The City Mouse in the Country

       I am, first and foremost, a hedonist.  That just means that I want to do what brings me the most pleasure - both physically and mentally - without causing myself pain.  Hedonism gets a bad rap in the modern world because most people think it's all about bodily pleasures without regard to someone's else's feelings.        The truth is that Hedonism is all about moderation.  You can enjoy the "chocolate icing", like Hedonism Bot does, a few times but after awhile it no longer has the same effect.        The ancient Greek thinker Epicurus gave rise to the Hedonism that I follow.  He believed, to quote the Wikipedia entry about him,.that: " For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to help people attain a happy, tranquil life characterized by ataraxia (peace and freedom from fear) and aponia (the absence of pain). He advocated that people were best able to pursue philosophy by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that the

A few days ago, Autumn struck Western Pennsylvania.  The red maples exploded into the blazes of color that they are known for, other trees started to slowly change and the first leaves started to fall. A few days ago, the woods were alive with the sounds of migrating birds, and I wish I had taken out my phone to record the sounds, I found myself thinking of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds.   Although I never had that sense of foreboding or dread, I just wished that I could have seen them and recorded the moment. It was also a morning where I awoke to fog and the sound of small arms fire, which to be completely honest, I mistook as fireworks.  I'm not sure if they were hunting squirrel, which is in season now, or just shooting to practice, but it was a little odd for me.   Susan just chuckled and told me to wait for deer season in November. I am enjoying some parts of country life, other parts...not so much.  Yesterday morning Susan told me that I didn't seem happy living