"I Looked Back to See if You Looked Back! The Oscillating Dichotomy of Yin and Yang. The Serpentine Roller Coaster

You can feel life tremble and pulsate!

You can feel it Quiver with Delight -- the Delight of Just being Alive.

From some Power Station in the Sky,

The urge to Manifest crackles with high voltage.

Stand next to a massive Black Angus bull, and

Life itself will push at you with Quiet Magnificence.

A 5 Year Old who has no time for Pausing is

Building up procreative current for Tomorrow.

And little round balls of Puppy Life bounce

In the Ageless eyes of their St. Bernard Mother.

Life is a Serpentine Roller Coaster

Undulating through Time; Roaring and Seeing,

And Manifesting and continually Manifesting again!

Oh how it loves to Watch Itself----

Watch Itself in all of its Returning Forms.

"I looked back, to see if you looked back"

Is more than a lyric in a song.

Yes, indeed, life is awesome in its Diagram of Change!

Up and down, backwards and forwards, undulating and waving in its constant movement from one state to another.

Together yin and yang are the ancient symbols that manifests what we call REALITY.

"From the Creative (Yang) and the Receptive (Yin) emerge the Ten Thousand Things." The I Ching Workbook; R.L. Wing; Page 13.

Yes, life seems to be everywhere, but we are looking for bacteria in sunless ice caves, comets, meteorites. It seems no matter where we are on this planet, near it-- (Mars even)--- in the darkest "unsunniest" depths of the oceanic world scientists are observing species they could not imagine before deep diving technology.

The Tiniest Leech in a Rain forest in Borneo Proves that a Mysterious "Unicorn" like rare "Goat" could actually be living there, in a jungle that was just discovered in 2009. WHY? Because that tiny leech, about two inches high, planted on green moss could not even be there unless there were mammals present for them upon which to feed.

If you want to feel less "disenfranchised", less alienated, less isolated, less abandoned and less "frazzled" --- look through the ever changing oscillating dichotomy of the world, yes your world, and absorb the happiness of toddlers, the pure movement of kids playing in a park, the sweetness of couples holding hands in a restaurant and the reflecting memories in the eyes of an old couple who have been together for decades, and yes puppies romping, pit bulls prancing and sparrows chirping just above your eyes on a telephone wire. There's something to be said for plain ordinary life, sparkling away. But sometimes the plain and the ordinary are exactly where the magic of Proverbs can be found.

"Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth."

In 1964, I was a teenager. Our family had just moved to up state New York. Past Woodstock (to be made famous later). Saugerties, Peekskill and there was the larger Schenectady (the spelling and pronunciation were a challenge). My Dad drove a white 1960 Ford, the kind with jet-like tail fins. We weren't far from home,but it was pretty green and overgrown as we got used to a new setting.

We had just left Newark. It was at that time, largely Italian, so I would naturally fall in love with Frankie Valley and the 4 Seasons and also lots of Motown tunes. This new area was almost "countrified". I had just been up to the top of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, so when my Dad referred to the "Catskills", I still had much to learn.

Then we drove by a Fair. It was not a Circus. But it had a crowd on a sunny day. "Look Dad, there's a Help Wanted sign!" We had been talking about having some spending money, so we agreed he could pick me up in the evening after I got off the school bus. It was convenient in this way, not that far from our new (old) home.

He waited in the car as I enjoyed the tents and the clowns and other people in makeup and looking at the girls. As I got directed to a "big ole tent" down near the outdoor toilets, a crusty older man in his sixties with an easy manner, grinned really big. He had a long nose, and his voice went through it.

"OK, I can size people up pretty good. You got a nice respectful way about "chya". You sure you can work with metal and plastic and paint and hammers and screw drivers?"

I been helping build my Dad's sets backstage since I was about 10. I can't tell by lookin' at all that junk exactly what its gonna look like at the end. Your money sounds good, but I want paid every Friday. Can I think this over?"

"Sure you can think it over, but I gotta tell you somethin'. It's an old saying, but I bet you'll understand." He turned a way like he was going to deliver a curve ball.

"What is it?" I was getting ready to turn on my heels.

"Don't look a Gift Horse in the Mouth."

I gathered my thoughts. The "gift horse" part of it is that I am supposed to be happy about this whole thing...like its a really good deal...but if it has a few cavities...like the junkiness of all this, I should be happy and take it and show up with a smile on my face."

"Yeah. Well put. Kind of snotty, but well put."

I thought he liked me.

"Can you paint?"

"I have been painting sets, lots of them. But I never got paid. I was the son of the Director."

"Well see this "Gift Horse" is much better than your "Rented Donkey!" Tell ya what I really need this big old banner to hang up soon. If you paint this big old banner REAL GOOD by the end of this week, I will pay you $25.00. Then you can decide if you want to take the job for real."

He pulled out the banner and smoothed it out it out on the ground. "Can you read it? Hasn't been repainted for 5 years. You use deep red paint. I've got all the supplies you need."

I squinted and scuffed my feet, fraught with indecision outwardly. I was actually happy. "Whats it say?"

"THE SERPENTINE ROLLER COASTER". MAY BE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SERPENTINE MEANS."

"I got it."