I’m finding that sometimes perhaps, the best thing to know, is to not know.

I’m finding that to quietly sit and delight in this gift of solitude, listening to the whispers of nature is bringing me a deeper and deeper sense of gratitude.

I’m finding that I’m becoming more and more just a simple appreciator of the Divine Presence of Entirety, where no other thought is required.

This blog will focus on the perceptions of a spiritual recluse regarding social issues and life in general.  And my new blog CyberSpeak  (the links in Blogroll) will consist of podcasts dealing with my eclectic spiritual beliefs, something I still have a strong affection for. The technical issues that I was having with theme layout and e.t.c on WordPress turned out to be my lack of tech understanding. So rather than taking on a new learning curve I’m using WordPress and this same theme for the new blog. I’m delighted to report it’s working out just fine and any time I can avoid another learning curve I do.

Learning curves in my humble opinion are the bane of our existence. Now I don’t mind picking up a few new skills along the way, but when they pick me up, and then drop me into the abyss of confused frustration and bring the joy of spontaneous creation to a screeching halt….Well that’s when the dog asks to be let out and refuses to come back in until she sees the illumination of techno hell turned off.

People who are in their eighties had an entirely different life experience. They only had to learn three things, driving a stick shift, a skill or trade and then parenting; that was about it. Then technology crept in. The TV and radio were relative simple devices with knobs and dials that only went in two directions, left or right. But with the arrival of the remote control came buttons. Now we were led to believe that buttons would be easier than knobs because you only had to press them. What they neglected to mention was that a button can be accidentally pressed, something that never happened with a knob or dial.

Then came VCR’s and computers which caused millions of family dogs to head for the door, asking to be let out, when they saw their owners pick up instruction books. But the inventors of technology are insatiable so the computer was put in the car and that’s why you rarely see a dog in a mechanics garage anymore. Then came the cassette player, DVD’s, cell phone, mp3 player, ipod, smart phone and all the other antisocial gadgets. Now these things would be tolerable if their creators could just leave well enough alone. But there’s no money or the joy of code tinkering in that, so they invented the UPDATE. Need I say more.

Other blogs have spinning, blinking, flashing things, some of which jump out at you. They have music, incredible colors, links, track backs (links and trackbacks I think I have a handle on) and pictures of other bloggers which I think is associated with those that leave comment. I think I have that installed now.

Anyway, they’re a delight to behold. Mine? It will remain this way with no moving parts. My rural wireless broad band internet connection would have a stroke if I asked it to do any of those things. And at $80.00 a month for 10 GBs…

But hey, I’ve got the high desert sky and simple suits me.

Because it turns itself ON at will. It has bypassed any needed input from me. I’ll turn it off, watch it go through it’s ‘shutting down process’ and then at random, it can be 2 minutes or 20 minutes, hear its powered on notification. So I go and check it and sure enough it’s turned on. And wait, it even gets better. Last night it refused to let me enter my son in laws new cell number. The screen would display ‘contact information saved’ but when I’d go to look up his name or number it was nowhere to be found. I tried 5 times until I resorted to the process that I use when dealing with such technical device issues.. Think Like The Phone. So I went to my daughters contact info. and added his number and bingo, it worked. While still Thinking Like The Phone, it was simply a matter of its insistence that the husband and wife be in contacts matrimony under the eyes of the God of Droids.

Now nobody in tech services has ever heard of these issues. We’ve tried all of the Android disciplinary actions available. Doing a complete factory reset only resulted in MY being punished by losing 80% of my apps and contacts. Back up assistant refuses to cooperate, it will give me a password but displays ‘incorrect password try again’ when I enter it.

That’s why I’m thinking this independently operating phone could be highly valuable, particularly to Larry Page the new CEO of google who recently paid $12.5 billion for Motorola.

Anyway, while I’m composing this post on my MacBook I have the Droid wrapped in aluminum foil and locked in my Jeeps glove box. And I’m relying on the fact that even if it’s telepathic, the OSX and Android OS have been in a cold war since their conceptions. And I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new iphone 4.

Although there have been many years in my life when I was an active participant in the worldly world and had many experiences that I wouldn’t trade for anything better.

Some people have life events that run in a linear sequential course. While others, such as myself, have had life events that were scattered like pollen across the plains of existence. Events that at first glance seem to lack rhyme or reason, but when examined under the microscope of objective consideration, a broad brush stroke of colorful wonderment is revealed. We discover the method to the madness of chaotic randomness. And the older we get the easier this is to see.

But the expanse of experiences can be overwhelming and so an occasional sabbatical into solitude is needed to sort things out, to fit the mystical puzzle pieces of events together in order to see the big picture. And then much to our amazement a life direction is seen and the irony is that its been there all along.

I’m a contemplative recluse. I felt it in the core of my being back in 1956, but didn’t allow it to be expressed in a lifestyle until 1997.

On average I spend five hours a month in any kind of social interaction. I’ve been told that this isn’t natural, that it goes against the grain of human nature. That we are morally obligated to participate in making this a better world. But my response is that the most natural thing a person can do is to follow their inner directive, and that’s also the first step in bettering the world. Because when you follow your inner directive it brings you peace and contentment. And a world filled with peaceful contented beings speaks for its self.

I’m neither asocial or antisocial. I’ve simply discovered divine consistency and the lack of social hysteria.

” The further out you go the longer you stay, until there comes a time when you discover there’s very little reason to return.”

Having had this blog for over 2 years I decided to beat the odds and keep it. So rather than cluttering up the blogosphere and make some poor distant WordPress server a slave to abandoned words, I just changed themes and established my own domain “eremitemike.com” with WordPress.

I did experiment with a new blog “Pendipper” using Blogger (never again, Google has gotten so paranoid about security bless their hearts, that 80% of the time I couldn’t log in or was told that the blog didn’t exist). I also tried Tumblr and Posterous, which are great blogging platforms, but WordPress is like a new pair of shoes that you’ve finally broken in and have become comfortable with. It’s also, and I trust it will continue to be, one of the best blogging platforms with a great staff that’s committed to facilitating the delicate art of blogging. I also broke down and got a macBook rather than using my Android so mobile blogging isn’t that important.

I’m currently using “MarsEdit” for my posts and I must say that so far it’s a blast. My internet signal has always been spotty so being able to work off line is a definite plus. Sometimes creating a post takes me quite a while and doing it online has at times made me feel like the guy in front of you at Burger King that can’t make up his mind, when your on a time limited lunch break.

This is what happened to me on one of my monthly supply runs into the city while shopping at the closest Walmart some 75 miles away.

I met a lady and the relationship became a delightful 15 month distraction.

We had a lot in common and she was an avid wilderness visitor but a reluctant resident after about five months immersed in the rigors of rural living. I certainly don’t find fault in this as there are times I’m a reluctant resident! Particularly on those occasions when a pack rat decides to establish a cozy residence in the engine compartment of my Jeep. Which always requires the chewing away of wiring that inhibits their under hood mobility.

So we parted good friends and she’s back in the city within walking distance from the civilized necessities. I was cordially invited to join her but declined. When you’ve spent the last 14 years listening to the whispers of nature it permeates the soul and becomes your muse, the lover that’s never to be abandon because ti’s a gift from the Gods.

But it was a joy to discover that I could still fall in love, even though it was a brief moment in time.

Wilderness living is a harder life than city living, but the living of it is easier.

I’m considering a new blog with
a broader subject mattter and one that is android accessible.

I’ll keep you posted, so to speak. This post is a test of ‘WordPress mobile’.

I’m including a photo of my new ‘wilderness laundry room’.