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Power of suggestion – Subtle most often. But I am suggesting that you never just casually notice the clouded sky. Rather I want you to study the clouds.  

But first a few comments on the power of suggestion found on the internet as I studied “Power of suggestion” this week:

Green stands for health – Grocery stores might place a table of green vegetables near the front to set your mind thinking they sell lots of healthy food here and I should eat healthy.  The display is only a mental suggestion.

Orange stands for friendship and trust. Grocery stores might place a table of orange fruit near the front to set your mind to thinking this is a very friendly place to purchase  groceries. The display is only a mental suggestion.

On the darker side, the power of suggestion can condemns innocent people.

It has been proven that if before viewing a police lineup, you hear someone say “I’m sure that the robber had a beard,” you’re more likely to point out a person with a beard, even if you’ve never seen him before, or even if you were sure that the robber was beardless just a few minutes ago.  Suggestion alters your memory in such a way that you forget what you actually experienced.

I think in my last post I wrongly condemned the raccoon. Because I saw the raccoon’s picture on the label – right at the top of the animals.

I condemned the raccoon, even if the teeth marks were way too big for a raccoon

and the first bottle was completely missing.  After listening to suggestions made by  viewers that the marks are too big to have been made by a raccoon, I now think the culprit was that 12 foot gator that I have seen walk between the lake behind us and the one across the street.  I think he swallowed the first bottle whole.

Anyway, the picture of the raccoon on the bottle first suggested to me who did it.   Now, I erased that suggestion and never go out in the dark without a light,  I now look for gators because Sandy, our naturalist, suggested I  study the size of those tooth marks  on the bottle – I did and my mind knows the  culprit  was the gator that I never saw – Or was it?

Now, I will show you the results of a suggestion made by my wife – just to be funny.

On to me suggesting you study the beautiful cumulus clouds we have in Florida this time of year.  It is impossible for me to look up at those clouds and not see images in the clouds. This hobby of cloud watching is a great way to spend time while being penned up by the Coronavirus.

Here are a few examples:

 

 

I spent 20 or so years raising chickens, ducks, emus, peacocks, and other domesticated  birds.  I, also, spent many years enjoying the outdoors and the wild birds found there.

Dave Cesari used his camera, though, to capture  something I never saw – a look of “baffled” on a bird’s face.   Sort of saying “What the h… just happened?”  Click the TGO Photo Club Page to see his new posting.

Then scroll down to see my story of “What the h…  happened here?”

Options:

1. Rabbit took the top off and poured the stuff on the ground?
2. I had one too may drinks the night before and somehow poured the stuff out?
3. The ghost up in the sky that protects all rabbits came down and protected my rabbit?
4. ?? what  you think – Look at the label – repels almost every wild animal living in civilized Florida.

   

   

   I THINK I WAS DUPED BY THE PICTURE ON THE BOTTLE LABLE – The retail trade did it to me! By putting a picture of a raccoon on the label I was duped into thinking I did not need to keep the bottle from them. Yep, I was duped. That is what I think.

   Tell me what you think. What happen here?

   

 

 

 

 

Did my mind wonder or wander?  It pondered  a stressful word pronounced “Edgy.” Read on. I wonder if you might understand.

Everyday a very talented artist explains to me her latest work by discussing the various aspects of the creation.  Just as a baby learns his or her native language from the conversations in his environment, I learn the native language of art from these discussions with the artist.

But last week a new term crept into the discussion.  It was the “art” term – “Edgy.”   Ask  I of her, what does it mean when my PhotoShopped photos are not edgy enough?  Does it mean the art is blurry – edges not sharp.  No, no – said this artist – It has to do with the dictionary’s  definition of edgy when “edgy” is used as slang:   “Socially dangerous, daring, intellectively provocative – tending to induce unease or stress in viewers.”  She went on to say you can put edgy into art with a splash of bright red  where viewers do not expects it.

I just smiled and my mind said to me, “Be nice now and just pretend you understand” – I did exactly that, I pretended.  Then I went to each picture I planned to show you – added a splash of red.   I had a lot of fun doing it – and in my opinion it made my pictures a lot more interesting.  But, I sure was not stressed and I hope you are not stressed when you look at them – I really need to go back to that artist and get an Edgy education that I understand!  The first question I will ask the artist  is: “Why do I want to stress the viewer?”

