Of course not everything can be perfect. Along with the water comes mosquitos, and they were out in full force. That's just motivation, right?
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
65 and sunny
We went for our regular walk yesterday and it was perfect. It is a trail nearby that follows a small river. Everything is starting to turn green and it was the perfect weather, 65 degrees and sunny. There was hardly a breeze or a cloud in the sky. I snapped this from the trail with my iPhone (yeah, it's a shameless plug, what of it!). I love the reflection of the clouds in the stream.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Dearly Departed
Today I went to a funeral. It was for a man I have sat next to at birthday and holiday parties for years. He is the grandpa and father of a family that we are close to.
It was a nice funeral. It did make me realize that I never really got to know the guy, so it was interesting to hear the stories and memories that people had of him. It really made me wish that I had known him better. That maybe if I would have reached out and asked him he would have opened up and told me his story.
It was the same with my step-father. I thought I knew the man. I lived with him for 10+ years, but I had a similar experience at his funeral. His brother and other family members got up and started telling these stories about the guy that I had never heard. Stories of a reckless teenager driving his first car. Stories of a fun loving, joke playing guy that anybody would would to hang out with. I remember wishing that I could have known that guy.
It's was tough to see this guy go. He was such a strong man. He had been plagued recently with problem after problem but whenever I saw him he was happy and outgoing. Knowing what he was going through it's pretty amazing.
It's hard to see people that you care about in such pain and know that there is literally nothing you can do to help. I think that is the toughest of all for me. It makes me thankful for my religious beliefs though. I don't know how people can bury a loved one believing that there is nothing after that. That once the body gives out the personality and the memories and everything that made up that person is gone forever. What a waste that would be.
What a relief it is know that everything that we are will continue on after we die. That my grandma with her laugh and her stories and all of her amazing talents are there...waiting. Yes, it is hard to say goodbye to somebody, and it certainly leaves a void in our lives once they are gone. But in a way it gives us something to look forward to. When I imagine the scene that awaits me when my time does come, my grandmother throws her arms around my neck and gives me one of her giant hugs. That is something that I look forward to. And she we finally be able to itch that toe.
It was a nice funeral. It did make me realize that I never really got to know the guy, so it was interesting to hear the stories and memories that people had of him. It really made me wish that I had known him better. That maybe if I would have reached out and asked him he would have opened up and told me his story.
It was the same with my step-father. I thought I knew the man. I lived with him for 10+ years, but I had a similar experience at his funeral. His brother and other family members got up and started telling these stories about the guy that I had never heard. Stories of a reckless teenager driving his first car. Stories of a fun loving, joke playing guy that anybody would would to hang out with. I remember wishing that I could have known that guy.
It's was tough to see this guy go. He was such a strong man. He had been plagued recently with problem after problem but whenever I saw him he was happy and outgoing. Knowing what he was going through it's pretty amazing.
It's hard to see people that you care about in such pain and know that there is literally nothing you can do to help. I think that is the toughest of all for me. It makes me thankful for my religious beliefs though. I don't know how people can bury a loved one believing that there is nothing after that. That once the body gives out the personality and the memories and everything that made up that person is gone forever. What a waste that would be.
What a relief it is know that everything that we are will continue on after we die. That my grandma with her laugh and her stories and all of her amazing talents are there...waiting. Yes, it is hard to say goodbye to somebody, and it certainly leaves a void in our lives once they are gone. But in a way it gives us something to look forward to. When I imagine the scene that awaits me when my time does come, my grandmother throws her arms around my neck and gives me one of her giant hugs. That is something that I look forward to. And she we finally be able to itch that toe.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Another doomsday prediction
So with the Mayan Calendar turning out to be yet another belly flop in the pool that is end of the world predictions I decided to that I should find out what the next doomsday is predicted to be so that I can begin to prepare myself mentally to meet my maker. Luckily I didn't have to look far.
Predict what the end of the world will be? Yeah, there's an app for that! I found a sweet little application that takes all of the variables of all of known possible catastrophic events and does a simulation of them all where they compete for the title "most likely to end mankind" and when. It's really quite technical, even I have trouble understanding it, just know that it was developed by scientists and mathematicians who know about this sort of thing and that it is absolutely, 100% trustworthy and reliable. After running for about 30 minutes I had my answer.
