I live in South Florida, the place where Ex – President Donald Trump just got indicted for various criminal crimes against our country. So consider the sheer gravity of this moment sinking in, knowing he’s the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw. Thus I cringe at the ominous prospect of potential insurrections sparking public dissent during the upcoming arraignment and future trial proceedings in Miami of this accused man. I’m also traumatized by the humanely insensitive administration of current governor, Ron De Santis. For I wonder why he’s been been given full clearance in Tallahassee to run around the country campaigning for President and not actually be present to govern in our state. To make matters worse, I vehemently question as a concerned citizen that his frequent absence from Florida now comes at a time when potential unrest in Miami next week would undoubtedly dictate his clear and direct oversight of security measures that day.

So let’s just say that these are two prime examples of political poison in the state and region where I live that drives me to look elsewhere now to experience America from a more optimistic perspective.This motivation also provides a logical rationale for our upcoming road trip itinerary northward to visit sites that I hope will make me feel American proud again.

I must first highlight this patriotic journey then with hopeful visions of glorious military victory from past Civil War times in our revisits to the famed Gettysburg and Richmond battlegrounds. I look forward as well to obtain further glimpses of our nation’s cherished past as we linger around famed downtown squares in Savannah, Georgia, go museum hopping in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and tour the iconic home base of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. When it’s time to find new places to just cool off and relax from our nation’ latest political crisis, a short stay at beachfront Atlantic City, New Jersey seems to also fit well as a timely slowdown with us on this vacation. I’m moreover hopeful that during our four day stay with family in suburban Maryland near Washington D. C., the nation’s Capitol will also “draw me in” to visit those heroic monuments of Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, and Washington in appreciation of their past service to our country.  

So let the firestorm begin in Miami next week as I just do not desire to be anywhere near there then. For it seems to be a fitting time to divorce myself of the continuing negative “vibes” of this former President and our current governor to feel renewed hope through travel in my country that I so desperately need reason to love.

Throughout different stages of my life, my favorite books seemed to guide me as a trusting friend. From growing up in Northeast Ohio and South Florida nurtured by my love of reading at public schools, through my formative years of academic growth at several universities and now embracing the precious moments of “now”in retirement, my books have always been critically important to me. So I recognize that three books stand out for me most in my logical progression through each of these lifetime eras. How gratifying it seems to me in retrospect that each literary work described below somehow chose me in timely fashion when I most needed them to appear.

1. The Cat In The Hat/Green Eggs and Ham – Dr. Seuss

My love of reading undoubtedly took hold with my first exposure to the whimsically funny characters, creatively unusual words and fun to speak rhymes of Dr. Seuss from the time I was five years old. For as one example, I can vividly recall walking out of the public library each week in elementary grade years carrying long stacks of these classic picture books with me. How fun reading seemed to be then as I spent so much time with Dr. Seuss in my spare time. 

2. The Tortilla Curtain – T.C. Boyle

My aspirations to teach in an urban educational setting coincided with my burgeoning interest in becoming proficient at reaching those heavy multicultural challenges I faced in South Florida schools and universities. No book I read in those years thus personifies how deeply invested in the diverse student populace I faced than T.C. Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain. For his engaging plot and characterization graphically exposed the issue of Mexican newcomers struggling to survive in a white dominant area in Southern California facing continual racist attacks concerning their so called inferior status. Such senseless negativism in the mainstream community moved me emotionally to no ends as I learned to refine my language teaching methods as an ESOL professor to advocate positive diversity awareness specific to the different countries I would face each semester.

3. The Celestine Prophecy – James Redfield

Since retirement from teaching, my extensive travels have increasingly sensitized me to spiritual ideas rooted in multiple ancient Eastern traditions and New Age spirituality. A common thread of each of these ideologies involves having a strong belief in finding positive energy within oneself in the moment to moment experience of “now.”  So it happens that nowadays I often refer back to my reading of James Redfield’s, The Celestine Prophecy. For when I seek strong guidance as to my life’s purpose, the main character of this novel comes immediately to mind. For here lies a wandering man like myself traveling through distant lands of Peru discovering several insights for living his life more fully when encountering coincidence and other chance encounters in the present moment of travel. In fact, these lessons learned in the Celestine Prophecy inspired me to pursue my present blog theme known as “Snippets of A Traveling Mind.”

I suppose there exist animal rights activists who would call my joy in feeding whole peanuts to ground squirrels I affectionally call “Squiggys” on our condo lawn wrong. But the way I see it, these gentle creatures need all the help they can get competing for survival in a hostile natural world. So I seek to obtain their trust each morning as they scurry down tall trees to pluck a tasty peanut thrown nearby or to occasionally grab one from my hand. For I’ve seemed to “even up the score” for the “Squiggys” to fend off those dive bombing blue jays, aggressive ducks, reptilian beasts, and cats on the prowl also  lurking for a snack in these sultry summertime surroundings.

Of course I realize that there’s plenty of responsibility required on my part to keep my squirrel feeding under manageable control. But I relish the simple task of sweeping up the empty peanut shells and poop pellets to keep our common space areas and parking lots clean. Before we leave town on vacation, I enjoy as well reaching out in friendly conversation with neighbors who will provide trustworthy distribution and cleaning up of nuts during our absences.

But I confess that  the greatest joy in feeding “Squiggys” each morning takes place in watching their  tiny paws and teeth open each shell so skillfully. For as they slowly find their way successfully to each awaiting nut, I similarly anticipate making good use of any awaiting opportunities for myself each day. So take a look at one of these resourceful critters for yourself in this short video. Clink on the link or picture icon below.