Gloria, of course, is the artist I am talking about.  She doesn’t know I did not get it but I plan to keep asking her for more edgy conversations until I do get it.  In the meantime look what I did with my version of edgy in these photos:

Hey, did you notice the red in each photo?  – A little color in each made me smile  but I was not stressed.

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First go read Daves words and see his photos – remarkable.  Click on the Photo Club Page or just click here. 

Second, here are my words and photos. In the cool of morning and the cool of the evening, I have been getting out on my bike for miles and miles, Always with my cell phone camera and always dodging rain drops – my goodness I found out it rains a lot in Florida this time of year.

But, rain creates a lot of photo opportunities and the Coronavirus, with barbershops closed, create a hair mess worth photographing. Ha Ha!

 

First go see what Dave wrote about his Scarlet Tanager photos. Click here

Then scroll down and see the photos I created from many photos, mostly taken with my cell phone over the years.   Florida,  Michigan, and Texas are just three places I have lived – With each state came a unique way of life – each with as much fun as the other:

Hey – go see Dave Cesari’s new photos on http://TGO Photo Club’s Photos

Then Read On: You know, our minds are complex things. Thinking one thing makes us think of another, then that makes us think of another.

For example, seeing the big road equipment  in front of our house made my mind go back to our Texas ranch.

The Texas ranch road was over 1/2 mile long and I cared for that road by myself with just a simple Allis Chalmers tractor.  Here in Florida, the big equipment and 6 men were only doing 100 yards of road.

From there my mind jumped to thinking about all the animals I kept and trained on the Texas ranch.  I was always asking them to do something that “made no sense” to them.

Next my mind jumped to my flight instructor – he was a smart man.  He told me, I am going to do something that “makes no sense”. I am going to cut the engine on a perfectly good airplane.  Legal or not, I’ve notified the airport of your airplane’s condition. . Your going to have to land with with no power.  To prove that I learned by his doing something that made no sense. – I am still here. The instructor went on to say,  next week I want you to practice using a glider.  I know going up in a aircraft with no power “makes no sense”.  But, we learn by doing things that “make no sense”.

Next my mind jumped to the Coronavirus restrictions.  I was thinking, To keep from getting house crazy I ride my bike a lot. Then I return and empty-out boxes stored in my garage.   Now what should I do? Maybe I should learn something new.  But, what shall I learn?  How about new language?  I tried French, then German, and then decided I needed to learn how to write better in English before  I tried one of the foreign languages.

So, next my mind jumped to this blog.   Maybe I can learn by continuing to write the blog  –  something that makes no sense – but I love doing it.   Maybe I will learn to write better in English and learn to create better fake photos.

Regarding the view point of the animals: I trained each of them, with some success, in each case.  However when I ask them to walk beside me, backup, get into the stock trailer, or in the case of the dogs, to sit, jump through hoops, weave through poles, and more.   I know it made no sense to them.  But by doing it over and over they learn that each time they did what I wanted, they got a reward.  You know, I even put Christmas lights on the llamas and taught them to walk in the Fredericksburg Christmas Parade. – All that for a reward – not because it made sense to them.

Bottom line is, we animals and retired people learn  for the reward – not because it makes sense.

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Graham Nash said, on CBS Sunday Morning, there is comfort in hearing birds chirping as he walks down the street.  Let us expand that and say nature and wildlife are comforting anytime anywhere.

Yesterday, a family of Moorhens swam by my lunch table. The adults constantly hiding the family in the weeds along the lakes edge while keeping a constant lookout for danger above and below.

Yesterday morning I photographed a mother hawk and her nearly adult off-spring.  The hawks were getting hassled by a tiny bird that I am sure had a nest nearby.  I am sure  that the hawks wanted to turn that nest into protein.  That is just a part of nature.

 

This morning I watched a young eagle being harassed by another small bird for the same reason.  However, this time the Eagle was not interested in the little birds nest. The eagle kept his eye on the water, saw a fish, dove straight down, came up with his lunch.

 

 

 

These days I see dozens of people outside walking.  The Coronavirus restrictions are curtailing their social gatherings. I see these walkers stopping to watch a bird, a rabbit, a tortoise, a baby gator, and the list goes on. 

I am sure that their pause to watch nature is comforting to them. I believe that is happening everywhere   More people slow down to see and feel the comfort of nature.  Graham Nash would be glad to see that happen.

OOPS, the walk down many streets in New York City does not include nature. Here is the fix to that problem. Some of my Grandchildren are thinking college programs aimed at a career in designing better cities with better lifestyle environments.

