I have experienced a couple of disappointments lately. I submitted a magazine article recently for a magazine I have been published in three times before. I thought the article was important, and well written. I thought my chances for publication were good. But the deadline for publication came and went last week, so it looks […]
An Attitude of Gratitude
On Sunday I was doing something I don’t really enjoy very much (that would be weeding). I had some time to reflect while I was weeding, and I started thinking about “Doing Things I Don’t Like To Do”. I guess everyone has things that they don’t enjoy doing. For me, the list includes going to […]
Weeding
I spent some time this weekend weeding. Theresa and I filled two 55 gallon bags with weeds. There must have been at least 100 pounds of plant material there. I won’t say that the weeds were tall, but we found a wildebeest hiding in them. I don’t enjoy weeding. But I know that I have […]
Homeward Bound
Great stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. They have a climactic finish, with a lesson. There are teachable moments, and memorable points. This isn’t one of those stories. This is not a story that starts with “Once Upon A Time”, and ends with “and they lived happily ever after”. But it is […]
Having It All
I compare myself to other people sometimes. Most of the time, really. I usually compare myself with people who I think have it all. By “have it all”, I mean people who have a mansion, fancy sports cars, private planes, and country club memberships. On some level, I still think that all of that stuff […]
Oxygen
I read a few mountain-climbing books recently. Theresa recommended “Into Thin Air”, by Jon Krakauer. Then I read another two of his books, and two more by other authors. All of the books focused on the challenges of the climb. Some of the challenges seemed obvious to me- the cold, the snow, the physicality of […]
My Life List, so far
In my first post (“Is This Thing On?”), I noted that I have a Life List. A colleague suggested that I create one, back in 1998. Later, a movie was released called The Bucket List, so people now call them Bucket Lists. My colleague promised me that if I took the time to create a […]
Unintended Consequences
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, cockpit doors were strengthened and locked. The intention was to keep the bad guys out of the cockpit. Last week, a GermanWings pilot intentionally crashed his plane into a mountainside in France. Who knew that one of the bad guys was going to be flying the plane? Unintended consequences. […]
Missing
On my drive into work, there is a sign attached to a telephone pole that says “Missing Parrot”. The sign has a photo of the parrot. The sign is laminated, and has been stapled to this telephone pole for years. Sometimes I see the sign, and I wonder where the parrot went. —– On March […]
Random Thoughts Part XXVII
Bill Lyon of the Philadelphia Inquirer used to write columns with the theme “Random Thoughts and Second Thoughts”. With apologies to Bill Lyon, this essay is like that- a collage of miscellaneous thoughts. —– Was Vincent van Gogh a successful painter? Of course. He painted over 900 paintings, and drew 1100 sketches and drawings. One […]
