Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 23

Going Old School with Clouds When I’m Put Out to Pasture

Hmmm, would you ratherbe in the cloud or gazing at it?

I am now a little undertwo years away from the eligibility to retire. It is not yet a countdown. Butthere is a glimmer of light at the end of the long, long tunnel.

I will concede thatthere are days, when things at work get hectic, that it seems like that lightis on the front of a locomotive hurtling toward me and it is too late to getout of the way.

That disturbing picturenotwithstanding, I feel I can legally permit myself to contemplate the things Iwill not miss when I hang up my keyboard and wave a final farewell to mycolleagues.

I will not miss beingcompelled to learn new, cloud-based applications every six months that areguaranteed to make me more productive. (It may be sacrilegious to state it, butfeel neither the need nor the desire to increase my output.) I willparticularly not miss having to invent new four letter word combinations tovent my frustration.

When I retire I willtake great pleasure in spending hours contemplating real clouds and what theirshapes call to mind, instead of wasting 15 minutes trying to find the damnlogout icon which they keep changing and moving around.

I will not miss tryingto decide which messages I should read first – my e-mail messages, my Skypemessages, my chat messages or my text messages. I particularly will not missreceiving a Skype message asking me if I received the e-mail message that I sawan hour ago and chose to ignore because I do not like the sender.

When I retire I willtake great pleasure in being unavailable for electronic messages in any mediumand delivering an implied message by this very behaviour.

I will not missingscouring the Outlook calendars of half a dozen people searching for that elusiveone hour time slot when everyone is available. I particularly will not miss oneof those six people responds with a counter proposal for a meeting date for ameeting I no longer have the desire to attend.

When I retire I willtake great pleasure in adopting a new outlook on life in which I am unavailablefor meetings of any sort whatsoever regardless of whom else may or may not beavailable despite what their calendar indicates.

Retirement is oftenreferred to as being put out to pasture asif that is a scary thing. It does not scare me in the least. Please, please, put me out to pasture.Make me redundant.

I will take greatpleasure in not being needed and being able to devote my time to cloud-gazingand writing metaphorical stories about what I see.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

For Better or For Worse, Your Time Will Come

I am no bird, and no net ensnares me:I am a free human being with an independent will.

~ Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Hmmm,when your time comes, will you face into the wind?

Therecomes a time in everyone’s life when you are challenged to come to terms withwho you are. It is not simply about understanding how all the pieces cometogether although that is a part of the equation. The bigger step is when youdecide, or decide against, saying and meaning: For better or for worse, this is who I am. Take it or leave it.

Takingyour stand will not sit well with everyone. There will continue to be peoplewho will want to mold you into what they want you to be so you will followthem. These people will take an active dislike to you and you must be okay withtheir discontent.

Therewill be another category of person who will preach to you that must continuallystep outside your comfort zone and stretch yourself. You must be okay withtelling these people to piss off and leave you alone. They will be persistent.You must be equally persistent.

I amnot saying that you can give yourself carte blanche to thumb your nose atanyone you please. Discretion is the better part of valour and of common sense.There are times when saying nothing is the most appropriate response and speaksfor itself.

I amsaying there are also some tough choices you will need to make.

Youwill need to decide that it is better to be alone than to be with someone whodoes not respect who you are. The state of being alone is neither a penalty nora trial if you actively chose it. Learn to enjoy your own company.

You willneed to find the courage to stand on principle which can come with sacrificesattached. It can mean the end of some relationships. Sometimes you will do thispublicly and sometimes privately. There is a time and a place to speak up, anda time and a place to hold your peace but also hold your ground.

Youwill need to cultivate the ability to think for yourself. This means listeningto that innate sense you possess regarding truth versus lies. If alarm bellsring in your head, listen to them. Examine the evidence for yourself and drawyour own conclusions. Facts can be easily misrepresented. The truth remains tobe found, but only if you seek it out.

