End of Summer

The pool chairs sit empty as the night begins to fall
Mosquitoes own the prime pool side spots
Darkness falls and silence accompanies it
The children have returned to the classrooms.
Where did it go so quickly?
Why did it have to leave?
The questions remain unanswered by the empty pool chairs.
Waiting for another season
Another time
Alone. Forgotten.
Unused.

Hidden in Plain Sight

The image doesn't really do it justice--but the blue thing in the image is a Blue Hippo Tang hiding in plain sight in Jeremy's salt water aquarium the other night.

The tang was a bit freaked out as I walked over to the tank and it slid onto the bottom under some of the tank plant life and laid there until I left the area.

I did this a couple of times to be sure that I was the stimulus for this action and by about the third time, I was pretty sure it was me.

The other fish occupants of the tank looked on at the antics of the tang in utter disbelief. The clown fish and the yellow tang kept a close eye on me, the outsider, but maintained their ground.

I was, as you might expect, fascinated by the blue hippo tang though. Hiding in plain sight, but feeling safer.

Like the ostrich of the aquarium.

I think is was cute.

But I also felt as if I was seeing myself sometimes when I try to ignore the activities of the world around me. It is as if I am hiding in plain sight. I ignore the world--but the world is still there.

And the only thing that winds up happening is that what I'm ignoring and not dealing with, gets bigger.

I know someone who tried the ignore approach with a traffic ticket. And no--this is no one I'm related to, so everyone, breathe easier.

The ticket did not go away--it only got worse and when the ticket caught up with the person, it was a lot worse and a lot more embarrassing than just going to court and taking care of the problem in the first place. It is no fun to be handcuffed along the side of the highway because of a warrant due to failure to show up in court.

We cannot be successful in life by acting like the hippo tang in the tank.

Stuff will catch up with us and definitely, hiding in plain sight is not going to work.

Deal with it. Earlier is better.

September Dreams

The summer sun sets now too low
Darkness falls so early
My time with summer grows too short
Cool evenings chill my pool
Leaves show signs of falling soon
Yet, mosquitoes swarm my arms
Grapes are ripening on the vine
And change is in the air
If I could slow the seasons change
Halt the sun's migration
I'd remain in light and warmth
It's something that I dream
A dive boat out upon the waves
A daily grind I'm sure
But tanned and warm I'll ever be
And cold not ever more.

Phrase of the Day

During the message in church on Sunday titled, Good Works or Good News? I found the following phrase be very interesting--

"I'm not a bad as I could be,

but I'm not as good as I should be!"

The message into which the phrase was woven was a great discussion of works versus grace and how a good works system of salvation is arbitrary, can never provide absolute assurance, ultimately requires God to approve of evil and condradicts the Bible (see Titus 3:5).

I also found the phrase to be a interesting counterpoint to the Toby Keith country song "As Good as I Once Was" which has the phrase:

"I'm ain't as good as I once was

But I'm as good once as I ever was."

So when the two phrases are joined together I get something like:

I'm not a good as I should be
But I'm as good as I can be!

Which, by the way, is still not good enough!

Monday Musings - August 30, 2010

1. Well, panic is setting in already here in Maryland--talk of a hurricane for the weekend! Ugh. Snow--hurricane this region just gets fixated on weather.

2. Beautiful weekend in the sun and pool. Reminds me why I love summer.

3. I thinks someone needs to feed the mosquitoes a bit better--in the evening they seem to be starved and flock to me for sustenance. If they were better fed--maybe they wouldn't.

4. Jax decided he wanted to mimic his big brother by jumping off the diving board into the deep end of the pool yesterday. Only problem was, he didn't let any of the adults know his plan. Was a bit exciting for a brief time.

5. Today is the first day of school for children in Howard County and many other places in Maryland--and Chris has to face their smiling faces. Take a moment to thank a teacher or education professional that you know. God Bless Them!

6. Gonna be a hot one today--bring it on!

7. Hurricane Katrina--do you remember it? What have we done to help reconstruct? Five years ago destruction was the word along the entire Gulf Coast. Five years later--oil and BP are the word of the day.

Blooms of Summer

As I was arriving at Nicole and Mike's house last evening, I was struck by the beauty of the roses in front of their doorstep.

