No complaints here. Today we are getting things in order. Tomorrow we meet Linda and Gayle for lunch, probably Max and Erma’s in Westerville.

       Friday was a good day; eating at the Columbia then back to the condo with Bill and Jen who left at supper. Kim and Paul were happy with the week and so were Owen and Brennan. Good R&R, boy. Post. - Amorella

Notes - Sea Horse and G-waves

       Late afternoon. You are observing a storm coming in from the southwest and heading down passed Passé-a-Grill and the where you ate at the Sea Horse. The waitresses said that the Monday of the storm they were closed because water was up two to three inches above the floor. One said that these storms were about one a year, that is, bad enough to close the restaurant. A week and a couple days later you would never know the storm happened; the place was clean and old Florida as usual. Kim, Paul and the boys are down at the pool. Carol is washing clothes. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain in the morning. You are meeting Bill and Jen at the Columbia for lunch. Kim and Paul were surprised at the Sea Horse and have decided it is now are regular stop when visiting. You and Carol are happy with their choice.

       1720 hours. The storm has passed out in the Gulf and is heading down towards Sarasota and points in between unless, of course, it dissipates. Doug sent me a reference to this site “Space” earlier today. I think this is very interesting – it causes me to wonder what science will do with this in the next hundred years? We never know where a new road in science will take us. Reality is interesting, no doubt about it.

** **

SPACE Jun 15, 2016 03:26 PM ET

Smashing Black Holes Make Gravitational Waves, Again

The LIGO gravitational wave detector has witnessed two small black holes collide and merge as one, confirming that the original gravitational wave discovery was no fluke.

Posted by Ian O’Neill

Only months after the historic discovery of gravitational waves, physicists have done it again! LIGO has detected ANOTHER black hole collision and confirmed the first gravitational wave detection wasn't a one-off.

On Dec. 26, the extremely faint spacetime ripples washed through our planet and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, was listening. The US-based detector recorded the distinctive gravitational wave "chirp", meaning that, once again, we were witness to a collision of cataclysmic proportions.

These ripples in spacetime were first theorized by Albert Einstein over 100 years ago when he formulated his theory of general relativity , but it's only now that humanity has the tools to actually prove they exist. And this most recent detection is a firm confirmation that, once again, Einstein was right.

In a galaxy, some 1.4 billion light-years away, two small black holes got stuck in an inescapable gravitational spiral. Their fate was sealed; they fell closer and closer until they rapidly span around one another, colliding and merging as one. Like the first historic detection of gravitational waves in September, this most recent signal originated from a black hole merger, an event that shines a previously unattainable light on one of the most violent collisions in the universe.

With stunning clarity, LIGO was able to “listen in" on the moments before a black hole binary system (two black holes orbiting one another) merged as one, producing a gravitational wave signal that was so clear, so in keeping with our theoretical models, there was little room for speculation. LIGO had witnessed a powerful black hole “re-birthing" that occurred around 1.3 billion years ago.

Gravitational waves have always been there and always will be, washing through our planet (indeed, washing through us), but only now do we know how to find them. We've now opened our eyes to a different kind of cosmic signal — the vibrations caused by the most energetic events known — and we are therefore witnessing the birth of a brand new field of astronomy.

“We can now hear the universe," said LIGO physicist and spokesperson Gabriela Gonzalez during Thursday's triumphant meeting. “The detection is the beginning of a new era: The field of gravitational astronomy is now a reality."

Our place in the universe has changed profoundly and this discovery's impact could be as transformative as the discovery of radio waves or the realization that the universe is expanding.

Making Robust Theories Even Stronger

Trying to explain what gravitational waves are and why they're so important is almost as complex as the equations that describe them, but finding them not only strengthens Einstein's already robust theories as to the nature of spacetime; we now have a tool that can probe into a layer of the universe that was once invisible to us. We can now sample the spacetime ripples generated by some of the most energetic events that occur in the universe and, perhaps, use gravitational waves to reveal new physics and discover new astrophysical phenomena.

“Now we have proven that we have the technology to go after and detect gravitational waves, this opens up many possibilities," Luis Lehner, of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ontario, told me during an interview soon after Thursday's announcement.

Lehner's research focuses on compact objects (such as black holes) that generate powerful gravitational waves. Though not affiliated with the LIGO collaboration, Lehner was quick to realize the ramifications of this historic discovery. “This signal couldn't be better," he said.

LIGO would be a success, telling the BBC: “We are there; we are in the ball park now. It's clear that this is going to be pulled off." And sure enough, within days of the upgrade, a surge of gravitational waves rippled through our planet and LIGO was at last sensitive enough to observe them.

This binary black hole merger isn't thought to be particularly special in its own right; it is calculated that these kinds of events happen once every 15 minutes somewhere in the universe. But this merger happened in the right place (1.3 billion light-years away) at the right time (1.3 billion years ago) for LIGO to be listening. It was a clear signal from the universe that Einstein got it right and his gravitational waves were real, revealing a cosmic event that unleashed a peak power 50 times the power output of all the stars in the universe combined. This huge blast of gravitational wave energy was recorded as a high-frequency “chirp" by LIGO as the black holes rapidly spiraled into one another, merging as one.

