The Good Old Days

People often take pride and find joy basking in the light of self-disclosure. For some though, that is not the case, as in the life of Brett, a retired senior, who preferred to live his life in the shade of anonymity.

"I did fall in love a few times," he confided in me one day, when I asked him casually if he had ever gotten married. "I remember being in love with Millie, who had long, curly auburn hair. She was a beautiful, young woman who loved to dance, but she was far too wild for me. We had some good times together, but she ran away with an orchestra leader who serenaded her with his cello."

The tears welled up in his eyes. I turned my head, so as not to embarrass him. He stayed silent for a long time, obviously deep in thought. Finally, he pulled out his handkerchief, blew his nose and smiled at me. I could see the twinkle return to his eyes.

"Ah, those were the good old days," he continued. "I don't usually talk a lot about my lady friends of the past, as sometimes people try to read too much into it."

"You don't have to tell me anything," I said to him, quietly. "You can tell me if you want to though, and I will listen."

"I have never really been a recluse at heart, just lived like one, most of the time. There was a gorgeous, blonde, young filly named Bernadette, who I simply adored. She was everything that a man could have possibly wanted in a wife, but she was already married, unhappily at that. We used to sit in the cafe for hours talking about everything under the sun, our lives, all of our hopes and dreams too, but at the end of her shift, she always had to go home to Herman."

"There were a lot of other, single girls in the town," I commented, cautiously.

"Yes, but It was always easier to talk to someone who was safely married," Brett confided in me, quietly. "Anyhow, I preferred staying in the shade to becoming the object of town gossip. That happened all of the time, and the boys involved always had the devil to pay for their antics, when they became public knowledge."

"I understand that, too," I suggested. I could see he was ready to tell me more, but was hemming and hawing, so I simply waited.

"The love of my life was actually Caroline, a young school teacher, who I first met in southern Alabama. She was fun to be with, and had more, little children around her than anyone else in the whole town. She loved them with a passion and they loved her. It was always difficult to get anywhere close to Caroline though, but I did succeed a few times. She would blush and turn as red as a beet, when she thought I was trying to court her in front of the children. They loved it and teased us something fierce."

"So what ever happened to her?" I asked, becoming more and more curious, as he spoke. "You said she was the love of your life."

"Well, I went to the corner store one day and bought her a valentine, red roses and chocolates, but I was far too shy to do anything except place them on her desk, before she came to school on Valentine's Day. She was so delighted, but I do not think she ever found out who they were from, and I was not about to tell her. Even the children did not know that they were from me, although they suspected that I was the guilty party."

"So nothing came from that Valentine's Day romance either?"

"When I think about it now, I was only fourteen years old then, and she must have been at least eighteen. I imagined her as becoming the mother of the children that I never had.  She taught for only a year at our one room school, and then accepted a position at a girl's school, somewhere in the north. Maybe I scared her away, as I never did hear anything from her, but I remember those good old days so vividly."

"It sounds like good memories too."

"Yes, they were. Say, it is getting hot in here. Maybe we should go outside and sit in the shade."

Another New Year

Another New Year loomed overhead and then perched on the edge of Father Time's vast horizon, like a powerful eagle waiting to swoop down on its most vulnerable prey.

Father Time had been expecting him and spotted him immediately, when he arrived on the doorstep. He could see that this New Year was expecting to be welcomed like a prodigal son coming home, and also anticipated being allowed full access to the current tides of time.

"Why should I let you in?" Father Time asked him sternly, momentarily blocking the entrance to the tides of time, much to his dismay.

"What have your predecessors ever contributed to humanity? Have they proclaimed love, manifested its true expression, or merely perpetrated pseudo-love?"

"But I am a brand new year blossoming like a rose bud, filled with fresh potential," the New Year argued. "You cannot deny me access to the tides of time. That is my place in history, my rightful inheritance."

"The New Years, as well as the tides, all come and go," replied Father Time. "You too, will come and go, as that is your fate. To date, your predecessors have merely magnified and multiplied the woes of this world. Why should I allow this phenomenon to continue throughout the rest of history? Would it not be wiser for all of the New Years to be stopped in their tracks?"

