Road of happiness

One thing I really have liked this weekend was feeling the cold air of the Rockies again. I grew up in Wyoming, so I developed a liking for the cold. Moving around in freezing temperature was different for a change since I haven't lived in cold air for quite some time. But, it was easy to rearrange my thinking about cold air since I reverted to childhood habits fairly easily.

And speaking of adjustments to thinking, I believe a person has to do that when looking at life. Sometimes, what makes for happiness for a person presents itself when least expected. I am very thankful for such a presentation of happiness - so-o-o-o thankful to the one who brought it to me.

Climate change

This morning I woke up to record temperature lows. This evening I am going to sleep with record temperature lows again. I am not much of a low temperature person. So, walking on the streets in 18 degree weather at 8:30 in the morning was noticeable and uncomfortable. I was dressed warmly enough for it, it's just that it was so cold that my face was cold, my hands were cold inside gloves, my legs were cold despite two layers, and my torso was cold under 4 layers. Snow, 18 degrees, and a little wind made for unexpected change.

Since last January, a change in the weather occurred; it is a change for good, a change for beauty. Now I anticipate days with energy. I look forward to them - all due to one unexpected, beautiful change.

Moonlit

On a recent trip the moon shone brightly enough where I could see the countryside while driving even though it was very dark and late. And like the Earth with its singular moon shining brightly down upon it, a person is so very fortunate when rays of encouragement, care, and affection are felt shining in on him from someone close.

Back from the deep end

I read a novel recently called The Deep End of the Ocean. The title was used from a conversation in the book in which a little 3-year-old was swimming in a pool. His mother invited him to swim with her to the deep end, and the boy said no, that he didn't want to go to the deep end. It would be like going to the deep end of the ocean. The rest of the book is about how the little boy survived being kidnapped and finally ended up back with his family. The symbol was that the boy was destined to go to the deep end of the ocean whether he wanted to or not.

The book was excellent. The emotions described on the family's part when they thought that their son was dead were very accurate. The way that that perception of a lost child worked itself out in the family who lost the child showed exactly the kinds of issues that arise between the family members after a loss. It was an excellent book.

At the end of the book, the relationships in the family had almost completely unraveled. At that point the author put a twist in the ending. Generally, the place for a twist in the plot is not at the end of the book, but this one was appropriate, especially since it realistically represented what life brings to people. The author left the reader to wonder what the outcome of the twist would be. I generally don't like that tactic either. In this case, it would have been better had the author been forthcoming with the outcome of the twist because the twist had too many ramifications to it for the reader to choose from.

I thank the person who gave me this book. I have also been to this place where the child did not want to go and have come back like this child did. In both cases there were certain alterations that took place. I would differ from the book in that from the dark cloud hanging over my experience, the most shimmering of all silver linings emerged - clear and beautiful. It has been 6 years since I was in the deep end, but as the pieces of life have rematerialized in my life, the last 9 months have come together in such a way that it is more beautiful now than it ever was before, has more vitality now than I can remember!

Sharing time & space

There's nothing more important than being there. That's the opening line from the Amica Insurance Company commerical seen on TV. I know the truth of this statement. My daughter had a wreck recently and I was not there. I was out of town. Of course, she understood, but she had called me to come to the scene of the accident. How disappointing for both of us when in a moment of need, I was not available.

But, that incident brings up another idea. That even though someone can be out of town, being there is not always a physical matter. Sometimes it is a mental matter. Someone can be allowed to have a place inside the mind or the heart. In that way being there is perennial. There's no end to it like there is to being gone physically from somewhere or someone.

I know that concept is as old as the hills. It appears in literature through the ages. When people came from distant lands to inhabit some new land, they brought their values with them because those values lived in the new inhabitants' minds all through their long journey. And when people had to be away from the ones they loved for extended periods of time, the loved ones would live in the heart and soul of each other.

It may be an old concept, but it still makes me warm when my mind recalls a face or feels a presence from within when I am out of town. Of course, it's easy today to also send and receive digital pictures. So, if I ever receive one of those digital pictures when I am not with someone in addition to the warmth from from the mind's eye and the inner sensation, I go from warm to breaking into a sweat in no time flat because it is still true that there's nothing more important than being there.