And the winner is......(drum roll goes here)
Yep, who would have guessed? Any you know it's true because who could make something like this up? Yep, apparently in December of 2014 the human race will all but be wiped out.
It's funny because I thought that one day the new generations would hold us responsible for destroying the planet by not recycling enough, but it turns out they have nobody to blame but themselves. Well not "Ha Ha" funny of course, but at least that's one less thing for me to worry about!
Predict what the end of the world will be? Yeah, there's an app for that! I found a sweet little application that takes all of the variables of all of known possible catastrophic events and does a simulation of them all where they compete for the title "most likely to end mankind" and when. It's really quite technical, even I have trouble understanding it, just know that it was developed by scientists and mathematicians who know about this sort of thing and that it is absolutely, 100% trustworthy and reliable. After running for about 30 minutes I had my answer.
And the winner is......(drum roll goes here)
Yep, who would have guessed? Any you know it's true because who could make something like this up? Yep, apparently in December of 2014 the human race will all but be wiped out.
It's funny because I thought that one day the new generations would hold us responsible for destroying the planet by not recycling enough, but it turns out they have nobody to blame but themselves. Well not "Ha Ha" funny of course, but at least that's one less thing for me to worry about!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Am I dreaming?
As the song suggests, I do dream of white Christmases. Something about Christmas with no snow on the ground just doesn't seem right to me. Maybe it's from my time growing up in Washington and Oregon and pretty much always having snow for Christmas. This year we got lucky, we had a good snow storm on Christmas Eve leaving a nice cold 4" blanket over everything.
I think Santa appreciates it too. It must be tough to try to take off and land a sleigh meant for snow where there is none. Oh sure, he can just use magic but it's not like magic grows on trees. I have heard rumor of a possible magic shortage in coming years. The world's population continues to increase, more and more people believe in Santa all of which interprets to more magic. More magic to keep track of the naughty children, more magic to prepare the presents and more magic to deliver them. It's a vicious cycle.
If you love Santa you should give some serious this issue, and if you don't live somewhere it will snow for Christmas you should really give some thought to doing exactly that.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a better night's sleep than last night.
I think Santa appreciates it too. It must be tough to try to take off and land a sleigh meant for snow where there is none. Oh sure, he can just use magic but it's not like magic grows on trees. I have heard rumor of a possible magic shortage in coming years. The world's population continues to increase, more and more people believe in Santa all of which interprets to more magic. More magic to keep track of the naughty children, more magic to prepare the presents and more magic to deliver them. It's a vicious cycle.
If you love Santa you should give some serious this issue, and if you don't live somewhere it will snow for Christmas you should really give some thought to doing exactly that.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a better night's sleep than last night.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Is this the end?
So in case you haven't heard, the world didn't end yesterday like the Mayan calendar seemed to predict. So you can stop stockpiling toothpaste because Crest is still around.
So what happened? Remember Y2k? It's the same thing really. A bunch of people learned and think they are wise start trying to give ancient civilizations more credit than they deserve. The fact the the Mayan calendar went all the way to 2012 is pretty amazing when you consider that the collapse of the Mayan civilization happened around 1000 AD. That would be like you having a desk calendar that went to 3024 and somebody finding it 900 years and assuming that the fact that it doesn't keep going must mean some wold calamity will take place.
My favorite is that NASA was getting inundated with phone calls and e-mails to the point that they had to make an official statement about it. It's good to know that the highly paid scientists employed at NASA had to tell us that.
I have a theory about the whole Mayan calendar. Imagine if you will a young lad, a Mayan lad. One day the king is in town. The king walks up to the lad and asks him what day it is because he has a sacrifice that needs to be made by Friday, but he can't remember if that's today, or if he has a few more days to find a virgin. But the lad doesn't know, because he is just a farmer. The king becomes furious with the lad and throws him in prison.
Nobody knows how much time passed because nobody knew what day it was, but one day the king visited the overcrowded prison. When he came to lad he asked him "What day is today?" to which the lad answered "Today is Wednesday your grace." The king was so pleased to know it was Wednesday that he let the lad out of prison
But not long after that the king forgot the day again. So he traveled back to the lad and asked him "What day is today?" to which the lad replied "Today is Wednesday your grace." And the king was pleased. On the way back home he had a thought, I need some sort of carving where I can track the days myself so I don't have to travel 3 days to ask this lad. So the king summoned the lad to his city and told the lad that he must carve a day tracking system onto a rock so that he will always know what day it is.
