First, I'm sitting up here on top of the world, North Pole, Alaska, looking down at the KungFlu fiasco, Minneapolis riots, California scheming, screaming, etc. and none of that has had much, if any, real effect today, on my day to day life.

It all, from here, of course seems unreal. I do allow that, just as a butterfly wing flap in Malaysia may predicate and progress to a snow storm in my back yard that, as I'm at the far end of a long supply chain, the giving up living to keep from dying in the lower forty eight might mean I won't find bread or beef in my local stores in November or December. T'ain't real today however, none the less I'm, of course buffering against that possible real tomorrow.

Somewhere, sometime, long ago and distant, someone pounded in to my head, with a ruler on my knuckles and/or a belt to my butt, that lying is just plain wrong! Three score and ten years later (I suspect I was right around ten when that happened.) I must note I still consider that truth to be self evident and, looking back, I've been more than willing to walk ten blocks out of my way, or even keep my mouth shut, to avoid telling even a white lie. Of course I didn’t always succeed, but I did, and do, try to tell nothing but the truth, even it it ain’t the whole truth. Can't say, even today, that my avoiding lying ever did me or anybody else any harm.

Grease is the manners that allows society to smoothly run. Shucky darn, even in that misplaced predicate/object sentence the concept comes across loud and clear, nuff said.

I've always defined philosophy, philosophies, as O&M manuals for living one's life. I include religions under that heading. Immanuel Kant and Gregorian chant serve the same purpose for different folks. I'll allow most of my philosophy is quite sophomoric, not surprising really as I, as most of us, began formulating it when I was a sophomore. None the less, my, and anyone's, personal philosophy is a work in progress, with deletions, addendums (Addenda, if you want to get picky about it though, addendums is considered acceptable as well.) and copious footnotes added as time passes and something approaching wisdom is gained. In spite of the copious addendums,footnotes and caveats my philosophy can be expressed in a few sentences: Take care of yourself and yours. Treat others fairly. Make some allowances for that guy if possible, after all, like me, he's just trying to get by. Most important, enjoy now, right now, really, it's all you've got!

Having said that, I'm heading outside to cut another cord of wood, getting ready for, just in case, November and December.