What Happened to the Snow?!

Well, I just watched one of my neighbors float by my backdoor in a rowboat. Unbelievable. Edgar and I are ready to evacuate if we have to. I have one of those collapsible canoes, and we both have our raingear ready to wear. Edgar really looks cute in his little rain coat and hat. He's quite the fashionable bird. But hopefully we will be able to ride the storm out here, and we won't need either the canoe or our raingear..
Although I would prefer snow at this time of year (yeah, I know there's something wrong with me), I do actually like rain. Rainy days are the best days to stay indoors and read a book. And as you may have heard, I do have a lot of books waiting to be read.
So there you have it. I will truly enjoy the weather by staying home, being lazy, and journeying in my mind to far and distant lands. Oh, the joys of reading! My biggest guilty pleasure.
Anyway, hopefully we won't need to flee to higher ground. But, if the river overflows, at least we will be able to go fishing out my back window. That could be interesting.
Wherever you are, I hope you are able to enjoy whatever weather you might be having. And, for Pete's sake, stay out of trouble.

Wondering As I Wander

Sometimes I go wandering inside myself. Traveling down corridors of my mind. Attempting to catch glimpses of moments from my past. Revisiting faces, scenes, and feelings that will always be there to follow and haunt me, both happy, and sad.
There is much beauty, all around. There is even beauty in that which fills me with pain and sadness. It's all part of life, and life is meant to be lived, even those moments we would do anything to avoid.
For creatures that are supposed to be so intelligent, we human beings have an incredible capacity for greed, anger, ignorance, selfishness, fear, hatred, and being just downright ornery. Sometimes I can't help feeling surprised the human race has survived this long. Maybe because we are so ornery.
But we are also capable of the most amazing things. As dark as our darkside can be, we are capable of incredible greatness. In the face of overwhelming adversity, human beings have the capacity for love, laughter, courage, and selflessness.
And I believe, if you go wandering around in the corridors of your hearts and minds, you will find these wonderful treasures, as well as much more.

Dreaming On A Sunny Winter's Day

Dreams are amazing. We can live other lives in our dreams. I have met my true love many times in my night time adventures. And not always the same true love, at least in appearance. I have been to strange, and sometimes forbidding and scary places, while not even being awake. I have experienced pleasure, and pain, even if it was only in my mind. I have been lost in huge cities, on country roads, dark forests, and in distant countries that I have never been to in my waking life.
In my dreams, I have been chased by wild animals, attacked by young punks and crazy people. I have been shot by bikers (motorcycle gang), kissed by strangers, rejected by beautiful women, hung by a lynch mob on horseback (hung by the neck with a rope from a tree by a gang of men). I have talked to people I have known, who are no longer among the living. But in my memory, and my dreams, they live still.
In some of my dreams, I can do physical feats that I could never do in my waking life. And yet, in other dreams, I have trouble being able to do the simplest of physical activity. Particularly in nightmares, when trying to escape from some kind of monster, be it human or otherwise.
So, on a winter's day, sunny but oh so cold, even though spring seems a long way off, I wish you warm and pleasant dreams. And whatever you're having trouble finding in your waking life, I hope you find it in you night time wanderings.

The Road Attacked Me!

Ok, first, here's what really happened. This morning while I was jogging, I tripped over a high spot on the road and went sprawling (a great word; while being very similar to falling, it is much more descriptive). I took most of my weight on my arms, which were just about fully extended. This put almost all the strain on my shoulders, particularly the left shoulder, which experienced very sharp pain. It took me a good minute to manage to make myself get up, and then continue on my way. The only fortunate part of this accident was that it was a backroad, and as far as I know, no one saw me. Embarassment is sometimes harder to deal with than pain.
Now, here's the story I'm going with (the story I will tell). I was jogging down the road when I saw a child in the road about to be hit by a car. I ran across the street and pushed the child out of the way. The car hit me so hard, it threw me down an embankment (a hill going down from the side of the road). By the time I got back up to the road, both the car and the child were gone.
And so, no one will ever know what a heroic deed I performed.
Wow. Now that's the way to explain what was surely a very clumsy, and embarassing, mishap.

Wow! I Get Younger Every Year...

Well, it seems it is my birthday. I can live with that. Life has never been better for me. I believe our perception of life changes, and grows, as we get older. I suppose this may be where, what we call, wisdom comes into the picture. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I am wise. In fact, sometimes I am capable of great foolishness as many of us "young" people still are.
Yep, I have a standing joke with some of my friends that I am 29, and have been for many years. The truth is, I am now 59. Make that 59 going on 19.
Life has been good to me, and I believe I am very fortunate. It doesn't take much to see how fortunate, when all I have to do is look around me to see the many who don't have such a blessed life.
To have such good and wonderful family and friends, well, there's very little more I could ask for. Maybe a few good books, and I have many, a roof over my head that hasn't collapsed, good food to eat, and the Magnificent King Edgar the Bald, my favorite cockatiel, to keep me company.
Even if this winter won't go away, life is good. I am indeed, a very rich "young" man.

A Funny Thing Happened on The Way To The Party

The title is actually a very common opening line (sentence) that leads into a joke, although you can substitute any other place or thing for party.
There are many humorous incidents in life, and we really should treasure them all. So please, read Hong's comment left after the previous post. She is referring to when we were preparing everything for the Chinese New Year party, and Winnie Lo, who was running back in forth trying to do everything at once, ran up to me to ask for my help in doing something, and started speaking to me in Cantonese, of which, of course, I couldn't understand a word.
Also, for those of you I didn't get a chance to tell, I have to go to a funeral Friday morning, so I will not be at the Library on Friday. So if I don't get a chance to see you before this Friday, I will see you next week.
Remember to laugh, live, and love. And it goes without saying, stay out of trouble!