Life On A B-I7

by Chloe Dalton

This is Dalton’s first book. It is exceptional. Brilliantly researched on a subject that gets little attention. The story was captivating, heart warming, and emotionally up lifting. Dalton works for the state department in the U.K. She writes a lot in her professional life but this is a remarkable work considering it is outside her normal sphere of expertise.

Two of my favorite passages. I will let the author speak for herself:

I was moved by the leveret’s dignity, the sense of well-being and calm it spread, and the simplicity of its life. The life of a hare at ease is one of basking, rolling, resting, drowsing and dreaming, and living in the moment. A hare leaves behind it nothing more than a patch of flattened grass, little larger than a human footprint, soon lifted by the wind and erased altogether.

And, in stunningly beautiful prose, and with beautiful sentiment behind it:

The atmosphere of calm suffused by her throughout the house lingers even when she is gone. I hope always to be able to summon it at will, along with the memory of the light and trusting touch of her paws in the palm of my hand, and her steady, unfathomable gaze. And when one day I can no longer see her, I will watch the hares in the field knowing that her being is woven into theirs, and that I have only to look up at night to see her symbol etched in the stars.

I tell myself not to count the years ahead in which she might never again come, but rather cherish the days she has given me of her own free will, when she lowered her species instinctive guard against humans, and shared the beauty and mystery of her presence in silent and graceful companionship. I will remember her leaving, but will know that before she did, she always, first, looked back.

Dalton shows us the complexity and beauty that is all around us in nature, we only need to open our eyes and view with care and openness.

Fascinating isn’t it? My only question is how did Trump resist the temptation to replace the word “Let’s” with the word “I’ll.” He probably thought of it and realized he would get more followers by not revealing his true self.

Leisure is fine, but it should not take the place of study. When you take time for leisure, and you should, keep in mind that you can still be learning. Bring along a good book and take the opportunity during down moments to read. We should always have in the back of our mind a purpose for everything we do. We should always be striving to grow. That is the definition of an exciting life.

What does it mean for our country to be engage in an irrational and likely illegal war, while at the same time we are witnessing an historic human event, the circumnavigation of Earth’s moon by humans for the first time in our species history.

I’m baffled to explain the coincidence that these events evoke.

My hope, as naive as it may be, is that somehow, someway, the peoples of our planet will take from the latter. the desire to come together and cooperate with one another, rather than continue to insist that conflict is the only way to resolve differences.

If, as a species, we were to truly work together, the natural result of our capabilities as is truly limitless.

That is my hope.

Do not be a slave. You may not wear chains placed on you by another man, but it is possible you are still enslaved. This is a question that you must ask yourself. Are you a slave to money, power, lust, other peoples’ approval? There are many ways to enslave ourselves. All have the same end result — they take away our freedom. The answer, do not desire anything that is in someone else’s power to control if you want to be truly free.

What is a “blog?”

Starting a blog involves selecting a niche, choosing a platform (like WordPress or Squarespace), purchasing a hosting service and a domain name, and creating consistent, high-quality content.

That is one commonly accepted definition.

I find all of that humorous. “What is a blog” is different for everyone that has a blog. A couple of things (ten to be exact) should be noted there.

1. I’m not curating an audience, because frankly, there is no one interested in reading my writing. Even the people that are closest to me, the people that I love the most, don’t read this. So what? The jury is out on all of this, and that’s okay. (I’ve been informed I’m wrong about this by some of those I am referring to — for those that informed me thus, I made it very clear they are under no obligation to read this…)

2. I do this because I love doing this. Good for me. Maybe you like woodworking or fiddling with cars, good for you. We do what we have to do.

3. Maybe someday this will be of value? I doubt it, but you never know.

4. The notion that “high quality” content is intrinsic to blogging is a bit over the top. Look at any number of websites that damand your attention and subscription and if they are examined closely, reveal that “high quality” is not really a prerequisite.

5. My explanation in reason number four above _coincidentally_lsts me off the hook…

6. “Blogging” is helping me improve my language skills. Good for me.

7. “Blogging” is helping me see myself better as a person and as a member of the human race, Also, good for me.

8. After a career of working in the technology sector, blogging allows me to feel like I am still engaged in that arena. (That is also a bit of a stretch.)

9. It gives me a reason to write, which is the _real_benefit of all this. It helps me. if it helps you then we both win. But keep in mind, I don’t care about you…

10} I said in the title “Ten reasons why I blog,” I don’t have ten, so you’ll have to be satisfied with nine.

