And So it Begins

Our huge vacation is already off to a strange start. Thankfully, I had a bit of insomnia this morning and got up at 2AM and checked my email to find that our flight from Baltimore to Charlotte had been cancelled. Ugh!

So now, at 5:12 AM, Chris and I are sitting in Dulles airport outside of DC waiting for another flight.

Yes--the car is here too and we are not too worried about retrieving it at this time since in we will be returning to Baltimore.

But we are here, our bags are checked and we are sucking coffee in the local Starbucks the airport.

St Lucia is still in sight at this point--but traveling these days is truly a traveler beware proposition.

There is still a lot of travel and day ahead--but, at least we are still in the game.

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Location:Rainbow Dr,Elkridge,United States

The Enemy of Good is Better

A friend of mine has written a book of poetry titles: "The Enemy of Good is Better."

I haven't bought it yet, although I have meant to for many months.

As I have been planning the upcoming vacation and completing projects at work, I have come to see how sage this statement really is, in terms of wasted effort.

Good is, by definition good--meaning passing and acceptable.

But I have this desire not to be just good, but excellent. Better than good and so I spend extra time exceeding the standard. I took a course a month ago and I wanted to get a 100 on the final exam even though passing was 80 percent. The final grade was recorded as a pass or a fail. No extra benefit for exceeding the minimum. Good should have been good enough--but I desired perfection. And although I attained my perfect but still passing score--really, was it worth the effort?  I still received a "P" for a grade and I received credit for the course.

Think of the wasted time trying to be better than good causes.

Sometimes it is worth it--I definitely want a surgeon who is better than good, or an auto repair person who is better than good.  But, in my life sometime it becomes wasteful to try to be better than good.  And good is no longer "good enough."

Ego.

I felt it this past weekend working at my parents house putting down quarter-round on their wood floors. My worst corner was only good--but it was also the one that shows the most. My best corner--almost perfection is in a place that no one will ever see.  And I was unhappy with good.

So, I will but the book--as I have been meaning to. I want a hard copy to have and hold.

But the title intrigues me because I know his poetry is not only good, but it is better.

Dog Days Arrive Quietly

We are in the Dog Days, which according to the Farmer's Almanac run from July 3 - August 11. The hottest and most oppressive 40 days of the summer.

Humidity runs high, rain (except this year) is often scarce, and tempers flare at the mere perception of dissonance.

Tuesday evening, the game time temperature was 104 degrees when the Orioles took the field against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. 

I noticed also that the mosquitoes are beginning to swarm in search of their favorite food--my legs.

Drivers on the road are less forgiving and more ready to be confrontational--which is really scary at the speeds that some of those crazies drive.

Breathe deep and enjoy the scents of summer in the air. I was able to experience a wide range of smells during my drive to and from Ithaca last weekend. I took Cat as the vehicle of choice and for all but about 90 minutes of the 12 hours of driving, the top was down and I was part of the landscape.

Some of the smells are bad--exhaust and decaying animals along the road--but many of the others are sweet, like new mowed hay and the breeze down in some of the deep ravines.

I relish the Dog Days. They are, after all the best days of summer. When the days are still long and the nights warm and close.

Pool days. Hot days. Days that makes the sweat run off your back. Days that make you slow down, and stop and take a breath.

Days that say: notice me now, for too soon I'll be gone and be nothing but a memory.

Trials, Verdicts, and Casey Anthony

The biggest trial and verdict since the OJ Simpson trial.

A failure? Yes and no.

Strangely, our system of innocent until proven guilty continues to work. In a trial such as this the standard that the evidence must be presented to gain a conviction is to "beyond. Reasonable doubt."

This is important. The job of the prosecutor, representing the people, is to ensure the evidence meets this standard.

Clearly, in the minds of the jurors the prosecutor failed. Therefore, despite however we all may feel the system worked and Casey Anthony was found not guilty.

We should all be happy that our system still works despite the media coverage which had already tried, convicted, and essentially executed Casey Anthony.

I felt, although only based upon what I had seen and heard in the media, that the prosecution failed to prove that Caylee had been murdered by her mother. Accidental draining in a pool is significantly different than premeditated murder. And even if I accept the prosecution's argument that it was a murder, then I felt the evidence regarding who and how was circumstantial at best.

So the system worked.

AND it failed.

It failed little Caylee who is dead and for whom no murderer or killer has been convicted. The system failed to protect little Caylee before she died and failed to uncover the truth about her death.

The failure is on the part of the State and the prosecutor. If Casey murdered Caylee, then the State needed to prove it. If Casey is truly getting away with murder, the system failed. That Caylee is dead and the who and the how are unknown is also a failure.

Despite how I personally feel, recognizing that my view of the case is shaped by the media coverage, given the evidence that was presented, justice was served. I would not want an Amanda Knox-like circus for a justice system.

There is a higher court that Caylee's murderer will be answering to, and I leave it to that court, which already knows all of the facts, to dispense justice and mercy.

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End of the Independence Weekend

And the radio blared out patriotic music as the fireworks made their way into the sky and the family cheered to its own backyard display.


