You should still be Dancing

Speaking of recent 7 year itches, here's an unusual dancing story I submitted to the Glitch in the Matrix subreddit seven years ago, and below that how the same tale looks after editing it today.

A handful of interesting glitch comments are in the original:

Back in 1976, my cousin and I were driving in my little yellow VW Dasher along the beach in Delaware and we switched the radio on to a local station. The Bee Gee’s song “You Should Be Dancing” was playing, but as both of us were interested in Heavy Rock more than we were Pop Music, We glanced at each other and tacitly agreed to find another song. I switched the car radio over to another station and the same Bee Gee’s song was playing there too. We kept trying other stations, hitting all six of the preset buttons and were amazed to discover that this same song was playing on all six stations! Quickly, to confirm this was actually happening, we went through all of the stations once again, and sure enough the song was playing, and at a different part on each of the stations, before it shortly ended on one of them. After all of the stations stopped playing the popular tune, we went back and triple-checked to make sure that we didn’t have any of the preset buttons set to the same station, and we didn’t, which made us wonder how often such an event might occur, and we sensed that it was probably very rare, even for a hit single at the pinnacle of the Pop Charts.

I remember having fun writing that, but man what a hack!

Here's today: -
 
 

You should ALWAYS be Dancing!

Heels click here

In 1976, my cousin Phil and I were splashing through a sandy Delaware beach in my pint-sized Doodlebug. Being wild ones we raised the music to blare on a local surf station where they played The Bee Gee’s You Should Be Dancing. Since we were more into Hard Rock, we glanced at each other for a quick tacit agreement to find a better station. We switched to one where the same Bee Gee’s song played. Then tried another, hitting all six of the presets buttons and discovered the song was playing on all stations simultaneously,  at different parts of the same song. To confirm this was actually happening, we pressed quickly to double-check, and heard the same pop single again on each station. On one station the dancing tune was near its finish,  but before it ended we reinspected to ensure we hadn’t accidentally set two buttons to the same station. We had not, which made us wonder how often such an irregular event occurs. We agreed it was probably exceptionally rare, even for hit singles topping the charts, and haven’t experienced anything that odd since with our endless dancing music hits.

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Synchronicity

Date: 2018-07-30 06:12 am (UTC)

From: marcu

Dear Mr. Greer,

I was wondering if you had any thoughts or advice on dealing with synchronicity? I'm always concerned that I'm reading too much into things but I also don't want to miss obvious hints.

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Re: Synchronicity

Date: 2018-07-30 08:31 pm (UTC)

From: ecosophia

That's really something you have to learn from experience. There's a middle ground between ignoring synchronicities and being obsessed by them; aim for that and you should be fine.

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You should always be dancing!

Back in 1976, my cousin and I were driving in my little yellow VW Dasher along the beach in Delaware and we switched the radio on to a local station. The Bee Gee’s song “You Should Be Dancing” was playing, but as both of us were interested in Heavy Rock more than we were Pop Music, we glanced at each other and tacitly agreed to find another song. I switched the car radio over to another station and the same Bee Gee’s song was playing there too. We kept trying other stations, hitting all six of the preset buttons and were amazed to discover that this same song was playing on all six stations! Quickly, to confirm this was actually happening, we went through all of the stations once again, and sure enough the song was playing and at a different part on each of the stations, before it shortly ended on one of them. After all of the stations stopped playing the popular tune, we went back and triple-checked to make sure that we didn’t have any of the preset buttons set to the same station, and we didn’t, which made us wonder how often such an event might occur, and we sensed that it was probably very rare, even for a hit single at the pinnacle of the Pop Charts.

The Owl and the Money Clip

Here's a story from Jim Banholzer that involves owl medicine. He heard it from a friend, Tonia, after he helped her and her husband Robin, move into a new house near Bellevue.
+++

At their old Ketchum place, Robin and Tonia had lived together with their children and a single mother, an arrangement that worked out great in some aspects, but also was a bit cramped, which tends to get worse during harsh Idaho winters. Both families had traveled down a few times to look at the prospective larger house. All four kids loved it, as did Tonia and her single-mother friend. Robin wasn’t so sure though; after all, they had already moved earlier that same year. His hesitation was understandable, as the new house cost more and he is the main breadwinner.