The New Year could not believe Father Time's word.

"But I would not be given birth," argued the New Year. "I would die before I am even born, and so would all of the New Years destined to follow in my footsteps."

"Maybe then the problems of man would finally cease?"

"But you have to give me a chance," argued the New Year, tearfully. "That is only fair."

The midnight hour was approaching quickly, and he knew fear for the first time.

"Fortunately for you and all of the other New Years, I have a loving, forgiving Spirit," said Father Time, gently. "But consider yourself warned!"

At the stroke of midnight, Father Time opened the door, allowing the new New Year to be born, but also simultaneously unleashing the tides of time afresh, knowing that this New Year would fulfill his own destiny, just like all of the others.
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The Almost Lost Hat

A weekend honeymoon across the border seemed perfect for the young newlyweds, who were looking forward to starting their new life together. It also meant that both of them could be back at work on Monday morning, bright and early.

Their weekend reservations for a downtown city hotel had been confirmed. It was just a matter of finding the hotel in a large, hilly city that was totally foreign to both of them.

It was actually a gorgeous day, with gusts of wind tossing brightly colored leaves everywhere, as they pulled into the downtown hotel parking lot. The hotel itself was huge and almost foreboding, other than for its architectural elegance. There was not a soul in sight other than the friendly, parking lot attendant at the gate, who assured them that their vehicle would be safe in the parking lot.

It was extremely windy, as they got out of their car and gazed upwards at the building. It had been a very long drive. 

Being self conscious, the newly weds gazed at each other shyly, but lovingly. The new bride smoothed out the wrinkles in her going-away outfit which was a beautiful, soft, turquoise wool suit, ideal for an early, October wedding. The groom did the same thing with his jacket.

"Let's do this!" suggested the happy, young bride, sensing embarrassment not uncommon to newly weds. "After we get checked into our room, we can explore the city and have a romantic dinner."

"Sounds good to me," the groom replied. "I will get our suitcase." As he opened the trunk of their car and pulled out their suitcase, there was a tremendous gust of wind, then another and another.

"They said this was a windy city," he  commented with a grin, trying to close the trunk of the car. As he placed the suitcase on the ground, the wind knocked it over and the lock popped open. The entire contents of the suitcase spilled out and were scattered in every direction. The newly weds quickly scurried after them.

"Whew!" said the young groom, as he hurriedly stuffed everything back inside the suitcase and locked it, not realizing that the young bride still had her turquoise, feathered pillbox hat in her hands.

"My hat!" she exclaimed, as the wind caught it. The pillbox hat rolled across the parking lot, and she chased after it. When she finally caught it, she promptly plunked it on her head.

"You can't wear that!" her new husband exclaimed laughingly, suddenly aware that the parking lot attendant was watching them, and smiling. "Everyone will think that we are newlyweds!"

"We are!" replied his new wife. "I am goring to wear it and am not carrying it into the hotel!"

"You almost had a lost hat," said the parking lot attendant, with a grin. "Congratulations, newlyweds!"

The question of effort versus insight in writing

When I take a moment and ponder the question of effort versus insight with respect to writing, I begin to see clearly that all of the effort that I could muster could not and would not inspire me to write anything of value or merit. When I try to write in terms of mere effort, it seems my efforts are all in vain, as the writing does not flow freely. In fact, it becomes a burden to write and is no longer a joy, as is more work than pleasure. In other words, speaking from a personal perspective, it is not mere effort alone that creates writers.  

Take for example some simple reflections and insight on my Christmas 2007.

I was playing with a young child who had a brand new water pistol. When I consented to the fantasy play in his world and stated that "I am so gone," and assumed a lifeless pose, after he had pointed his water pistol at me, the child panicked immediately and let me know in no uncertain terms that it was only a water pistol and that there was no water in it. At that moment, I graciously came back to life. I could not help but smile. He knew that I understood what he had done and he smiled too. We probably bonded for life.

I would not write this out of effort. In terms of insight, I see it as an interaction between a child and an adult, one that is worth writing about.

Take another example like this one, also from Christmas 2007.

