The Unofficial Last Day of Winter

Since we live in almost total isolation, in our little kingdom this is the unofficial last day of winter. I have declared it. Beyond the borders of our yard though, the official last day of winter is still weeks away. However, like Camelot, we have our own thing going on here. We were dealt lemons, we are making lemonade, tart and delicious.

Tonight the temperature is to fall to -14C. Tomorrow the temperature will rise above freezing. I plan on sitting on the porch for a while, and opening the windows for a while in the “heat” of the afternoon.

Meanwhile we are celebrating the last day of winter by letting the sun shine brightly through the windows, and preparing a roast pork dinner for this evening. There is nothing quite like a Sunday Roast. Our roasts are a little different than those I grew up with, mainly in the way of the quantity of meat. The wee bit of pork we are roasting is about 10 ounces. Most of the meal will be roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables. Attila eats the lions share of the meat, my serving is minimal, which is my choice. Meat has never really appealed to me. Vegetarianism does not appeal to Attila. We compromise.

Every day more Asian Beetles crawl up and down the inside of our windows. They are probably coming in through the wood siding, which is old and was poorly installed over 50 or so years ago. Someday, universe willing, we will have to funds to put new siding and a new roof on the house. In the meantime dealing with a few dozen Asian Beetles doesn’t seem all that difficult. They are harbingers of spring.

I am baking bread today, and thinking about baking muffins. Since the weather remains very cold, and the house is being heated by the oil furnace, wet towels need to be soaked and hung around the house every few hours. Next autumn I would like to obtain some strikingly pretty towels, so that having them hanging wet wherever I look will bring visual joy. The old towels in use at the moment do the job of keeping the relative humidity at 30%, but visually they are discouraging.

Some of our towels date back to the 60s. We date back further than that!

I hope the last day of your winter comes bright and cheerful and soon!

Stay safe dear friends!

Worldly

Weather

Updated on Sun, Mar 7, 10:55 AM
-9 °C
FEELS LIKE -14
Clear
Wind 12 NWkm/h
Humidity 48 %
Visibility 23 km
Sunrise 6:35 AM
Wind gust 19km/h
Pressure103 kPa
Ceiling 9100 m
Sunset 6:03 PM

Quote

“To Greyson, the impact near-death experiences have on people’s lives has been his most surprising discovery. “I make a living by trying to help people change their lives,” he says. “It’s not easy to do. But here I’ve found an experience that, sometimes in a matter of seconds, dramatically transforms people’s attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours.” Often, these changes persist over decades. In most instances, experiencers realise they are no longer afraid to die, which “has a profound impact on how they live their lives”, because “you lose your fear of life as well – you’re not afraid of taking chances.” Greyson sometimes asks people to describe their partners before and after an event, “and they’ll say, ‘Yeah, this isn’t the person I married; this is someone different.’” He adds, “They see a purpose in life they didn’t see before. I don’t know of anything else that powerful.”

I am convinced now, after doing this for 40, 50 years, that there is more to life than just our physical bodies
I ask for an example. “I’ve spoken to people who were policemen,” he says, “or career military officers, who couldn’t go back to their jobs, couldn’t stand the idea of violence.” I ask why. He says, “The idea of hurting someone becomes abhorrent to them.” He shrugs. “They end up going into helping professions. They become teachers, or healthcare workers, or social workers.”

Interview with Dr. Bruce Greyson, author of After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life And Beyond, in The Guardian, March 7, 2021

I wonder, could this experience be used as a prerequisite qualification for politicians/corporate principals/powerful people? Then again, as one academic said to me, “I look inward and I see nothing.” OK
Perhaps this phenomena only affects people with potential for compassion.