more normal than not

I’ve used this video before….but it’s late and I’m flailing for a quick blog to keep my run complete….and it’s a good song…so I’ll use it again.

Idaho.

What state name rolls off your tongue like “Idaho”?

There should be a kazillion songs called “Idaho”….but there aren’t all that many.

I guess that if the few that I know of are this good….or as good as Josh Ritter’s song….I should be happy with the ones that I know of.

I just heard the line in this song where she sings “tell me Phaedrus….’what’s good?’ “.

I’ll have to listen to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance again….

There are a million and one places that aren’t “here” that I can fixate on…and suppose that they might be better… when I’m tired and unimaginative.

But….and here comes the broken record…the one that keeps coming around no matter how tired I am or how itchy my feet get…it’s pretty darn amazing right where I am.

It’s amazing…day in and day out…it’s amazing.

If I poke my head out the door and open my eyes, I’m going to see something pretty amazing.

And the really good thing about that is to realize that it might not be the place that is so amazing….maybe it’s the eyes that I’m looking through that let me see “the place amazing”?

I see with my brain….looking through my eyes…and if I get my head together, my brain holds the right attitude….and what I see is amazing.

I can go anywhere.

Here’s good.

I’m convinced….where my eyes and heart are….where my family is…is pretty darn amazing.

That’s a good thought to go to sleep on.

I was kidding around and I told Nate the other day that “IT’S FUN TO PLAY!!”

Jenny thought that was ridiculous….and funny.

I think that Jenny thinks that a lot of the things I say are somehow both…ridiculous and funny….a lot of the time.

I know that some of the stuff that I say isn’t very funny to Jenny.

Some of it is just irritating.

I joke around too much.

I can be sort of a “smartypants”.

Man….it is surely fun to play, though.

I think that when you become an adult, the way you play changes.

You don’t get out the Lego men and build a Lego world.

YOU GO TO VEGAS, BABEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Actually, that doesn’t sound like very much fun to me.

It would cost money!!

I couldn’t have too much fun if I was spending a bunch of money…..unless….

I WAS SPENDING A BUNCH OF MONEY TO WIN A BUNCH OF MONEY!!

Nah….even that would feel weird.

Maybe the fun is watching these guys have fun?

Oh, man.

I just thought of what would be really fun!!

Going to the new Sierra Nevada brewery…..taking the tour….sampling….and eating a bunch of duck fat fries….and then taking a cab back to the hotel and hanging out with Jenny….that’s what would be fun.

With Jenny.

While the kids played with Legos.

At home.

THAT WOULD BE A BLAST!!

I read that Rod Stewart finally stopped playing soccer….something about his knees giving him problems.

We all slow down….adjust….figure out new ways to have fun….figure out new ways to play.

People get stiff as they age….no matter how much they work out and “maintain”.

But the thing that can stay pliable is our attitudes….MY ATTITUDE.

I can play….I can have fun.

I’m going to buy a soccer ball and kick it around a field with these guys….throw a frisbee more often….fly a kite.

Actually build the treehouse.

Eat some duck fat fries.

Eat some duck fat fries….then recommit to vegetarianism….after a big plate of duck fat fries.

And beer.

Fun!!

Play.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQsIErJ7-yk

Those darned “them”.

When did environmental issues become political issues….or, why are environmental issues political issues?

Why is there so much anger when issues like this are raised?

Everybody has a “them” to point a finger at.

That’s some crazy stuff.

I heard the other day that Shell (I think it was Shell…) had given up on drilling off the coast of Alaska because the cost outweighed the perceived payoff.

Gas just wasn’t worth as much now that we’ve fracked the heck out of the world and our supply has increased.

Shell had spent something like a combined total of 11 billion dollars gearing up to suck all this oil out of the coastline…..and gave up because they couldn’t make any money.

Not because it was damaging environmentally….because it didn’t make economic sense.

If you use “climate change” as a search term in YouTube, you come up with a lot of documentaries.

I can’t watch all of them.

We have small children at home again.

I can’t sit here and watch depressing videos about climate change.

And I can’t castigate myself because what I do for a living is drive an old beater Jeep Cherokee on a fairly long loop every day so that I can deliver a package or a handful of letters…..and that I’m loving this cheap gas that I can buy right now.

I couldn’t live with myself if I thought about everything bad all the time.

Anyway…..what do I do about any of this?

Tune-up my car?

Plant a bunch of trees?

Make some more money and invest in a large array of solar panels?

Figure out a way to buy some “carbon offsets”? (What’s a “carbon offset” anyway?)

THIS IS THE WAY TO START MY DAY!!! WATCH DEPRESSING VIDEOS ABOUT THINGS THAT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO CHANGE!!

Maybe education is the only way to start figuring out any of this stuff?

Maybe watching some of these documentaries isn’t so bad.

I suspect that when the worst thing that can happen is that if you fail, you end up moving your family into a complex, high-rise cardboard tiny house…..what would keep you from making the leap and taking a chance?

If you don’t have much on the line….other than your family’s comfort and safety….why wouldn’t you at least try?

I’m kidding, of course….but what would be better for a child….than to see their parents excited about the world they live in?

Of course, you could and should be excited about your world irregardless of your circumstances.

Maybe that’s the thing that really drives what your child should grow up with?

Maybe seeing that their parents have the ability to make the best of all situations is the most impactful thing a child can witness?

My comfort zone is narrow.

I’d watch movies all day long if people let me.

That’s kind of pathetic….it’s not something that moves us any closer to realizing any goals that my family might have.

So….I have to watch that.

Of course, I have a bunch of folks who count on me to do something….so sitting around all the time shouldn’t be a strong option.

But….that’s my comfort zone.

I love movies.

Comfort zones….are…. dangerous.

I think that to be flailing a little bit is the thing that forces you out of that comfort zone and demands that you move towards something ….different….if not better.

Nah….you can crash and burn if you go out on a limb.

You can go down in flames if you try.

Maybe.

Or….maybe…you keep your head above water long enough to notice that the beach on the other side of the island is beautiful….and that you have just enough strength to swim on over to it?

Who knows?

Magnus Walker?

I doubt it….but at least trying is a good start to get things happening.

If you want a dog….get a dog.

If you want a treehouse…..build it.

Fix the barn…drill a well….build an addition.

Do.

What’s so hard about that?

Here’s a link to the full episode that these clips were taken from….

http://www.londonreal.tv/episodes/magnus-walker-porsche-hunter