At a Christmas celebration, a fragile looking, elderly woman immediately downloaded the entire events of a fall she had suffered a number of months prior to that time, complete with all of her aches and pains, the direct result of her fall. I had been aware of the event prior to that time, but stood quietly and listened with empathy and concern. After she recounted the details to me, she said almost nothing else to anyone. She just sat there and graciously smiled at everyone for the next couple of hours. She had stated what was important to her and more importantly to her, she knew that I had heard and understood it. She did not need to say anything else to anyone. Her communication need was satisfied.

This I would not write out of effort either, but rather from what I see as my own insight into the event.

A third example is that of the interaction of a middle-aged disabled woman, who needed to give me a present that same Christmas.

She had a plastic flute that she could not play properly because of her physical limitations. She decided that I could and should learn to play it. She seemed thrilled when I graciously accepted the gift from her. Then she tried her best to instruct me with respect to how to play the flute, simply by playing along with me on the organ, one note at a time. We actually succeeded in making music together and having some fun. Her face beamed with joy, as we played several Christmas carols. I was glad that I had accepted her gift, even though we did make a bit of noise too.

Writing this was not out of mere effort. Rather, it came from insight into the reality of this woman’s need to give a gift at Christmas time.

Here is another example of insight rather than effort in terms of writing.

Being quite busy over the holidays that same year, but at the same time, not wanting to interfere with anyone else's Christmas Eve preparations, I decided to leave a gift at the door of a neighbor. As I approached her house, I could hear people inside and knew someone would probably hear the doorbell. I placed the gift in front of the door, rang the doorbell and quickly departed. A little while later, I called to see if she had found the gift.

"Why didn't you come in?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"I wanted you to have a surprise," I replied.

A few moments later, I was pleasantly surprised when someone rang my doorbell. When I answered the door, a kindly neighbor handed me a gift, gave me a hug and a quick kiss on either cheek. Never have I had such a wonderful heartfelt hug. Actually, it took me totally by surprise and he knew that it had been the right thing for him to do.

That event in itself is not something that I would write about out of effort, either. I wrote it out of my insight into the happening.

Looking further, this time at life in general, not just at Christmas 2007, I realize that great writing comes from the insight that we have into the reality of what is happening in our lives. We have the opportunity to pen each insight in such a way that others can comprehend it and relate to it, but without the insight, there would be nothing to pen.

To write for the sake of writing would be meaningless, if it does not reveal the insight of human beings attained in day-to-day interaction with others. While each instance is relatively insignificant on its own, collectively these kinds of events portray a life or life style that is worth the effort of living and writing about.

   

Pandemic impact on people's lives

Pandemic impact on people’s lives

What happens to the lives of people, when there is a pandemic like the H1N1 virus? In a brief H1N1 recap, it becomes apparent that medical scientists can explain how flu pandemic explains the scope of a pandemic, but not its impact on the lives of people.

 "The 2009 outbreak of a new strain of Influenza A, virus subtype H1N1 created concerns that a new pandemic was occurring. In the latter half of April 2009, the World Health Organization's pandemic alert level was sequentially increased from three to five, until the announcement on 11 June, 2009, that the pandemic level had been raised to its highest level, level six." (1)

At that time, there was the grave reality of a global health crisis. Until the time that it reached level six, it was an epidemic.

"This was the first pandemic on this level, since 1968. Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, gave a statement on 11 June 2009, confirming that the H1N1 strain was indeed a pandemic, having nearly 30,000 confirmed cases worldwide." (2)

The pandemic, based upon the number of cases of H1N1 infection, led medical professionals and health care educators everywhere to take immediate action, but it also raised concerns and questions.

For instance, is the difference between an epidemic and pandemic strictly a medical, scientific differentiation in scope, based only upon numbers? Obviously, the scope of the H1N1 infection based only on numbers could vary on any particular day, or in any part of the world. What does it really mean when medical scientists refer to the scope of the H1N1 pandemic? Other words for scope might include magnitude or the extent of a disease. It records the number of incidents of infection, documented and reported.

On the other hand, what is the impact of the H1N1 infection?

What does the impact of the H1N1 infection imply or signify to people around the world?

