Should we define the year by people, places or things?

We don't meet people by accident

 they cross our path for a reason.

Each year is different. Some years end very very different. Things change. One of the things worth pondering is "who" came into our life that was in or in as much before. What difference did that make? A good way to retreat from this whole subject would be to suggest that the only thing that changes us is ourselves. We can choose how we want to react to everything that comes into our life but then that leaves us choosing options that are about things that came into our life and like it or not those "things" can define the choices too. People, places and things change. People are often behind why places and things change. People can be good examples, inspiring, helpful and all the bad opposites too. We can look back at the year and ponder those that were "new" or we can recognize that those that have always been their may be the most important influences. 

here are some thoughts I wrote down for you, whoever you are

.............................................old jokes and old posts make for a old looking new post, I suppose. Christmas is often the same as it has been but then things do change. The likelyhood of Christmas being the same seems to be a lot less looking ahead. We are happy to have some new faces on the scene. We are happy to be together. It is exciting to find that our home can fill up and be a place where we can be together.

Vacation, Cranes,Bosque Del Apache, ECT

The Sand Hill Crane are big. They pair up for life. The ones we saw we were told had flown South for the winter from Utah and Montana. Some maybe from Canada. They have one or two chicks. Usually only one lives. They fly the chick down for a winter to teach them the way and then encourage the offspring to be independent.

We took a Vacation this week. Not a traditional vacation. No Disneyland, although I think that might be a worthy goal some day, again. Disneyland for 2 seems like an interesting idea.  Not a driving up North to Utah for a Vacation ............(cause we have them coming here in a few weeks). Just a couple of days off and driving somewhere locally is what this vacation was about.  We went to Socorro. We had thought about going on to El Paso or even Carlsbad but decided not too. A little further South, about 11 miles,  from Socorro is a town called San Antonio and then a little more South, 8 miles along side the Rio Grande, to the Bosque Del Apache which is a special place for migratory birds. Woods of the Apache is what Bosque Del Apache means and it was named for the people who often camped there. Hundreds of thousands of birds are in this area but I think we mostly saw the Sand Hill Crane and the Snow Goose. They come in at the end of the day after feeding and land on the water filled pools on the flat land along side the river. The spend the night on these little pools which I suppose protect them somewhat and then in the morning starting with first light they start to take off.

We had been told by a friend that you just watch and that one sort of moves and then the rest follow. We were excited and hoped to really see them all get up at once.  Turned out that the two days we watched this they sort of went off in small groups........................The really interesting thing is that the birds acted the same way? You see one guy would walk off with his big honking camera and then several would follow. Most of the guys had the big expensive lens extensions.  They  hung out together, did a lot of talking and when they moved they just moved in groups. The birds did the same thing, you see.  O yes we did some people watching too. The guys with smaller lens sort of walked off by themselves so as to not be embarrassed. Not many of the women had these "big" lens extensions or even tripods.  Seemed like the women showed up a lot later than the guys too. For what looked like mostly retired people it was odd to see the guys come together and a lot of the women together. Some of the guys had camouflage pants and jackets and their long lens had little covers that were the same. Course Kathy and I went together and were one of the first there in the early morning. We won't talk about our cameras. Kathy has a pretty respectable camera but it was in Utah in Zach's care. I will also add that we didn't slink off to the sidelines just because we didn't have a $5,000 + camera. We were right there in the middle of it all. I also will have to admit that as far as pictures are concerned I took some good ones, however my I phone somehow was on video so couldn't post those. Kathy got some great pictures. The pictures here are all what we saw but then I just copied them from a site.

Not posted but a great part of our vacation was just an afternoon movie, Lincoln. What a great great movie. Good short road trip, Great Movie.  A nice meal out. Not bad and it is only Friday.

Life Pondered

People, places and things make the sum total of  probably best way to look at a life. All are interesting but the most interesting are the people. Lots of people over lots of years make a difference in a life. This week, mid week, I was with a group of people for a few hours in the evening and felt pretty anonymous.  In addition to anonymous I felt alone and somewhat like I was not accomplishing much each day. Easy to get down even when everything really shouts out to you that you have much to be thankful for. As I was leaving a older fellow (I hope he was older cause he looked older) smiled at me and said, "Hello, I didn't know you were in the building tonight". What a difference one comment can make. How good we can feel when we believe someone else notices us or cares if were present. I suppose those same words could have come accross as empty but this week on that night those words seemed so sincere. People make it worth it. 

