I wonder how modern life would be different if yodeling had caught on instead of rap.
About a year ago, Jennifer and I went to a restaurant for dinner. That evening I ordered a BLT, which I understand stands for a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. After I ordered the young lady taking my order looked at me and asked, “Would you like lettuce and tomato with that?” “Uh, yeah, that would be the L and the T!” Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Same place, different person taking the order. I order another BLT. The young man taking the order looks at me and informs me, “We’re out of bacon, is that okay?” “Uh, no, that would be the B.” Maybe next time we go there and I order a BLT, they will tell me the bread is optional.
How do you react when after helping a co-worker they pause then tell you, “I hope you never retire.”
They say that good fences make good neighbors and I see the truth in that. It might also help if those neighbors can get their dog to stop barking before 9 o’clock at night.
At the start of February, most of our country stops to see if a furry varmint sees his shadow or not and the outcome then determines for some whether or not we will have another month and a half of winter weather. To each his own in this regard and I can imagine that animals living out in the wild may have some innate something or other to gauge the weather somewhat. This though makes me think if we have to poke that animal with a stick and drag him out of his bed to see if he can see his shadow then maybe the lesson we should really learn is that dragging him out of his bed to begin with might mean he’s not ready to come out for spring yet.
Of course, my Dad will tell you when he was a kid, the real groundhog day was February 14, you know before Hallmark took the day over. And then they would shoot the groundhog for dinner. Okay, they would not really shoot the groundhog.
When did wearing pajama bottoms became okay to wear in public?
I know they are necessary sometimes but there are times when I had rather visit the doctor and the dentist on the same day and follow that up with a two hour wait for a five minute haircut than attend a meeting.
I remember when I took my driving test many years ago. It consisted of actually proving that I could drive and then parallel park the car. I wonder if that is still done today. I wonder because many people can’t seem to park a car by simply pulling in between two lines much less backing a car between those two lines.
Some things in life may be “slower than Christmas” but time sure is flying by, isn’t it?
I spend some time on Facebook. The people who operate Facebook like to change how it functions and looks from time to time. When this happens I am always amazed at how some people have a near meltdown over something that is provided to them free and is something in which they choose to participate. It makes me wonder how these folks react to change in things that really matter.
We have had our most wintry winter here in many years and I know lots of people are ready for warmer and sunnier weather. It’s been nice though to feel the cold crisp air the last few months. We really do live in an amazing world where an unexpected snowfall is just a beautiful as a colorful sunset.
2.23.2010
2.18.2010
Anything But Routine
By this time into the year, habit has crept in enough for me to write the correct year on checks. Now when I say ‘twenty ten” it no longer sounds like some totally new word I am a bit apprehensive to say in case I mispronounce it. While the year is still new, right now it is losing some of it’s sparkly shine, some of it’s new car smell. The promise and hope that the turning of a calendar page brings still lurks nearby but without much notice or effort it is blending into the space occupied by peripheral vision.
This makes me consider how the end of one year and the start of another sometimes seems like a place where the day-to-day world forgets briefly. Holiday festivities seemingly stretch across every aspect of life, personal and otherwise, and even stretch out for weeks. Neighbors you barely know smile and wave when you see them, co-workers want to have potluck lunches and you just want to grab the hand of someone near you and break out into a verse of “I’d Like To Teach the World To Sing”. Overall, people seem to ease up a bit and breathe easier. Then comes the new year. What follows in the background of life for a short time then is a slow motion sprint to get back to the place you were before the season really started.
That change of pace the holidays bring often seems so well-timed. It’s a breath of cool, fresh air when the room has grown stale and stuffy. It’s a quick stretching of the legs after sitting for a long time. It’s the refresh button on a web browser.
In time things eventually do get back into a rhythm. Despite the needed change, comfort often comes in the routine, the every day. While now and then things need to be shaken up, it seems it’s the everyday things that keep things grounded. It’s the cup of coffee with a drop of dairy stirred slowly four times before the first sip. It’s three minutes of calm at the end of the day in the easy chair before everyone else gets home. It’s the knowing without thought how far up the wall to reach in the dark to find the light switch.
This whole idea came into focus recently, as I was driving to work and I found myself subconsciously guiding my car between two shingles that apparently flew off a truck at some point last summer and via time and heat and traffic had become affixed to the pavement. As I did this it dawned on me that I had done this before. Although my routine had been broken now that things were getting back to normal I realized that every day if I am in that lane of the road at that particular place I subtly slide my car into the turning lane a few feet so my wheels can avoid running over those shingles and then slide the car back into the proper lane.
As I continued my drive that day I felt a certain appreciation in the same ol', same ol', in the everyday. Soon enough, I'll need that breath of fresh air but for now, the comfortable place where I find the routine seems like a good place to be.
This makes me consider how the end of one year and the start of another sometimes seems like a place where the day-to-day world forgets briefly. Holiday festivities seemingly stretch across every aspect of life, personal and otherwise, and even stretch out for weeks. Neighbors you barely know smile and wave when you see them, co-workers want to have potluck lunches and you just want to grab the hand of someone near you and break out into a verse of “I’d Like To Teach the World To Sing”. Overall, people seem to ease up a bit and breathe easier. Then comes the new year. What follows in the background of life for a short time then is a slow motion sprint to get back to the place you were before the season really started.
