Weekend Coffee Share, Defining Intelligence

November 5, 2016 — #weekendcoffeeshare, American election, bike cops, city of Tucson, Cyclovia, information, intelligence

Cyclovia

bike cops

If we were having coffee I would tell you all how happy I am to be able to visit with all my invisible friends around this coffee table and around the world each weekend.  Sharing a few details of our personal lives shifts the attention away from politics and impending doom.  Please select a tea of your choice from the wide selection of white, green, herbal and roiboos.  I am drinking white strawberry tea on ice because I had plenty of coffee earlier.  Help yourself to a cup of medium roast coffee, or some hot spiced apple cider. Apples and nuts are here for our snacking pleasure.  Make yourself at home and tell me how your week has gone. Did you have an eventful Halloween?

Here, the Halloween decorations are down and the cover has been removed from the wood stove.  I have removed curtains for the winter to let in extra light during the day.  I found some solar lights on super discount at Amazon and responded by ordering three new strings to go with the purple ones I had in the front yard for Halloween.  Now my front and back yards are all a twinkle when the sun goes down so early.  This somehow makes me very happy even though we may be hurdling toward the end of days of our political system.  I can count on the solar energy to delight me with twinkling even if our electrical grid is attacked by hackers.  I am easily amused, and that is a damn good thing.  I am making the most of the comedy available in the political situation. The agony and the ecstasy of this time is unprecedented because there is plenty of information, but intelligence is hard to discern.

Intelligence has two distinct meanings as a noun.  It means the ability to acquire skills and knowledge, as in one’s native intelligence.  Intelligence is also used to refer to the collection of information of a political or military nature.  We have a federal bureau to handle the collection of domestic intelligence.  It is called the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  We have WikiLeaks for leaking evidence to the public.  We have political parties to dig up dish on the opponents and scorch the earth.  There is no time remaining before the election to sort out fact from fiction.  The assault of too much information does not result in intelligence.  It simply overflows the available space with claims and contentions.  It may be the antithesis of intelligence.

I voted as soon as my ballot arrived, so my focus has been on enjoying my community and friends to the max right now.  I ran into an old friend last Sunday at our community bicycle event, Cyclovia. We had a great time biking around to the different venues.  Her mom lives along the route, so we stopped to visit there as well.  We went to the display and blind water tasting at Watershed Management Group, right near her mom’s home. We scored free tickets to a cocktails and cuisine event inspired by rainwater.  We each get a free rainwater cocktail on Nov. 29.  I look forward to that unique party.  I think my friend’s mom may become a volunteer there too.  It was a fun and educational exhibit.  We biked on and ran into some bike cops who restored some of my faith in authority.  They were joking around and having fun with the crowd.  This is the kind of community event that unites all ages and walks of life to have a good time meeting each other.  If you ask me, that is intelligent.  We could use some bigger doses of this kind of intelligence.

Good luck to all coffee sharers surviving this next week.  I look forward to hearing what is happening where you live.  Check in with Diana to keep up with the coffeeesharing.  Join us by writing a post, or just leaving your 2 cents. What is up with you, gentle reader?

model of watershed

my decorated bike

free rainwater on tap tickets