The flowers varied from full bloom to long past full. Mimicking the story of the summer.

We are still in a full out run enjoying the summer, but so many things have already happened and are just memories.

Yet even with the fragrance of the summer still on our noses, it is sad that there are not a lot of buds left on the bushes.

Not many flowers will bloom on this bush before it sleeps the winter away to bud and flower again next spring.

And so the summer--there are only a few summer events left to enjoy before the autumn winds begin to make it too cold to enjoy the outside.

But those events surely will be fun!

Mosque at Ground Zero?: It Really is Hard--And Different

I have been spending some time lately talking to people about the mosque and Ground Zero in New York City.

It is an explosive issue--and I have been trying to wrap my head around the explosive nature of this issue.

It really is hard and it is a very different situation for our American culture to face.

In the past, we have fought wars against nations or states or groups (such as the Barbary Pirates). These conflicts were not religious, but rather ideology based conflicts which allowed for the clear identification of the "enemy" from the American "good-guys."

The problem we have right now is that the lines--ideology separate from religion, have blurred. Despite the official position which says that the War on Terror is not a war on Islam, it is very hard for many of us to separate the two entities since the Terrorists themselves keep calling the war a Jihad--or struggle. Some, incorrectly, translate Jihad as Holy War--which further complicates our understanding of the problem.

The only thing that seems to unite the terrorist groups--whether Iran, Iraq, or Afghanistan is Islam. When we are identified with terms such as Great Satan--it is hard, if not impossible, to separate our the religious from the secular context. And the continued use of the Jihad imagery changes the struggle from a ideological one to a religious one in our eyes.

Let me repeat this, the single unifying factor of the terrorist groups is religion and that religion is Islam. Through the filter of my eyes--it certainly has the appearances of a Holy War--Islam versus the secular United States and for that matter all of the non-Islam embracing countries and societies of the world. It may even be the Middle Ages all over again.

Anyone who maintains the Unites States is a Christian country is wrong! They are mis-informed and they do not understand the basics of U.S. history, nor have they read the Constitution of the United States.

And this is the root of why it is hard to understand the complexities of thought associated with the peace loving, American citizen, Islamic believers wanting to erect a house of worship near ground zero and the visceral reaction that many Americans have to it. They are American citizens.

Most Americans do not understand who we SAY we are, AND the Islamic Americans who want to put a mosque near ground zero do not recognize that most of us cannot separate Islam from the terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.

Both sides are at the same time right and wrong.

The Islamic community has the right, granted to them under the Constitution, to worship as they please, where they please--in accordance with the laws of the land. But it really demonstrates a lack of sensitivity to place a mosque so close to a place many of us consider to be sacred soil.

And we Americans--have the right, granted to us under the Constitution, to be vocal and to express our feelings about the placement of a mosque so near sacred ground; but at the end of the day we have an obligation under the laws of the land to allow the construction and not to impede it.

We do not have to like it--but we do have to allow it.

We are a complex society. A society of exceptions and inclusions. But we are engaged in a war which is stretching our ability to keep or belief system in a narrow box.

It is hard and it is different and it pushes us to fully reconcile what we believe about who we, Americans, truly are.

Do we really believe the words on the Statue of Liberty--

America was likened to the visions in the Bible as "the land flowing with milk and honey." A land where everyone's life has meaning and we believe in "unalienable rights."

We either believe this--or we become intolerant, the same as those who wage war against us and desire that we slip out of existence.

First Day of Kindergarten--A Remeberance

Ethan began his formal school career yesterday.

Kindergarten--one of those rites of passage where kids begin the process of changing from being "ours" into being "themselves." In a way it is sad to lose them that way, but it is something that we must do as part of launching our children tinto the world.

I remember brief glimpses of kindergarten.

It was an old almost three-story green-trimmed white building stucco looking building. Kindergarten was up the first set of stairs on the right. 1st grade was on the left up those same stairs and second and third grade was on the top floor--I don't remember the basement very well. The school only had grades K through 3. When I was in second grade, we moved to the new school in Danby which still stands and was a true elementary school of its day (OK, it was like 1962). I attended it through 6th grade before heading off to the big city of Ithaca for junior high school.