Nice person of the day post

wondering can be Stressfull, with a capital S

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I just wondered what to blog today. Something inspiring would be useful. I looked up "spiritual" on google. I don't need to look it up by the way I do know what it is but it did rreminds me of my Dr. Visit yesterday. Don't know why I capitalized "Visit"? Maybe it was because it was the one year anniversary of #2 so it needed to be and "event", or maybe it was because it shed some light on this mention of "spiritual". I occasionally get some chest pains. Guess the nitro helps with that I finally learn. Wondering what caused the pain was a subject discussed at the Doctors. It probably is angina I learned.  My mom had angina and I remember hearing about it over a lot of years. That is the good news ........."A Lot of Years". Anyway the pill helps. The pain may be brought on by stress. I was asked what was stressing me? I mentioned that the pain was stressing me. Sort of a mystery. Why is the pain caused by worrying about the pain? Sort of a chicken or egg question? The picture I found when I looked on google for the word "spiritual" that reminds me of all this, above, makes more sense by the way. Anyway I mentioned "spiritual" up a few lines. The "Visit" had that word come up. The Doc asked how my spiritual side was working? I did mention that a prayer in the middle of the night had worked even faster than the nitro so yes it was fine. I actually typed this first in  small print. I then figured why am I saving space. A blog doesn't take any space really. It is sort of out there but exists nowhere? Course who really knows? Sort of like where did the pain come from? Who really knows? Wondering can be stressful. 

 

A hero

I actually took this picture about 6:10 AM on Sept. 8th. So that means I took this picture before I posted the last blog on our anniversary on which I posted some pictures I like of KJ. I don't have any significant reason for posting this picture today by the way but it does give me something to type under. I was impressed with a talk I heard a week ago where a young lady (in her 30's) told us that her father had gotten in the habit of sending an email each night to his family and the short focus of the email was to find something he was thankful for that day. She seemed to feel it was a good thing and I was impressed with her and how she felt about it. As I look back to my last post I know that I am thankful for the subject of that post. Today I looked at a short video a friend sent to me that was titled "Angel Flight". It was about a airplane crew that brought back solders who had died. The treated the flight as a scared and their special passenger as a hero. I was impressed that the video demonstrated how special the "hero" was. The message was of how important the hero was and how much care went into his special "angel flight".  It seems like that the most meaningful knowledge that we can gain as we go through life just might be to understand how special others are.

46................

46 years ago it would have been hard to imagine what today would be like. They were good years and the trip was a good one.

A whole Month?

Not sure I have ever, since I started blogging, gone for a whole month without blogging. It even surprises me. I could go back and recap the month. It was a fine month in most ways. The cat moved out. Zach moved out. Mike moved out. I put on weight.  On the other hand We drove to Utah. Then we drove back. Now I am not saying that this group of memories are "fine" things. I did enjoy the trip with Kathy and always enjoy seeing the Nelsons.

Perhaps I may post an even more exciting post soon. Maybe tommorrow.

things are more like they are now than they ever have been before"

it has been a while since I posted this picture but then I have posted it before. I was just looking at a quote I have by the way and I liked the quote ........................................."things are more like they are now than they ever have been before". I guess that is true. I suppose it will always be true. Then again the quote is sort of meaningless. On the other hand this picture is proof that we have more inside of us than we often reflect. I do indeed hope that is true. If it is I wouldn't mind it if a "dancer" was inside. What I can't figure out in this picture is why these two people are walking away from each other.  They ought to be walking hand in hand or at least side by side. Sunday we heard a life story of a guy who when he first met someone in our church he was impressed because they liked each other. Then when he walked into a chapel he say people who enjoyed being with each other and said this is how it is supposed to be. He told us a lot about him self by what he noticed in his early years. I

unusual picture............

I grew up accross the street from a park that  had green grass and lots of trees. Of course anyone who actually might read this blog today already knows that. Likewise most if not all of those two or three folks would know that this picture taken yesterday morning is a rare place where you can jog along a grass and tree lined trail for a couple of blocks near our home. Even so it was worth stopping and getting the picture and it is likewise worth recording as a highlight of the week. Getting to this spot took me about 5 1/2 miles which is 1 1/2 miles furter than I a have jogged for a long time.

Some thoughts

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Remember when I was young, so was you

Time stood still

Love was all we knew

Look at us

After all thes years together

Look at us

After all that we have been through

Look at us

Still leaning on each other

If you want to see

How true love should be

Then just look at us

Look at you

Still pretty as a picture

Look at me

Still crazy over you

Look at us

Still believing in forever

Never Cease from Exploring

yesterday I went out early again...............The sky was an "event" and I captured three pictures in less than 5 minutes of the same sky but different. The light moves and it all seems different. I do look at this mountain every day severl times. Each time I do it looks different. Sometimes it is like I am seeing it for the first time. The question is whether it is really different or whether I am different. Always exploring, always seeking and wondering make one different each time.................................................

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1st step , again

Today started out with a walk. Early. This may be the first step in getting back to where I should be. I just have not walked much the last three weeks. It has taken a toll not to stay walking. I really need to get this reversed.

