Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Zhong Qiu Jie -- Mid-Autimn Festival

 
In Asia, the autumn moon festival is one of the most popular of the year's holidays.  It is held in the middle of the eight month of the Chinese lunar calendar.  The photo was taken on September 22, 2010 by Mark White of Omao, Hawaii and the poem is from Chinese Hour Blog.

Bright moon, when was your birth?
Winecup in hand, I ask the deep blue sky;
Not knowing what year it is tonight
In those celestial palaces on high. I long to fly back one the wind,
Yet dread those crystal towers, those courts of jade,
Freezing to death among those icy heights!
Instead I rise to dance with my pale shadow;
Better off, after all, in the world of men.

Rounding the red pavilion,
Stooping to look through gauze windows,
She shines on the sleepless.
The moon should know no sadness;
Why, then, is she always full when dear ones are parted?
For men the grief of parting, joy of reunion,
Just as the moon wanes and waxes, is bright or dim:
Always some flaw-and so it has been since of old.
My one wish for you, is long life
And a share in this loveliness far, far away!

Marginal Notes: Soup

That evening I came home to a pot of homemade soup steaming on the stove. I lifted the lid and inhaled the magnificent odors of chicken broth, fresh parsley, celery, carrots and noodles as they bubbled below my nose. I sat down at the table and consumed two large bowlfuls of the mixture, then made myself a cup of hot tea with honey. There’s nothing like a bowl of homemade soup to soothe body and soul in sickness and in health. >>more

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

Aloha W.W.

Wanye Winterrrowd (left) died at home on September 17, 2010 in Readsboro, Vermont.  A kind, gentle man he was a repository for all things botanical and literary.  Never, have I met another mortal who could recite from memory, portions of Sir Thomas Browne's Hydriotaphia.  Last year, when I stumbled on Chinese lanterns in a Williamstown field, I sent a picture to Wayne who replied in a memorable letter. Download Chinese Lanterns. Wayne is survived by his partner of 41 years, Joe Eck.  They did everything together.

A bright and pleasant                        
autumn day to make                          
death's journey.     
  

"I shall not murder the mankind of [your] going with a grave truth..."

NY Times Obituary

Why Read? by Mark Edmundson

In this extraordinary book, Mark Edmundson tells us that: "The purpose of a liberal arts education is to give people an enhanced opportunity to decide how they should live their lives" and that literature is "the major cultural source of vital options."  This book opens one's eyes and makes one feel as Keats did, “like a watcher of the sky/When a new planet swims into is ken.”

Here are some notes from Why Read?  You will find them enlightening.

Kauai's Barking Sands

On West Kauai, Barking Sands is  legend.
Lonely driftwood writhes on the vast strand;
Table-like, the forbidden island,
Niihau hovers in the distance.

This is the latest image in the "Mark White  Gallery"

 

Marginal Notes: Of Cosmic Significance

Electrons, photons, butterfly wings—minute reverberations through a complex universe that extend well beyond our ken. >>more

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

Yom Keeper

Today is the holiest day of the Jewish year.  Today is for reflection;  for Awe. Most religions have a similar day.  

Today, sheer chance directed me to an amazing video.  Most of you will like it.  It's a real "keeper" -- perhaps it is a "Yom Keeper." Click on the image and wait a few seconds for it to load up.  The video is six minutes long.

For this video's credits, see:

 

 

Alan Blum Gallery

 

I don’t see why they have to have
all those syllables
just to say one word.
I like older doctors.
They seem to talk to you more.
Just like you talkin’.
Younger doctors seem to be in such a hurry.
I had one doctor,
used to have to chase him,
grab onto his white coat.
Flittin’ up and down the hall.
You want to ask him somethin’
you have to run him down.

Artist Bio:  Alan Blum is a family physician who has been an influential force in the battle against tobacco.  As a resident, he founded "Doctors Ought to Care," DOC, a militant physician anti-smoking organization.  In creative moments, Dr. Blum sketches his patients and adds their poignant words.  His drawings comment powerfully on the patient-physician dyad.  We will feature his them every week or so in the "Alan Blum Gallery."  You may reach Alan Blum at Email. He will appreciate your comments.

Bee Cereus

The latest addition to the "Mark White Gallery" is this fine photo of a night blooming cereus being visited by a bee. 

Kauai is blessed with this fascinating cactus.  It grows on the south shore and can be seen by the curious person who is on the lookout.  "One of the strangest plants of the desert, the Night-bloomiing Cereus is a member of the Cactus Family that resembles nothing more than a dead bush most of the year. It is rarely seen in the wild because of its inconspicuousness. But for one midsummer's night each year, its exqusitely scented flower opens as night falls, then closes forever with the first rays of the morning sun." For more see N-BC.

Marginal Notes: Anger, Hatred and Reconciliation

As human beings, we have a need to commemorate those fellow creatures victimized by some tragic event—a war, an attempted genocide, a terrorist attack.  In some ways it does us good to ponder and reflect.  It helps us work through our collective grief—something we need to do in order to heal as a community, as a society, as a nation.

Yet there is a danger in revisiting such events ad infinitum.  That danger has to do with rekindling our anger and hatred for those who perpetrated the horrendous act.  When our collective anger flares, we relive not only the trauma of the historical event itself—it also serves to harden our hatred and prevent us from allowing ourselves to heal as a community, as a society, as a nation. >>more

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."