Man….it’s good to see somebody delivering a great sermon at a big event.
And….events don’t get much bigger than this.
Our wedding was nicer though, even if we didn’t have any Rolls Royces or horse drawn carriages.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen as much black gospel singing at a royal wedding before, either.
Sounded pretty good to my Norwegian ears.
I liked this minister.
“OH!! IT’S MORNING ALREADY!!”
Jenny and I slept in this morning.
It was 5:45 when she came into our bedroom after sleeping on the couch (by accident….we’re so tired).
Usually, I’m up and out by 5:00….so….5:45 is “sleeping in”.
Anyway….we visited for a while….like two grownups get a chance to visit …when we heard our little girl say….from her little bed at the other end of the dark room….”OH!! IT’S MORNING ALREADY!!”
She was so pleased….so excited.
It was pretty funny.
What would that be like to know that the day ahead is something to be excited about?
I love my life….but….I don’t know that I greet every morning like that.
Maybe when I’m not going to be running mail that day?
It’s hard to say.
But….if you found yourself “waiting through the sleeping”…until you could engage again with the world….until you could greet the mystery and magic of the new day’s potential…if you could do all that with all the excitement and expectation that it really deserves…..well…wouldn’t that be something?
It’s raining hard here.
What an amazing thing all this life is.
And….it’s morning already.
That’s a good thing.
If you’re going “tiny” it’s good to have “collecting things” as a hobby.
Not.
But….I can’t talk.
I collect things too.
This lady is looking for a tiny house close to Asheville.
That’ll be expensive.
All the old timers around here who grew up in a 600 square foot cabin….and somehow managed to have 11 brothers and sisters while they were growing up in that “tiny house”….want to move into a spacious trailer.
Who understands what trendy means when you were “trendy” out of necessity?
This is goofy.
Ahhhhhhh.
Excellent.
We shop thrift stores….when we shop.
And….the thought of building something with salvaged materials is also something that we’ve done and strongly believe in.
If you are going to live “lightly” on the earth….you better get up to speed on these concepts.
You better get a strong handle on saving the earth….by using things that might otherwise end up in a landfill if someone creative enough to see a reuse didn’t come along to save them from a too early and inappropriate grave?
You can’t build fast….and you can’t build “easy”….when you build like this….but…why do we need instant results?
Are our lives worth the courage to live them intentionally?
Is it right to live slowly?
Our options are huge.
Why do we limit ourselves?
This is a heck of a nice little house.
Good job, guys!
It’s raining hard here….and….even more noticeable….I am going to go out to deliver the mail in a couple of hours.
I am going to go out in the rain with a bunch of paper and cardboard soon and drive and walk around and listen to the weather on the radio and…
And.
It’s all the “ands” that get you.
My sub is going to quit.
I’ll be “sub-less”.
That will make things hard.
What am I going to do about all these “ands” that I expect will come with a day like today?
What am I going to do with all the negative expectations that I gently try to push down when I remember to try to ignore or rise above them?
I am trying to see the good in situations that are hard or unexpected.
I try to see the good in things that ruffle my comfort zone.
I want to let all the goodness in my life dominate my fear and trepidation.
Anyway, the things I fear most are the things that “might”.
I am afraid of the “maybe”.
I worry about the outcomes of things that probably won’t ever happen.
Struggling to see all the good isn’t settling for less.
It’s just surviving.
I do better than just surviving, though.
Finding joy in small things isn’t complacency.
Expansion is good and natural….but contentment carries us a long way.
I wonder if the rain will make things harder today?
Of course it will.
Let it….I’ve seen worse.
(The video doesn’t have anything to do with these ramblings….but….wouldn’t it be great to be on a boat? Wait….it’s pretty wet on a boat. Awwwww, what the heck? It’s wetness I’d expect. That I say or think that it’s alright makes a big difference.)
Beck was such a young gun in this video, wasn’t he?
Loser.
Man, what was he thinking?
I was thinking about all the damaged comedians out there.
Are there any people who do comedy who aren’t broken in some way?
Where does that skill develop if not from pain?
Does it come from love?
Maybe there are different wells that people draw their inspiration from….?
Sometimes fear or sadness….sometimes rage and disappointment….sometimes confusion and regret….sometimes (even) love and the need for inclusion.
Comedy is often pretty cruel, isn’t it?
And, Beck! What you doing putting this anthem out there?
What floats in the air comes down to eat at us eventually….like butterflies on fresh manure.
What we carry can escape from its cage and maul.
Bury that pain deep.
If you can’t turn the pain into something hilarious….lay it to rest.
Lay your burden down.
These guys need to join the “van life” crowd….and get gear sponsors.
Kidding.
Australia.
Look at this right hand drive VW Westphalia.
RIGHT HAND DRIVE.
I need this for the mail route.
Of course, I’m kidding.
That would be the most completely insane and misguided notion I’ve ever had.
Almost as insane as supposing that this is the best choice for “van life”.
I love VW buses….but they’re a pain in the rear and quirky and demand that you pay attention to them….more so than most vehicles.
They are an education.
That being said….THEY ARE SO COOL.
I’ve owned 3 in my life….and I might have put the kids through college on what I could have sold them for (now) if I’d held on to them.
Vans.
Hipsters are a good market.
You can make some money if you have something the hipsters want.
Zoe graduates from college this morning.
That’s a big day!
Big BIG day.
She’s graduating with a degree in Mechatronics from UNC Asheville.
Here’s a video of the senior project she’s been spending the last year working on.
Man.
I have children who are pretty great….and, now, we have an engineer in the family.
Who saw that coming when a little (male) classmate in kindergarten told Zoe that “GIRLS DON’T PLAY WITH LEGOS!!”
GOOD JOB, ZOE!!
Oh, my.
This band rocks so hard and (this time) asks an important question: would you treat her differently if she was a “dude”?
I really enjoyed this!
Lake Street Dive!
From their new one called “Free Yourself Up”.
Oh.
Here’s another one.
Listen to how this 4 member band sounds….bass…trumpet…drums…vocalist!
And….watch this bassist!
Good grief.
I’ve played some bass in the past….playing an acoustic bass with this kind of power is hard! It’s a very physical thing to play this hard! Listen to how she drives this music!
Gadddddddddddssssssssss!