There are some days when......

   There are some days when, after just a few short minutes, you know that it might be better to go back to bed and start over. No, however, this is not going to be your typical..."you know you are having a bad day when".....posting.

   After discovering that  I forgot to buy coffee on my last trip to the grocery store or forgot to press the 'wash' button on the dish washer before going to bed, I began to wonder what other surprises the day had in store for me. (There were a few old tea bags in the cupboard, but tea just doesn't have the same morning 'kick' as coffee does for me, but...sometimes you make do with what you have.)

   After a brief visual scan of the yard, I finally found the morning newspaper sitting in a puddle of water at the end of the driveway, only this time the delivery person had not put the neatly folded newspaper in a plastic wrapper and the paper was too wet to even think about spreading out to dry. Not the worse thing in the world. I can always catch the news on television.

   Speaking of television, it appears the cable service in not working this morning, so.... no TV, internet or telephone service. Is this some foreign 'rogue' country at work again and is that a mullet haircut he has ?  There is always my cell phone, which, by the way. I forgot to plug into the charger last night. But then there are some days when it might not be a bad thing to be isolated from the rest of the world for an hour or two.

   No news, no phone, no connection to the outside world! A bowl of cereal would be great. Plenty of cereal, but why is the milk a funny color and have a strange odor? Guess I had better add milk to the list along with the coffee I need to buy tomorrow.

   Sticking with breakfast cereal for a moment. I usually put my cereal in the bowl and then add the milk and it blends together quite well. Pour the milk in the bowl first and then add the cereal and it just seems to float on top. Wonder what scientific principle that is? Probably worth a national study....”Why does the cereal float on a bowl of milk?”

   It's raining pretty hard at the moment and I can't get the dog to go outside and besides, my raincoat is in the trunk of the car, which is parked, not in the garage, but in the driveway. I thought I would be smart and, knowing it was going to rain, leave the car outside and let the rain wash off some of the dirt and sand. Did I mention the temperature was 29 degrees and the car was now encased in ice? Well, at least it's nice and shiny.

   My plan was to spend a bit of time on the road today, trying to track down some of the people I hoped would participate in one of the national research studies I am working on, but with slick and icy roads, I think I'll wait until the weather clears and the ice melts. Who wants to have someone knocking on their door on a cold and rainy day? Who wants to have someone knocking on the door 'from the government' on any day? So, this might be a good time to finish up on a couple of projects around the house.

   No clean paint brushes, not enough paint and the sandpaper is pretty well worn smooth. Time to shift to plan B. Clean out the pellet stove. Plug in the vacuum, flip the switch and the room instantly fills with a cloud of black pellet dust. Even the dog runs to another room. Well, at least now I really have something to do! Where are those little blue colored dust collector thingies?

   By mid morning, I had decided that it had not been one of my most productive days, except to clean the living room, and although there had been no major or catastrophic events to slow me down, like a flat tire or the car running out of gas on the interstate or a tree falling through the roof or those other  "you know you're having a bad day events", sometimes there are just some days when it makes sense to roll over, go back to sleep for a few minutes and start over. Maybe by the time I get up the  internet and cable service will be back up and running.

   P.S. For those who thought I might post my annual list of New Year's resolutions, which by the way I very rarely ever keep, that may or may not be for a future edition. However, making sure there is a enough coffee in the house, that the milk in the refrigerator is well under the 'sell by' date and that I park the car in the garage when there is an ice storm might be a pretty good start to some simple, common, everyday resolutions. One more. Clean the paint brushes each time  after using.

                                                     Happy New Year

Of course there's a reason to celebrate............

   Christmas is just around the corner and a new year less than two weeks away now. This alone should and could be cause for celebration. But today, December 21, is a special day too. For those not sure, it is the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

   Each day I watch the weather forecast, primarily to see if I will need a raincoat or thermal underwear or maybe both. But there is one statistic that always draws my attention however....the hours of daylight and the amount of the decrease of sunlight each day since June. As of today, it's eight hours and forty seven minutes of daylight with a decrease of six hours and fifty one minutes of sun light from June. That is when the sun is actually shining. The sun is something we have not seen for many days now, making the dark and gloomy days seem to blend seamlessly into the night.

   The shortest day of the year, or the winter solstice as it is astronomically known. marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere, while those south of the Equator enjoy basking in the sunshine and playing beach volleyball with warm sunny days and  starlit nights. Now all of this shortness and 'longness' has a scientific explanation, the tipping of the earth's axis and orbits around the sun. But that explanation is for another day.

   Winter solstice should not be confused with the first day of winter. The solstice is actually just a moment in time, like many things in life , sometime around 11:00 AM I think. And the first day of winter this year? Let's try the snowstorm of November 3!

   The winter solstice has a long history of importance. In addition to being a time of seasonal change, it was often seen as a time of warning and a reminder to communities of the coming months of possible starvation. In many of the colder locations the months of January to April were known as the 'famine' months.

   On a more positive note, many early cultures recognized the winter solstice as a time for celebration, of rebirth, of festivals and for holiday gatherings. It was also a time when much of the wine, prepared and bottled in late summer was now ready for drinking. Let's party.

   The time from mid to late November to early April is a time of early sunsets and late sunrises. Recently is seems there have been very few sunrises due to the stormy weather plaguing the Northeast. Being the hearty stock we are, we know this, too, will pass and that the sun will eventually shine again. And if not, perhaps we can contact our local legislators to submit legislation about increasing the amount of sunshine each day. Maybe the Governor could help too.

