Quiet by Nature

I photographed these Lakota Indians during a public event at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

    American Indians don’t talk all that much to strangers. I learned this fact during a visit to the Lakota (Sioux) Reservation in South Dakota.
    A local family was hitchhiking. I pulled over my car, they climbed in, and we traveled eighteen miles. I tried to initiate conversations. They had little to say. I felt awkward.
    Later, while on the reservation, someone explained to me that Lakotas are quiet by nature. Chances were, that family didn’t feel awkward inside my car, even though I did. They were just being themselves.
    Later, I read that American Indians by and large aren’t talkative. They appreciate silence.  So do I.
    Silence triggers introspection, and introspection helps us navigate through life.

Degrees of Satisfaction

A mother and son earned general ed. diplomas on the same year. I photographed them in New Hampshire.

    I no longer consider my graduating from college as a source of lasting satisfaction. The same goes for my graduating from high school.

    Don't get me wrong. I'm not unhappy about earning those degrees. They've benefited me. But earning an education was nothing out of the ordinary. It was merely fulfilling a necessity.

    What has contributed to my well being? Hiking the Appalachian Trail left an enduring satisfaction. So did hitchhiking across North America. And so did writing a novel. Those achievements resonate because they were not undertaken by necessity.

    When we achieve what’s necessary, the satisfaction wanes. But when we achieve what’s unnecessary, the satisfaction endures.

Purity of Heart

    Sometimes, while visiting a chapel near home, I read prayer requests left by other people. These requests appear in a notebook.
    A visit last summer offered a surprise. Two dollars lay beside the notebook. A message from the donor read, A little $ for anyone in need.
    Reading that note brightened my mood. (I didn't take the cash).
    The donor didn’t leave his name. Perhaps he was familiar with an exhortation in the New Testament. It reads: Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them.
   The media often reports when someone—often a famous person—donates money. These reports dismay me. I wonder if those donors are motivated by self aggrandizement rather than compassion.
   Anonymous donors are inspirational because they reveal purity of heart.

Vigilance

A hawk perches on a fence behind my house. Note the meat beside its talons.

    This hawk exercised vigilance. Rather than feeding beside the remains of a dead animal, it took away a hunk of meat and perched on a fence. Caution made sense. The remains lay in the woods where coyotes lurk. The fence provided safety.
    Even while eating, the hawk peered about. It rarely let down its guard.
    Like the hawk, people are cautious. They look each way before crossing a street. They avoid strangers deemed—rightly or wrongly—as a threat. Immediate threats trigger caution.
    But not all threats are immediate. Many people ignore long-term threats.
    Friends and acquaintances of mine are dead. They succumbed to cancer. A high percentage of them partied too much during their lives. They weren’t vigilant about their health. Their bad habits caught up with them.
    Short term vigilance comes easy. Long term vigilance requires discipline.

Audio Overload

I took this photo at a high school field where, on another day, the announcer was too loud.

    I no longer enjoy watching sports. One reason is audio overload by announcers.
    This problem came to a head while I attended a high school football game. The announcer working the public address system was loud and incessant. He rarely shut up. I could barely converse with a friend beside me.
    Twice, the announcer drowned out the band as it performed during breaks in the action.
    The announcer’s motor-mouth ruined the fun.
    My friend agreed with this assessment. I suggested he write a letter about this problem to the editor of the local newspaper. My friend demurred. He didn’t want to anger people in his town.
    Fair enough. But I didn’t live there. So I write a letter to the editor. This letter explained in detail how the announcer’s relentlessness made it hard to enjoy the game. 
     My opinion incensed many people. Some of them wrote angry rebuttals in the newspaper.
    My phone rang during this period.
    “Hello,” I said.
    “You’re an a…hole! a woman said before hanging up.
     Anyone who challenges a status quo encounters fierce resistance.

Healthy Dirt

    Does mowing the lawn keep a person healthy?
    The man in the photo, close to one hundred years old at the time, still mowed his lawn. He was healthier than most people his age.
    I also push a mower. It kicks up dirt, dust, and all sorts of bacteria. Filth cakes my body. When I shower afterwards, water flows with blackness.
    Researchers theorize that when children play in the dirt, or stuff dirt into their mouths, they’re developing their immune systems.
    I am 59 years old. My health remains good. I'm not taking meds. And once per week, while behind a mower, I breath in gobs of airborne dirt.
    My gut tells me that exposure to dirt contributes to the health of adults.