Kaleidoscopic Echoes

The echoes resound in a changing kaleidoscope. The lights of christmas pasts change before my eyes. I have no choice but to accept the pieces make different versions of a shattered whole.

It was a year ago that I moved to the ocean, ready to be swept away by a tsunami, or dropped into the belly of the earth by an earthquake. I chose to be near to my children and grandchildren that numbered two at the time, and are about to number three. They lived on a fault line.

It was not the first time I had left the family home, but this time I had dramatically cut my roots. The botanist in me recognized the importance of cutting roots, and the threats associated with such actions.

I once read that change is initiated when it is a better option than staying the same. I am not a risk taker. This change was the preferred option.

Years of life have taught me many lessons, and I finally appreciate how I had changed my perspective once and for all. I used to see in people what I wanted to believe was true, and this year, I accepted myself and others for who we are: a complex myriad of ancestral programmed beings, who deal with a blend of environmental factors including changes in foods, due to pesticides, pollutants and plastics, plus behavioural choices that no longer accept that free will is solely determined by the volition of the self. I know the mind, a combination of the brain and soul, can learn to see things differently.

The kaleidoscope realigns to a memory of childhood joy and expectations that were not associated with commercialism, but sharing. Poverty was a lovely teacher, especially, when it is not even recognized. There was adequate food, and educational opportunities. It seems disrespectful to call it poverty. Ignorance is a wonderful gift, it allows the sentimental feeling of accepting what is as enough. Christmas trees had lights that were expensive to run, but they did shine bright an clear in the days of my youth.I appreciate how children are entranced by the magic of lights.

The kaleidoscope changes again. Animals came first, then photosynthetic bacteria that could survive on their own. The bacteria were engulfed into the animal cells in the mitochondria. Those mitochondria make me remember a time that was long ago. Possessions can be such a burden. Mitochondria have their own DNA. It came from photosynthetic bacteria, a form of plant. The only difference between hemoglobin found in blood, and chlorophyll found in plants, is the core elements of the porphyrin ring, respectively iron and magnesium. Iron emits the colours, Gold, when very hot such as an electric arc, bright blue, or orange-brown. Iron absorbs green. Chlorophyll on the other hand emits green. At it's core, Magnesium absorbs 285 nm, violet.

The joy of seeing the LED christmas lights stimulates the plant like elements in the body's mitochondria as they receive the wavelength of energy that has been so missed since the Purple Age, that according the hypotheses, occurred between 3.5 and 2.4 billion years ago during the Archean eon, before the Great Oxygenation Event and Huronian glaciation.

The kaleidoscope shifts again. The night sky shines with its traditional Yuletide constellation of Orion, Sirius, and Aldebaran, the eye of the bull and the Pleiades, the sever sisters and herd of cattle. This year, Venus will be bright at dusk. Jupiter and Mars will shine bright over Sirius. Jupiter and Venus have a 40 year cycle. I still seek the serpent that will eat its tail.

I have not been able to decipher enough details about Astronomy and Astrology, to test what might have been predicted in the stars, but do know that only recently have the two been separated in importance. Even Kepler, 450 years ago, made a living by doing both . But 450 years is a long time to many. I remember as a child, learning about the second world war which had happened less than 15 years before and wondered why I was learning about such old things. I am curious about astrology and wonder how humans fit into the stars.

The kaleidoscope shifts again. I need to rest more these days. As a child told to stay in bed and rest quietly was a severe form of punishment. Now that is seldom the case, but funnily, when it is time for me to get up, I recall that same childhood feeling and ache to get moving and dread staying in bed any longer.

The changes of this year have not been trivial, and they have taken a toll, but there has been a chance to use the confidence gained by experiences, to deal with changes. I have learned to move like water, following along the path of least resistance. Experience has provided me with knowing how to use the same principles of water. They have been applied to deal with a vast number of situations,including methods of replacing perimeter drains. Knowing how I adapt to learning curves has made dealing with the unexpected so much easier.

The kaleidoscope shifts. Grandbaby number three is soon going to arrive. This little soul has been an acrobat who defies gravity and the norm. Thankfully, a doctor assisted cesarean will enhance the survivorship possibilities of both the little one and my daughters lives. So much has advanced since I have had children, but really, how can blankets no longer be suitable to bundle a baby in. It is a miracle that children have survived for thousands of years before evidence-based research has promoted using expensive sleep sacs.

The kaleidoscope shifts. It is hard to find the balance between the benefits of information and the use of information for marketing and propaganda. I suffered through learning how computers worked, with punch cards being the original zero one binary options. I struggled learning statistics that could be used in programs, and was on the front lines of testing search engines when duck duck and yahoo, dogpile and google were all equal options. Back then it was obvious google was very brilliant. Back then reproductive technologies were still in their infancy and racial segregation, gender inequality and ageism were only bizarre concepts. AIDS was going to threaten humanity's existence and homosexuals were just coming out. What is now sold as a dollar store calculator cost as much as a cheap computer.

The kaleidoscope shifts. Change happens. The population has exponentially increased, and so has much of the world's use of resources. People think they are smarter because they have access to information at the speed of light, but really, are they smarter?

The kaleidoscope shifts one time more as this tale comes to an end. Change happens. Experience helps recognize how the mind deals with change and finds methods to face the challenges of change. What remains constant is the way the present is addressed. The wisdom of the beatitudes holds an answer that can satisfy most audiences.

As the year comes to an end, I recognize a quiet acceptance of what is, that is not always as what is wished for. I do know that there are many options presented for ways to deal with change, and it is up to each individual to follow a course of action to change what you can, and accept what cannot be changed.