Three Questions, January 4, 2025

Posted on January 5, 2025 by Michael Kane

Does wisdom perhaps appear on the earth as a raven which is inspired by the smell of carrion? ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Three Questions, January 4, 2025

You can find the background to The Three Questions in my recent post about it. I’ll be answering the questions each day for the next year and putting this experience into a book. Here we go!

What was the most beautiful thing I encountered today?

Today on my walk, on a gray and cold day with most of the vegetation settling in for winter, I found a little burst of three pink flowers in a planter and they were absolutely beautiful.

What did I learn today?

Ravens fascinate me and every time I learn something new about them I’m more and more amazed. It has been reported that in the wild, Ravens will call wolves to the site of dead animals as once the wolves eat on a carcass the Ravens can then access the carcass for food.

What made me happy today?

Today my bad mood has continued, but last night I marinated some boneless ribs and grilled them today. I have always loved grilling when it’s cold out, in the Northeast I used to love grilling in the middle of winter. Something about food off the grill when it’s cold out makes it taste extra good, and my friends it was.

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Three Questions, January 3, 2025

Posted on January 4, 2025 by Michael Kane
happiness, everest
Sunset on Chu Khun in the Himalayas

Happiness is hard to recall. Its just a glow. ~ Frank McCourt

Three Questions, January 3, 2025

You can find the background to The Three Questions in my recent post about it. I’ll be answering the questions each day for the next year and putting this experience into a book. Here we go!

What did I encounter that made me happy today?

Today the most beautiful thing I saw was a picture of a sunset and it reminded me of some of my favorite sunsets.

What did I learn today?

Actually today I learned quite a lot about Marilyn Monroe, listened to one of my favorite podcasts, The Rest is History, their episode on Marilyn Monroe was incredibly interesting. As was the one on one of my favorite topics, the Loch Ness monster, that I also listened to today.

What made me happy today?

Frankly, not much. I’ve been in a foul mood all day. Today was one of those days where the inherent selfish and inconsiderate nature of people really wore me down. But one thing that made me happy was getting a note from someone I care about deeply.

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Three Questions, January 2, 2025

Posted on January 3, 2025 by Michael Kane

I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river. ~ Zhuangzi

Three Questions, January 2, 2025

You can find the background to The Three Questions in my recent post about it. I’ll be answering the questions each day for the next year and putting this experience into a book. Here we go!

What was the most beautiful thing I encountered today?

On my walk today I suddenly heard honking and looked up to see a big flock of Canadian geese flying only a few feet over head, totally cool.

What did I learn today?

Today I learned about a really cool dolphin. Pelorus Jack, a Risso’s dolphin (uncommon in New Zealand) that accompanied ships traveling between Wellington and Nelson, was so named because he would meet boats near the entrance to Pelorus Sound, in the Marlborough Sounds. First noticed in 1888 when he joined a steamer bound for Nelson, Pelorus Jack spent the next 24 years escorting boats from Pelorus Sound to treacherous French Pass, a narrow stretch of water between D’Urville Island and the mainland, where the water surges through at up to 8 knots.

Pelorus Jack always remained within a well-defined area. He joined boats heading for Nelson at the entrance to Pelorus Sound and swam to, but never through, French Pass. On the reverse journey, he met ships as they came out of the pass, staying with them for the 8 kilometers to Pelorus Sound before going his own way. He enjoyed swimming up against the boats and riding their bow waves.

What made me happy today?

Well it certainly wasn’t returning to work. What made me happy today was getting fully back into my healthy routines in term of eating, working out, etc…

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Three Questions, January 1, 2025

Posted on January 2, 2025 by Michael Kane
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There really isn’t anything more refreshing then iced Coke out of the old-school glass bottles. ~ Mark Zupan

Three Questions, January 1, 2025

What did I encounter that was beautiful today?

I saw a little girl, around two years-old walking with her father.  Well, actually she was grabbing her father by the hand and running him to things to look at and then explaining each thing in mad gibberish.  Then she would grab his hand and sprint for the next thing, laughing the whole way.  Which made her dad laugh and me laugh as well as I was walking by.

What did I learn today?

I learned today that when in 1959, Volvo invented the three-point harness safety belt.  That instead of keeping it proprietary and making money off of it, they released the design to every car dealer.  It’s estimated that this invention has saved over a million lives globally. 

What made me happy today?

I’m gearing up to lose some weight, get in full hiking shape and into better shape for my surgery in August.  I also need to get my diabetes even better in control than it currently is, so after this week, I’m back to my one coke a week regulation.  So today, I had my last coke before the regulation is back in place.  I drank it slowly while also enjoying a couple of York peppermint patties.  It was a small thing, but it made me happy.

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Three Questions, December 31, 2024

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Michael Kane

Three Questions, December 31, 2024

You can find the background to The Three Questions in my recent post about it. I’ll be answering the questions each day for the next year and putting this experience into a book. Here we go!

What was the most beautiful thing I encountered today?

I was driving down to Pal Alto and the sun hitting off of the Lake San Andreas was particularly beautiful.

What did I learn today?

Today I did some digging in to some options around hiking in Iceland.

What made me happy today?

What made me happy today was the realization that I feel really good, not stressed, and have a bit of clarity.  Haven’t felt this way in some time so it made me happy to realize that’s where I’m at.

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Three Questions, December 30, 2024

Posted on December 31, 2024 by Michael Kane

I’m able to actually choose places to go which have intrigued me for the last god knows how many years, and Tasmania’s always been one of those places. ~ Robert Plant

Three Questions, December 30, 2024

You can find the background to The Three Questions in my recent post about it. I’ll be answering the questions each day for the next year and putting this experience into a book. Here we go!