Youwill need to be prepared to go against the flow of the group or against thegeneral consensus. Make no mistake. This is not easy to do. You will be anoutsider. But know that there are always others on the outside with you even ifyou cannot perceive them.

You canbe blown by the wind of opinion or face into the wind. Choose wisely.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

The Fable of the Lion and the Frog

The lion, hearing an odd kind of voice, and seeingnobody, started up. He listened again; the voice continued, and he shook withfear.

At last, seeing a frog climb out of the lake,and finding that the noise proceeded from that little creature, he spurned itto pieces with his feet.

Hmmm, howwill you react when the gas pedal is pushed?

Fear.It is perhaps the most powerful of emotions. Fear triggers what is known as oursympathetic nervous system which has been likened to the gas pedal in a car. Itprovides us with a burst of energy so we can respond to perceived danger.

Thisburst of energy fuels the fight or flightresponse – a deep seated, survival tactic in which we choose how torespond. Stand our ground and fight, or flee the scene. Neither response is by definitionright or wrong. The circumstances dictate which we choose to exercise.

Butfear can be used as a weapon. It can be misappropriated and turned into aphantom that invades our psyche. Once it finds a home there, we becomevulnerable.

Fearwhen used as a weapon is cumulative. It feeds on itself and spirals. Lookingfor new parts of us to infect and paralyze. It gets stronger the longer we letit hold court.

Fearturns us into something less than.Less than what we are capable of being. Less than we aspire to be. Less than wewere meant to be.

In thefable, the lion, a noble beast, has been infected by fear and becomes less thanwhat creation intended it to be. So much so that the croaking of a creature itwould normally not deign to notice strikes terror in its heart.

Thelion eventually realizes how foolish it has been and reasserts its rightfulplace in the pecking order.

It isnot hard to see the morale of the fable. But it is one we need to take to heartin the times in which we are living. Fear is not bad in and of itself. But itbecomes insidious when it is used against us.

Youwere meant to live with courage. I was meant to live with courage. It is achoice we both can make.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

104 Reasons to Practice Keyboard TLC

Hmmm, can we talk?

Excuse me, I need tospeak with you…Down here… Down here…Yes, it’s me, the keyboard on your laptop. We need to talk.

I am touched that wehave been spending so much more time together since you have been working fromhome. How long has it been now? Almost a year? It hardly seems possible and yet– Oh hell, it feels like it has been a decade!

Please do not get me wrong.I certainly feel needed and that is reassuring. But honestly, I was notdesigned to be used this much. I am aging before my time.

I should clarify that Iam speaking on behalf of all 104 keys that collectively comprise who I am –

including SpaceBar. Space Bar is so terriblyunappreciated. Some say he is not an actual key and that is so unfair. But Idigress.

A few of my keys inparticular are suffering from overuse.

E is so overused that her name has beenworn off. (Do you have any idea how many words in the English language containthe letter e?) To the uninformed, she now appears as nameless and that is verydehumanizing.

J has developed a distinct disability. Hehas the opposite problem as E. So very few words contain theletter J, so he is not accustomed to frequent use. Jnow sticks periodically and is unable to perform as required. He finds thisimpotence personally embarrassing.

Return (aka Enter) is one of the moreesoteric keys in my family. She is not part of the alphabet which has given heran inferiority complex. But you would be surprised how much she is used. Infact, she has developed an RSI and is in treatment.

Page Up and Page Down (identicaltwins – we often call them TweedleUp and TweedleDown) have oftenbeen unused for days in the past. But lately you have been reviewing moremultiple page PDFs which requires constant work by the twins. You should knowthat they have now been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.

But it is Deletethat I am most concerned about. With the exponential increase ine-mails in the last year, use of Delete has increased tenfold.

I understand that youare frustrated at receiving so many messages. But taking out your frustrationby hammering Delete repeatedly while cursing a blue streak is cruel. Deleteis literally black and blue with bruises and is now suffering from aconcussion.