From a medical, scientific perspective, are there other implications with regard to impact? Is it only in terms of the scope, extent or magnitude of the infectious disease that medical scientists decipher the significance of the data they have collected? In other words, is medical science just a numbers crunch or does it entail the more humane elements of care, compassion and concern that have more to do with impact of the H1N1 pandemic on people's lives?
 

Is there yet another way to look at H1N1 pandemic impact?

Note that whether this is purely numbers or care, compassion and concern related, commitment on the part of the medical scientists is still essential. Perhaps what keeps medical science on its toes is the reality of the impact of something like the H1N1 pandemic on the lives of human beings everywhere.

One cannot disregard the importance of the medical, scientific scope of the H1N1 pandemic, in terms of its actual numbers. Nor can one disregard its impact in terms of human lives lost and saved.

Let us look at the word 'pandemic' further.

'Pandemic' is rooted in the Greek word 'pan' meaning 'all' and 'demos' meaning 'people'. (3)

Thus the use of the word 'pandemic' suggests that it may involve all of the people in the world.

Let us explain this further.

A pandemic "is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even world wide." (4)

Taking this definition further, "A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it, is not a pandemic." (5)

In other words, the pandemic is continually growing in magnitude or scope. This is what the medical scientists are attempting to track.

"According to the World Health Organization, a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met: emergence of a disease new to a population; agents infect humans, causing serious illness; and agents spread easily and sustainability among humans." (6)

"A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious." (7)

Now, let us look at the word 'impact', its meaning and signification.

"Impact, in general, can refer to the influence or effect of an object. In science, however, it can refer to the collision of two objects. In medicine, it can refer to impinge." (8)

In terms of science, there is also the 'impact factor,' which is "a measure of the citations to a science or social science journal." (9)

What does all of this mean?

The majority of the world population will probably not understand fully what a pandemic signifies, involves or why one is declared by medical scientists. They will understand numbers of cases of an infectious disease that may affect them regardless of where they are living or traveling in the world.

The H1N1 virus impacts people is such a way that it creates an infection that quickly spreads to others. It can also impinge upon factors other than their health including their livelihood and economic status.

On a larger scale, it can interfere significantly with their human interaction particularly in terms of their financial resources, transport and trade. That in turn can affect the government, as well as the governments of other countries particularly when it involves international trade agreements and transactions.

The full impact factor from the H1N1 may not be felt, known or documented immediately as this kind of information is not always immediately available. Global economists and others will document this later.

While the world may be critical of the work of medical scientists with regard to the scope of the H1N1, it will become evident that their work has not been in vain. The global impact of the H1N1 pandemic is likely to be recorded in history as having been lessened by their vigilance including their care, compassion and concern for fellow man.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic 

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact 

9. Ibid.

Writing for the Internet

For freelance writers, writing means writing, editing and publishing various kinds of content, scripts or manuscripts for the Internet, and this may lead to publication in the form of  blogs, e-books or actual books.

Traditionally, the expression writing scripts has taken on a multiplicity of different meanings, all the way from the use of different kinds of language scripts, meticulously "scripting" ancient writings or poetry by hand with pen and black ink, or written manuscripts that are included in letters, old documents, etc. Manuscript writing includes various genres of literature like plays, novels, short stories, books, etc. Nowadays, the word script can also refer to computer fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, or some of the older "scripts" like Old English text. It can also refer to script associated with the field of entertainment.

There are key issues with respect Internet content writing, editing and publication, which may include the following:

Search engine optimization (SEO)

In the article, “SEO tutorial”, discusses techniques for improving visibility of content for search engines.

“SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the activity of optimizing Web pages or whole sites in order to make them more search engine friendly, thus getting higher positions in search results.

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/seo/

Search engine optimization standards are extremely important with respect to writing, editing and publishing content, script or manuscripts for the Internet. Enforcing SEO standards helps to increase the professionalism of Internet publication. Web pages that fail to meet SEO standards may be subject to severe criticism, or even the deletion of content, web pages or even web sites.         