The puzzle of light

Thinking about the pieces of a puzzle is interesting. Spending time with the interesting young lady was a treat. How interesting to be 15. So much ahead.  Life is not what you expect it to be no matter what age you are at. Looking forward at 15 or back much later are so different. Maybe we really ought to always look forward.  I like this poem..............

• Do not go gentle into that good night,
• Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
• Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
•  
• Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
• because their words had forked no lightning they
• Do not go gentle into that good night.

In some ways the beginning and the end are all pieces of the same puzzle.On the other hand if we get caught up looking back we may miss the bigger picture. Older men, if they think they are old, need to "rage". On the other hand if they always looked forward and their days were never enough, then they did indeed rage regularly at the close of the day and probably thought their words were important like forked lighting. It is the bigger puzzle that shows where the true light is. Maybe posting such a thought is just raging but then why not. Why not. No need to stop looking forward.

 

Trains, Coke Floats, and Les Miserables

Neither of these pictures are what I saw last week. We did drive to Cedar City and went through Flagstaff so we saw a lot of trains. I was impressed by how many cars three or four engines could pull. Trains have inspired people for a long long time. Guess it was my turn. The soda fountain here is much nicer than the one I went to in Cedar but then it was a nice little one. Somehow the ice cream and the soda taste better from somewhere like this. On the other hand with all the neat plays we saw it seems odd to post these two pictures. Shakespeare, Les Miserables, and all that went with them last week were a real "treat".

the "GRAND" daughter

Riley is visiting for two weeks. She is our #1 favorite Granddaughter. We are so lucky to have this time with her. Today wew went on my regular Saturday walk. We went by a place where I have taken Mike's picture a number of times. This bronze buffalo is pretty cool and is a great place to take a picture.

Daddy

Fathers Day is for Dad's I suppose on the other hand everyone had a Father somewhere along the line. My dad was a good man. He did his job's well and never gave up. I admire many things about him. I miss him.

Around "this" town area or neighborhood

This is not the picture I took today. This blogger tool is a joke. The day by the way if fine but a lot of other things are not. You can go on to register a complaint and all that means is that your on a list of thousands of posts that I suppose people actually read. I guess ranting on a blog about posts that  you wonder why people in their right mind would read is sort of the ultimate delusion. It is almost as ridicules as wondering why I am centering each line and any logical way of taking that function off and fixing it is just as unlikely to be discovered by me as I type this as figuring out how to tell whoever is in charge that they have lost their mind if they thing they improved "blogger". The only improvement that I can see is the cleaver little tricks you can learn about how to make money by using this blog. If everyone who has figured out the new tools would send me a penny then I wouldn't worry about getting any money. The other day I was wondering if our cat, still with us by the way, was the smartest critter here? Well for sure she is smarter than the folks who created this wonderful new blog ..................the picture I took couldn't be posted because this blogger fool thing turns it on it's side so I found another one. 

Saturday June 9th

The cat is moving out. MJ too. In a couple of months ZJ will be moving out. Things change. The few people that read this mostly know this stuff anyway but in the interest of finding something that sums up today and perhaps this last week I will find a few things to write down. Especially interesting was KN/s blog about their trip to DC and NY. Great pictures were posted. What a great trip. This last week I have worn a pedometer each day and kept track of steps. Things change. I used to kept track of miles and now I keep track of steps. I am not sure if I ever read the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Yesterday for lunch I went to Barnes and Noble and looked around and decided to buy the book. I read a few chapters yesterday. I know from a lot of experiences that a good book, when I find it, can get read from page one to the end in a day or two. This one will take a lot longer. It isn't that it is not a good book it is well written and tells a compelling story. The problem is that the story is so sad and upsetting that I just think I will take it a little at a time. As I sit here deciding how to finish this I am reminded of a couple of things. Harriet Beecher Stowe's writing style surprised me a little as I read the first three chapters. She stopped and made reference to the reader? I have always been fascinated with an author who can do that effectively. I am not far enough into the book but what an interesting observation that she stopped and engaged her readers directly. If you were reading this you needed to be in partnership with the author because it pulls you the "right direction" in to just not liking the story. The story was published in 1852. My great grandfather was born in 1831 and my grandfather who I knew was born in 1871. Both lucky men to not have been where slavery was present.

something different

...............................................prickly-pear-cactus-flowering is something I would not have thought much about before moving to the Southwest. Today when I went for my run walk I thought that I would try to find something "different" to take a picture of. I suppose different depends on what your used to. Even so this cactus is different.

B.T.

Middle of the week. Short post. Looking for something worth saying. Conclusion........................Be Thankful

no picture of a catcus here..................

