Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 57

Life Lessons from a Two Foot Gap in the Sidewalk

 

Hmmm, how often do we fail to appreciate what lies before our eyes as the impulse to move on steals away our attention?

I am a simple man who finds pleasure in simple things. When I left work on June 26 to start a week’s vacation, I was looking forward to doing what I love most – wandering through local conservation areas in search of sun-spangled butterflies and iridescent dragonflies.

I did not expect to range much beyond an hour’s drive from home. Within that small circumference was all I needed to satisfy my heart’s desire.

Alas, fortune had other ideas. On a walk that very evening, I made the mistake of hopping over a two foot gap in the sidewalk where it had been cut open for a pipe to be run into a new building. I landed softly – but not softly enough for the liking of my chronic back.

The slight impact on my spine compressed the already impinged nerve. In an instant, my highly anticipated week of communing with nature turned into a week inside grimacing as I nursed my back. Each day I cast painful looks out the window at the splendid weather.

Lousy, rotten, crappy, terrible, awful, expletives deleted luck. As I write this post, I am preparing to return to work, a couple of days later than expected, and hoping that the weekend weather favours me for the rest of the summer.

It is probably akin to rubbing salt into my own wound. But I could not resist the temptation to check my records from last year at this time to see what I may have missed. The most notable species was the delicate, nickel-sized Acadian Hairstreak butterfly at the head of this post.

Acadian Hairstreaks are uncommon. The one in this photograph was the first I had come across in the decade or so I have been pursuing this hobby. I might not see another one for years.

But if I am fortunate enough to spot an Acadian this summer (you know I will be revisiting the spot where I found this one), I will be certain to linger awhile to enjoy its subtle graces. The serrated orange cap over the hindwing blue spot. The wandering postmedian band of black spots. The oh so delicate antennae and the tiny, easy-to-miss forked tail.

Looking back to the moment, I realize now I did not properly give praise to this little winged wonder when I happened upon it. Yes, I spent a few minutes photographing it and taking delight in the siting. But I then hurried on down the path to see how many other species I could add to my day count.

The Acadian Hairstreak is now engraved in my mind as a metaphor for the importance of seizing the day, living in the moment and pausing to admire what lies before my eyes. Life is short, fickle and unpredictable – too much so to scurry on to the next bend in the trail when the moment at hand holds such treasures.

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

River Reverie

NOTE: This was the inaugural post when I created my Metaphors of Life Journal blog back in 2009. Resurrecting it today as a golden oldie.

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.” Norman Maclean

Hmmm, is it just me? I am the only one who has these little post-it notes of memory stuck in my mind from years or even decades ago? They are small, gift-wrapped minutia of life which I periodically take out and examine like an old photograph.

Here’s one – a hazy, blurred-at-the-edges, childhood memory of going fishing one night on theGrand River. There were five of us – my father and grandfather, my uncle and his son, and I. Three generations linked by the rising anticipation of that tug on the line and the thrill of the catch.

But what was special about this particular outing was that we went after dark. We picked our way across stepping-stone rocks to a small island just off the shoreline. One by one we cast our lines into the silent, black water of the Grand.

You need to know that the Grand River at Caledonia is an impressive sight in the daylight. A couple of football fields wide, knee shallow in some places and drowning deep in others. But after dark it took on a different character – mysterious and mystical with a spine tingling grace and the echo of hundreds of years of history.

Honestly I don’t remember if we caught anything. On that particular occasion, it didn’t seem to matter. Being there in the nighttime embrace of the Grand was all I needed.

Why did this unremarkable event grow to be a gemstone in my memory?

Could it be that rivers are a part of our collective unconscious? Or, perhaps, an icon in our psychic mythology?  I believe that in them we sense a metaphor for the ebb and flow, the rise and fall, the pulse and the pause of life itself.

“Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things? Throw a stone into the stream, and the circles that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

A river will always take you somewhere but is never in a hurry to get you there. It winds and meanders through the landscape with a mind quite its own.

Rivers teach us to slow down and trust the current. They remind us that it is not the destination that matters but rather what you learn on the journey.

I seldom see the Grand River these days. But when I do come upon it I am transported back to that precocious night when the river whispered to me: Be still. Be silent. I was here before you were conceived. I will be here after you are dust. I am eternal. I am unchanging. I am the River.

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” Winnie the Pooh

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog. Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

The Canada Goose Hundred Metre Sprint

Hmmm, is there a lesson to be learned in a family of geese hightailing it home?

Heading home from work a few days ago I saw a rather comical sight. A family of geese were… well, I’m not really sure what the correct term would be. Can geese run?

