Memories Of 2023 Quotes

In Faceless Time by Stewart Stafford Her stare burned into me, In full view, a naked look, Hubbub quietened down, Inaudible to the two of us. Beckoning, a ripened vine, Ingénue cameo of her face, I, a happy gatecrasher to life, Tiptoed in the requited chase. Her looks carry with me now, Resplendent in aged raiment, Ages after my gaze fell on her, A souvenir sheltered radiant. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.

But in the blink of an eye, all of that had been sullied with a dirty, mercenary touch. All those memories and feelings reduced to nothing but dollar signs.

Samaritan's Path by Stewart Stafford On a solo trek on a dusty road, A volunteer picked up my load, Heavy things of weight and idea, Hoisted aloft, a relaxing panacea. We ran the clock down without ennui, With songs, jokes, and inflated history, Scenery and animals to comment upon, Stones kicked as the sun still shone. In dusk's bowing light, a reticent parting, A trip over, happy memories restarting, With a last handshake, wave, and smile, We headed for home on the closing mile. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.

While investors and managers must place their feet in the future, their memories and nervous systems often remain plugged into the past. 

I started to see a serious decline in health in high altitude professional astronomy. Most noticeable was the onset of constant fatigue, memory issues and confusion. The condition progressed during my time in the commercial and utility solar industry where I started falling asleep at work and developed hot skin. The doctors tested me and said I had shift work disorder in 2008 and vitamin D and Vitamin B12 deficiencies in 2011. In 2015 I had a COVID-19 like sickness that made everyone in the family really sick. I never recovered and this started regular visits to the doctors. They diagnosed severe sleep apnea and mental illness and prescribed a CPAP machine. Under the care of the doctors I became much sicker on their prescription drugs and treatments. I eventually got smart and figured out I was not going to recover under their care and they may actually kill me! In 2021, moving to Hawaii island revealed that I had ‘Altitude Hypersensitivity’ and a high altitude commuting disease called ‘Magee’s Disease’. By the end of 2023 I had developed the treatments for these conditions and made a reasonable recovery. There is no cure for either condition. They are life-long illnesses. I now have to live well below 1,000 feet near sea level and take the treatments for the rest of my life. I documented the conditions in the books ‘Toxic Altitude’ and ‘Magee’s Disease’. The treatments for the hypoxic high altitude damage appeared transferable into COVID-19 and Long COVID and these are documented in the books “COVID Supplements” and ‘Long COVID Supplements’.

Dr. Ece Ozen, a graduate of Mustafa Kemal University, completed rotations at MD Anderson and Memorial Sloan Kettering. She finished her internal medicine residency at Ascension Saint Joseph Hospital in 2023 and became board-certified. With a passion for pulmonary care and extensive COVID-19 research, she enjoys traveling and volunteering, inspired by her father's ALS battle.

Neural changes are not the cause of your memories, thoughts, and personality, they result from them. Changes in neural structure correspond to changes in behavior, but this is not thought. Classical conditioning is conjectured to explain memory, but it is only a small part of it. This is important: neural connections do not make thoughts they support thoughts.

Sounds" Few are the sounds that deepen and enrich silence .. There are sounds without which silence remains incomplete, like a ticking clock or the sudden sound of a cycling fridge… The chirping roaches and cicadas, or croaking frogs… Then there are those sounds that make existence more alienating and unbearable, like the scuffle of a big insect against a window or a door as if committing suicide! Or a creaking rusty door we close behind a departing loved one, knowing deep inside that they won’t return and nothing would be the same after closing that door.. The whistling sound of a kettle declaring that peace and tranquility are illusions that never last… There are also those sounds that summarize the traumas of the past from which hearers never recover, like the screams and cries of the woman next door when beaten by her husband… The coughing, spitting, and heavy breathing of an elderly woman we visited in our childhood… And can we ever forget the sounding sirens of the ships and trains declaring that departure is inevitable? [Original poem published in Arabic on September 15, 2023 at ahewar.org]

The Path We Must Walk by Stewart Stafford From dust, we are conjured, And, to black hole dust, return, Greater than parts that made us, From first breath to a cremation urn. O rake the ashen cinders over, With smiling teardrops past, A speck of dust, every echo, In an inner eye, fading fast. The cheerful moon, light in darkness, A hint of blazing celestial glory, Thawing all terrestrial tension, Life's character, a remembrance story. From fleshly body to a child of light, Weather kissing an empty grave, Wilting flowers nod to obsolescence, Sentiment, memory, unharmed to save. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.

Cosmic Voyager by Stewart Stafford I was the new Ulysses, Petals on a tide of darkness, Cast to bloom among the stars, Wilted, off the world's edge. Lieutenant General Tommy P., Name, rank and serial oblivion, My wife and hurricanes called me, Memories of love kept me going. I found myself fading adrift, Dying far beyond the reach, Of human hands and hearts, In withering away, I found all. They threw flags of all nations, To reel in a drowning person; One last breath for man, One lungful of air for Mankind. Falling from a height too high, Never landing when I should, Tumbling endlessly beyond nausea, To an ethereally crowded firmament. As water swirls down a plughole, I touched the edges of existence, And found the meaning of life, In silent rocks of an alien planet. In the speckled starling womb profound, Self-love filled the void around. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.

The Reaping by Stewart Stafford Paint a nostalgic landscape today, A harvest gifted once in this way, Stranger's yields come to pass, Only that season's memory lasts. A fallow field to revisit in time, Golden reaping of a private mind, As gleaners, newcomers gather, Reminiscence thickens to slather. As the body grows old like the land, With crop circles on backs of hands, In solstice, your seed does replenish, Past where scars of life can blemish. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.

On my first night back in the desert I dreamed that in the future, scientists carbon dated my memories and determined the last six years of my life never existed. It was glorious. A total lie, but glorious.

Omega Elegeia by Stewart Stafford This master of words hath no more, The hand that penned them stilled, What you read is an epitaph, The remnant body of work willed. Honour and cherish this legacy, As his flesh and bone are dust, His poetic flame snuffed hither, His spirit flown, in that, we trust. His face was familiar to many, But known to a precious few, Now 'tis hidden forevermore, Covertly in plain sight, anew. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.

Intimate Diplomacy by Stewart Stafford Love comes as drought and flood, Lost and found since primal mud, Lifelong search for a vacant shape, A vision strange from toe to nape. Love can and does self-mutate; Irresistible, immovable to immolate, Intangible, yet taken to the grave, A survivor's firestorm for the brave. Fireside dote, in loving memory, A dusty portrait in life's treasury, Unknown sought, dear friend missed, An inner smile that fortune kissed. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.

As the year draws to a close, a sense of anticipation mingles with reflection. We stand at the threshold of a new chapter, ready to bid farewell to the familiar & embrace the unknown. In this transitional month, it’s essential to cultivate a healthy, energized & determined attitude, setting the stage for a remarkable finish to 2023 & a vibrant beginning to 2024. Darling listen – I want you to use this new month to do & say all the things that you’ve been putting off. The perfect time to say & do those things that matters is now. I also wish & hope that instead of focusing on what you haven’t achieved, you focus on the milestones you’ve crossed, the growth you’ve experienced & the resilience you’ve demonstrated. Let you celebrate your victories (both big and small) & carry the lessons of your setbacks into the new year. Sweetheart, December, a month of festivities, of togetherness, celebrations, of spreading cheers & goodwill, is the perfect time to cherish all the moments spent with loved ones, the memories created & the lessons learned. Let this month bring you the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for & a pie so big that you’ll need a truck to carry it home… Cheers to a season of success & sweet treats!