To confirm the propagation of gravitational waves, LIGO is comprised of 2 observing stations, one in Louisiana and the other in Washington. To rule out false positives, a candidate gravitational wave signal needs to be detected by both stations. And the Sept. 14 event was detected first in Louisiana and then 7 milliseconds later in Washington. The signals matched and, through triangulation, physicists were able to learn that it originated in Southern Hemisphere skies.

Gravitational Waves — What Are They Good For?

So we have a confirmed black hole merger signal, what now? This discovery is historic, that much is clear — one hundred years ago, Einstein wouldn't have dreamed that these waves would be detectable, but here they are.

ANALYSIS: Colliding Black Holes and the Dawn of Gravitational Astronomy

General relativity was is one of the most profound scientific and philosophical realizations of the 20th Century and it forms the basis of some of our most intellectual investigations into reality itself. Astronomically, the applications of general relativity are clear; from gravitational lensing to measuring the expansion of the universe. But what's not so clear are the everyday applications of Einstein's theories, but much of today's technology uses lessons from general relativity and things we take for granted. Take, for example, global positioning satellites: they wouldn't be the precise tools that they are if simple corrections for time dilation (a general relativity prediction) weren't considered.

It's clear that general relativity has real-world applications, but when Einstein presented his new theory in 1916, it's highly doubtful that any application would have seemed obvious. He was simply piecing together the universe as he saw it and general relativity was born. So now another component of general relativity has been proven, how might gravitational waves be used? Well, astrophysicists and cosmologists are obviously thrilled.

“Once we've collected data from pairs of black holes, they will be like lighthouses scattered through the universe," said theoretical physicist Neil Turok, Perimeter Institute Director, in a video presentation on Thursday. “We will be able to measure the rate the universe is expanding, or how much dark energy there is in the universe to extraordinary precision, far, far greater than what we can do today.

“Einstein developed his theory with some clues from Nature but made basically on the grounds of logical consistency. One hundred years later you're seeing its predictions confirmed at exquisite precision."

ANALYSIS: Gravitational Waves vs. Gravity Waves: Know the Difference!

What's more, the Sept. 14 event has some peculiarities physicists are looking forward to investigating. For example, Lehner pointed out that from analysis of the gravitational wave signal, the “spin" or angular momentum of the merged black hole can be measured. “If you've worked on the theory for long enough, you'll know that spin the black hole has is very, very peculiar," he said.

For some reason, the final spin of the black hole is slower than expected, indicating that the two black holes collided at a low speed, or they were in a collision configuration that caused their combined angular momentum to counteract each other. “That is very curious; why would nature do that?" said Lehner.

This early puzzle could be down to some basic physics that hasn't been considered, but more excitingly it could reveal some “new" or exotic physics that is interfering with the predictions of general relativity. And this highlights another use for gravitational waves: as they are generated by strong gravity phenomena, we have a means to probe these environments from afar, perhaps turning up some surprises along the way. Also, we might combine observations of astrophysical phenomena with the electromagnetic signals to add more dimensions to our understanding of what makes our universe tick.

An Application?

Naturally, when huge announcements are made of complex scientific discoveries, many people outside of the scientific community ask how it affects them. The profundity can be easily missed and this is definitely the case when it comes to gravitational waves. But consider this: When X-rays were revealed by Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895 during his experiments on cathode ray tubes, few would have known that in only a few years these high-energy electromagnetic waves would become a key component in everyday medicine from diagnosis to treatment. Likewise, the first experimental production of radio waves in 1887 by Heinrich Hertz confirmed predictions by James Clerk Maxwell's famous electromagnetic equations. Only years later, in the 1890′s, a series of demonstrations by Guglielmo Marconi, who set up radio transmitters and receivers, proved they had a practical use. Also, Schrodinger's equations describing the unfathomable world of quantum dynamics are finding an application right now in the development of super-fast quantum computing.

All scientific discoveries are profound and many eventually have everyday applications that we take for granted. For now, the practical applications of gravitational waves may seem restricted to astrophysics and cosmology — we now have a window into a “dark universe" where no electromagnetic radiation is required. There is little doubt in my mind that scientists and engineers will find other uses for these spacetime ripples besides the awesome application of probing spacetime. That said, to detect these waves in the first place huge advances in optical engineering had to be performed by LIGO that will inevitably spawn new technologies.

100 Years of General Relativity: Thought and Action

Ultimately, the detection of gravitational waves is a triumph for humanity that will continue to teach us new things about our universe for generations to come. This is most definitely a golden age for science, where historic discoveries are commonplace. These discoveries drive our culture forward, making us all richer and more aware that our universe is a beautiful and complex place. And we know we have the intellectual capability to create models of how we think the universe works and then perform experiments to prove we are right.

But for me, I'm most excited to see the first “live" gravitational maps of the cosmos, where the periodic humming of neutron stars orbiting one another and the impulsive eruptions of supernovas are plotted, revealing a new universe, a universe humming with ripples in spacetime.

Selected and edited from -- http://www.seeker.com/weve-detected-gravitational-waves-so-what-1770880745.html

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       Post. - Amorella