The purest gold of all

What would happen if someone ran across an article of pure gold? (S)He would celebrate beyond belief. Articles of pure gold are hard to come by. So many articles are made of pewter or silver, sometimes an alloy, or gold mixed with some other metal. So ruuning across an article of pure gold is momumental. Its authenticity would be unmistakable, its value could not be counted in dollars.



And if one were to run across another person of the highest quality(of pure gold), the same would be true, and he would be the luckiest person on the face of the earth!!!

In the eye of a needle

I wrote a note about intrigue today. The intrigue had come from a book that I had read several years ago. I learned something from that book that has inspired since that time. I learned that in order to survive in a world full of information and disinformation, that stealth is a good mode of operation at times. I learned that there is a time to strike and a time to disappear. It has helped me in my current job. I told my supervisor just last Thursday that we worked in a palace of smoke and mirrors. We spoke of honesty, but that is a commodity that doesn't have much of a place in a smoked filled house of reflections. It's good, then, that I had read The Eye of the Needle. It's about how to debunk intrigue (which happens in a house of smoke and mirrors). That is why it is my second favorite book of all time.

But, I hate leaving a close friend of mine in that environment. Oh, she is plenty stealthy, and she will survive and resist the manipulation people try to use on her, and she'll have a little sordid fun in the meantime. But, I hate it that she has to deal with the people who create such a maze of smoke and mirror operations. She has to live in the eye of the needle, but she is a master at threading it. Love that about her!!!

Vibrance inside

Tonight I was sitting on the back deck that overlooks the valley below our bluff and across to the houses nestled in the twilight on the opposite ridge above the valley. The sun had already sunk below the horizon, so lights on the houses of the distant ridge were shining and flickering in the distance. I sat musing what was going on in the houses on the distant ridge. Of course, there's no way to know. I'm at a distance.

I guess I was thinking this because of my tendency to keep people at a distance from me. Part of that trait is the result of growing up in the Dallas area where a person has to be somewhat impersonal just to survivie there. There are a number of other influences too. But I had to notice while sitting on the back deck that the light from my kitchen window was spilling out onto the deck. The kitchen light flickered at a distance to those on the ridge I was seeing. But, to me it was pouring out over my shoulder. I knew what was in the house behind me. I could turn and see into it if I wanted to or walk into it. I didn't have to guess what was in it.

A few people see me for who I am. I am not a distant light across the valley. When that happens the light inside of me burns more brilliantly, more vibrantly. I am more productive, more at ease with my soul. I don't always know about what lies in the twilight on the ridges of distant hills, but I am certain that any light shining from my windows, shines more brightly because someone sees into me, accepting me for who I am, inspiring me to greater heights because of who they are. I could only hope the same fortunate circumstance for the people in the houses across the way.

Pleasantries

I am reading an article from my Americas magazine about the country of Guatemala. The title of the article calls Guatemala, encantadora. The picture behind the title shows a beautiful landscape of mountain peaks covered in clouds with just the peaks poking through the clouds. It's truly an enchanting picture.

Trips to the lake place my family owns are usually filled with happiness and tranquility, things that make for a pleasant weekend. This trip was even heightened from that. I was driving down with anticipation of the trip being pleasant, but with a singular vision this time, one that stayed with me for the trip and into the night after I arrived. The trip has been so pleasant as a result. Truly, truly encantadora!!!

Treasures all around

Recently, my aunt contracted a disease. It ravaged her body for about a year. Her treasure was stored for the life after this one, so last week she departed this life for her treasure. I am glad for her.

I have a friend with whom I take an annual trip. He recently called to relate some details of the trip that is coming up. These trips are treasures for me. They allow me to be with someone who knows me over a long period of time. All the conversation is honest talk. They help me steer the course through life just that much better.

I recently got to be with my family. We all live in far-flung towns and have work and schedules, so it is always a treasure when we get to be together on occasion through the year, but this particular gathering was heartwarming because all the plans and ambitions that we have expressed to each other through the years have begun to be realized by each one of us. It was an invigorating time.