Years went by (we know this because of the calendar) and the king forgot about the lad and soon he was an old man. Every day he would go up to the Mayan calendar and continue his work. On "bring your son to work day" (according to the calendar) he brought his eldest son with him and showed him his work and told him "one day you will take over when I die."
One day the old man died and his son picked up his father's tools and went up to the calendar to work. He looked at the calendar to determine where his father stopped and found that is was done through 12/21/2012, over 1000 years in the future. He thought "This is dumb! Surely somebody will add on more days when we get close to that day, so he went home and never went back.
Well nobody ever did continue the calendar and that's why we ended up worried about that particular day. And all because of some lazy teenager who didn't want to do his job.
So what happened? Remember Y2k? It's the same thing really. A bunch of people learned and think they are wise start trying to give ancient civilizations more credit than they deserve. The fact the the Mayan calendar went all the way to 2012 is pretty amazing when you consider that the collapse of the Mayan civilization happened around 1000 AD. That would be like you having a desk calendar that went to 3024 and somebody finding it 900 years and assuming that the fact that it doesn't keep going must mean some wold calamity will take place.
My favorite is that NASA was getting inundated with phone calls and e-mails to the point that they had to make an official statement about it. It's good to know that the highly paid scientists employed at NASA had to tell us that.
I have a theory about the whole Mayan calendar. Imagine if you will a young lad, a Mayan lad. One day the king is in town. The king walks up to the lad and asks him what day it is because he has a sacrifice that needs to be made by Friday, but he can't remember if that's today, or if he has a few more days to find a virgin. But the lad doesn't know, because he is just a farmer. The king becomes furious with the lad and throws him in prison.
Nobody knows how much time passed because nobody knew what day it was, but one day the king visited the overcrowded prison. When he came to lad he asked him "What day is today?" to which the lad answered "Today is Wednesday your grace." The king was so pleased to know it was Wednesday that he let the lad out of prison
But not long after that the king forgot the day again. So he traveled back to the lad and asked him "What day is today?" to which the lad replied "Today is Wednesday your grace." And the king was pleased. On the way back home he had a thought, I need some sort of carving where I can track the days myself so I don't have to travel 3 days to ask this lad. So the king summoned the lad to his city and told the lad that he must carve a day tracking system onto a rock so that he will always know what day it is.
Years went by (we know this because of the calendar) and the king forgot about the lad and soon he was an old man. Every day he would go up to the Mayan calendar and continue his work. On "bring your son to work day" (according to the calendar) he brought his eldest son with him and showed him his work and told him "one day you will take over when I die."
One day the old man died and his son picked up his father's tools and went up to the calendar to work. He looked at the calendar to determine where his father stopped and found that is was done through 12/21/2012, over 1000 years in the future. He thought "This is dumb! Surely somebody will add on more days when we get close to that day, so he went home and never went back.
Well nobody ever did continue the calendar and that's why we ended up worried about that particular day. And all because of some lazy teenager who didn't want to do his job.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Which gift to give
If I could change one thing during this season I think it would be these damned commercials. You know the ones. The diamond ring commercials that play on people's insecurities to sell glittering rocks and shiny metals. This will make her love you, or forgive you, or make her child accept you as their new daddy.
The other commercials you may not know so well unless you watch SpongeBob SquarePants (said 3 times) like I do. It's the toy commercials targeting young children and yours truly. Yes, I too want a Furby (the new one not the old junky one), a Y Fliker (pronounce carefully) and an Amazing Spider-Man Mega Blaster Web Shooter w/ Glove.
Who could have predicted that those three well meaning travelers from the East (probably more west for us) would start a tradition that would fuel the materialistic hunger we now see today? Is your child's love so dependent on what is under the tree that it's worth throwing an elbow in Walmart to get it?
Every once in awhile I hear a quote that sticks in my head and I ponder it for awhile as if to explore every nuance. This happened this week and yes, I would like to share. The American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself."
