Monday Musings on Thursday - September, 17, 2009

Today, since I missed Monday--some musings about traveling

1. Traveling is at the same time fun, boring, exhausting, and hard. It all depends on where you are in the trip.

2. Being there is a lot better than getting there.

3. If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, how long will it take me to get to the last step?

4. Some say it's not the destination, it is the journey. Yeah, just think about it, racing to the airport--to wait. Charging down the jet ramp to get to your seat--to wait. Getting to your destination and taking the bus to the car rental counter--to wait. Heading off in the rental car to the hotel and getting stuck in rush hour traffic--to wait. Maybe it's not a journey at all but an exercise in waiting.

5. Traveling alone is the pits. Turns out, I don't like eating out alone.

6. I miss my _____________ (fill in the blank with any of the following)
a. wife
b. dog
c. morning cup of coffee
d. newspaper
e. evening wine and cheese with the wife on the back deck
f. O's game because the sling box isn't set up right on my computer
g. speed-zone pace of life
h. 0530 racquetball game

7. I'm in Denver and the mountains are pretty--but they are a long way away.

8. Why do they always have conferences when the major league baseball teams are out of town?

9. Are the Avalanche playing tonight? Turns out they are! Maybe I'll do a hockey pre-season game. Yes--it is Hockey season almost! Who needs the NFL!!!!! With their uber-expensive tickets and poor fan support and TV time-outs?

I saw an Eagle

I had never before seen a Bald Eagle, our national symbol, in the wild. I wish I had been fast enough to get a picture of it.



Yet--during our vacation to Florida driving from the Merritt's Island National Wildlife Preserve I saw one perched proudly upon a tall pole.



It was big! And I was surprised at seeing the bird--even though I knew they lived in the area.



I almost didn't believe it and for some reason I was really excited.

It is really amazing what we can begin to see when we actually open our eyes and notice the world around us. I am one of the worst at blindly walking though life--and I know I miss a lot going on around me. Call it self-absorbed or something, but essentially I just block out the part of the world I am not, at that moment interested in.

I need to be more aware of what is going on around me.

Not to zone out. Maybe life will become more interesting.

Another Rainy Day? No, not Really!

I was surprised as I woke up this morning.

It was raining. It was raining hard--and constant.

I was wholly unprepared for the rain and what it meant for the traffic and the day.

I'm still suffering over the end of summer--and I came to the realization yesterday that I probably would not be spending any more time in the pool before I closed it for the winter since the temperatures had dropped so low.

So many people hate rain. But as i was discussing with Chris on the way to work this morning--I love rain and being rained on. I guess it comes from the sense of renewal that goes with the rain.

Even the Bible speaks of rain in this way--

“I will send rain for your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. I will provide pasture for your livestock and you will eat your fill.” (Deut 11:14-15 - NET Bible)

And we definitely are having the autumn rains right now.

Today, though, I also had a different and separate view of the rain. I saw it as tears falling upon our land. Tears of the martyrs of September 11th, 2001. Tears, reminding us that the fight against tyranny and chaos, and the forces of darkness is not complete, nor probably will it ever be complete.

We must constantly be on guard and against those forces that would drag us into darkness--and the rain, the tears of those who perished remind us, the ones who remain, that there is so much more to do until we can really live in peace.

So today wasn't just another rainy day. But a somber day of remembrance where we can rekindle the flames of patriotism and passion which so often become dim in our souls as we fight amongst ourselves about things like health care and the economy.

The Gator and the Dog

Ever notice how we sometimes under estimate the intelligence or capability of someone we are doing business with?

I was reading a story about a dog that was attacked by a gator in Georgia this summer--and I was reminded of a situation that happened many years ago. It was tragic, in the end.

We were living near Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, LA during the real early 1980's. The base was blessed with a wide open area and a couple of lakes which made for nice picnicking. I remember the kids used to like to throw hot dogs to the gators in the bayou--even thought they weren't supposed to and I would always yell at them for doing it.

One afternoon we were by one of the lakes and a man was throwing a stick into the water and his faithful dog was charging in to retrieve it. I heard someone tell the man that he shouldn't be doing that because there were gators in the lake. Well, of course he ignored the warnings and replied with something about his dog being faster than any gator--and he continued to throw the stick. We left the area because I was sure that something bad was going to happen, and I really didn't want the kids to witness something traumatic.

I read in the base newspaper the next week that the man's dog was in fact killed by a gator at the lake on the very day we were there. I was sad--and mad at the man for being really stupid.

Now we all know dogs are probably faster than gators--but in their own environment gators know how to maximize their abilities.

Do not under estimate people you are dealing with. Allow them to have intelligence, cunning, and even useful insight--else, like the dog, you may be on the short end of the stick.

The Wood Pile: An update

A funny thing happened yesterday after I published my blog item about the wood pile.

The wood pile got smaller!

Yup!

Something I never really imagined happened. Someone went by the house, grabbed some tools and started splitting the wood in the pile. So one of my piles of stuff got smaller.

Thanks Patrick!

How true it is--when we get those piles in our life we either are too proud to ask for help or forget to ask for help. And it is really cool when someone just helps--without being asked.

It is the same whether the pile in our life is wood, or cleaning, or vacuuming the house, or even just making dinner. When someone just shows up and helps out, without being asked, it is really heartwarming.

The piles--maybe they are an obstacle of some kind--just seem to sit there and grow in our minds. Sometimes it takes someone who doesn't carry around the same baggage to look at them and say: "It's not that big!" And then roll up their sleeves and dig in. Or start splitting!

I guess the upshot of this is, if we all work together we can accomplish a lot!

The Wood Pile

Panic is setting in.

The wood pile we created earlier this year--it is still there. Still needs to be split. It has even grown a bit larger.

Ugh! And the cold season is coming. I am going to want to burn that wood, soon.



The pile of wood waiting to be split is a lot like some of the things I have piled up in my life waiting for action.



The piles never seem to go away and I never seem to get around to working on them. They could be anything from a book I want to read, or a language I want to learn, or a vacation I want to plan. It seems that the pace of life never lets me get to them.

Or maybe it is because I don't really want to get to them.

I know, if I really wanted to, I could get to those projects just like splitting the pile of wood. When I really want to do it, it will get done. It is a matter of priority.

Until then, just like the pile of wood--these projects and tasks remain as unrealized potential--a storehouse of things to do and complete.

The wood can't be burned until it is split and the benefits I gain from addressing the piles in my life can not be realized until I apply my time and effort to them.

I guess I need to get a plan together to address them.

Oops--I think I just created another wood pile!