Scampering seems a bit closer to the mark. Scurrying? No, that’s not it. Scuttling? A bit better, but still not quite right. I think skedaddling is the most apt description. Yes, this family of geese, two adults and a clutch of half-grown goslings, were skedaddling down the sidewalk.

They were clearly in a hurry to get where they were going – presumably back to the pond they call home. Land travel is not the most efficient method of transport for them. But goslings cannot fly until they are two to three months old. They were doing the best they could to keep up.

It was, as I said, quite a comical sight. The Canada Goose Hundred Metre Sprint. A new event for the PanAm games? It would certainly put a Canadian stamp on the games.

But all jokes aside, the sight struck me as rather prophetic. In these helter-skelter times, we are so often on the run. Racing toward another deadline. Dashing for an appointment we just barely have time to make because we had to get one more thing done.

Multi-tasking and priority-managing (aka plate-spinning and knife-juggling.) Forever trying to get just a little bit ahead. But more often than not trying to catch up from yesterday when we did not quite get through the day’s To Do list. Such is the nature of modern life.

The Canada Goose Hundred Metre Sprint – a random act of metaphor to reflect back to us what we look like as we run the never-ending race. It ain’t graceful, folks. Life is short. Time is precious. Long past time we slow down, let a plate or two fall and break if it must, and stop to smell the roses while they are in bloom.

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

The Uncommon Perfection of a Common Water Lily

“To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.” ~ William Blake, 1757 – 1827, English Poet

Hmmm, how often do we overlook splendour because it comes in common form?

My weekend ramblings in the woods, meadows and marshes are generally in pursuit of what I refer to as nature’s winged wonders. There is something about creatures gifted with flight that inspires endless fascination for me.

But occasionally my attention is pulled away by other forms of nature’s artistry. The Fragrant Water Lily at the head of this post is quite common. I see it frequently and take it for granted. But last Saturday, as I waited for the day to warm up enough to coax butterflies into flight, I pointed my camera at this specimen.

Only later, while surfing through my day’s photos, did the simple perfection of it strike me. Upon closer study, I have come to admire its many graces.

The pure white, seashell shaped petals tightly clustered like a chorus of hands cupped in supplication or perhaps in praise.

The butter yellow stamens striving skyward in a motionless dance of reverence.

The waxy, fan-shaped leaves of the adjacent lily pads surrounding the Lily as if guarding it from threats unseen.

The water beads suspended on the lily pads, in intricate patterns of large and small, each a world unto itself.

The blue-black, impossibly placid water supporting and sustaining the Lily as it responds to the warmth of day.

All in all, a simple collaboration of earthy colour and rounded form, morning light and subtle shade, still life and the promise of abundant life below. A moment-in-time metaphor for the simple graces of nature we too often take for granted, too seldom give their due and too often harm with our neglect.

A Fragrant Water Lily – common, yes, but uncommon in its simple, graceful perfection. Heaven personified in a wildflower. Infinity that nestles in the palm of your hand.

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Wearable Technology: Lap Dancing With Our Smart Phones

Hmmm, is bypassing your laptop to tap your lap a step forward or a frivolous use of innovation?

Here we go again charging towards the ever expanding horizon of digital technology. The sky is not the limit anymore. What am I ranting about this time? The brave new world of wearable technology. Wikipedia tells me that to understand this phenomenon I have to grasp some new concepts.

1.  Ubiquitous computing (aka pervasive computing aka ambient intelligence aka ambient media aka everyware) – A concept in software engineering where computing can be made to appear anywhere and everywhere.

Wave goodbye to desktop computing. Ubiquitous computing, as the name suggests, is a no-holds-barred proposition. It can apply to any device in any location in any format.

2. Middleware – Not to be confused with Middle Earth, for Tolkien fans. This is computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It is an in between layer of software sometimes called “software glue”.

3. Sousveillance – Best understood in contrast to surveillance which refers to watching from above. Sousveillance brings the means of observation down to the human level – i.e. the camera or detecting device resides on the person.

Sousveillance can come in the form of undersight (aka inverse oversight), which is high level, and inverse surveillance, which is watching from underneath.

Do I know what I am talking about as I relay these concepts? Absolutely not. I am getting a massive, ubiquitous, inverse headache at all levels of my low tech brain just trying to wrap my mind around this technical jibber-jabber.

So let’s circle back to the original premise. Wearable technology refers to clothing and accessories which incorporate computer and/or advanced electronic technologies. It gives a whole new meaning to fashionista.

The latest development is something called Project Jacquard – a code name for “Smart Jeans”. It seems that within a year or two we will be able to buy a pair of jeans that can interact with, transmit to and relay data from nearby devices. Simply by tapping your lap (yes, I said lap, not laptop) you will be able to control a nearby smartphone.

