Keep it simple. Easy does it. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

If my life is an hourglass, how is the sand flowing? Am I busy as a beaver? Can you really teach an old dog new tricks? Is it all in the eye of the beholder? Well done, good and faithful servant.

Live in the moment. Hang loose. Cool it. 'Cast all your anxieties on Him, for he cares for you.' I Peter 5 vs. 7.

'From the rising of the sun to the setting of the same, the name of the LORD is to be praised.' Psalms.

'God loves a cheerful giver'. The Bible.

'He leadeth me beside still water, He restoreth my soul.' Psalm 23.

Take it easy. Take it slow. 'Slow down, you move too fast. You've got to make the morning last.' Simon and Garfunkel, 'Feeling Groovy'

'The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind' song from the sixties. A dog is man's best friend.

He who dies with the most toys wins. Wish upon a falling star. Save it for a rainy day. 'These are a few of my favorite things' Mary Poppins sings, or, 'The hills are alive with the sound of music,' a phrase, a song, a bumper sticker, a Bible verse, a slogan, are packages for the brain. These word pictures assist with remembering advice or making wise decisions.

'A mind is a terrible thing to waste.' 'A penny saved is a penny earned.' 'Every cloud has a silver lining.' 'Red sky at night, sailor's delight.' 'Don't cry over spilt milk.'

"Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.' The internet has affirmed icons as a way to condense things. I associate Dairy Queen with red, Burger King with orange, National Geographic with a certain color yellow border, John Deere a distinct color green with a deer jumping.

Dive right in, the water is fine. No news is good news. We are all being taught, or trained to identify products, services, places, from the big eye for CBS to the multicolored peacock at NBC. I identify the Colonel with KFC with Kentucky Fried Chicken, and now Kentucky Grilled Chicken. I see a yellow colored star thingy in the lower right hand of a Wal-Mart commercial and I know. I see the orange red chef's hat over the head and 'I'm thinking Arby's.

A McDonald's arch is old news, that yellow beacon along the freeway. I am also trained by the freeway's green signs, mileage markers, exit signs, speed signs that identify me as a participant. Brown signs are for historical places or destinations.

I survive by knowing how to interpret these signs. The logo of the US Postal Service, an eagle helps me with communicating. Every gas station has its identification. Yellow warning signs tell me to be careful. Orange cones in a row shout 'slow down' or narrow lane. Then there is the red warning light that comes on the dash when the brake fluid is low. The yellow light that warns the gas is very low or that I should shift gears.

I observe the price of gasoline signs, whether they are lights formed into numbers or painted metal. I have been trained for all types of railroad crossings, and know that a red diamond with 1203 inside means gasoline in the tanker. There is Ski Doo yellow and Red Lobster red.

The Bible says 'do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.' It is enough to be aware of these techniques or tools.Every grocery store is packed with colors and shapes and sizes which we have learned. I look for Mountain Dew green. I know Junior Mint white. I stand at attention with my hand on my heart and cap off facing the American flag. I see an apple with a bite out of it and think Macintosh. I see a castle with fireworks and know Disney. I see twin towers and think 9/11.

If UPS is brown, then a Red Maple Leaf must be Canada. If a purple helmet with yellow horns is a Viking, then bleeding Green and Gold might be Packers. If a maroon and gold Gopher means Minnesota's university, then being a Buckeye might imply scarlet and silver. Even the shades must be right, as I am sure anyone involved in identification will correct me. It is almost as important as hearing the original song you heard on the radio in the sixties or seventies and how wrong it feels to hear a song performed by another group.

So if you are from the Big Apple or the Windy City, LaLa land or the City by the Bay, your image is secure. Being from the land of 10,000 lakes; the Star of the North, with humor care of Red Green I rest my case.

I adapt to FACEBOOK blue and Google red. Public television tells me to 'BE MORE.' Verizon warns me about 'dead zones.' Target has a million images of a red circle (bright red) inside another circle. I know what Coca Cola looks like and tastes and how it sounds. Denver is the mile high city. If I go to Ohio, I go to the heart of it all.

Anyone who has ever lived outside the United States, or is currently living outside of the USA, might recognize these logos, and have some of your own. My point is that society helps us, trains us, teaches us in ways that are very obvious, and also in ways which might be hard to identify. That's all.

Okay, apples and oranges.  What is the relationship between black and white images and all the stuff about today's cultural images?

A woman of courage. A woman of faith. A woman of action.