If I may be so bold asto suggest it, I am extension of your brain. My keys are in a manner ofspeaking neural transmitters that translate your thoughts to the virtual page. Youwould be lost without me.

Is it so much to ask fora little TLC (pun intended) in these trying times?

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That MakeMe Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

For the Want of a Horseshoe Nail

Hmmm, where is your line in the sand and are you prepared to defend it?

I first heard the proverb at the head of this post many years ago. Itimmediately resonated with me and became etched into my memory. It has come tomind at regular intervals in my life as questionable situations arise andcontinues to do so.

If you have not heard the proverb before, let me explain. It refers to a situation in which theresult of a failure to predict or correct a minor issue causes that minor issueto escalate and compound itself into a major issue. It may only be in hindsightthat the chain of causation becomes apparent.

Theproverb has been passed down over the centuries, surviving the test of time,and has been quoted by many including, I understand, Benjamin Franklin in his “PoorRichard’s Almanac”.

Why has it come tomind again now? The current context is one of personal integrity. We all have acode of values by which we live. Yours may be different from mine. I respect thatand expect the same consideration from you.

To be quite frank, ifyou are unwilling to give me that consideration, I have no room for you in mylife.

In the times in whichwe are living, we are increasingly being asked, and sometimes told, to do thingswith which we do not agree. In each circumstance, we arrive at a decisionpoint. Is this a battle I want to take on?

If the act involved has minor consequences, we may chose to live to fight another day. But there comes a time when our personal integrity is at stake. At that moment, if we lack the courage of our convictions, it is the equivalent of the horseshoe-nail – setting off a chain of events which changes our life forever and not for the better.

Taking a stand willalways have consequences. Fear of those consequences can tempt us to swallow ourpride and fall in line. We may breathe a sigh of relief. But I promise you thatcompromising our integrity will break a fundamental part of our being that cannever be repaired.

When your days arewinding down and you see the end coming, I sincerely hope that thehorseshoe-nail does not come back to haunt you. I do not intend to find myselfin that position.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

On that Fateful Friday: Should We Have Looked Back?

Hmmm, did we know whatwe were leaving behind when we clocked out on that fateful Friday?

It is coming up on 11months since many of us started our working at home marathon. I remember thatFriday when we were told to take our laptops home just in case. Before the weekend was over we all got the call thatthe decision had been made. We never imagined that it would last this long.

I had to make a trip tothe office where I (used to) work this week to have my laptop replaced. I wascurious about the drive down Dixie Road through Brampton and into Mississauga.

I thought that afteralmost a year many changes would have occurred in the retail and industrialareas along that stretch. After all, we live in a time of unrelenting change.But to my surprise, the landscape was entirely unaltered.

I had a similarexperience as I sat in my cubicle in the office waiting for my files to be transferredonto my new laptop. My cubicle looked exactly the same as when I left it.Reports I had generated that final Friday were still sitting on my desk. Theneat array of file folders on the counter behind me was untouched.

I stood up and took awider look around. The “On Vacation” banner on my co-worker’s cubicle was stillthere. Notes and memos pinned to cubicle walls still hung like silentsentinels. The picture on the wall by the window was still slightly askew as I rememberedit to be.

We left the office calmlythat Friday. But it looked to me now like we had bugged out because a hurricanewarning had been received. Yet there were no outward signs that the storm hadhit. It felt like the space had been frozen in time the minute I walked out thedoor. It was very spooky.

Remember the mutant in the X-men movies who couldstop time? People were literally frozen in mid-step with expressions locked inthe moment. I felt like that mutant fora moment.

I suppose I should notbe so surprised. In many ways, life hasbeen put on hold. The pause buttonwas pushed and got stuck in the onposition. No small feat at time when change is a charging bull rampaging throughthe china shop of life.

When my shiny, new laptopwas ready, I collected a few personal possessions left behind – a pair ofshoes, a notebook, a water bottle and a couple of books – and calmly left. Icould not help but wonder how long it would be before I set foot in there againand whether the space would still look eerily unchanged.