With the pressure on to decide soon, one evening Robin vociferously announced that he was “going fishing.” He walked down to the Big Wood River to spend some time alone and to specifically reflect on their situation. As twilight progressed, an enormous great horned owl swooped down over the water and dropped something shiny. Robin carefully waded out to where the owl dropped the item and discovered it was an empty money clip. Examining it closer, he saw that the silver was emblazoned with his own initials!

Robin took the owl’s message as a powerful sign, which helped him, decide that his family would be better off if they made the big move. Coincidentally, a few months previous, at their old house I had dropped off some animal totem books, including one that focused on birds as messengers. On a whim, I marked one of the owl stories with a copy of my own owl story, using it as a bookmark. It's called The Midday Owl who Withdrew from the Bank.

What’s interesting about this story is that most people who hear it agree that they would have made the same decision, even though the owl had dropped an empty money clip. One friend even opined that it’s healthy to get out in nature when making such large life-changing decisions and that it was a nice enough to be given such a powerful bird-augury to help with the choice; as pennies from heaven will arrive in their own due time.

Gene’s 1962 truck ‘Merlin’

A Trucker's tale

Back in cold February, I was chugging up Highway 75; when suddenly right before Ohio Gulch, the rig started behaving badly and jerked to a halt. Turns out it was the transmission, and even though a mechanic-friend had recently inspected it with a fine-toothed comb, it was shot.

That cost some big bucks; and then, only a few weeks later, the truck started acting up again, at that exact same spot. As Blaine County locals know, Ohio Gulch is the turnoff for the dump transfer, and just south of where the State sometimes sets up truck inspection stations. It’s also essentially the last safe place to pull over; if you’re heading north with a big rig in the area, and it happens to break down.

The second breakdown was caused by a fuel pump problem. I thought it was strange and yet a little fortunate that the truck decided to break down at the same safe pullover spot twice. Then I remembered; fifteen years ago, I was driving a rig full of rocks for a stonemason, and that truck broke down at the same precise spot. I had loaded Gene’s truck to the brim, with four and ¼ tons of river rock. As we approached Ohio Gulch, his truck started thumping loudly from the right rear side. I pulled over and soon saw that the wheel had actually rolled out from its base, while the lug nuts whizzed off like hot bullets in the wild-west sage. Although the tire and rim had shot off, it had miraculously wedged upright into a corner of the truck, keeping the masonry rocks from spilling out.

As I hitchhiked to the East Fork jobsite, passing over Greenhorn Bridge, I became thankful that the truck had not decided to shuck off its rock, back to the river there. I wasn’t looking for that type of legend on my resume.

It’s funny; every time I drive past that Hyndman Creek house with a friend and see those river rocks shining so intact, I feel compelled to pull over, point at the stones and tell this story.

And it makes me curious to hear about other people’s experiences of breaking down at same spots.

And while we did laugh later, Gene told me, when he saw me walking the last leg of Hyndman, two hours late and with no truck, he thought, “This can’t be good.”

Addendum:

Another synchronicity occurred few weeks ago, when I was in this same proximity, dumping off an old mattress at the transfer station.

While up there, the garage-styled back door of my work van became wedged open in a manner that I could not shut it. Since I had another job scheduled, I tied everything down that might come loose, clamped the door to the roller as a precaution, and then headed back out on the highway with my rear door ajar.

As I pulled out, I gave the only other vehicle in the area a wide berth to scoot around me, but he would not pass right away. I felt as though he was checking out my rear door and might try to flag me to inform me it was open.

Finally, as he passed, I noticed that he was driving a service vehicle for Overhead Door repair company! As my problem is in the area of his trade, he was probably checking out my disabled door. At the next intersection the light conveniently turned red, giving me enough time to jot down his number.

The amazing thing is that he passed me, right at the same spot, where I've broken down thrice before. As I pointed out to a friend, he was a helper. And come to think of it, now; all four times that I've experienced mechanical difficulties at the Ohio Gulch "Bermuda triangle for trucks" eventually, a helper has always come with gracious assist.

