I'm Just Going To Leave This Right Here: The Spring Fever Edition

Ah, sweet springtime. The grass has turned into a coloring book green. The bees buzz in the air with abandon. The dust trail of pollen hazily hovers in the air. Summer is but just a reach away, so close but just beyond the fingertips.

When it comes to thinking of spring time, so much in my life revolves around the ending of a school year. In younger days, spring time would mean a field day where classes would compete against each other in relay races and tug-of-war pulls. Later, it would mean the end of homework for a season and the thoughts of sleeping late or a midday fishing trip with my brother.

In college years, spring time and the end of the school year brought crazy study sessions where so much of what had been studied in previous weeks just had to find some way, through two Mountain Dews, two Snickers bars, two cups of morning coffee and no sleep, onto a test. It also meant the start of the search for a summer job and reconnecting with friends back home, if only for a few months.

Nowadays, I work for a school. The approach of summer lost it’s meaning many years back. The school doesn’t roll up the sidewalks then store away the buildings until late July. There is plenty to do until August returns and my to-do checklist for the next academic year begins months before the first due date for a student test for the fall semester. Despite this, almost every year, I will get a twinge or two of spring fever, a few moments when I want the current school year to end, just so spring can finish up and get summer started.

Back in the day though it sometimes felt we had to give the semester one last push, maybe not across the finish line, but at least a bit closer to the finish line. When we felt that need, someone in our group would take a trip to the nearest video store and secure a movie we knew would motivate us to keep moving until our spring fever subsided. That movie would be “Animal House”.

So, in case you have caught spring fever and have this need, a real hankering, for things to move along a bit maybe these three minutes from that movie can help pull you closer to the line you need to be to make it through into summer. Sit back, enjoy, “Shout” if you must. I’m just going to leave this right here in case you need it.

Otis Day and the Knights "Shout"

from the movie Animal House

When Even The Skies Are Blue

“These are sad times
World gone mad times
Men doing bad times
Lord, what is this world coming to
Between religions and wars
Drugs and divorce
Hell, it seems like the whole world is fight'n
The sun might be shining
But even the skies are blue”

It is a wonder, at times, isn’t it, how we get to the places we arrive. It is hard to fathom how in our world today we can have so much, how we can know so much but how we still cannot find happiness. Anymore, some choose to not even let others be happy. How dare they experience happiness.

“These are hard days
Heavy old hard days
Dead string guitar days
And the devil is picking his tune.

When our daddies quit staying
And our mommas quit praying
Even the children quit tryin’
God must be crying
Cause even the skies are blue”

I see it as a battle as old as time. That, though, is just too simple an answer for some to accept. Okay, then. Tell me again how all the complicated, involved solutions just seem to be making matters improve. And, yeah, I know, who am I to even dare bring God into all this, when my own life is a mess sometimes? Funny, though, in a peculiar way, how some freely hand out gold shiny medals for good intentions or just showing up for pretty much anything and everything but how these same people are incapable or unwilling to extend the same to someone intending to live their life, albeit imperfectly, in the shadow of the love of God. Grace and mercy must have limits with some people especially to those they choose to not understand.

“If we all know a way
To make a better day
Why isn’t anyone trying
The sun might be shining
But even the skies are blue”

Living in the world we live today, with so much potential and promise, it is amazing how we let those with the loudest voices manipulate then divide us. We allow this to happen over things we make acid tests for acceptance just so these loud voices can stay elected or on our TV sets. I could rant and rave here in this space then suggest you turn off the cable news. I could say setting your phone down so you can skip Twitter and Facebook for a few days might relieve your stress level so you can focus on living life away from fretting about the fate of the known free world. I’d just be another voice lost in the muddle of modern humanity trying to figure out why so many seemingly want no one to be happy again. I choose, though, to be happy. I choose to let the blue skies I see, and the blue skies my family sees, be skies of hope and promise, and not skies of impending doom and gloom. The difference can be subtle. Any difference seen though begins with me. You have a choice also, don't you? Please make it matter.

