Here's another photo from our DC trip. This is a view of George Washington University, which is right next to the Foggy Bottom metro station. If you'd like an even clearer view of what the fence says, look underneath the picture. "Seek truth and pursue it steadily" is what George Washington said in a letter to Edmund Randolph, July 31, 1795. That's certainly good advice.

I began the work day pondering how I would define various truths, but my mind got quickly distracted by machines that were acting up. My sewing machine made a strange grinding sound. I fixed it somewhat when I loosened the screw on a metal plate that was holding it too close to the bobbin winder wheel. The thread tension was bad, bobbins ran out, and I felt myself growing crankier by the minute. I am so overbooked (due to circumstances not under my control) and my machine wasn't being cooperative. I grew crankier. Then in the middle of this grump, the machine fell silent, the radio fell silent and the shop grew dark.

But instead of getting madder, I laughed. It was suddenly ludicrous. And I had an epiphany.

There are a lot of things in life that are just not under our control. Here I am, thinking I am a rather magical person, thinking this means I can control (or could control, if I had proper skill) everything. But it's just not so. There are things outside of our control.

I was amused as I thought of my electricity less situation. I thought of the Egyptian pantheon, and the One with the electrical 'juice'.

God of lightening and storms means God of electricity...

Yet a welcome peacefulness of spirit was with me, that hadn't been there earlier. I thought of that old Serenity prayer, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Well, the only deity that is going to do that is my Higher Self (aka 'Holy Guardian Angel') who is always there within me, to give wisdom if I take the time to listen. That wisdom is what grants the serenity.

I can get so lost in the mundane that sometimes it takes a thunderbolt, or its opposite - a 'power outage', to jolt me into sensible awareness.

An hour later, when cool air began streaming from the AC vents, and music began streaming from the radio and my machine began loudly humming, I felt joyful relief. The rest of the day, even though chaotically busy, went well. What had really changed was my attitude.

Another sort of sensible awareness happened later this day. Or should I say 'cents-able' awareness? Julia and I were at the water machines, filling our water bottles. The machine refused one of our dimes and spat it out on the ground. Julia, alert to such possibility, said the reason for refusal could be the coin was pure silver.

A squinty near sighted look, and yes, it is pure silver (Julia corrected me, 90% silver):

The torch, olive branch, and oak branch symbolize, respectively, liberty, peace, and victory
(Wikipedia has more about the dime)