After discussing this with the friend who has great insight, she asked me, "What colors do you see in the sky when you break down?" I don't understand what that could have to do with anything regarding the breakdowns, but believe me, whenever I notice anybody else experiencing trouble in that same area, I study the sky, thinking of her unusual question.

Perhaps, someday, I can be the helper for someone else in this area who is experiencing a breakdown, and recount this interesting tale to them as we try to fix whatever problem they are having, as we curiously bide our time.

Elephantaucity

In this new era of electronic mail, it’s not often that I receive greeting cards; however, two months ago, I received a heartfelt condolence card from an out of town friend, offering support, when my good friend Mary Anne passed on. The card chosen had on its cover, a photo of a little girl pushing a Ginormous elephant onto a cart, which symbolized the small level of support my friend felt she was offering, since she was unable to be here in person.

A month later, I received another card in the mail. This one was a thank you for helping another friend move some large furniture around her house and featured an elephant on the cover. This friend included the notation: “No kidding, you’re my biggest friend.” I set the second card atop the refrigerator, by the other elephant card, thought it was a nice coincidence, and pointed it out to a few friends that came by.

Then a few days ago, my Aunt Jane sent me a classic care package for my birthday.[i] Aunt Jane is a nature lover and vibrant cloud-watcher and for years, has sent out hand-painted cards as seasonal gifts. Well, lo & behold, among the thoughtful items she included was a personalized water coloring of an elephant grazing!

This third friendly-looking elephant left me a little stunned, and soon the wild synchronicity prompted me to tread softly over to the world of animal totems:

http://www.sayahda.com/cyc2.html

Here the twelfth totem says:

The Elephant

“Throughout history elephants have been prized for their power and strength. They are extremely intelligence and honored by many cultures. Elephants are the largest land animals and among the longest lived, with life spans of 60 years or more. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha chose the form of a white elephant as one of his many incarnations and the rare appearance of a white elephant is still heralded as a manifestation of the gods. The Hindu god Ganesh, the remover of obstacles, is depicted with the head of an elephant.

Despite their great weight, elephants walk almost noiselessly. Their stride is exceptionally graceful and rhythmic. Their hearing, smell, taste and touch is acute. This compensates for their poor eyesight. Their eyes are small in relation to the enormous head, which can only turn slightly from side to side. This limited movement results in restricted side vision. Those with this medicine feel things deeply and respond to those feelings from a place of inner knowing. Because their peripheral vision is limited, they have a tendency to look straight ahead and not always see what is around them. Learning to shift ones focus to encompass the whole is helpful.

Loyal and affectionate elephants are willing to risk their life for the sake of others in a family group. Wild elephants have been known to grieve and even shed tears over the death of a family member. They have excellent memories and when mistreated they often seek revenge.

Elephants have four teeth, all molars. The first pair of molars is located toward the front of the mouth. When they wear down, they drop out and the two molars in the back shift forward. Two new molars emerge in the back of the mouth to replace those that have moved forward. Elephants replace back molars six times throughout their life. When the last set wears out, they are unable to chew and die of starvation.

Teeth have great symbolism. They are considered receivers and transmitters of energy linked by connecting paths throughout the astral body. Because the elephant is highly intelligent, those with this totem make excellent researchers and alternative scientists. The complex study of numbers, energy meridians and the tie in between the physical brain, the teeth locations, and the major and minor head chakras is fascinating as well as beneficial.

Elephant tusks point backwards, are used as weapons and for digging edible roots. From a spiritual point of view, this suggests an ability to uncover the secrets left behind you and bring them to the consciousness for evaluation and healing.

These beautiful creatures hold the teachings of compassion, loyalty, strength, intelligence, discernment and power to name a few. If this is your medicine, these virtues are a part of your natural character. By applying these gifts in your life soul evolution is achieved.”

As I began identifying with this elephant talk, it resonated within; that the best part of my 50^th birthday (12/12) is that close friends have sent me this synchronicity - practically on a silver platter - and the fact that I could recognize their big gifts so readily.

---

[i] Aunt Jane must have presumed that her care package would arrive late, way out here in Idaho, but it actually came a few days early, back when I was telling friends, “Yes, I’m still in my mid-to-late forties.”