That change of pace the holidays bring often seems so well-timed. It’s a breath of cool, fresh air when the room has grown stale and stuffy. It’s a quick stretching of the legs after sitting for a long time. It’s the refresh button on a web browser.
In time things eventually do get back into a rhythm. Despite the needed change, comfort often comes in the routine, the every day. While now and then things need to be shaken up, it seems it’s the everyday things that keep things grounded. It’s the cup of coffee with a drop of dairy stirred slowly four times before the first sip. It’s three minutes of calm at the end of the day in the easy chair before everyone else gets home. It’s the knowing without thought how far up the wall to reach in the dark to find the light switch.
This whole idea came into focus recently, as I was driving to work and I found myself subconsciously guiding my car between two shingles that apparently flew off a truck at some point last summer and via time and heat and traffic had become affixed to the pavement. As I did this it dawned on me that I had done this before. Although my routine had been broken now that things were getting back to normal I realized that every day if I am in that lane of the road at that particular place I subtly slide my car into the turning lane a few feet so my wheels can avoid running over those shingles and then slide the car back into the proper lane.
As I continued my drive that day I felt a certain appreciation in the same ol', same ol', in the everyday. Soon enough, I'll need that breath of fresh air but for now, the comfortable place where I find the routine seems like a good place to be.
2.09.2010
The Unintentional Eavesdropper
Growing up, my family was on a telephone party line with one of our neighbors. It was tempting to pick up the phone receiver quietly enough to not be found out and then to listen in on a conversation that wasn’t intended for my ears. I don’t really recall doing that because we had enough respect and love for that neighbor not to do such a thing. Still, listening in on a conversation not meant for your consumption is tantalizing.
Confession time. Recently, I found myself eavesdropping. Please understand I didn’t do this on purpose. I just happened to be somewhere where I needed to be while at that very moment a conversation went on near me. By chance, I was an eyewitness to two old friends who had not seen each other in a long time just happening to run into one another.
In this mostly public setting these two friends caught up on the details of the other’s life. Five minutes in a day at the start of a week spent tightening the connections that extend through the years between these two people. There was some talk about health concerns. There was some talk about family matters. There was some talk about professional issues. Although I know both of these people I did not fully understand most of what was said as my friendship with them doesn’t span as much time and effort as they have invested in their friendship.
What I could understand was the smiles on two faces, the laughter of two voices, the interest revealed in four eyes and the knitted layers of intangibles, both simple and complex, that allow a friendship to bridge across things such as time and absence. Even though technically I was eavesdropping, I couldn’t help but feel encouraged by being a spectator to this whole encounter. It is too easy today to get caught up in how effortless it is to get and stay connected electronically with people we know that sometimes it all feels somewhat detached and mechanical. And due to some limitations, such as distance, keeping in touch through a text, email or social networking is a surefire way to keep friendships alive. Still, nothing beats the feeling when you experience a friendship where eyes sparkle on first sight, where a handshake or hug happens without thought, where the sound of a voice not heard in awhile is as comfortable and relaxing as your favorite easy chair, where the memories flood in like an overflowing river and where two people pick things up right where they left them the last time they were together.
Good thing great friendships work the way they do...overcoming various obstacles such as time and distance...and even an occasional unintentional eavesdropper.
Confession time. Recently, I found myself eavesdropping. Please understand I didn’t do this on purpose. I just happened to be somewhere where I needed to be while at that very moment a conversation went on near me. By chance, I was an eyewitness to two old friends who had not seen each other in a long time just happening to run into one another.
In this mostly public setting these two friends caught up on the details of the other’s life. Five minutes in a day at the start of a week spent tightening the connections that extend through the years between these two people. There was some talk about health concerns. There was some talk about family matters. There was some talk about professional issues. Although I know both of these people I did not fully understand most of what was said as my friendship with them doesn’t span as much time and effort as they have invested in their friendship.
What I could understand was the smiles on two faces, the laughter of two voices, the interest revealed in four eyes and the knitted layers of intangibles, both simple and complex, that allow a friendship to bridge across things such as time and absence. Even though technically I was eavesdropping, I couldn’t help but feel encouraged by being a spectator to this whole encounter. It is too easy today to get caught up in how effortless it is to get and stay connected electronically with people we know that sometimes it all feels somewhat detached and mechanical. And due to some limitations, such as distance, keeping in touch through a text, email or social networking is a surefire way to keep friendships alive. Still, nothing beats the feeling when you experience a friendship where eyes sparkle on first sight, where a handshake or hug happens without thought, where the sound of a voice not heard in awhile is as comfortable and relaxing as your favorite easy chair, where the memories flood in like an overflowing river and where two people pick things up right where they left them the last time they were together.
Good thing great friendships work the way they do...overcoming various obstacles such as time and distance...and even an occasional unintentional eavesdropper.
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