Note: My hosting service is Micro.bog, they are awesome. My domain name is Live On A B-17 (dot) me, because cycling is my deal, and skiing, and the occasional pickleball round robin.

Donald Trump is a modern day Nero. So many people that have done Trump’s bidding have been cast aside. These people should have been prepared for their fate. The signs were everywhere. Instead it seems they were surprised.

Seneca was tossed aside by Nero. Seneca was well respected, Nero was a tyrant. When Seneca’s friends heard the news that Seneca had been sentenced to death by suicide, they lamented the fact. Seneca’s reply, “where is your philosophy?” You should be prepared for any turn of fate. We may not be happy to be led by men like Trump and Nero, that makes the necessity to be prepared all the more important. Fate does not spare anyone.

I would live in a School Bus.

To be a bit more specific, I would live in a School Bus converted into an overland vehicle with a ton of solar on the roof.

Imagine the freedom that would provide. Of course gas prices are now a consideration. Even if gas is not affordable, you still have a pretty damn nice living set-up.

I’d paint it grey-green, or maybe tan, like my Tacoma…

Preparation for life means proper training. Training the mind to perform properly is of the utmost importance. Training the mind to not get angry, training the mind to avoid gossip, training the mind on all good habits is essential to being prepared.

What is the best thing a book can do for you? It can inspire you to take action. After reading “The Correspondent,” I decided to write a weekly letter to my children. It feels good. I am not only giving them the gift of myself, I am gaining a clearer understanding of myself… It’s also fun.

Nothing is free. We will face situations where we are outmatched by the adversity we are facing. Preparation is our best practice in defense of adveristy. When facing adversity, how we respond will define us. Is our approach to the confrontation allowing us to learn and get stronger or have we submitted to failure without a struggle?

General Douglas MacArthur once said, and these words are engraved on a wall at the West Point Gymnasium:

Most verbs are action words. Verbs can also indicate mental actions.

Every sentence needs a verb, to be a sentence.

There are also linking verbs. The most common linking verbs are is, am, are, will be, was, has been, have been, and so on. Tip: Usually if you can substitute a form of the words to be, and the sentence still makes sense, you have a linking verb. (A linking verb can also be an action verb, depending on context.)

The tense of a verb tells you when the action took place. Verbs are the only parts of speech with tense. These are the tenses: present, past, further, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect. The helping verbs specify the tenses. Helping verbs are words like will, have, and have beeen.

This is all very opaque as far as I’m concerned, just remember this. You can tell if a word is a verb by putting the word to in front of it. Here are some examples, to jump, to think, to be, to study, to allow.

Good luck, Grammar is like computer programming… there are a LOT of rules to follow!

Part of life is constantly being caught off guard. It will happen more often than we want it to. Plans are only as good as their assumptions. When you are caught off guard, the best you can do, and your highest priority, is to calmly find your way back to your goal as quickly as you can.

The President of The United States is insane. I hope all the other leaders in the world are more stable than he is. That’s all we can hope for at this point.

Life is to be wrestled with. Adversity and the unexpected require that you be ready to grapple with circumstances at any time. I the best of circumstances, life is like dancing, when circumstances become complex and work against you, life becomes like a wrestling match. Be a good dancer, but also learn some good wrestling holds.

Good leaders are like medicine. They heal, strengthen, and lift all those that rely on them. Bad leaders are like poison; they weaken those around them leading everyone to failure. Surround yourself with (choose) good leaders. Don’t just listen to their words, study their actions and their history.

Stoic Thoughts

It would not surprise me if people thought my project to write a stoic thought every day was a waste of time. Maybe on a good day people think it odd at best. I would not fault anyone for thinking either of those things. That makes it a good thing that no one reads this blog. Let me explain a bit more (to myself).

I am well aware that the words I read, and the words my posts are based upon, are not mine alone. In fact, they represent wisdom that has been around for a long time. What is unique here (I hope) is the shape I put the words into when I try and convey the ideas they represent. This I do primarily for myself. I plan to make this a years long effort by coming back to these entries and looking at them periodically. My hope in doing that is I will eventually incorporate these ideas into something resembling practice.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 182

If you set your mind to a task and you always follow through, that is commendable. If you always follow through, even when the task becomes irrelevant, this behavior becomes a liability. Always look at your tasks in the light of changing conditions, because conditions change. Some tasks are not meant to be completed. They may have been good ideas when they were conceived, but now they are no longer good ideas due to a change in conditions. Complete tasks whenever you can, but don’t be captive to them.