Other special people become treasures in my life. They make me feel as if I live in the land of Xanadu, the lovely, tranquil paradise described in Coleridge's poem by the same name (although many people call the poem Kublai Kahn). There, rivers wind through lush scenery, waterfalls spray mist, the greenery of life is everywhere to be seen.

Life can be negative and harsh without a doubt, but I don't have to look far to see treasures in the people that surround me to shut out the otherwise austere environment.

The Gift Part 2

Gifts bring smiles to the face and glia to the brain. They make us feel warm to the core, and they lift our spirits. Our steps have more spring in them. They have the ability to turn the day completely around.

While material gifts can do this, it is the people in our lives as gifts that really make life worth living. I learned a long time ago that a person will have many friends. But, the gift of the friend that fits the description above is not usual - a rarity that may happen only at intervals in one's life.

I thank The Giver of gifts for the smiles, the glia, the warmth, and the lift I get from that rare and special person.

The Gift Part 1

Life has a way of changing an event in a matter of a second. I have a colleague and friend who was just enjoying her daughter's first year birthday party one moment when suddenly her daughter lost breath and turned blue. Immediately, the whole event changed. 911 was called. The ambulance rushed to the scene. Paramedics performed life sustaining techniques.

The scene could have been a very sad one. A close brush with death could have turned to less than a brush. But, occasionally life gives us a reason to smile, a wrapped gift that gives us huge relief. Such was the occasion this time. The emergency room stabilized my friend's one-year-old daughter and prescribed medicine. All was restored.

I am totally grateful for the life of this beautiful, precious child. I know that life can spiral out of one's control (not that a person ever has control over the events in life), so when a bundle of love is restored to health, I stand utterly grateful in the face of a great gift. To the One Who Breathes the Breath of Life, I say "Thank you!"

Molding the opportunity

There is a certain amount of truth to the saying "Opportunity knocks but once." It's not exactly true. But if the same opportunity knocks a second time, some features of the opportunity are changed. This I have seen. But, what I have mainly noticed about opportunity is that it comes in a form altered from a person's vision of it in some major way.

For example, if a person dreamed of a particular place (s)he wanted to go, and got the chance to go there, the reason for going would be totally different than the person had imagined. Here's a tangible example. My friend's wife wanted always to go back to a country in Africa. She got her chance, all right, but the circumstances were totally different from the first time she went and different from the reason she had always thought she would go back under. My friend on the other hand, has wanted to be married to someone of like mind after his first wife died. Well, he got his wish, but the circumstance of marriage has taken him on a track far afield of what he thought he would be doing with his life and training.

Ahhh! What to do when opportunity presents itself! The downside of opportunity is always different than imagined. I hate that the most about opportunity. What a person has been working toward comes and asks one to rearrange some of the most special and delightful parts of the current circumstance. Surely this can be negotiated. And surely it will so that the special part remains. There is nothing like determination! Even opportunity molds itself to the determined person!

Images and more images

Images are good to have and keep. Some images are on paper so that I can look at them over and over again or show them off to others. Some are real, but exist in the mind. The mind's eye can create and recreate these images. And then, some images are created in words. These can be read at will and as often as I want to read them.

Images of any of these three types keep me going. I love looking at pictures whether I took them or not. I review my own blogs sometimes just to see the pictures. With the advent of cell phones that have cameras in them, I can see pictures that are sent to me as often as I want to recall them to the screen, which in some cases is often. Or, I can send them to others for them to enjoy with me.

It is the image in the mind's eye that is really important to me. I can see beautiful scenes or beautiful people. I don't even have to close my eyes. I can see mountains, for example, and superimpose them with the image of another's face. Or I can take an image from what has been said in a conversation and recreate it. I can take words from a poem, such as Xanadu, and meditate on raw beauty depicted in words.

The main thing is that images are of great significance. They keep me going. They allow hopeful irrealis in a reality not filled with hope. They allow beauty and peace if I find myself in an existence where little exists. They fill me with dreams that one day will surely become reality.