Wearable technology is the latest metaphor for technological development that has long left behind what is practical and crossed over into science fiction. It is no longer about making our lives better. It is about how far we can push the envelope and who will get there first to cash in on deep pockets with plenty of disposable income.

We cannot cure cancer but we can lap dance with our smartphone. Is this really progress?

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Winged Children of the Goddess June

“In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. o man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.”  ~ Aldo Leopold, 1887 – 1948, American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist

Hmmm, is June only a prelude to summer or does it defy our manmade calendar?

Summer does not officially arrive for a couple of weeks. Nonetheless, the arrival of June – named after the Roman goddess Juno, the goddess of marriage and wife of the supreme deity Jupiter – unleashes abundance and extravagance in the fields, forests and marshes including looping flights of dragonflies.

This striking dragonfly goes by the name Rusty Snaketail. (Yes, it sounds more like a cocktail than a dragonfly.) It caught my eye as I strolled down a cut grass trail at one of my favourite conservation areas.

What better introduction to summer than this bright green, winged wonder of weedy fields near streams and rivers. It waited ever so patiently for me to observe it – clutching the outstretched and seemingly beckoning broad leaf of a prickly weed.

Only as I admire it now does it strike me how the oversized wings make it seem angelic. A delicate messenger from heaven sent down to christen June.

This Twin-spotted Spiketail was hanging out in a weedy opening in the woods when I spotted it. Its appearance tells me there was likely a woodland stream nearby somewhere beyond my range of vision.

I clambered across an obstacle course of dead branches and knee-high weeds to confirm the identification and snap a few photos. Once again, it displayed laudable patience as I crept near holding my breath.

It seems to be perched precariously from the twig as if holding on for dear life. But in truth it was quite serene in its small acreage of greenery in the forest. It remained in this repose, as I made my way back to the trail, as if to reassure me that all was well in its small corner of the world.

The Rusty Snaketail and the Twin-Spotted Spiketail are winged children of the goddess June – colourful metaphors for the lavishness of a month that cannot be contained or restrained into the dates with which we vainly try to frame summer.

June and Summer are unabashed lovers and I for one am glad it is so.

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

AN AERIAL BALLET OF VIRGIN DRAGONFLIES

Hmmm, did answering the beckoning of impulse lead to an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

I am very much a creature of habit. I find comfort, in a world in which change is relentless, in sticking to the tried and true. This is particularly the case when it comes to my excursions in search of winged wonders.

But a week ago, while on vacation for my mid-May bird-watching blitz, I decided to change things up when the songbird migration peaked earlier than I expected. I headed north to Tiny Marsh which I usually reserve as a summer destination for butterflies and dragonflies.

I elected to first hike the woodland trail beside the marsh. Halfway along this trail an aging, wooden bridge crossing a small stream called out to me. Worth a brief detour, I decided.

The footpath on the other side of the bridge soon opened into a small meadow. I stopped in my tracks spellbound as hundreds of Spiny Baskettail dragonflies took to the air. These delicate creatures, all of two inches long and an ounce or two in weight, brought the meadow to sudden and vibrant life – a command performance for my eyes only.

Such concentrations of Baskettails occur shortly after they emerge in May. It is quite possible that the lot of them had emerged within the hour. Had I not consciously decided to break from my comfortable habits, I would not have witnessed this stunning display.

An aerial ballet of virgin dragonflies – a random act of metaphor to remind me that spontaneity can open the door to unexpected pleasures. I will remain a creature of habit. But now and then I will think of that May morning and choose a different path for the surprises it may have in store.

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Invasive Species Wounding Nature: Science to the Rescue?

Hmmm, should we engineer a solution when we have wounded Mother Nature?

There is an ongoing ethical debate regarding the state of nature. On the one hand, there is the viewpoint that man can and should fix nature when necessary. The opposing view: There is an inherent balance in nature. In other words, nature will fix itself if we just leave it alone. Science claims to have discredited the balance in nature argument. But many still adhere to the belief.

Rattray Marsh in Mississauga is a prime example of the issues involved. Credit Valley Conservation has been actively managing Rattray Marsh for a number of years to counter the effects of urban encroachment (such as high sediment deposits and excess nutrients in the marsh) and nuisance species such as Common Carp.

I have mixed feelings about this type of management. I applaud the efforts to preserve and reinvigorate the natural environment. But I have misgivings about a fifteen foot swath cut through the Cattails to give access for the necessary equipment.

The debate becomes particularly thorny when the issue of invasive species comes into play. An invasive species is plant or animal not native to an area that is introduced, often by accident, and spreads. The spread is usually rapid because it has no natural predators in that region and/or the flora and fauna in the area have no natural immunity to it.

