Locked out.

It is beautiful and wonderful in Northern California.
The weather is fabulous: warm sunshine and crystal clear light.
The nights cool off sufficiently to sleep deeply and peacefully hearing the sound of the river flowing nearby.
The sound of the river whispering confidentially words of wisdom while the almost full moon tells finally the secret words to reveal the eternal and ethereal existence.

The new day presents itself with the dawning of light but the body obviously reluctantly objects and refuses and wants to continue the deep enjoyments of good and deep sleep craved for every night.

It is peaceful here.
The large pine trees encircle as a protection against the evils of the real world.
A group of deer may shyly show up while Wal*Mart is fortunately far away.


In between the trees of the estate of friend Tim the Datastorm is unable to find Satmex 5 in the sky for Internet connection.
A visit was made to the small town of Quincy because the public library there has four computers available for Internet access and has WIFI free of charge.

Sometimes postings of this blog get on line in surprising ways.

A woman was met in a parking lot of the local theatre of Quincy coincidentally run by friend Tim’s brother.
She was next to her Chrysler Sebring convertible car and having two problems.
She was parked in an illegal place and had a big ticket on her car window.
But more annoying was that her keys were inside the locked car.

Friend Tim was in discussion with his brother.
Having to wait the obvious thing to do was to participate in the scene of a person making efforts to open her car.
The woman used a thick metal wire to try to reach inside the knob releasing the lock.
She didn’t have much luck.
The car, being a convertible, offered a simple solution: cut open the fabric of the roof with a knife and open the door.
This suggestion was made to the woman.
She said she had thought about that but had come to realize that her insurance company would not pay for a new roof.

While watching her unsuccessfully fiddle with the metal wire this tendency could be noticed to want to take over.
It is true that in the past, on numerous occasions, locked cars have been opened using a metal wire.
And it was obvious that the way she was trying to open her car was not going to be successful.
But somehow today, it was decided not to interfere.
Not to tell the woman to hand over the metal wire and make her a bystander.

In relationships that are balanced nothing should be enforced.
No paternalism, no maternalism.
Imposing is taboo.
If the woman wants to give up and ask somebody else for assistance, she can make that choice.
If she wants to continue to try while someone has arrived, that is a choice as well.
That needs to be respected.

All those thoughts flashed through the mind while watching the efforts of the woman.

While chatting with her suddenly she said:
“You are the first man I meet who just let me do my thing.
Who is not trying to take over.”
The confession was made that exactly this had been the subject of the very recent thoughts.
And that the non-interference had been a deliberate choice.

She explained she was an aviation engineer.
Highly educated.
In technical matters.
Not waiting for male species to tell her how to unlock her car.

Half an hour later in Tim’s Toyota 4Runner the return trip to his estate.
Seeing the woman still trying to open her car.

On her Chrysler Sebring convertible a sticker had been spotted saying:
Ministry of Defence.