Ok Grandkids, here is your opportunity. Keep those natural environments viable. Keep lots of open land with lots of wildlife. Design cities so that future generations have daily contact with the nature you provide.  That will make the world’s people happier and more comfortable.  You will be a success. I like that idea!

I will show you that my comfort level is special.  Here are images of just a few contacts that I have with nature. Most of them were taken in my hours outdoors in The Great Outdoors RV and Golf Resort – the city I live in. One image is a collections of photos from Drummond Island.

These photos are just cell phone “snapshots”, but they give you an idea of what I saw:

NBC spent thousands of dollars putting together a show called “Boredom Busters” to help viewers get thru the shut-down imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic.  NBC spoke of activities and talked a lot about what you could do each day to prevent getting bored and depressed. – Yipes.  I am very fortunate to be at this stage of my life when the craziness of Coronavirus hit.  I’m retired, my job is not in jeopardy, I do not have the virus now, and other things are good for me.  I know these are tough times in the world and things could change for me over night.  So, I will write a little about right now:

We have wonderful technology. Gloria is creating a great new on-line circles of friends to replace her daily social art meetings, classes, galleries, and studios. Our families and friends host phone calls, face-time, and Zoom session to keep us in-touch. Sometimes we talk more remotely than we do when we are there.  I have my computer art and digital books.

We live in a wonderful part of the country. There is mostly bright sunshine each day.

Due to the mid-day heat between May and November, I go out in early morning and late evening – as do most people. But, not so many people out and about that social distancing is difficult.  Just enough people are out and about that you do not feel lonely.   After seeing them a few times, they become “Good Morning” or “Good Evening” friends.  That level of friendship is casual and not demanding.

The Great Outdoors RV and Golf Community is wonderful.  It is gated and safe, It has  miles of flat pave roads with mostly golf cart, bike, and walker traffic. It has a 21/2 mile nature trail for golf carts and bikes. It has unlimited miles of nature trails for walking along the St Johns river and associated swamp. It has birds, eagles, gators, armadillo, possum, bob cats, woodpeckers, osprey, owls, and more to watch and photograph.

We have to worry about hurricanes between June and October but so far in our twenty years here they have not been terrible. Our home is concrete block construction and on high enough ground that floods, so far, never reached us.  We just hunker down and deal with the clean up after. I will face the challenge of enjoying and maintaining Drummond Island in the summer due to travel and Coronavirus .

Given all that good stuff, like NBC said, we still should think about doing non-boring things.  I will tell you and show you of the three things I do most days.  It would be good if you focus on things that uniquely fit your interests.

First: With as many moves as we made over the last 50 years our garage got filled with boxes of stuff that never got opened.  Some came for my parents home in PA with stuff from late 1800’s, some from my home in Pittsburgh, to New York, to Rhode Island, to New Jersey, back to PA, to Texas, to Michigan, and now to our Florida garage.   Well, I have been spending part of each day emptying boxes.  Now I am organizing a Museum in the garage – Not sure that is an improvement over boxes but I am having fun seeing all that stuff – I will be showing you some of it in later blogs.

Second: I love to be out and about and exercise – I try to spend 3 hours a day on my  bikes, (had to replace two tires this month) do some photo taking, and do a little walking.  No golf, tennis, or pickle ball lately but it is a great option here in TGO in the future.

Third: I love to create art. So, I spend 3-4 hours a day on my computer playing with PhotoShop and writing this blog.

I found hundreds of photographs in the boxes – Each one really brought back memories. But you know me, i just had to screw around with Photoshop to make them “Modern”  – Yipes:

 

Before you look at my page here – See Dave’s signs of spring on the TGO Photo Page

 

Since I have enjoyed having animals all my life I understand that ruling regarding essential activity. – Horses need to eat!.

New subject – While trail riding, your eyes and mind can wonder.   You simply enjoy being out in nature.  You know, most often 50% of what you see while trail riding is sky  – WOW, and I am Pareidolia. A Pareidolia  sees objects in things including clouds. Study the next 2 photos and see if you are Pareidolia.

The building above houses the cafe,  community offices,  museum, and meeting room in our little TGO community.  I turned it into the barn below. But, in both photos, my purpose was to let you study clouds and see if you see what I see:

Of course I have enhanced it a a little but I see 2 cats, 4 dogs, 3 horses, and 1 unicorn. One of the three horses is sticking it’s head out of the barn – everything else is in the clouds.