World Reboot

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“The practical importance
of the preservation of our forests
is augmented by their relations to
climate, soil and streams.”
John Muir

World Reboot

Around the globe humanity is in a crisis. Here in California, Governor Newsom announced a state wide “Stay Home” program for all our 40 million people. It was strongly recommended to everyone stay home and not go out unless to exercise or get necessary supplies for you or your family. We are living in unprecedented times.

Spring arrived yesterday with very little recognition. I was only reminded it was spring by a reminder from my iPhone. At a time of year when most of us are happy to welcome spring, the Coronavirus situation has created health and economic anxiety for all humans. I believe there is a massive silver lining in all of this.

If we can quiet the mind just enough and listen, we will hear Mother Nature breathing a subtle yet immensely deep sigh of relief. The air is cleaner. The water is cleaner. Proving that if we just leave nature alone it has the power to restore itself, quickly.

As I take my daily walks, I see dolphins and whales and wonder what the dolphins and whales are feeling right now. If I were able to know, I would say they are elated that the water they live in and the air they breathe is being purified and cleansed.

The question becomes, how will humans respond? Whether we like it or not, we are all impacted by this. Our patterns of living have been enormously disrupted. Our health and finances lie in the balance. And how we treat each other has become more important than ever.

In the midst of great fear and uncertainty – all of which is legitimate – this becomes a huge opportunity for us. The optimist in me wants to believe this will be the wakeup call our species has desperately needed. This is our chance to realize we truly are all in this together, that what I do affects you and vice versa. ‘We are One’ is a Truth, not just a pleasant-sounding spiritual philosophy.

My hope is that even though the fear is palpable and justified, we can come from a place of Love for each other and for this majestic planet we call home as the World reboots.

Shine On

Wake-Up Call for Mankind

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“Sometimes it takes a wake-up call, doesn’t it,
to alert us to the fact that we’re
hurrying through our lives
instead of actually living them;
that we’re living the fast life
instead of the good life.
And I think, for many people,
that wake-up call takes the form of an illness.”.
Carl Honore

Wake-Up Call

I hope we will all learn a great deal from this crisis. Important issues like how war is not the answer. How climate change is real. How money can’t buy you time or health. I hope we will learn simple things like, we need to eat healthy, be more kinder, more considerate, more patient and most of all we are in this together.

I can’t help but believe that this World Wide crisis is nothing more then a wake-up call for mankind.

Shine On

Survival of The Fittest

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“In the long history of humankind and animal kind,
those who learned to collaborate
and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin 1809-1892

We are currently living in a very precarious time. Except for outbreaks of a War and the attack of 911, the USA hasn’t experienced such a fast paradigm shift in our life styles in almost a century.

If you are over 90 years old, you understand what it means to make big sacrifices for the good of all mankind. Anyone under 90 years old has never experienced a major crisis of this magnitude. The last time this Nation faced a major crisis was the 1929 stock market crash.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced challenges when he took office back in March 4, 1933 during the height of the depression and made his famous speech: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Words that are probably the most iconic used by any President.

Roosevelt faced the economic crisis and the American people, who had just lost about everything, including hope, with honesty and compassion. Most don’t realize, he prefaced his famous speech with saying this is an important time to tell the truth and that the dire facts have to be understood. He continued to say that we have to come together as a Nation and that he was taking responsibility for the Great Depression and he would go to Congress with a series of measures to recommend to Congress.

Through all of this, Roosevelt gave our Nation a sense of hope and trust that he would get them through this harsh time. As we all know, he did succeed and was responsible for many life supporting government programs we have today.

The Coronavirus pandemic is challenging our values, beliefs, trusts and our existence. Let’s face it, unless you live under a rock, it’s the number one topic and concern for everyone especially our leaders.

I’m sure like all of you, I’ve been reading, watching the news and researching about the Coronavirus. Facts about where it’s heading, how to possibly prevent the spread and all the daunting statistics are overwhelming.

After analyzing all of this Coronavirus information, I can’t help but think about the great Charles Darwin. Most of you fellow Blogaholics know who Darwin was but in case you don’t: Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is one of the most important concepts and organizing principles of modern biology. … And because of its clarity, the phrase coined not by Darwin but by, Herbert Spencer, “survival of the fittest” is still widely used to explain natural selection to people interested in understanding the evolution of life on Earth.

As we are learning, the Coronavirus is not discriminating between, race, economic class, continents or social status. It appears it is choosing to infect the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Anyone with what they are calling, “underlying conditions”, whether they have diabetes, autoimmune disease, emphysema, etc. has a compromised immune system period. That’s why healthy children, anyone from age 10-40 without any existing illness are having a better chance of surviving the virus.

The media as well as our leaders have a great deal of impact on how we respond to this crisis. As the Coronavirus continues to unfold on to our Nation of panicked, stressed and frightened people, this is the time we need to work together, be more patient, not panic, we need excellent honest leadership (that’s an entire other issue) and most importantly, we must take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Because, as we are witnessing, the government can only do so much to protect its people. It will eventually come down to, survival of the fittest.

Shine On

Ancestor of all Bicycles

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“Truly, the bicycle is the
most influential piece of
product design ever.”
Hugh Pearman

1815 Eruption of Mount Tambora, Indonesia

It was the early-18th century in Western Europe when man first began experimenting with human-powered vehicles. In the beginning, these vehicles consisted of four or more wheels and could accommodate up to seven passengers. Much different than carts or carriages, they had handles or ropes for men on foot to push or pull. They were attempts at replacing horses with humans.

Even back in the 1800s, the purchase of a horse was expensive for the working man. No fit and wealthy gentleman would be without a horse for pleasure riding. They usually had horses for drawing carriages, but most affluent European men owned horses for leisure riding.

That all changed in 1815 when the world was thrown into turmoil. A turmoil not from a war or an economic crisis, but because of a small island over six thousand miles from Europe in the South Pacific.

On April 10, 1815, halfway between Asia and Australia, Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia. It was to become the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history as well as claiming the most fatalities. Mount Tambora’s eruption killed well over 71,000 of its people. This once silent volcano erupted with the power equivalent to 1,000 atomic explosions, blasting about 38 cubic miles of ash, pumice and other matter into the atmosphere.

Ashes reflected the sun’s light and cooled the earth’s surface. Temperatures dropped below freezing in July from Mexico to Vienna. Unexpected snowstorms and rainstorms brought travel to a stop. Farms and grain stores were washed away. Crops failed. Livestock died by the tens of thousands. The world was gripped by the worst famine in a century, and infectious diseases such as typhus was rampant. The year 1816 would become known as “the year without a summer.”

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Christian Ludwig Drais

With all the soot and ash engulfing Europe, there was one ray of hope to this gloomy disaster. He was a 31-year-old aristocrat, an expert in forestry, an enthusiastic and passionate horseman as well as an avid inventor from Baden, Germany. His name was Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Christian Ludwig Drais, otherwise known as Baron Drais von Sauerbronn. Baron Drais’ beloved horses died from environmental causes from the volcano eruption, and set the Baron on a journey to invent the bicycle.

It’s not known for sure what the impetus was for the Baron to think about the problems confronting the horses, and how those factors affected gentlemen who rode for pleasure. But somehow, his grief from losing his horses, led him to thinking about the basic form of the horse and its accommodations for a rider. He began with experimenting with a wooden and wrought iron frame and a pair of carriage wheels in tandem. The result would be recognized by anyone today as, the ancestor of all bicycles.

Shine On

read more about, The Baron Drais