The overcast day did not dampen the spirits of those gathered for the celebration and the pool saw quite a bit of use as the weather was humid and warm--or as I sometimes call it, close. Note that the soccer ball is being kicked in the air, backwards, before fully landing in the pool. A tribute to the guys with the ball and the camera operator, Chris.

Lucas was in control of both of his parents, both grandparents and one set of aunt and uncle. Not bad for an 18 month old.



It was really kind of neat the the 1812 Overture came on the Pandora radio station we were playing right as we were enjoying our fireworks.



While we are but backyard amateurs, it was fun to have our own 4th of July fun in the backyard. And especially since the fire threat was very low due to the rain which fell the night before and the light rain that was falling as we were lighting the darkness with our own version of the replay of the War of 1812 and the bombardment which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words that became our National Anthem.

It is sad that the long weekend is over and that it is back to the grind. But let,s be serious--in five days I'll be on a plane for a Caribbean vacation singing along with Alan Jackson about it being Five O'clock somewhere. Of course I always ask, why wait for five? It is three o'clock somewhere, too.

I hope you had a happy 4th. And I want to thank everyone in my family, extended family, too; who made this a holiday to remember.

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Location:Rainbow Dr,Elkridge,United States

American Ranger: Happy Birthday America - Remember The Sacrifices Of Your Founders

American Ranger: Happy Birthday America - Remember The Sacrifices Of Your Founders

Monday musings - July 4, 2011

1. Happy 235th birthday America.

2. Independence weekend is a blast-literally! I have enjoyed fireworks and fun.

3. Traffic is lighter on the day before a three-day weekend ends.

4. I still love patriotic music and marches. Bring on John Phillip Sousa!

5. Friday as I was driving along the road past the house I grew up in I saw myself--a 13 year old boy on a bicycle racing the cars along the shoulder of the highway feeling the wind in my short hair. It took me back decades to when I used to do the same thing. Life was freedom along the highway on my bike.

6. I realized yesterday on the way back from Ithaca that exit 100 on I-81 in Pennsylvania is where the highway changes from rural speedway into a more frenetic urban highway. There are still rural stretches, but the scenery almost always has built up areas in view.

7. Driving under a canopy of trees on a rural backroad is a freeing experience.

8. Isn't it sad that sometimes when we are getting something that we want, live people visiting, that we choose to withdraw or not enjoy the company?


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Fireflies in the evening

The dark trees were alive last evening with the sparkling of the fireflies in the trees complimenting the fireworks celebrations around us.

We sat around a fire making s'mores and enjoying some family.

We heard the distant and persistent booms of the celebrations around us. Although we could not see the fireworks themselves, the sky lit as if lightning was all around us.

This is one of those prolonged celebrations of our Independence. Enjoyable with family.

As darkness fell, the fireflies made their presence known like so many persistent fireworks in the treelike. The dark trees were alive with their own celebrations. I tried to capture their cool lights in the trees, but they were so brief that I could not save the memory to an image.

As the night wore on, and we turned out the lights of the house, the fireflies came closer to include where we were sitting as part of the celebration.

I remembered my childhood running after fireflies on the lawn and putting them into jars to enjoy for the evening, but always letting them go before bed. They don't keep well it seems.

Fireworks lighting the sky and fireflies rekindling long forgotten memories, what a celebration.


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Fire Works on Friday

So for Independence Day we did the Fireworks in Ithaca. Turns out is was Canada Day, too.

So we went to a cold college campus where the 64th community fireworks were conducted and we enjoyed some of the best fireworks we have seen. Why? Because we were close and they completely filled our field of vision with explosions everywhere.

Sadly there was no music with them. But that was the only downer.

Well it was cold, too. I mean see your breath in the in the air cold.

But it was worth it.

What a great way to start the holiday weekend.

Summertime Holiday Weekend

Friday and Monday. The summertime holidays are upon us. Today is Canada Day and of course Monday is the US Independence Day.

A weekend framed by North American holidays.

Despite sharing a long border, the two countries, Canada and the US, also share days recognizing their creation during a similar time--but the circumstances are very different. Canada was the a union of colonies into a country by the British while, as we know, the US was formed by dissolving the existing bonds to the British and creating something new out of a loose confederation of colonies.

But no matter which side of the border you live on, it is going to be a messy weekend for travel and fun.

I do confess that Canada Day does not get up very high on my list of favorite foreign holidays. But I do note it, much like I note the Queen's Birthday or May Day.

So if you are traveling this weekend--take it easy and fly or drive or sail safely.

If you are lucky enough not to have to risk life and limb on the roads, in the skies, or on the water take a moment to clap yourself on the back.

But no matter what, holidays are a good time to pause and inventory blessings and be thankful for what we have and determine if what we are pursuing really all that important.

Enjoy some of the festivities. Mingle with our fellow citizens, and if in the US, take minute to read the Declaration of Independence. It is a ground breaking document and was produced at great risk to the men who wrote and signed it.

God bless the USA and Canada.


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