What was the most beautiful think I encountered today?

Today it was one of my favorite meteorological phenomenon, sun dogs.  Sun dogs are the reflections that sometimes appear to the side of the sun.  If you envision the sun as the center of the clock, the sun dogs appear at 3 and 9 on the dial.  They sometimes are so bright it looks like three suns, but often, like this one, they are bright spots with rainbow colors.

What did I learn today?

Today I learned a lot about one of my travel targets for 2025, the Overland Track in Tasmania.  A fifty mile hiking trail across a number of biomes in Tasmania.  It’s typically a six day hike and I’m really getting excited about the possibility.

What made me happy today?

As I gear up for getting back to eating better and really trying to be in great shape for my surgery in August.  I had a pretty strong craving for rye bread.  So I bought a loaf of NY Rye and made myself a pastrami sandwich and man, it was one of those meals that really hit the spot.

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Happy Holidays – Goodbye 2024

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Michael Kane

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’ ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

Happy Holidays – Goodbye 2024!

This year has been a year of complete madness for me. I expected at this point to be fully writing about my impending retirement and be fully training for my next thru-hike attempt on the Appalachian Trail. Of course, if you’re a regular reader you know those plans have been scraped. Instead I’m prepping for at least another year of work and open heart surgery in August. Getting to that decision point included a solid month of feeling like a ball in a pinball machine. I’m happy to have clarity on where things are heading in my life, even if it’s a significant change and a scary surgery.

It seems the whole world has gone a bit mad in 2024, wars, elections, other governmental chaos in a number of countries. I won’t be sad to see 2024 go, although to be fair all years have ups and downs, I found the downs in 2024 to be a bit much.

One surprising upside was a better than expected Christmas holiday. With everything going on my normal planning went into the tank. However, I was able to get almost all of my Christmas presents out the door, and even plan a trip out to the Mojave and Christmas dinner with friends in Las Vegas. I also got a project off the ground in the middle of the chaos and have started doing my three questions posts every day on the road to writing my next book.

I’m looking forward to 2025, I’ve set my sights on getting in two international trips before my surgery. The big one being a hopeful April trip to Tasmania to do the Overland Track. This also will be my sixth continent and I’m excited for both achievements. I’m also seriously considering a trip to Iceland.

My holiday trip to the desert was as fabulous as I could hope for. A few days out in the desert in Valley of Fire State Park camping and hiking. The weather was fantastic, I had good camp neighbors, had several close interactions with Bighorn Sheep and got in some great hikes. I’m spending my time before going back to work taking it easy, doing some cooking and baking and getting back into my workout routines.

So here’s to positive hopes and expectations for 2025. I hope you are all able to head into the new year in the same way. And to kick it all off, below are some images from my trip, enjoy and have a happy day and a happy new year my friends. ~ Rev Kane

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Three Questions, December 29, 2924

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Michael Kane

Three Questions, December 29, 2024

You can find the background to The Three Questions in my recent post about it. I’ll be answering the questions each day for the next year and putting this experience into a book. Here we go!

What was the most beautiful thing I encountered today?

My little five year-old niece showed me a picture she drew of a unicorn riding over a rainbow. I am totally and completely biased but it was the most beautiful thing I saw today.

What did I learn today?

I learned a really interesting fact today. There are an estimated 35 million kangaroos in Australia. There are also and estimated 26 million people in Australia, Therefore there are actually more kangaroos in Australia than people, amazing.

What made me happy today?

My youngest niece and nephews live across the country, so while I try and visit once or twice a year. I don’t get to see them often enough. Today we Zoomed and it was absolutely wonderful, interacting with them makes me very, very happy.

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Three Questions, December 28, 2024

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Michael Kane
Stacked from 10 images. Method=B (R=8,S=4)

Three Questions, December 28, 2024

You can find the background to The Three Questions in my recent post about it. I’ll be answering the questions each day for the next year and putting this experience into a book. Here we go!

What was the most beautiful thing I experienced today?

It’s been raining in the bay area and unfortunately I needed to run out to the grocery store. I was actually quite frustrated, I had bought some cokes and they turned out to be cherry cokes, hideous. I had just made a homemade pizza and wanted a coke to go with it. So I was unhappily running up quickly to the store on a cold and drizzly night. Coming out of the store I stopped because the most beautiful thing I encountered today was an amazingly loud chorus of what had to be thousands of peepers calling out. I love they way they sound.

What did I learn today?

Today I encountered an alien looking vegetable and it turns out to be called Romanesco, pictured above. Learned that basically you cook and use it like cauliflower, I’ll pause before I give it a try.

What made me happy today?

Pizza, homemade pizza. Made a lovely pie and enjoyed it with that coke I went out for, it was quite delicious.

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Three Questions, December 27, 2024

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Michael Kane

Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled. ~ Benjamin Spock

Three Questions, December 27, 2024

You can find the background to The Three Questions in my recent post about it. I’ll be answering the questions each day for the next year and putting this experience into a book. Here we go!

What was the most beautiful thing I encountered today?

The most beautiful thing I encountered today were smells. The smell of a cooking pot of homemade gumbo and the smell of baking chocolate chip cookies.

What did I learn today?

I’m a bit of a space junky and today was the third anniversary of the James Web Space Telescope. I’ve been following along over the last three years and today, given the articles posted, I got to review all of the discoveries and images produced over the last three years.

What made me happy today?

The gumbo I made was a particularly good batch and sitting down and eating a spicy bowl of homemade gumbo made me very happy.

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