.. I want to make a short apology to all our readers and to the authors who have been submitting articles the last week. I had a very Pleasant surprise Friday. I had been planning to do posting and a lot of updates over the July 17Th weekend to this site. The Neothink Society was having a big convention over the weekend, that I planned to watch over the Internet and do my admin duties in the process. That plan all changed Friday afternoon as a plot unfolded shortly after I got home from work. My wife had told me she was inviting some people over so I needed to BarBQ. I was cleaning up the house and getting things neat. I had assumed the people were coming Sunday, after they got off work, as is normal for most parties we throw now. I had a few errands I wanted to run after I got home from work so I let the dog out, got the mail, and was about to leave when I heard my doorbell and a loud knock at my front door. I assumed someone wanted to sell me something because everyone else knows to use the side door. Well the plot was sprung and I was pleasantly shocked speechless! My daughter, son-in-law and two grand-kids had

By the next weekend I was completely packed and ready to move to Blooming Bud.  The moving van arrived at 8:30 Saturday morning and by 12:45 everything had been loaded and we were on our way.  Paul closed his shop early and helped me move my things into my studio and apartment.  Despite the mountain of unopened boxes everywhere, it soon felt like home.  By 7:30 most of the boxes in my living quarters had been unpacked and their contents lay in heaps around my loft.  As I was putting the dishes away, the bell on my front door clanged. “Ember, it’s Paul.” I peeked over the balcony.  He stood in the center of my shop holding a tray.  “I though you might be hungry.  You’ve been working really hard and I’ll bet you didn’t bring any food with you.  So I stopped over by the Lady Bug.  I hope you like grilled chicken.” The next morning, Meghan stopped by to see how I was doing.  “I wanted to invite you to join our Tai Chi class, Ember.  We meet every morning at 7:00.  It only lasts about 45 minutes, but it’s very relaxing and great exercise.  You can meet most of the other members of our little group there.” Life in Blooming Bud was unhurried.  I wanted my vacation

As I sat at my desk looking at the picture I had just drawn it suddenly came to me !I suddenly realized what this picture truly meant: Now those of you that I have had the pleasure to meet with either face to face or over the phone or even in the many chat rooms on the great world wide web, know that I can sometimes really get way out there in my thoughts . But this is something I have thought about for a couple of years now, I’ll explain to you what I see in this picture here in a few minutes. First let me say, the picture was first drawn as a idea for a cover for a book I am thinking about writing, so the picture is just another way of telling a story about my own journey into a new way of  life. A way of life that I had never really taken the time to stop and see for what it truly is ! You see the title of the picture I call Lost Paradise  has a hidden story in it and that story is as follows : as you look at the drawing, look to the top of the picture. You see the great mountain wall. To me that mountain wall is the separation

“Well, it looks like you have made a lot of progress out here.  What are you going to do with all that stuff?” “Take it with me, of course.” “You found a place then.” “Yes, I found a place outside of town.  I think I’ll be happy there.” “Emy, I know this has been hard on you.  But we have nothing in common anymore.” “Nothing in common!  Twenty-three years of marriage, two children and now we have nothing in common?” “I’ve grown, Emy.  I’ve moved on.  I’m still a young man.  I want to be with a young, vibrant woman.  The sooner you realize that I’m right, the better off you will be.  You’ve been afforded a lot of luxuries over the years.  You should be grateful for that and let me have my freedom.”  He turned and started to walk back toward the house.  “It’s still all about you, isn’t it Richard!  All our married life it was about what you wanted.  Your career, your needs, you, you, YOU!  You destroyed our lives together because you have a middle age crisis.  Yes Richard, you are middle aged.  No matter how many sports cars you buy or how many bimbos you date, you are still getting older.  You say I should be grateful for what I have received.  I was,