I like it………True Americans even if one is an Ausie

My buddy Janes Cary Nurse Anesthetist par excellance

The most recent project is at Brew Tiger a web site dedicated to home brewing beer.

The biggest thing I have been doing has been as a member of Crown of the Valley Brewing Society, my brothers.

If you peal an onion it all the way down – is it at the center? For cooking most of us know that the onion is a wonderful aromatic addition to many things. The outer tough skin is removed and maybe the the first layer or so before the gastronomic concoction begins. I personally have never found an Onion at the center of that aromatic goodness and I have sauteed fried basted and chopped a few. However, she got me thinking. Where is my Onion?

The movie, “So She Married an Axe Murderer” which came out what seems like a long time ago featuring Mike Myers, left me with such a lingering memory. Just a peal of the Onion that is still really pungent in my memory. I was recently widowed and found myself in love with a beautiful wonderful woman. I was left with three young children teenagers -sort of – and she had three young children. I remember, no its more than memory, its burned into my soul, that movie and how much in love I was with Erin. I still love her and always will. The Onion or several layers are tied to the loss of my wife and all of those feelings afterward. These are all triggered by that movie. Does it ever really go away, those feelings of love and loss – regret despair or frustration? I am still digging down further pealing off layers to find the Onion.

Its now 18 years later and a new life with wonderful relationships. During these so many years I have achieved so much graduating from Cal State University Los Angeles First in my class and going on to two graduate degrees one from UCLA and another from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and enjoy such a wonderful career as a nurse anesthetist and faculty member as clinical instructor in anesthesiology at USC. These onion layers are so diverse involving multiple and various work growth situations that the onion has grown very large the more I keep pealing. The chopping block is overflowing now. Have I left out anything. Of course I have. The onion is huge and today all I am thinking about is my friend at work and the lingering taste of  the “Woman, Woman, Woman Thing” Ala Mike Myers.

My life, like the onion, has had numerous layers. Is this what the Onion is all about? Really I have to say no. Well maybe – partially at least.

OK, coming back to the original situation at work in which my friend and I have been caught up in. We work together and deal with an array of personnel all having their own agenda’s with personal demands and goals. Its really tough dealing with conflict in interpersonal relationships especially when they are tied to role identity and professional performance. Hence, the Onion. Its kind of a matter of He Said, She Said whipped up into a frenzy by a monster food processor. Here is just one idea about this layer of the Onion.

When I feel attacked or threatened at work or in my personal life my first reaction is either defensive self justification or anger.  Often if I get really upset its followed by depression. Its almost a Kubler-Ross thing. There are a couple of onion layers there to peal. After I get past those, its a lucky day when I can see or peal outside of myself.  I had an Ah-Ha moment the other day when I was able to see a piece of some one else onion.  This got me thinking about writing.

A major Onion layer was revealed when I was able to see or appreciated what others were dealing with in these conflict’s. Conflict always has these multiple layers. All I can say now without being too cryptic is that for me a major step forward in pealing the onion of conflict down is appreciating the other side and seeing their Onion.  People are amazing when they are onions.

Its just the gentle drizzle of fall and the promise of things to come we are all hoping for.  Weather is great in Southern Cal.  Now all the talk is about the potential mud slides, reminds me of “Mud Slide Slim and the New Horizon”.  Maybe that’s what got me thinking about Robert Frost and his “Stopping by Woods” thing.

Another incidence that has got me into this somber mood is the return of a good friend from the East Coast following a funeral of a family member.  Young man, 30 something, too tired to be driving.  You know the rest of the story.  He left a young wife and family behind him on that blind turn that he was too tired to pay attention to.  He stopped by woods on snowy evening too.

So today is a good day to be alive and grateful of all the things around us that are exciting and new.  Its also a good day to be pensive if necessary and read a little poetry; so I leave you with this classic by Robert Frost.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The New York Times Opinion section had a great statement today concerning this announcement,

“Mr. Obama has bolstered this country’s global standing by renouncing torture, this time with credibility; by pledging to close the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; by rejoining the effort to combat climate change and to rid the world of nuclear weapons; by recommitting himself to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and by offering to engage Iran while also insisting that it abandon its nuclear ambitions.”

In the NPR news program Left Right and Center, the topic of discussion turned toward the awarding of this prestigious award. The comments were mixed and portrayed the ambivalence that surrounds this announcement. Will Pres Obama fulfill the expectations that are now heaped upon him or will he like Henry Kissinger, secretary of state to Richard Nixon who won the prize in 1973 for establishing a cease-fire in Vietnam be viewed as a total disappointment? Henry Kissinger winning the Noble Peace Prize is thought by some to be the theater of the absurd after he escalated the war in Viet Nam!

Former President Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to “wage peace” through negotiations with world leaders. But the award was also viewed as a signal of disapproval toward the Bush administration’s march to war with Iraq, of which Carter was a vocal opponent. Is the election of Obama is another world vote of disapproval against the Bush campaign of disinformation, and global US government expansionism. Maybe.

My bet is that this is a voice from outside the US saying, “Thank you America for waking up! Thank you for joining the civilization of the world and seeking to end the proliferation of atomic weapons, encourage the reduction of global warming and initiating talks that will settle the disputes between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I think the New York Times said it better.

I may not be a gun toting NRA member but I respect her moxy.  Anyone that can come dressed to kill and sign up to be Vice Pres in an evening hot pant gown has got to have something going down good.  At least that’s my assessment.

Meanwhile back on the ranch we are brewing up some outrageous IPA.

Seth called today.  His little sweet monster of a dog ran out of their apartment door in San Francisco straight into traffic.  OH NO MR. BILL!!!!  That dog must take after another family, yes? Car creches later the dog is at the vets with a dislocated hip.  How much will this cost you ask.  Don’t ask is a better option.

So I pass it along just at the chance it will remind you of the ancient truth of what really drives things.  I leave it up to you to decide, “How The World Works”.