Click Here Jasper

Gene's, early 60's rock-hauling truck 'Merlin'

Triple Breakdown Synchronicity

Back in cold February, I was chugging up Highway 75; when suddenly right before Ohio Gulch, the rig started behaving badly. Turns out it was the transmission, and even though a mechanic-friend had recently gone over it with a fine-toothed comb, it was shot.

That cost some big bucks; and then, only a few weeks later, the truck started misbehaving again, at that exact same spot. As locals know, Ohio Gulch is the turnoff for the dump transfer, and just north is where the State sometimes sets up weigh stations. It’s also essentially the last good place to pull over safely; if you’re heading north with a big rig in the area, and it breaks down.

The second breakdown was caused by a fuel pump problem. I thought it was strange and yet a little fortunate that the truck decided to break down at the same safe pullover spot twice. Then I remembered; fifteen years ago, I was driving a rig full of rocks for a stonemason, and that truck broke down at the same spot. I had loaded Gene’s truck to the brim, with four and ¼ tons of river rock. As we approached Ohio Gulch, his truck started thumping loudly from the right rear. I pulled over and soon saw that the wheel had actually rolled out from its base, while the lug nuts whizzed off like bullets into the wild-west sage. Although the tire and rim had shot off, it had miraculously wedged into a corner of the truck, keeping the masonry rocks from spilling out.

As I hitchhiked to the East Fork jobsite, passing over Greenhorn Bridge, I became thankful that the truck had not decided to shuck off its rocks, back to the river there. I wasn’t looking for that type of legend on my resume.

And while we did laugh later, Gene told me, when he saw me walking the last leg of Hyndman, two hours late and with no truck, he thought, “This can’t be good.”

It’s funny; every time I drive past that Hyndman Creek house with a friend and see those river rocks shining so intact, I feel compelled to pull over, point at the stones and tell this story.

And it makes me curious to hear about other people’s experiences of breaking down at same spots.

Bombshell Synchronicities

Within anagrams and palindromes

Did you know Edgar Poe is A God Peer, that Stephen King is The Pens King, Clint Eastwood = Old West Action and Darth Vader is Add Hart Rev? What I am talking about is the synchronicity of anagrams and hidden meanings within everyday phrases and names

As legend has it, the first words ever spoken, “Madam in Eden, I’m Adam” were a palindrome. Further fables assert, that immediately after this opening statement, the first thought balloon formed above Eve’s innocent head, reading, “SOS EVE SOS!”

Pulitzer Prize winner Dr. Douglas Hofstadter in his essay, The architecture of Jumbo, remarks about anagrams:

“Why work so hard to model such a frivolous and atypical cognitive activity? I tried to answer this question in the article itself, but let me just add here that I think that such mental juggling is a very important, pervasive kind of mental activity that has nothing intrinsic to do with anagrams. Perhaps the slow letter-juggling that goes on in the heads of people who have almost never tried anagrams is not of much universality and therefore of little importance or interest, but I think that when the activity reaches expert level, where it is highly automatized and very rapid, it has something in common with the deep processes of reorganization and reinterpretation that takes place in truly creative thought. Not to suggest that all good anagrammists are latent Einsteins, of course, but just that the activity itself, when done fluently, has a special and important quality.”

As anagrams are full of Synchronicity, so, too, Synchronicity vibrates with anagrams. It’s a rich city, sonny! Some anagrams are startling enough to make the hardest Cynic Hint Rosy.

Here are three more anagrams of synchronicity, ripened for your own interpretations:

Short Yin Cynic

Thy Ironic Sync

Cynic, Oh Sin, Try

A few weeks ago, on the synchronicity blog, I responded to Max’s teapot story, observing that two teacups are potent metaphors. While doing so, I compared Commander Tibbet’s nonchalant postwar walk across the scorched fields of Nagasaki, with a different pace, set by peacenik warrior Lawrence Ferlinghetti. A few days later, I was surprised to read that the Nagasaki local Government has officially recognized 93-year-old Tsutomu Yamaguchi as one of a handful of survivors who survived both atomic bomb attacks.

