lukewarm water

Posted on by July 16, 2016

monkey hot spring

It’s been hot here lately.

It’s July….so that’s to be expected….but, still….it’s hot.

Now, of course, if I went down to South Carolina or back to Georgia, I might know what “hot” really is.

It’s comfortable up here in North Carolina….but….it’s still hot.

Kind of hot.

Anyway, I drive mail around in a Jeep without a working air conditioner, so if the wind isn’t hitting me just right, it feels hot.

(I can’t get off this “hot” thing, can I?)

I carry some water with me, and by the time I finish the bulk of the route, my water is getting pretty warm.

The funny thing is that a swallow of lukewarm water tastes pretty good when I need it.

I’m thankful for my water when I get this hot.

I guess that it’s easy to get jaded, though, when your options aren’t limited.

No, that’s not really right.

It’s easy to get jaded when your options are limited….you just have to settle for a lower level of expectation….and get jaded about smaller details.

Awwwwww, shoot…..what am I saying?

Sometimes, even I can’t answer that question.

I guess that what I’m saying is that when the need is greatest, you can appreciate something that you might be disappointed in some other time.

Warm water is a good thing when you need a drink.

One of my new co-workers bought a new Jeep, and from all outward appearances, it is a beautiful machine.

It looks new….shiny.

She took it in to have a u-joint replaced and the bulk of the front end was so jacked up with rust that by the time she finished fixing stuff, it was going to cost 1500.00.

It’s still shiny where it’s obvious.

You never know about cars….appearances are deceiving.

I hope that I can always savor lukewarm water.

Thankfulness is something good to cultivate.

too much rhubarb

Posted on by July 15, 2016

rhubarb pie

They’re wrapping up the new septic system, installing switches and alarms and conduit and covering up runs of “easy lay”….making it into something we’ll hardly notice when it’s done, taking care of the really important details like where the water we need to get rid of goes.

That’s important.

It’s important to feel comfortable about what might be getting into the well.

I’m happy.

What a journey this whole clogged system set us off on, though.

I hope that I don’t have to take it again for a while.

I was looking up at the electrical line they ran to supply power to the new grinder pump, and I thought, “Man….I wish that conduit was smooth….” and, then, I caught myself and thought that it was kind of like when somebody makes you a pie.

Everybody has an idea about what they like.

Maybe there’s too much rhubarb in the pie?

Maybe there’s more rhubarb than you’re used to?

That’s a delicious pie, though….it’s just a little different than you expected.

Complaining is so easy.

I am excited about paying off this new septic system and being able to go to the potty inside again.

I bid on a new postal route this morning….and it was surprisingly easy, too.

Just a few clicks and I was done….easy.

It’s funny how doing the things that affect you so deeply can be started with just a few clicks.

Life’s like that though….you say, “Will you?” and she says “yes”….and your life is never the same.

Little movements with big changes in direction.

Funny how that goes.

I haven’t had a rhubarb pie for a long time.

The Important Places

Posted on by July 14, 2016

 

The Important Places

Child of Mine, come

as you grow in youth

you will learn

the secret places

the cave behind the waterfall

the arms of the oak

that hold you high

the stars so near

on a desert ledge

…the important places.

And, as with age, you choose

your own way

among the many faces

of a busy world

may you always remember

the path that leads back.

…back to the important places.

Dad to Forest, 1986

 

This is a poem that Forest Woodward’s father wrote for him when he was a baby.

Watch this film….it’s short and one of the good ones.

Take chances….recognize that you won’t always be able to figure everything out….live.

And….live in nature….be “out there”….lay down in the grass….pet a dog.

Everybody has an “important place”.

Be there, sometimes.

Walt

Posted on by July 13, 2016

Walt.

A different Walt.

He doesn’t have anything to do with mice or Magic Kingdoms.

I go to a restaurant and order water because it’s free.

Because something is free, I forget its value sometimes.

Sometimes, things only have value to us when we can’t get it anymore.

This is a  short film about a man who’s working to save the San Joaquin River.

They built the dam….concreted the “river”.

Can you go back from something like that?

Can you save something that you killed so completely?

This world is pretty close to perfect in its natural state.

How much can we screw it up?

How screwed up does it need to get before we think that it might be important to fix what we’ve done?

What are we going to drink when the water is gone?

Coca-Cola?

 

 

throw away the teevee, eat a lot of peaches

Posted on by July 11, 2016

I pulled this off of Stumbleupon….I don’t know who to credit.

Good grief….it’s so easy to feel good.

It’s no harder to feel good than it is to feel bad….but, somehow, doing the things we do to feel bad seem easier.

It’s easier to eat junk food and watch television….especially if that’s the habit you find yourself falling into.

I find that my body craves healthy food when I’m healthy.

Funny how that works.

The prescription is well-known and it’s cheap: eat well, rest, get plenty of exercise, pray, get outside and let the sun find your face.

Nothing hard about it.

I don’t need to go to the doctor to get that prescription.

I know it by heart….even if I don’t always follow it.

I know how to feel good.

I should.

vans burn

Posted on by July 10, 2016

Fun hogs with a major fire.

That’s stressful.

It’s stressful to have your ride burst into flame.

VW Buses are notorious for being able to burn very well.

In fact, it seems like I remember hearing that the block would actually burn….that it was made out of magnesium or something.

That can’t be right, though.

Loose fittings on the gas line….an oil cooler leaking on the manifold….so many things could make it light up like a torch in a can.

Something that I’ve never seen before, though, is that (after the initial heavy breathing and freakout that accompanies a major vehicle fire) the guy gets back in the car, says, “It’s alright!! I think it’s alright!!” and drives it on down the road.

Man, you have to know very little about cars to have that kind of blind optimism.

The more I learn about cars, the more I worry about stuff.

Anyway, this guy gets in the vehicle with the charred engine and motors up the hill like it was just a weird and random event.

I haven’t watched any of the later videos to see if the van exploded.

I’ve owned 3 buses….a 1972 with the pancake engine…a 1968….and a split window ’67.

Man….they were crappy cars.

I wish I still had all of them, though.

They were crappy….but cool.

Our Caravan is a lot nicer….but not cool.

Nothing bursts into flame, too.

Let’s keep it that way.

 

PS ….Later…..just found this….magnesium (!!)….I knew it…

the cat came back

Posted on by July 7, 2016

I don’t know where Lilly goes.

She’s on the porch every morning for her food, but where she goes at night is a mystery.

She’s pretty old at this point, and she’s survived outside all these years, so she must be doing something right.

She’s a survivor.

All these coyotes, other “bad” cats, bears….she survives it all.

We worry about the puppy getting out and roaming around the yard, but Lilly goes wherever she wants to go.

I don’t think I’ll GPS her, though.

Let the mystery be.