I haven't posted in a while, and I see some loose ends to tie up.
First, in my post
Silliness, I related a story about making up a fake technical paper and sending it to a former graduate school professor. Here's an edited sample of our e-mail exchange about it:
Me: Just thought you might like to see what [your former students] have been up to.
Him: Nice work and nice hearing from you! How goes it back there? How much more time do you have left there?
Me: Thanks for the response. Did you get a chance to read the paper carefully? I think you'd find it very interesting.
Him: Thanks Greg, and yes I did get to read it -- and it was
interesting! I forwarded it to [the department chairman] in case he wanted to forward to folks here.
(My reaction: D'OH!! He took it seriously!!)
Me: Glad you liked the paper...before you forward it to the whole
department, I have to admit that it's a practical joke. ... Hopefully your sense of humor is still intact - it was funny to us here, and I'm sorry if it caused you any embarrassment.
Him: Greg, No worries on the sense of humor and Jim never forwarded it, so no harm no foul! Can you send me the original again? I guess I need to read it a little more closely :-) It certainly seemed realistic, and yes, a bit over my head, but I was impressed!! Retiring on 18 Nov - not much is getting me riled up these days!! Later dude!!
(My reaction: WHEW!!)
Silly.
Second, in
One Thing at a Time, I talked about a tree that I found and lay on during a bike ride one day. Well I now call that tree my "forest friend," and I visit him (her?) every time I ride. S/he is really quite striking, with so much life persisting even though the entire root disk is upended. I make a little ritual out of leaving my bike by the trail, walking to the tree, and even which two little trees I walk between to reach the trunk (there are spiderwebs between the other two). I don't always stay long but I notice something new every time. Yesterday I noticed how the fungi growing on the sides (now sides and top) of the trunk were stacked and finned.
Finally, I was blessed once again by a wonderful friend in California who sent me a song whose words are the ENTIRE Rumi prayer I mentioned in
The Field Beyond. There's more to it than I quoted...here's the rest:
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase "each other" doesn't make any sense.
Look at the inviting grass in that field - I think I'll lie down in it.