At the end of April each year, it begins to rain every afternoon as South Florida’s seasonal climate becomes perpetually muggy. Many local people reference this phenomenon to the beginning of hurricane season requiring them to get  busier keeping up on the latest weather reports or stocking up on needed supplies in the event of a storm. But as for me, I look at the rainy season absent of tourists as the ideal time to slow down and unplug from life’s normal routine.

So I reason that the sensory presence of such constant rainfall stimulates me to be more aware of my present surroundings each day. Such watery sensations might also release my mind from current stress that’s happening to me on a given day. For example, I might stare out my living room window and clear my mind of an upcoming deadline commitment by watching raindrops steadily fall in “pitty pat” fashion.Or I might just turn away  the negative  chatter reported on my electronic devices and simply listen to the approach of a thundering storm. When the rain disappears, there’s also a noticeable cool in the air that often replenishes my mind for awhile. Have a listen to the sights and sounds of summer rain yourself. Just click on the link or tap the picture below.

So let’s time travel back to Pre- Internet times. For prior to what’s commonly know today as the electronic digital era, I obtained two college degrees without much use of any computers, celebrated love and peace without benefit of glitzy gadgetry, taught middle and high school via paper and pencil and actually read maps to where I needed in travel.The library back then filled my imagination with a vast sea of book shelves inviting me to get lost in my chosen subject of knowledge on a given day. In fact, my most prized possessions seemed to be my World Book Encyclopedia and Yearly Almanac as I actually looked up facts on my own. The daily newspaper always appeared at my front door as well.

As far as human interaction without the Internet, personal letter writing also flourished as I concentrated on forming my cursive letters carefully for those I confided in with my ideas. I did not fear getting hacked by strangers either as I had full control then over who might read what I wrote. Along the street, no personal device was around, so I might pop into a phone booth or drive by someone’s house I knew to contact them as desired.

So you might reason life for me seemed old fashioned without the so named World Wide Web. But I seemed better prepared than many of my peers for the oncoming digital information onslaught with my curious quest to learn on my own and network successfully with others in making key life decisions. How sad it seems then in this present era that so many people are held prisoner by their mobile phones.

One of the most interesting aspects of being a serious fan of Major League Baseball seems to be the opportunity to collect various giveaways over the course of each season. So I’ve collected drink cups, hats, travel bags, and various team banners over the years and always try to find some visible spot to display them in our condo. In fact, our living space in many places seems to have evolved because of this reason into a sports museum layout.

Perhaps the most recognizable collection I value in recent times would be the multitude of Bobblehead dolls that line the walls of our dining room. For I find great comfort in just staring at each of these gyrating figures who represent authentic heroes of mine that I’ve watched over the last decade primarily during road trip travel. So I invite you take a good look below at several of my favorite Bobblehead figures. For a bit of amusement, now imagine a hero who you most admire in your life that you would like to insert as a bobblehead figure as in my blog title photo above. 

As a longtime resident of subtropical South Florida, I am rarely exposed outside to those dreary skies and freeze like conditions that cold weather around the country so often brings.As a point of fact about this weather phenomenon, the last time measurable snow fell in the Greater Miami area was 1977. So I can certainly frame this topic in a much more tolerable perspective than many. I  might further reason that because of my seasonally deprived  mindset, I might find an incentive to feel joy with the thought of cold weather conditions resurfacing anywhere. For I can always think back to those fond  childhood memories in Northeast Ohio of playfully frolicking outside in the snow. 

But on the “flip side”, consider that cold weather also brings a mass of “snowbird” tourists to the “Sunshine State” hoping to escape the annual frigid wrath of winter up north, So during this so called “The Season”, daily life can be more difficult for me due to significantly more congested conditions happening throughout South Florida. I might further note that our less stringent housing codes often fail to insulate buildings effectively from cold weather conditions.

So might I attempt to move back to Cleveland and endure once again such continuing frigid cold? Probably not at this stage in my life as my body would unlikely tolerate it well. Nor would my hot weather mindset be likely patient enough now to slow down and stay warmly inside most of the time during the long season of Ohio winter. So I find it best to concentrate enjoying my current lifestyle of leading my life  moment by moment in torrid Fort Lauderdale, and just forget about the cold.

I remember those fun occasions as a child when my teacher played “Simon Says” with the class. This game apparently taught me to follow any instructions that I heard only with only these two words so I would not be told “you’re out.” But I can say from this long ago memory that being taught such passive obedience at that time did not feel right nor does it feel an appropriate act today. 

So as a basic rule throughout my life, I reject going on with such passive behavior to just play by others rules. Instead, life’s daily struggles since then have often required me to “put myself out there” and lead primarily by example when the situation calls.  Consider for instance that during my thirty plus years of teaching, such leadership expectations drove me to either serve as the expert spokesperson who others relied on for information in a key learning situation or as a fair-minded mediator who just enjoyed bringing opposing sides to a more united cause..

With great relief in my retirement though, I’m no longer expected to play the role of an outwardly confident leader in order to fulfill  the duties of a job. So I’ve alternatively become fascinated by the more subtle leadership ideals of yoga which connect my physical presence in the present moment with an energy flow that others can contagiously follow. For I now hope to prioritize spreading more kindness and gratitude to others without necessarily making my leadership intentions blatantly known.

Notably, however, this inward shift in my current leadership paradigm often seems fruitless to follow. For I seem to be living today amid a reality show plot where confrontation with so many others seems to the “modus operandi” of each day. There’s just often simply too many narcissist adversaries out there with their egos out of control. Thus, this quieter leadership message of mine goes on mostly these days to serve my smaller circle of trustful family and friends.