In that vein, here are some AA Anagrams, dedicated to Mr. Tsutomu Yamaguchi

A Mach Yogis Mu Tutu

A Outmatch Guy I Sum

A Mica Thugs Yum Out

A Somatic Tug Uh Yum

A Atomic Guy Shut Mu

A Atomic Guy Thus Mu

A Tacit Gush Mum You

A Tacit Hug Mums You

A A Touch Guy Summit

A Magic Shut Yum Out

A Magic Hut Oust Yum

A Atomic Thug Yum Us

Douglas Hofstadter would probably take pleasure in the Mu anagrams riddled throughout Mr. Yamaguchi’s name.

~

Footnotes:

Another anagram with profound undertones is Google co-founder Sergey Brin turning into Rib’s Energy, as Google tries leading our world to shift into improved power methods: http://blog.greenenergytv.com/blog/green-algae-energy/0/0/google-to-become-a-utility-company

Then there’s:

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland

In Chapter 7, the Hatter gives his famous riddle without an answer: "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Although Carroll intended the riddle to have no solution, in a new preface to the 1896 edition of Alice, he proposes several answers: "Because it can produce a few notes, though… they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!" (Note the spelling of "never" as "nevar"—turning it into "raven" when inverted. This spelling, however, was "corrected" in later editions to "never" and Carroll's pun was lost). Puzzle expert Sam Loyd offered the following solutions:

• Because the notes for which they are noted are not noted for being musical notes
• Poe wrote on both
• They both have inky quills
• Bills and tales are among their characteristics

Because they both stand on their legs, conceal their steels (steals), and ought to be made to shut up.

If I could Photoshop better, I would make Clint’s equal sign a smoking rifle barrel.

Bowling for Synchronicity

Today’s grocery store encounter story reminds me of an event from a Virginia bowling alley, twenty winters ago. Two of my best friends had birthdays only two days apart. Brooke’s was February 2, 1960 (a Groundhog Day baby) and Dave’s February 4 –the same year. The three of us often shared entertainment together in the form of bowling, Frisbee Golf, pizza, etc. One Sunday, while between frames, the subject of their birthdays came up again, and I noted my paternal grandmother’s birthday was wedged between theirs, exactly fifty years before, at February 3, 1910.

We thought this was cool and then I asked Brooke at what hospital she was born. She named the place and then with big surprise, Dave said he was also born there. Then I remembered that Brooke had mentioned that her birth had complications. Her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, so she had to stay at the hospital three extra days. Then it dawned on the three of us that my two best friends were together in the same maternity ward!

After that when we bowled, if Brooke or Dave made a bad shot or gutter ball, and complained, the other would say something like, “Quit your crying! I’ve been tired of hearing you whine, ever since we were boxed next to each other in the maternity ward!”

P.S. Speaking of the Groundhog, shouldn’t winter be over by now? The weather indicators have been slow to reveal this here in Idaho.

. I find Annette’s story interesting.

The name “Annette” itself, seems to ring with synchronicity: Two e’s, two n’s and two t’s, mirrors her name with a double-Tolkien ent. Hearing Annette, reminds me of a story that happened, the first winter I moved west, to Ketchum, Idaho: Three of us had made a day of it, snowmobiling around Island Park, Idaho’s frozen-over reservoir. That evening, one nodded off for a nap, while my other friend, who is a great hunter, stayed up late, discussing at length our interest in butterflies. Right as he asked me, “Did you ever go out with a net and catch them?” -our third companion awoke at that precise moment from his hypnagogic reverie, imagining he had heard, “Did you ever go out with Annette in Ketchum?” –which confused him greatly, because I had only moved there, mere weeks before!

We often laugh about this.

Along similar lines, I wonder, how other readers’ small-town synchronicity experiences compare with their big city meaningful coincidences? Soon after shifting from big city living to a small town lifestyle, I noticed that after meeting enough people, eventually I came to expect that I would run into somebody I knew, almost every time I wandered into public. This makes me wonder what other people’s experiences are, who have lived both in big cities and small towns, regarding running into long-lost friends, in million-to- one long shots on ships, airplanes and subways versus their experiences, living in smaller synchronistic-to-the-brim towns.