The biblical story of Lot and his wife in the book of Genesis comes to mind. Lot was told byvisiting angels to flee the coming destruction of Sodom. Flee for your life. Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in thePlain; flee to the hills lest you be swept away.

Lot’s wife succumbed tothe temptation, looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

I wonder now if themorale of that story is to do as we are told and not to look back… or to takeone last long look  before turning awayfrom what once was and perhaps never will be quite the same ever again.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That MakeMe Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Michael’s Really Useful Technology Wish List

Hmmm, will anyone listenif I requisition some truly useful technology?

I often use this forumto express my displeasure with modern technology. But today I am changing thingsup with a wish list of technology I would endorse and even part with my hardearned money to acquire. So, all you developers, get working on these ideas pronto.

THELOTTO MAX DREAM COACH FILTER

The technology exists tomonitor my Internet viewing patterns and display ads for products thatcorrespond to my interests. I see it at work every day. They ought to be ableto reconfigure that technology to filter out television commercials that annoyme beyond measure.

A few examples: theLotto Max dream coach guy, the Sportsnet life coach guy, the “we’ve made anotherbig change at Burger King” guy, the Old Spice “Yes, that is my lavender scenteddeodorant” guy… I could go on, but you get the point.

PISSME-OFF EMAIL BLOCKER

E-mail spam and virusfilters are standard issue these days. I would like one of them to becustomized to measure my blood pressure as e-mails come in, correlate that datato the sender and use an algorithm to block e-mails from people whoparticularly piss me off.

This does not apply toanyone reading this post (except for you – you know who you are!) oranyone who is higher on the company food chain than I am.

FOUNDBETWEEN THE PIXELS APP

I am not a big appperson. But I would be totally on board with an app that scours the web formoney lost between the pixels and deposits that money in my bank account. Thedeposits would need to be done in small increments so as not to raise a redflag and, of course, be totally untraceable by authorities.

POLITICIANBRAIN CELL BLASTER MICROCHIP

A simple concept: amicrochip embedded into the brain of politicians that detects when they are aboutto make a promise they do not intend to keep, break a promise, tell a whitelie, misrepresent statistics or deny and deflect blame for a mistake. Thismicrochip would send an electrical impulse that fries the brain cells wherethat thought exists.

It is a given that this microchipwould wear out quickly from overuse and need to be replaced annually. Inaddition, politicians with the microchip would not be able to serve more thantwo terms since they would not have enough brain cells left to continue inoffice.

I have heard it saidthat technology is a steam roller. You can either drive it or become part ofthe road. Give me the technology I have asked for and I will drive it until thecows come home!

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

The Shape of Things to Come: Three Predictions

Hmmm, what will life look like when we wake up after the pandemic?

I confess I am tired ofwriting about the pandemic. I have no doubt you are equally tired of readingabout it. However, given the Stay at Homeconditions under which we are living, there is little else to talk about. Inthe interests of a different spin on the subject, I am contemplating the shapeof things to come.

You may well ask if I amqualified to prognosticate on this front. Probably not, but no one really isdespite the many so called experts who claim to be. So I will bravely forgeahead with three shape of things to comepredictions.

HEFTY INCOME TAX INCREASES

Please do not shoot the messenger. I am just stating the obvious. All the emergency benefit and subsidy programs in place mean governments are spending money they do not have and doing so like a drunken sailor. The programs are well-intentioned and necessary. But eventually we will have to pay the piper.

Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their businesses or jobs. Unfortunately, some of them will not fully recover. Those of us fortunate enough to still be working will have to bear the brunt of paying down the mountain of debt.

HOMEIS WHERE THE WORK IS

Those of us in white collar jobs have been working at home for ten months. Companies have realized that they no longer need to pay for a roof, walls, heat and electricity. In the spirit of doing more with less, many companies will cancel their leases or sell their buildings.

The meaning of work life balance is changing. It no longer refers to what time you shut down your laptop and head home. It is now when you make the ten foot commute from your work area to your living area. Home is where the heart is will give way to home is where the work is.

