Various ideas

Some days, no topic rings my chime.  I try various ideas in my head, weigh them using unspecified units of weight.  I do have a few thoughts.  I like CNN Five Things format since I can understand that there is a big world and there is too much to ponder everything.

To put my own twist on this post, I will be daring and use a different number instead of 5.  I figure 4 or 6 could fit, too.  I will use 4.

1. Patrick Wood - Mr. Wood is the publisher of the local paper, Stevens Point Journal.  His recent book, Reflections, is a collection of various columns he has written.

2. As I age, I feel indebted to my father for the calm I inherited.  I think I see the same calm in my sister and my daughter. Everywhere, ads try to play on fears and hopes, and it is valuable to be able to view scary headlines and dark movies, pictures and theories calmly.

3. It can be easy to collect evidence of big changes in our lives, change that is ongoing.  We don't use horses for trips, we have other means of communication besides written letters; we usually have long lives.  Change, welcome and unwelcome, is part of life and can be expected.

4. I carry a quarter in my pocket for situations calling for a decision.  You know: heads I do A and tails I do B.  I think chance events happen and I don't think the coin is influenced by supernatural forces.  I do think finding heads gives me a chance to experience disappointment with the result and if the disappointment is strong enough, I ignore the coin.