I Bit the Bullet

Lots of people are talking about Anthropic Claude. I decided to give it a try. I told Claude (it’s difficult for me to call an AI by a human name) a little bit about myself and asked it to build me an FAQ Page for my Blog. I like the initial replay Claude gave me:

I’m glad Claude thinks so, I’m a bit skeptical. I’m not certain that everyone stumbling into this site would agree… But I’m not accepting opinions at this time…

I’m not going to bore you with the FAQ Page that Claude generated. It’s actually quite good. A couple of the sentences provided are probably better written than what I would have come up with.

Claude provided the following to describe my journal entries when I’m bicycle touring:

On the subject of philosophy, Claude answered the question “are you a practitioner or a reader” this way:

This one actually strikes me as pretty good. This is Claude answering the question “why I write.”

There you have it. That’s what Claude thinks about me. Who am I to disagree…

Just for fun, I asked Gemini what Claude meant by “rich and genuine creative life.” This is what Gemini told me:

For goodness sake! I’m really something!

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 181

Nothing is unending, you simply need to be gracious and work through it.

“Nature is merciful, and does not try her children, man or beast, beyond their compass. It is only when the cruelty of man intervenes that hellish torments appear. For the rest — live dangerously; take things as they come; dread naught, all will be well.” Winston Churchill spoke those words prior to WWII.

This attitude no doubt played a role in leading Churchill through one of the darkest times in modern history. I take encouragement from these words. There is little doubt we are facing our own dark time full of trials. Remembering these words is consoling.

Shiva

I don’t pray to this statue of Shiva but I have great respect for what Shiva stands for. I keep this statue on my desk and will often meditate on the attributes that Shiva represents. I bought this when I was in India in late 2025. I didn’t fully understand the significance when I purchased it. After living with it for a while, I have come to appreciate all that this deity represents. There is no supreme god in Hinduism, but Shiva is worshipped as a supreme being in Shaivism. It is the attributes of Shiva that I find fascinating. Many of them are worth incorporating into my own life. (As far as humanly possible.)

Trident The Trident that Shiva is holding represents Shiva’s control over creation, preservation and destruction. The Trident also represents the three qunas: Past, present and future. Meditation on these is grounding.

Serpent The Serpent represents power over ego and desire. It also represents control over the primal forces of nature. While my control over natures forces is limited, I certainly can benefit from meditating about the role of ego and desire in my life.

Legs Crossed The meditative position, legs crossed, represents deep concentration, spiritual discipline, and transcendence of all things. Contemplating these in meditation brings one onto solid ground.

Third Eye The third eye (not clearly visible in this statue represents wisdom and insight. Looking for wisdom and insight is something we all should spend time doing whenever possible.

Ornaments The Ornaments represent the divine status of Shiva and the cosmic energy that Shiva possesses. The blue color represents Shiva’s ability to swallow poison, the ability to save the Universe, Shiva as protector of the Universe. Meditating with a desire to obtain these attributes is not the point. Meditating to look for ways to protect the Universe, that portion that we have within our control, is the point.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 180

Does someone hate you? Let’s hope not. If you find yourself in those shoes, it is better to respond with kindness than it is to respond in kind. If there is a chance to influence the hater, take it. If that is not an option, then accept that person as they are — never hate in return.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 179

It’s better to persevere than it is to get lucky. Anyone can get lucky. The truly great person achieves success through hard work, by prevailing over adversity and disappointment. It is also better to admire the hard working over those that achieved success via luck or unearned inheritance. There is a saying, “God favors fools.” That may be true, but who wants to be admired as a fool?

Change

There are two types of people in the world, those who look forward and those who look backward. Forward to a brighter future, backward to a past that was better than today.

I realize this is an oversimplification, but when you think about it, we are living in a time when the exceptions are few. This is the very nature of the polarized social climate that we live in today.

If you happen to be in the latter group, that’s fine, but indulge me for a moment if you will to consider how we got where we are today… We did not arrive here because of leadership that wanted to take us to an earlier time, we arrived where we are today because of leadership that looked forward to a brighter future. Can you honestly say that life in the 16th century, 15th century, 100 A.D., was better than it is today? I you consider that honestly, I think you have to conclude that looking forward is the very nature of man, and it is the capacity that allows us to evolve. It is to be pedantic, our future.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 178

If you have a philosophy that you choose to live by (Stoicism is one of many to choose from) that’s a good thing, but beware the temptation to think you understand that philosophy before you have had time to put it into daily practice. Just because you agree with a philosophy or feel attracted to it doesn’t mean you have a true understanding. Understanding only comes with time, learning, and practice. Beware the temptation to sound smart before you actually are.