Appropriateness of genre and content

One of the key issues with respect to writing for the Internet is the appropriateness of content for the script, manuscript, or specified genre. For freelance writers, genre always dictates the style of script, at least to some extent. For example, a play requires dialogue, while a news report requires documented data that is verifiable. Fiction writing allows a fair amount of literary freedom with respect to its manuscript, while a magazine article is looking for specific content in terms of its focus or topic. It is always important for a freelancer to consider the specifications of a web master or a web site when writing any kind of script for the Internet. This may also entail writing appropriate script for different readerships, with respect to language, race, culture or age.

Presentation of script content

Various kinds of scripts have specific criteria for presentation on the Internet. For example, poetic writings generally take on the style of different forms of poetry like haiku, ballad, shadow or galloping cowboy poetry. The script of a play usually has its own distinct format with descriptions of settings, acts, scenes and dialogue between characters, etc. 

Length of script

Writing a script or manuscript can vary in terms of its length. For example, a news report is limited in its length, as it must be easy to read quickly and requires facts, as opposed to fiction, and accompanying specific dates, times and places of events.  A fiction manuscript can be much longer, but may also include reference to, or liberties taken with actual historical events.

Successful, marketable Internet content, scripts or manuscripts meet basic requirements. They are positive, constructive and often highly motivational for readers. Many of them can be applicable to any era. They may or may not have accompanying photography or illustrations as writing appropriate content often serves that purpose.  

Man's best solution for coastal erosion

Mapping of coastal areas reveals the reality of changing coastlines, all around the world. There is a multiplicity of contributing factors to this phenomenon, only one of which is coastal erosion. Shorelines appear to disappear, or simply go through a period of transition.

The best solutions of man may offer a temporary solution, but winds always go where winds will; waves follow wind patterns. Temperature changes like those associated with global warming, alter both wind and wave patterns. Sand goes where winds or water determine its pathway. 

While many of the coastal changes go unnoticed by the majority, more dramatic weather patterns including hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, monsoons and tornadoes demand the attention of man, as they can bring about major, unexpected changes in a coastline of any country. Global warming can do the same thing, as ice formations typical to northern regions like the Arctic, or southern regions like Antarctica begin to break away and float to different areas.

At best, the solutions for coastal erosion attempted by man appear to be only temporary, as winds will be winds, and waves will be waves. In other words, oceans, seas, lakes and rivers will continue to have altered coastlines, as sand and other debris shifts one way or another.

Attempting to return coastlines to their state of ‘normalcy’ in one area, can result in the shifting of coastlines in other areas, as sand moves about in conjunction with wind and the wave patterns. What is true normalcy may be nature’s best solution. Man’s first instinct is to ‘fix’ something that is ‘broken’, but there are times when nature offers a better solution, based upon the understanding of a larger whole.   

 

Consider the following examples.

A waterway to the ocean has collected silt and sand from the rise and fall of the ocean’s tide. Man attempts to dredge the riverbed, in order to open up the waterway for shipping purposes and at the same time, tries to use the silt and sand for landfill, close by or elsewhere. Pumping silt and sand from the riverbed onto nearby land can lead to the unanticipated expansion of peat moss, which in turn has the potential to disrupt roadways, highways and result in the destruction of buildings, loss of homes and so forth. Barges bring tons of rock and sand to eroding beaches. Trucks and railways serve the same purpose, often with disastrous results.

Wave energy or wave patterns continue to follow their natural pattern, which can result in further problems caused by coastal alteration. At times, this can affect other areas too, whether the rock and sand is derived from a source downstream, or elsewhere. Natural habitats invariably suffer destruction when man builds new developments on coastal areas deemed landfill sites. The cost factor alone can be prohibitive. Waste products often go to landfill sites as well, leading to contamination.  

Should man stop trying to ‘fix’ his world, particularly after a major coastal disaster in a heavily populated area? There are times when that appears to be appropriate, but at the same time, there are no guarantees that the same kinds of disasters, or others like it, will not occur in the same place. Working against, or in opposition to nature alters equilibrium and balance inherent in nature.   

Nature tends to be a ‘fixer’ too. Perhaps some of the best solutions of man allow nature to ‘run its course’, or work in harmony with nature, even when this entails man learning how to live with nature and its vast realm of manifestations.