This week I went to San Antonio and Austin. Of course that has nothing to do with the picture above but I can tell you that I would have liked to have posted a picture of a catcus. I took a picture of very interesting catcus a couple of weeks ago but I can not get it to post any other way than on it's side? I also had a picture of a entryway to a sporting goods store in San Antonio that might have been postworthy. It had a large stuffed Steer with very large horns, standing on a ledge above the door. For various reasons I decided not to post that picture.  The reason I had the Steer picture is because Thursday evening while in San Antonio were driving around looking around in the Northwest part of San Antonio and we went into a nice shopping center and went into the huge sporting goods store and looked around just for something to do. This was a fun experience by the way. I was told that the Northwest part of San Antonio was the nice part of town.  The area was named Stone Oak  and was as said already,  especially nice, but then part of the reason it was nice was because some of the "Spurs" live there I was told? I put a ? after that last sentence because I am not sure who any of the Spur's players are anymore, not to mention that I am not sure why that makes any difference.  Guess being rich is what they meant about why this area was nice. We spent most of Thursday before getting to Stone Oak, drving around Austin. One thing about Texas (for the purpose of this sentence I felt that Texas needed to be bold and underlined) is that there are several versions of it. Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas each seem to be a different version. El Paso is of course a whole different version but they usually don't get billing along with these other places. ...........................................Austin is the best if you ask anyone in Austin by the way.
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All of this driving around was "market research" and we were checking out food locations and different food concepts. In theory I was suppose to have been eating hamburger, fries and sampling the shakes in these locations. I did sample a Sea Salt Shake with carmel and whipped cream on top. I figure when you put whipped cream on top of a shake your sort of ashamed of the shake to start with and are hoping that it will be valued more with the fluffy top.  The Sea Salt Shake with carmel was a little different but nothing to write home about. Putting a little Sea Salt in your mouth (yes the sea salt is just little crystals of sea salt sprinkled on top)  is of course different than the sweet you expect but I am not sure if it is worth it since you stuck with the whipped cream, and the ice cream is not all the rich. The idea of getting paid to do this type of significant market research is an interesting subject. More interesting ,as a overall subject that is blogworthy, and more than sampling Shakes in Texas would be should be an easy thing. For example I have a friend and cousin who spent some of the last few weeks in Wales. That would make for a more interesting blog. On the other hand if you are reading this blog and actually know me then you at least have some clue as to what I did this week. Even so this exicting tale only covers three of the days.  I read an article last week in a magazine about books. It was sitting in KJ's special room and was easy to read since it was on a pile especially close to where I go in and sit for a few minutes each morning. The article said that one could always cheer up or feel good or better by reading something and it sort if indicated that it didn't matter what it was? The implication of this article is that even reading a blog could serve a purpose.  So I use that as justification for writing this today. Perhaps it doesn't matter that it isn't about anything.  Course I am heading out for a run walk right now.

"the" Mom

It is Mothers Day. I posted about my Mom on Friday because I wanted to save today for the Mom that has the most impact on my life. These pictures show a couple of our kids, MJ and ZJ, and both of Katie's. I picked the pictures because they some of my  favorites. Three of them are of the "two of us". Each one of those, in a way, are spontaneous. The one I like best is the one that we are both spontaneous.  I especially like the one of her as a "little girl". Her brother made it into the picture but it is Kathy that I love about the picture of course.

Mom

I suppose we learn to love in a lot of ways, but the most important way is by "how we were first loved". The scriptures tell us in John 4:19 that we love the Lord  because he first loved us.  We learn something about the Lord in and from  that process. He didn't need our love in order to love us. Our mothers in a similar way taught us the same thing. The Lord reminded us of this when he answered the lawyer's question. "Which is the great commandment?" The answer was "Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind." When I look at this picture I see a lot of things. I see a shirt that might have been silk like? I see pants that may not have been what I would have picked out. I see hair on my head that of course I wish I still had but I am at least glad that it wasn't hanging down below my ears. I see those things together as being how my Mom must have wanted me to look like at that time and I see pride and love in her eyes and smile. I am so glad that I was a point of pride for her. I am thankful for that and for her and for the other Moms in my life.

4 1/2 on a Saturday still is a good thing

Yesterday I started out on my regular Saturday run which is really a walk now and went towards teh mountains. I turned to the North. Unlike a lot of Saturdays I decided to head West and to go to a neighborhood that has a green park like area along side an Arroyo. I ought to remind me of the old Portneuf river that runs by the house I grew up in. That river, way back then, had natural banks and overhanging trees and was a very interesting place to grow up by but then today it is just a cement arroyo that the river runs through. In our area the water runs off of what is sort of a long bench area extending from the Mountains and it will build up into a fast moving stream with quick heavy summer rains so a cement arroyo is the answer. All that said the particular one I wanted to take my run by has a park like area built around it. It is indeed unusal to see this much grass. After reaching that destination I headed back home. The run/walk totaled about 4 and 1/2 miles or so. Very different from Saturday runs of years past. .