One such invasive species is the Emerald Ash Borer which infects Ash trees with devastating results. It is native to China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Russian Far East. In these regions, it is a sporadic forest pest that is controlled by natural immunity and wasps which feed on the larvae. No such natural controls exist here yet.

It was first discovered in North America in 2002 and is thought to have been brought here in wood packing materials used to ship consumer goods. Once infestation occurs, it is believed that all ash trees in the area will die within 10 years. The only apparent control measure is to cut down infected trees to prevent the Borer from spreading.

The woodlot attached to Rattray Marsh has – correction, had – many Ash trees. All infected trees have now been cut down leaving large sections of the woodlot denuded. Replanting has begun to replace the lost trees. But these small saplings will take decades to regenerate the woodlot to its previous state.

And so, I offer the invading Emerald Ash Borer as today’s metaphor both for the impact humans have, knowingly or otherwise, on our natural world and for the often heavy-handed manner in which we attempt to clean up the mess we caused.

We created the problem, albeit unwittingly, by transporting the insects to North America. We are now fixing the problem by radical measures. The question remains: If left to its own means, would nature have adapted to control the problem? We will never know.

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

 

The Deep Web, the Darknet, Botnets and Zombie Armies

Hmmm, do we dare to peer into the bottomless cavern of our digital age interconnectivity?

Useless trivia fact: the internet and I are roughly the same age, although the similarities end there. I am aging and slowing down while the internet grows in speed and reach with literally every passing minute.

As a digital immigrant, I have adapted to the internet as an integral part of my existence. It is a tool I use to avoid being left behind by the amped-up pace of the digital age. Until recently, however, I was not aware of the Pandora’s Box I am cracking the lid on each time I log on.

Apparently, I am only tapping into the Surface Web – the outer skin of the internet that traditional search engines can access. My online forays are akin to dipping my toe into the ocean. There is a vast and frightening universe below what I have casually explored. It is known as the Deep Web – aka the Deep Net or the Invisible Web or the Hidden Web.

It seems that no one can accurately estimate the size of the Deep Web given its anonymity and the fact that it is constantly expanding. Best guess estimates peg it at more than 550 times larger than the Surface Web and still growing exponentially.

The Deep Web is a mysterious and sometimes murky place where users often intentionally bury data. Tapping into it requires special browser software such as Tor (an acronym for The Onion Router) which enables anonymous communication.

Those in the know believe that the Deep Web – in particular, the Dark Web aka the Darknet, a subsection of the Deep Web – is a haven for serious criminal activities.

The Dark Web, to the best of my limited understanding, is a collection of websites that are publicly visible but which hide the IP addresses of the servers than run them. Suffice to say, it is virtual dark alley that most of us would never want to stumble into.

You might well adopt the point of view that this seedy underside of the internet is not a concern since you will never willingly go there. Alas, you may already be caught up in it.

Any one of us could unwillingly be part of a Botnet (aka a Zombie Army) – internet connected computers which, without their owners being aware of it, have been hijacked to forward spam or viruses to other computers on the internet. Most of these computers, which are in effect a robot or bot serving the nefarious purposes of a dark techie lord, are home-based computers.

In summary, the internet has evolved to be a bottomless cavern the depths of which are occupied by all manner of unscrupulous bottom-dwellers. Like it or not, each of us may have been unknowingly conscripted to be part of their illicit activities.

The Deep Web has become an unsavoury metaphor for the dark side of humanity – the unprincipled and opportunistic minority that choose to exploit the cracks, crevices and unseen loopholes of our society for their own gain. Quite the double-sided sword, is it not?

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

The Myriad Faces of Spring – A Feast for The Senses

Hmmm, does any other season have as many distinct faces as the first, full blush of spring?

Let’s start with the unmistakable scent of fresh cut grass wafting in on the tender breeze.

Next in line, the rolling rattle of a brown-capped Chipping Sparrow with its tiny head pointed skyward in unrestrained exuberance.

Everywhere you look, the yellow-teethed clusters of Dandelions sprouting with abandon in any available patch of grass.

Always unexpected, the first blue dragonflies of the season hitch-hiking their way across a pond edge.

Man-made but qualifying none-the-less: the rufous-red of cedar mulch blanketing the gardens in their spring infancy.

And the most promising of all, harlequin green spring buds urgently unfurling on bushes late awakening in the first warm breath of May.

Each in their own right, random acts of metaphor for the rebirth intrinsic in glorious spring. And together, a metaphor chorus that stirs us to life and resurrects our faith in what lies yet ahead no matter how many springs we may already have welcomed.

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

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.