Spider Webs


I go to a park near our home at least once a week. I take my dog there (or maybe he takes me there, I’m not sure). There is a walking trail about one mile long. There is an ice house on the trail. Ice houses were structures built before the invention of refrigerators. They stores ice underground, where it was cooler than it was above ground.
I pass this ice house at least fifty times a year, and I never glance at it. This weekend I looked at it for the first time in years. I walked up to it and examined it. I even tried to open the door, but it was locked.
File Jul 18, 10 14 12 AM
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This morning I was walking to the mailbox, and I noticed a mound next to our driveway. It was a cool morning, and everything was covered with dew. One of the things that was covered with dew was dozens of spider webs. I usually ignore this mound. I’m so focused on getting somewhere that I don’t take the time to look at it.
File Jul 18, 10 14 40 AM
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I have a friend who I see every week. When I first met him 25 years ago, he was about the same age that I am now. He was robust, mobile, and very active. Now he needs a wheelchair, is losing his vision, and cannot drive. He and I know some other fellows in our community who needs walkers, canes, and crutches to get around.
I take it for granted that I am always going to be mobile and active, but my friend is an example to me that that is not true. My active times are not permanent, and they are not guaranteed.
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We just completed a minor remodeling of our home. We had a couple of bedrooms that were underused. We used them as “junk drawers”. We emptied them out, had them gutted, and converted them into a guest bedroom and an office.
The guest bedroom was built with the idea that we may need to have people living with us sometime. We don’t have anyone in mind, but there are three houses on our street where there are several families living under one roof. That is becoming more common in our society, and my family thought that we should be prepared for that possibility.
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I take my life and my health for granted most of the time.  I take all of you being in my life for granted. I’m not proud of that. But it’s true. Then once in a while, something happens, and I see how things really are. Change happens and I notice it.
Sometimes it takes a change in temperature for me to notice the spider webs.

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