Under the Cedars of Edenhope

[With appreciation for apt phrases to poet women of the early Australian bush and to Carl Riseley.]

Milicent Humphries pulled her shawl closer as she sat alone on the porch swing of her Iowa home. She was dreaming of the night, the first time she had peed in a graveyard. She had been eight years old when her Mum took her to visit the grave of Grandma Burns near their home in Edenhope, Victoria.

Of course, Milicent had lived in Australia at the time. Everybody had called her the diminutive “Mili.” It wasn’t until she was eighteen that she married a Yank during The War. He had properly, though not promptly, whisked her away to the United States of America. It had all been such a great adventure.

Positive Personal Emotions

Traditionally, psychology has focused on identifying and treating mental disease. However, the new field of positive psychology can help us identify and cultivate personal strengths so as to pursue happiness and enjoy positive emotions. This constructive outlook frees us from heavy burdens of regret for our past, unnecessary sadness in our present, and fear of our future.

Many people spend too much time entertaining sorrow, blame, and guilt over events from their past. However, the past is unchangeable. All we can do now is contemplate the past, learn from it, accept our present situation and decide how we intend to move on. Consuming ourselves with negativity is never productive. If we want to be able to forgive others and want others to be able to forgive us, we must start with learning how to accept our own forgiveness.

The present is what we have. Right now, we can experience this moment, interpret it for better or worse and make a choice. We can be happier if we act virtuously – in harmony with our values. Many people have realized that acting out of harmony with their values produces a lot of unnecessary stress.

Mister Perfect

A possible Fergus Johnson story of gender relations

Sandy (Sandra-Jane to her father when she was growing up and he was not pleased) was eating supper alone. She didn’t entirely mind being alone. Generally, men had been a disappointment in her life. Her mouth was full of the focaccia that had come with her salad course, but she smiled anyway as her active mind produced a triptych of association-memories. “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” [Irina Dunn/Gloria Steinem]; “Men are just carriers of bad jokes and flatulence.” [Scott Adams, Dilbert]; and “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.” [Robert Masello, Blood and Ice]. Yes, that was worth a grin. It was even worth the small snort that threatened to blow crumbs out her nose.

Speaking of men, there was an odd one right now, sitting in profile in her field of view. He was also having his salad. He was certainly taking his time. He would pick up his knife to slice things just so. Next, with a small frown of intense concentration, he would dip his fork into a side of dressing and impale first one item and then another in some kind of deliberate construction until it was just right. Finally, lifting his salad-kabob carefully past his lips he chewed in quiet contentment and distracted contemplation before resuming the ceremony.

Sandy experienced an old and not-unwelcome warming as she imagined him nibbling on her ear lobe and kissing the back of her neck with the same kind of intensity he was committing to his food.

Introduce yourself to The Great Cosmic Happy Ass Card Company

Life would not be complete without the artful 'spiritual' humor of Diane English. Dear friends, discover your irreverent giggle bone and share the joy with your friends!

And now, for something a little different...

#56 - Please Share at Every Opportunity

The Key to Relationships

"Even the poorest people can have wonderful relationships without transactional gift-giving.
Go do something wonderful for someone you have, or would like to have, in your life."
~ David Satterlee

Essay: About “Chum for Thought”

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About “Chum for Thought”

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

Find out more, including where to buy books and ebooks

Read or download this essay as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKWm9kX09sOEYxeEU/edit?usp=sharing

Why we need to talk, think, work, together to understand others, get along.

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

About “Chum for Thought”

This essay was the first installment of my newspaper column “@ChumForThought,” published in the Dayton Review. The series was intended for my neighbors in a small, rural, Iowa town. I hoped to encourage conservatives to think about their ideas and liberals to come out of the closet.

“Chum” is the word for chopped fish waste that is thrown overboard to attract other fish – especially sharks.

I believe that comparing ideas can be a force for good that attracts us to each other. Strangers often become friends as they talk and work together, uniting to solve mutual problems.

Many people like to avoid controversy like they would avoid swimming with sharks. You hear friends say “let’s talk about anything but politics and religion.” That’s completely understandable. And, if a friend tells me that, I’ll be the first one to back off and respect his or her need for comfort without confrontation or fear.

However, as Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” I think it is good to compare notes and discuss ideas. We make both ourselves and our companion better for the time we spend trying to understand each other.

We become enemies if we withdraw and refuse to talk, empathize, think, or compromise. People who can’t talk together become suspicious and divided. They become fearful and hateful. They often resort to combat to resolve their differences. Unthinking alienation is not the path to peace, security, and brotherhood.

