Two stories about dogs and people or is it people and dogs? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 11:10:33 -0400 From: "Joseph Novak, Jr." Subject: Pilgrim & the Skein of Time Jeezeopete! Dad got us up early this morning! Five AM! A crisp 35 degrees and rising this Friday morning coming down and the sky is alive with stars twinkling in a crystalline delight - keeping time in a sort of rhythmic beat of the universe. A tintinnabulation of the night. Dad sits on the woodpile and contemplates the paradox that is in the heavens - the velvety blackness interspersed with numberless pinpoints of light. Starlight is such that it cast shadow. "Its always darkest before dawn," quotes dad," darkest before dawn." I wondered what was bothering old dad. He often talks to me as he contemplates some deep thought. Thinking out loud as he puts it. I sat down to hear dad out. It is good for him to have me listen to his outpourings. Maggie snuffled about in the fallen leaves making crackle, papery noises, searching for things that are only known to the Maggster. I didn't have long to wait: "I can't get Pilgrim out of my mind," states dad looking up to the early morning sky. He reaches down and picks me up - giving me a tight hug. This is a little uncomfortable & I complain. Dad puts me down. Maggie runs over to get a big hug too. SO! That is what all this hugging and snuggling is all about. Dad has been a little too clingy lately; I tolerate it but Maggie lap's it up - like she is now, whimpering and lapping at dad's ear as he murmurs some nonsense to her. Yes! It does seem that dad has been writing a lot of eulogies lately - more so than usual. Dad sheds real tears when he composes these eulogies. He doesn't want you to know that. I wish that I could do some thing to get dad out of this blue funk. I got my kong and laid it at dad's feet. Come on lets cheer up I yip. Dad puts down Maggie, picks up the kong - but he simply holds it as I FRAP about the woodpile. I can see him smile as starlight outlines his old face. "Not now Georgie. Not now." He holds the kong in his lap. I sit and listen. I have the old memories deep within me. We exist on this third rock from a large body of gaseous matter. Matter that has main sequenced into energy. Our sun is consuming itself, but in doing so - gives life! We travel with old sol into the void - expanding ever outward to where? 'Tis a mystery - that final destination! But we sojourn through this plane of existence where time moves inexorably forward. Yet eternity can be observed in both directions. The atoms that comprise Pilgrim, Maggie, me and dad have been existing since forever. The existance of these atoms is vast. In a real sense, we were present at the singularity that began it all! Our awareness is but fleeting when compared to the skein of forever. We are children of matter and energy. Conservation laws tell us that matter & energy can not be created or destroyed - only changed in form. Since all the energy & matter that ever will be was present at the big bang, we are of that energy pool. Where does that energy go in the finality? Is it changed in form? Do we retain our individualism? What happened to the entity named Pilgrim? What will happen to the entity named Maggie? Dad? or me? Can one really say with certainty? I tell dad - If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am for myself only, what am I? If not now, WHEN? All you have is now - dad! Carpe Deium! The sun has risen; making a day that is perfect for seizing. Dad is smiling & I am glad that I was able to help him. George. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 07:00:56 -0700 A Man and His Dog A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother of pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?" "This is heaven, sir," the man answered. "Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked. "Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The man gestured, and the gate began to open. "Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked. "I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets." The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book. "Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?" "Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there" The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in." "How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog. "There should be a bowl by the pump." They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for them. "What do you call this place?" the traveler asked. "This is heaven," was the answer. "Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was heaven, too." "Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell." "Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?" "No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen out the folks who'll leave their best friends behind". ******************************************** Barbara Morgan Stanford Medical Informatics MSOB X-215, 251 Campus Drive Stanford, CA 94305-5479 PHONE: 650-725-3385 FAX: 650-498-4162