As I have been pondering this I have thought back on my life. I have received my share of gifts over the years, and they have brought me happiness, howbeit temporary. But the memories of the time that somebody took to spend it with me has brought so much more.
Take my Grandma for instance. She passed away not long back and I think of her often. And while she did give me many gifts over the years that is not what rises to the top when I remember her. No, I remember staying at her house, and waking up to find her cooking breakfast for far more people than were in the house. I remember playing Phase 10 for hours because she loved it (and cheated at it). I remember her stories and her beautiful voice as she put on a full production just for me. A portion of herself is what she gave, and that portion is what I now cherish.
Yes by all means, give gifts, fill stockings and celebrate Christmas but don't stop there. Give the other half of your gifts...a piece of you. Plan that trip, send that letter, make that call, have that party. Share that portion of yourself with the people you cherish, and let that be their treasure from you.
The other commercials you may not know so well unless you watch SpongeBob SquarePants (said 3 times) like I do. It's the toy commercials targeting young children and yours truly. Yes, I too want a Furby (the new one not the old junky one), a Y Fliker (pronounce carefully) and an Amazing Spider-Man Mega Blaster Web Shooter w/ Glove.
Who could have predicted that those three well meaning travelers from the East (probably more west for us) would start a tradition that would fuel the materialistic hunger we now see today? Is your child's love so dependent on what is under the tree that it's worth throwing an elbow in Walmart to get it?
Every once in awhile I hear a quote that sticks in my head and I ponder it for awhile as if to explore every nuance. This happened this week and yes, I would like to share. The American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself."
As I have been pondering this I have thought back on my life. I have received my share of gifts over the years, and they have brought me happiness, howbeit temporary. But the memories of the time that somebody took to spend it with me has brought so much more.
Take my Grandma for instance. She passed away not long back and I think of her often. And while she did give me many gifts over the years that is not what rises to the top when I remember her. No, I remember staying at her house, and waking up to find her cooking breakfast for far more people than were in the house. I remember playing Phase 10 for hours because she loved it (and cheated at it). I remember her stories and her beautiful voice as she put on a full production just for me. A portion of herself is what she gave, and that portion is what I now cherish.
Yes by all means, give gifts, fill stockings and celebrate Christmas but don't stop there. Give the other half of your gifts...a piece of you. Plan that trip, send that letter, make that call, have that party. Share that portion of yourself with the people you cherish, and let that be their treasure from you.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Spread the word
I saw in the paper today an article that saddened me. It was about a 15 year old boy that went missing from a beach in California. I thought maybe if we spread the word together we may find this boy and return him to his family for Christmas.
This is John (Jonny) Butler. He is about 6'1" and weighs in at about 160 pounds. He has Brown Hair and Brown Eyes and was last seen at Newport Beach in California. He went, like so many kids his age, to catch some waves but got more than he bargained for. His board was found at the beach but he was not with it. He has some scars on his face that are not included in the picture.
Upon further inspection I realized that this didn't happen quite as recently as I thought. Included was a computer generated image of what he could look like today.
Yes, this is a computer generated prediction of what the now 66 year old Jonny would look like today. It turns out he went missing back in 1961, so he really could be anywhere. So please, if you see an old man walking around that looks like he could have been 6'1", 160 lbs 50 years ago please call the police and let them know.
I think that 50 years is long enough. If we work together we can bring this kid home to his family so he can have a Merry Christmas.
Please spread the word!
This is John (Jonny) Butler. He is about 6'1" and weighs in at about 160 pounds. He has Brown Hair and Brown Eyes and was last seen at Newport Beach in California. He went, like so many kids his age, to catch some waves but got more than he bargained for. His board was found at the beach but he was not with it. He has some scars on his face that are not included in the picture.
Upon further inspection I realized that this didn't happen quite as recently as I thought. Included was a computer generated image of what he could look like today.
Yes, this is a computer generated prediction of what the now 66 year old Jonny would look like today. It turns out he went missing back in 1961, so he really could be anywhere. So please, if you see an old man walking around that looks like he could have been 6'1", 160 lbs 50 years ago please call the police and let them know.
I think that 50 years is long enough. If we work together we can bring this kid home to his family so he can have a Merry Christmas.
Please spread the word!
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