The ability to communicate about issues, including our values, is what draws us together as friends, families, and communities. When we can communicate, we can work together to solve problems. We can unite for common goals and for our common good.

I believe that we become better people when we choose to compare and discuss ideas. It can useful to know what is going on and discuss events. But, it is often pointed out that gossip, by only discussing people, can be damaging. Coming together about ideas is best.

This column will focus on the practical side of practicing “peace on earth and goodwill toward men.” I hope that you will find it to be encouraging and thought provoking… chum for thought.

 

Networking: Section 6 - Coping with Fear, Risk and Crisis

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Section 6 - Coping with Fear, Risk and Crisis

From the book: Building Your Network Business: Proven Ideas from Successful Leaders by David Satterlee

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Read or download this essay as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKdHRyaFFyVFhJWDg/edit?usp=sharing

• The people keep you going
• Handling rejection
• Overcoming fear
• If your friends and family don't understand
• Risk = Commitment (Burning your bridges)
• Crisis time: excuse or challenge?
• Revisiting failure
• When you do wrong
• If you say it, you have to do it

Story: Allen Porter - Dayton Cowboy Comes Full Circle

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Allen Porter: Dayton Cowboy Comes Full Circle

Porter brothers (Duane, Allen, and Tom)

perform their specialty act.

from the book: Life Will Get You in the End:
Short stories by David Satterlee

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Read or download this story as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKZFRIcU94VEhKVlk/edit?usp=sharing

Life Will Get You in the End:
Short Stories by David Satterlee

My home town has a Labor Day rodeo that dates back almost 80 years. The story goes that a young boy started doing rope tricks for nickles down by the picnic grounds. Today, he is "the last of the real cowboys," and an iconic local hero. I had the rare privilege of interviewing the man and writing a feature article for the local newspaper. Here it is.  

Allen Porter: Dayton Cowboy Comes Full Circle

I had the privilege of an extended conversation and interview with Allen Porter, one of the last “real cowboys.” He also has a reputation as a trick-horse trainer and performer. He is an honored native son of our small, rural, Iowa town. This is not fiction, just a partial record of a “you couldn’t make this stuff up” life. I’m including it here just to share a special story.

Article by David Satterlee     

Published in the Dayton Review on October 26, 2011    

Based on a personal interview.  

 

Allen Porter, born in 1918, still bears the broad shoulders and strong hands of a sturdy working man. He also still wears cowboy boots and keeps the horns of a longhorn steer mounted above his front door. Inside, pictures of the people and horses that he has known and loved fill his home.

Most locals know him on sight. Allen is honored annually at the Dayton Rodeo. He is the legendary boyhood rope trick performer who, with friends Duane Vegors and Vern Danielson, gave the Labor Day rodeo its start. He helped start the Wranglers Club in 1947 and has made his life as a horseman.

Allen didn’t stay in the area his whole life. He spent years as a cowboy in New Mexico, a ranch hand in Texas, and he managed his own ranch operation in Arkansas. Coming back to Dayton, he made a home with his wife, Esther and has continued to be active in the community.

Allen remembers: “The rodeo has kind of been my life. The rodeo started from nothing. I did a lot of trick roping in my early days. I did trick roping with my high school horse. I didn’t follow the rodeos, but I did trick roping in South Dakota and Iowa, New Mexico, West Texas, and Arkansas during my early days. I’d get

Poem: The Strange Kid

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The Strange Kid

from the book: Life Will Get You in the End:
Short stories by David Satterlee

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Read or download this story as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKemRWZmlVekE1X2s/edit?usp=sharing

Life Will Get You in the End:
Short Stories by David Satterlee

A story of bigotry and bullying told, disconcertingly, in a precise "Dr. Seuss" cadence. This was actually written several years before the 2012 mass-shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

The Strange Kid

This poem was written several years before the 2012 mass-shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. It addresses the kind of bigotry and prejudice that springs from fear and hate. The ideal cure for such violence is for us to get to know our neighbors, find common ground, and become true friends.

Since we first all went back to school
There’s been a boy who’s new.
He’s different in a lot of ways.
He’s not like me and you.

He wears a white cloth ’round his head
Because he is a Sikh.
He doesn’t want to take it off
To let us have a peek.

His name is even funny too,
And very hard to say.
So Bobby likes to make new names
We call him by each day.

He will not eat a hamburger
Or any kind of meat.
His mother sends him rice stuff that
Smells spicy, strange, and sweet.

And, when we sing