Can't do without my daily images!!!

Finding the way in a big city

Vancouver is quite the place. The winter olympics will be here in February 2010. I can see the what they are doing already to prepare for the participants and crowds.

It has a great harbor and many little areas where boats can be kept.

Of course, the main attraction is the impressive skyline on the order of Hong Kong.

Vancouver is a blast. One of the restaurants is called Cloud 9. Pictures from here show the urban sprawl.

Following life's river to new horizons

There was a bit of a change in terrain today as we left the Rockies behind and headed to the Pacific Coast. The mountains began to level into plains, and the rivers began to cut deep trenches in rocks forming canyons and gorges. Several could be seen from the rail car I rode in.

But surprisingly, another mountain range appeared along the coast that runs from Canada to Baja California. It's just as beautiful in many ways.

Life resembles this part of the trip. No matter what the experience has been, you have to leave behind what you have become used to seeing in life sometimes, and notice the changing terrain. Then what emerges is new, but equally beautiful, and many times even more delightful.

Second Half

We've passed over the continental divide twice on this trip, once going from west to east and now going east to west. Crossing the divide is like being in a twilight of the witching hour. The first time the clouds were covering the peaks of all the mountains around and the rain was pouring. This time, the clouds covered the mountains right above the tree lines.

The peaks seemed to just break out of the tops of the clouds. But, it was still mystic.

And the most beautiful sites still were around every corner, from waterfalls that sprayed you with mist

to islands in a very wide river that the train followed the entire way of 400 miles.

This trip though signified the beginning of the end, the end of the magic and mystery provided by so many sensational feasts for the eyes. I don't exactly know if the journey across life's contintental divide is as beautiful as the second half of this trip, but if so, it will have been worth living.

Pristine & spectacular

The mountain sites continue to be stunning and spectacular.

I have been on lakes before. I have taken boat rides and pontoon rides before.

I have seen isthmuses before.

But I have never done that combination in Canada's highest places. Besides the tranquility it provides, and the awe, it touches the soul. Pristine is a word that I use very little - probably because I live in an area that is not considered pristine.

But here the air is fresh, the aroma is scented of pines, and the horizon doesn't exist because of the imposing Rocky Mountain towers of granite or snow-covered, glacier-bearing peaks. It's spectacular!

Vistas

When you are on top of the world, you can see 360 degrees.

You can see all kinds of terrain - valleys and peaks and everything in between. It is an awesome, awesome view.

And although life can be rough, it has vistas as inspiring and awesome as the terrain in nature. It comes in the people who enter your life, no matter when they enter. They broaden our horizons, give 360 degree experiences, and otherwise give us impetus to keep going. A toast to those who provide beautiful vistas in our lives.

It's a top of the world, top of the morning day

Stellar days usually don't come very often, especially when I am away from town. But, today was different.

I should have known it would be good. I woke up in a town surrounded totally by mountains. I had a brisk walk this morning and saw two elk in someone's lawn in town. Then I went on a tour of several mountain roads that allowed some breathtaking scenes to be taken in.

The Gondola trip to a mountain peak took me to a panarama that was stunning. I received a text from my daughter, a text from a really good friend from Texas, and ended my day with a special highlight - learning a little French. It doesn't get any better.

Majestic beauty

Some beauty on the earth is truly breathtaking. I had one of those days today. I started in Glacier National Park and ended in Banff, Canada. Those are just two points on a map, but if you are actually on the ground going from one place to the next, then you get to see some real terrestial beauty.

The kind of beauty I experienced today is inspiring. It left me in wonder. It left me better than I was before I came to it. It kept me going the whole time I experienced it. It told me that there was much more more on this planet than just a small set of worries that I might have. It impressed me with the sheer power and mysticism involved in understanding life. It made me delighted to have been on a trek through the rugged mountains that reach to the sky.

I am soaking all this beauty up now, knowing that I will rely on its memory to spur me on later, to be better than I am, to put a small set of worries in a bigger perspective. I also know that I can compare this beauty to those who already inspire me to be better than I am, that delight me having been on a journey with them. It's a very beautiful journey!