"Even The Skies Are Blue" written by Jamey Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAz33RP-b3o 

The Lessons A Garbage Can May Hold

The Dilemma

Life can beat down hard and fast on a body so much so that sometimes it is difficult to focus on things that need attention. I struggle with this often and find I need reminders of how simple things sometimes provide powerful lessons if I only notice. I sometimes try to pry life lessons from small things. I’m not sure if I am quirky that way or if it is some way that my occupation had molded me or if it is now my being a dad that lends itself to this. No matter what it is that influences me to be this way I recently discovered a lesson for myself and I gained it from watching our young daughter Hannah and then thinking about being her dad. It all started with a garbage can.

The Background 

Tuesdays are garbage days on our street. Late each Monday night, I roll the big blue can out to the curb at the end of the driveway leaving the can and it’s contents, a week’s worth of stuff we no longer want around, for a big truck to devour the next day. We go about our lives and, like magic, that big truck appears and by the end of the day we discover an empty trash can at the street curb. Of course, this now means that can needs to be returned to where we keep it the rest of the week.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, as we turned into our driveway Hannah noted the garbage can and understood it needed to be put back where we keep it. On this day, the weather was cold so I had already determined when we got home I would pull into our garage and get Hannah out of the car and into the house then deal with returning the garbage can to where it belonged later. As we neared the garage though Hannah asked if we could retrieve the garbage can and that is where the lessons started.

The Experience	The Lessons
As we got out of the car, I told Hannah if she wanted to return the garbage can she needed to put her coat on as it was cold outside.	Prepare for a task when possible.
After getting her coat on, Hannah headed out the garage down the driveway. She charged out with such fervor that I had to tell her to slow down just so I could catch up with her.	Tackle each task with enthusiasm.
As we approached the garbage can, I asked Hannah if she wanted to check the mailbox so we opened it and took out the mail before turning our attention to the garbage can. Since the can is so much larger than Hannah, I had to do some assessing then finagling to get it ready for her to push.	As you get started with a task, look it over from as many angles as you can before diving into it.
When we were ready, we aligned ourselves behind the can and started our journey. At this point we started moving the garbage can. We had to exert some extra energy to get the can going at first.	Getting started is tough-maybe the toughest part of any task-and real effort may need to be exerted to get going.
In the grand scheme of things, I was doing most of the work to move the garbage can although Hannah was helping.	Understand that sometimes you may have to do more than your share of the work.
I also had to make sure we moved forward at a pace comfortable for Hannah. At one point Hannah told me to move over some so that she could get a better grip on the can.	Communicate with others helping you. Talk to them and listen to them when they talk to you.
We slowed down so I could adjust my grip and give Hannah more room then we moved forward again.	Adjust what you are doing when the needs of others need to be met.
Keeping things going forward was a bit of a challenge since I had be aware of Hannah and still push the can, and to do so with one hand since my other hand had to hold the mail from the mailbox.	Be prepared to balance more than one thing while working on the task at hand.
Eventually we hit a smooth stride and things were moving along well.	Keep at it. You’ll hit a stride and realize things are getting done. A steady ride can mean progress is being made.
Then we topped the small hill in our driveway and just as quick we were rolling the can downhill. Here we had to slow down but we still needed to make sure we kept moving forward.	Be prepared for struggles but don’t look away when things are going well. Going up a hill and going down a hill are two different directions and they both have their own set of challenges.
Finally, we neared the resting place for the garbage can, so we maneuvered it to the right place completing our task.	When you get near the end of a task, make certain you finish it.

The Takeaway

Your takeaway may be how embarrassingly simple things seem to overwhelm this writer. That’s fine. I find when I let life become overly complicated then I lose track of what matters most in life, so any embarrassingly simple thing that brings me back to reality is usually a welcome thing. As I pondered the few moments Hannah and I spent moving a garbage can I thought about how I want her to come to appreciate the simple lessons outlined here. I believe each experience noted here can be projected to much larger issues in life and, in turn, each lesson learned noted here can be used to apply to that experience. I hope it is something she will heed as she grows in life. Of course, I find myself having to experience and relearn many of these lessons over and over-even at my age-and that’s something I’m not certain I could have seen as clearly until a certain little girl called me Daddy.