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!