It takes some motion to get where you're going

I have never really traveled anywhere for 30 hours. So, when I boarded a train in Chicago headed for Whitefish, Montana, I didn't really know what to expect. I've been on glass bottom boats in small places. I have been on plane rides for 4 1/2 hours, I have been on 24-hour car trips. But I have never traveled by Amtrak for 30 hours - 30 hours of non-stop motion.

I rather enjoyed not driving. Riding a train was somewhat like having a chauffeur. I have slept in moving cars before, so it is not a big deal to sleep in motion. I have eaten in Reunion Tower in Dallas that rotates while you eat, so eating in motion was not a first either. But, here it is a couple of hours after getting off the train, and I still feel the motion going on. It is not making me sick. It's just making me feel as if I am still on a merry-go-round. It's a wild feeling. I sure hope to sleep it off.

The 30 hours was worth the motion, however, because it brought me to a beautiful place to lay my head for the night. Tonight I am sleeping in paradise. It's a superbly manicured ski lodge with a tennis court and golf course beside it. Pine trees and flowers are everywhere. The scent of the mountains, of aspen and pine welcome me here. If anything can make the motion go away, it would be the paradise of a mountain resort. Just loving it. Tomorrow will bring us closer to the heart of the rugged Rocky Mountains. The 30-hour train ride will be in oblivion after that.

Faux pas

Just love vacations! They are so full of the promise of fun and relaxation. But usually reality bites somewhere during the first day of the trip. Here are two examples.

We're flying from the southern part of the US to the northern part. So, we made two stops. All went well. Then we began the descent into the destination city. It's the last 20 minutes of the flight. For about 15 of those minutes we had to go through a rain storm, so there was turbulence, not just a little but a lot. It was the kind that shook the plane, the storage bins, the people's baggage under their seats. People began looking around at what others were doing and thinking. Flight attendants were told to sit down. People began seeing their lives flash in front of their eyes. Then as quickly as it started, about 5 minutes from the runway and around 5000 feet, everything cleared up. Whew! Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The other thing that happened was self-induced. I had reserved my return flight a couple of weeks from now, but was going to pay for the reservations at the airport upon the beginning of trip. So, the plan was to pay for them as we headed out from city of departure. Except that we arrived with only enough time to go through security and board the plane. So, the plan changed to pay for the reservations in the northern city as we left the airport to disappear into the countryside. Except that we had a hard time finding the shuttle to the hotel, so we got distracted. Fortunately, at the hotel we remembered the reservation, but had to take the hotel shuttle back to the airport, pay, then return to the hotel a second time. Of course, that was time wasted, but what do you do, right?

The rest of the trip is ahead. I hope that reality doesn't bite again for at least a couple of days. The next leg of the journey is on Amtrak and train lines bring a smile to my face.

Time is tricky

A Science channel special ran during the spring that had several episodes on the concept of time. I saw 3 of 5. They were very interesting treatments of the subject. They always get me to thinking.

This last weekend something happened where time seemed suspended for some of the moments. At other times, it seemed that time was dragging by. And as the weekend closed, it seemed full of anticipation. Time is tricky like that. And since we live in time as fish live in water, we have to deal with the kind of time we are surrounded by. Fish live in water, but sometimes the water is different around the fish. Some of it warm, then cold on occasion. Sometimes it is stagnant, and at other times it is filled with swift-moving currents. Sometimes it is polluted and at other times, crystal pure. Fish have learned to navigate all types of different waters.

So, I guess there is a lesson in there for me. Time lapses differently around me. Sometimes, I love the time I spend, and sometimes I dread the time I spend. If I am anticipating something happening, say an email that would brighten my day, time creeps by until I receive it. At other times I can view something coming up, say a place I didn't exactly want to go but did anyway, then time stands still. But sometimes, when I know something is about to end, time seems to gain momentum. This whole gamut of feeling time was just this weekend. I won't ever say again that time is evenly distributed down a continuum. That's not true even on the Science specials.

That makes it more important to me to fill time with special events, special people. They affect how time lapses around me. I want many moments to be filled with delight.