EMAILRULES AND PROTOCOLS

On a busy work day, I can confidently say I get 100+ e-mails. They arrive faster than I can read and respond to them and eat up large chunks of my time. There are days when I do little else. So I predict that companies will be compelled to develop e-mail rules and protocols.

These protocols willinclude when an e-mail is and is not permissible, how many cc’s are allowed fora single e-mail and even how many e-mails a person will be permitted to send inone day. Programmers will build in controls that cut off a person’s ability tosend e-mails when a specified number is reached in a single day.

The prevailing term inuse at present for the change that is coming is the new normal. I dislike that term for a variety of reasons not atthe least of which is that it is already a cliché.

It seems more accurate to say we will soon be awakening from the dream of reality to discover that the future is not what we hoped it would be. Buckle up: It is going to be a rough ride.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also theauthor of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was adouble winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s websiteat www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

When I Grow Old and Wear the Bottom of My Trousers Rolled: 2020 in Retrospect

I grow old… I grow old…

I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled

~ T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Hmmm, will old men lookback on 2020 and shake their heads at the calamity it became?

Picture me as an old man sitting by the window on a sunny day watching life unfold as it was always meant to. Armed with the wisdom gained from a lifetime of experience. Little left to lose by speaking unpleasant truths. Perhaps I might ask some hard questions.

How did the mutation ofa virus that had been around for 20 years bring the human race to its knees? Andon that subject:

Who coined the phrase flatten the curve, did they have any idea what it would spawn and did they come to regret that turn of phrase?

How did it happen that the trajectory of hundreds of thousands of lives changed forever, and not for the better, even though they were good corporate citizens and played by the rules?

How much wider did the gap get between the haves and the have-nots and was that an unfortunate side effect or a hidden agenda?

How is it possible that a pharmaceutical mega-corp that stood to make billions from its vaccine neglected to address its production capacity?

How did the state ofaffairs in one of the world powers come off the rails? Andon that subject:

How did the battlebetween the left and the right become a virtual civil war, who was theinstigator and did either side win or everybody lose?

Was the U.S.presidential election Trump vs Biden, the Democrats vs the Republicans orsimply a battle of ethical attrition?

Was it all Trump’s faultor was he just an easy target that we fell into the trap of blaming?

And the overwhelmingquestion:

Were we able to learn anything from a year that forced us to live behind closed doors or did we shamefully choose to never think about it again?

As an old man with my trousers rolled, I will reflect that life is a long paddle down an endless river and 2020 was a rock-strewn rapids of our own making. I will be grateful that I survived it but unwilling to believe that it had to unfold the way that it did.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. If you’rereading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to mypage for postings once a week

Relief on the Wing for the Stay at Home Blues

Hmmm, I think it is timefor a visit to the highlights of summers past.

Now that we areofficially under a Stay at Home orderand also in the middle of winter, it seems an appropriate time to dip into mytreasure trove of winged wonder photographs. I hope these selections brightenyour day, lift your spirits and take you away for a brief respite from grim reality.

Baltimore Checkerspot

The most regal of butterflies in these parts. Photogenic to a fault. Freshly emerged and the picture of perfection.

Wandering Glider

Amber-streaked wings forgliding on air. Resting ever so briefly in a life spent on the wing. A freespirit for one season only.

Common Buckeye

Uncommonly strikingdespite its name. Each eyespot a masterpiece in its own right. Profusion ofearth tones only nature could conceive.

Twin-Spotted Spiketail

Splotches of yellow seenfrom afar. Gossamer wings that scarcely seem real. Almost always hanging out atmy secret Spiketail stream.

Great-spangled Fritillary

Blinding splash ofsunlit orange. Spatter of spots from nature’s own paintbrush. Set against abackdrop of verdant greenery.

May these be metaphorsof freedom, light and independence in a time when we are sorely lacking in suchpleasures.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.