They tore down the old school during the late 60's and built the new town fire station on the site. The building, as I remember it, had been vacant for all of those intervening years.

I was an old four-year old when I was dropped off that first day of kindergarten, my birthday being in late-September. I remember a lot of confusion but I did enjoy playing with the blocks. As I recall--and I may need to correct this, Mrs White was my kindergarten teacher. And I was that square peg trying to fit into the round hole. I don't remember if I cried--but I probably did. It was really scary back then as we didn't not have pre-school programs like today to get children ready for the big school.

The classroom seemed huge. There was always something to do, like show and tell or reading time. But best of all I remember trying to build the tallest structure with the blocks. One significant event I do remember involved black construction paper. We were coloring and I thought it would be neat to use a white crayon on black paper.

That didn't work out as well in real life as I had envisioned it in my head.

I loved riding the bus--but couldn't get down the idea that I had to wait for the driver to signal me across the road. In those days, for some reason, they let me off and picked me up on the wrong side of the road even though the bus had to pass the house and return back by. I think I finally got it right as the school year was ending. My bus used to go all over Danby--I seem to remember the short 10 minute ride by car to the school taking almost an hour by bus.

And so as Ethan did his first day in Kindergarten--all of these memories came streaming back from the deep recesses of my mind. We went out to dinner last night with Ethan and his family to mark the occasion. In typical Ethan fashion, he was pretty closed mouthed about the day.

I even think I can remember the smell of the classroom--I wonder what memories he will have of that first day of "school?"

You Thought You Had Bad Traffic?

Traffic around where I live can be miserable. At times when driving the beltway around Washington D.C., a normal 40 minute trip has taken almost three hours. Although, one time I just quit trying and went back home.

I read an article about China's Massive Traffic Jam which makes all of my experiences pale by comparison.

Here are some excerpted paragraphs.

A massive traffic jam in north China that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.

Bumper-to-bumper gridlock spanning for 60 miles (100 kilometers) with vehicles moving little more than a half-mile (one kilometer) a day at one point has improved since this weekend, said Zhang Minghai, director of Zhangjiakou city's Traffic Management Bureau general office.

Some drivers have been stuck in the jam for five days, China Central Television reported Tuesday. But Zhang said he wasn't sure when the situation along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway would return to normal.

This kind of traffic tie up boggles the mind. I complain if I get delayed for more than about 10 minutes! And if you look at the pictures in the article--most of it is truck traffic. I wonder how the produce going to market is holding up?

It really helped put the three hours we were broken down in the U-haul truck on Saturday into perspective. What if we were only making a half-mile per day? It would have taken about a month to get to Patrick and Tina's new house. Ugh!!

I guess it kind of puts it all in perspective. In the morning on my way to work, when I hit traffic on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and slow down to 35 mph--I should be happy I'm not in China.

Oh, let me think--I am happy I'm not in China, anyway.

But reading this, I sure do appreciate living here a little bit more.

Headlights in my Eyes

It happened yesterday morning.

My drive to work at the fairly reasonable hour of 6:30am was accompanied with headlights.
Yuck!

Even with the dark skies though, the top was down on Cat. The cool morning air--and it was cool, high 60's; felt refreshing--yet it made me sad too.

It is amazing how quickly the summer passes.

Monday evening, we took a timeout form the hustle of life and sat on the screened porch enjoying dinner and a bottle of wine and watching the evening fall around us.

Chris and I enjoy those times together, alone except for Makayla who desires to be near us.

We were escaping a bit--right in the middle of where we are. To enjoy conversation and planning, and a sip or two of wine to cap off the day.

We talked about life and the things of the day and the week. Chris reminded me that her favorite season is autumn as we noticed a coolness in the air. I reminded her that autumn makes me sad as I mourn the passing of another summer. And technically it remains summer for another whole month--but we all know the truth, don't we?

Of course, it was Monday evening and it was Chris' last evening before returning to work following another fantastic summer vacation. She accused me of secretly being happy when she returns to work; but that is not true! I wish we both could be on summer vacation everyday.

But we still need to work to live.

Long ago though, I stopped living to work and started enjoying the living a lot more.

So no matter the season--live and enjoy.