   For those really curious, the shortest day of the year does not always fall on December 21, the result of the earth's trip around the sun and other factors, but that gets too complicated for me to explain here. I'll stick with December 21.

   But now the countdown begins. With each new day it starts with only a few seconds, but soon minutes will be added to the amount of daylight. And, as if on cue, the seed catalogs will begin to arrive in the mail and Kohl's and Target will begin their swimsuit and beachwear advertisements.

   As the sun moves higher into the sky and the once lengthy shadows cast from the low winter sun begin to shrink, it will be time to start up the lawn mower, sweep the leftover sand and salt from the driveway, clean up the yard after the dog and take the car to the car wash.

   For sure, Christmas and New Years are great times to celebrate with family and friends. But let's not forget to celebrate, not the shortest day of the year, but what will soon follow, even if it's only one or two minutes each day. 

Sixty eight..........

   Sixty eight could be the year I graduated from college or the number of foul shots I missed before I made the first one in a very limited high school basketball career. It could be the number of fish I have caught (and threw back) or the year of my favorite car (Mustang). But with Christmas just a few days away, this will be my sixty eighth Christmas celebration. I don't remember too many Christmas holidays as a very young child, but as I grow older the holiday seems to take on  new meaning each year.

   Sixty eight years sounds and feels like a long time. (My knees and joints often remind me of that.) A great deal has happened in the world since 1946. There have been numerous wars, a host of famous and infamous world leaders, new and wonderful scientific discoveries, catastrophic weather and political events, all whose impacts and outcomes still not fully known or understood.

   Millions of children have been born and taken their places in the world, but millions also have died because of disease or lack of food, deaths, the result of a world that often turns a blind eye on those who are different or who others in the world may fear.

   In the last sixty eight years paper and pencils have been replaced with computers and Ipads and spell check. Telephones, once tightly fastened to walls and desktops, now slip neatly inside a pocket or purse and travel with us no matter where we go, keeping us in constant communication with the rest of the world. Who  in 1946, would have ever believed that a television show, perhaps the “I Love Lucy” reruns would be viewed on a telephone that fits in your pocket?

   Over the years family Christmas celebrations have evolved also. I grew older, went off to college, got married and with my wife,  started our own family raising three wonderful daughters. Once only parents, our parents were now grandparents and Christmas took on different meanings for them too.

   Within that sixty eight years our children grew up, went off to school, married and started families of their own. Once parents, we were now the grandparents too.

   In sixty eight years there have been a lot of Christmas trees cut down and decorated, thousands of cookies baked, eaten and given to neighbors and friends and more than a few turkeys and hams cooked for Christmas dinners. I personally like the 'left overs'.

   There have been hundreds of presents bought, wrapped and returned because they were either too big, too small or the wrong color.

   In sixty eight years I wonder how many times “Silent Night” has been sung or the birth of Jesus reenacted at the local churches. But while the world has changed dramatically over the years, the story of Jesus, which dates back long, long before 1946, remains consistent.

   This year will be my sixty eighth Christmas and I look forward to it and many more. I know that as each day passes the world becomes a different place, some parts good, other parts, I'm not so sure. But within a few days it will be Christmas Eve and despite all that's happening around the world, both the good and the bad, it is still a special time for many, including one sixty eight year old living in Maine.

   And to those around the globe who attempt to disrupt and destroy, perhaps out of fear or ignorance, on the eve of December 24^th, I encourage you to put down your guns and, for just a few minutes, be silent. Listen to the silence. Perhaps when the sun comes up the next morning, you will have a new understanding of  what “peace” can bring.

PS......To those who may be reading this, I am well aware that some of your beliefs and ideas may be different than mine. But I do believe that this diversity adds richness to life and that our hopes for the future, regardless of what you believe, are similar. Working together we can all make the world a better place.
                                                Holiday wishes to all!

Sometimes it's nice to get away, but........

   Sometimes it's nice to get away, do a bit of traveling and see other parts of the country and how others live. When that opportunity arises for me, however, it often serves more as a reality check.

   Last week I spent a few days on the West Coast. That's what the natives call it. They don't call it California. It wasn't a pleasure trip, though, so I didn't have a lot of time to see the local sights, although there were a few "local sights" moving around in LAX.

   I have been to Los Angeles before, so I was somewhat familiar with the area and where I was headed. The City of Angels? Let me think about that for a moment. I am not sure I saw too many angels.

   The trip West can often be a bear and this trip was to be one of those times. I am not sure how long the flight time normally is, especially with all the time changes and stuff, but when the airplane pilot says its going to be a bit of a bumpy ride in spots and a bit longer in time than usual, that should be a hint.

   For me, when heading west, sometimes it seems you  get there before you leave and even when you are warned the trip may take a bit longer, often that still happens and this trip was no exception. It was a long time on the plane. But the good news......even with the added flight time,  I still arrived at a reasonable hour in the late afternoon. The bad news..... they ran out of food on the plane at row 21. I was in row 29 and there were still at least 5 more  rows  behind me. Several passengers behind me were not happy, especially since they had paid for lunch in advance. Oh well! Good time to start dieting before the holiday food rush.

   The trip from the airport to the hotel can be an adventure in itself  and I have a lot a respect for those who drive the shuttles hour after hour, day after day. The traffic in Los Angeles, the City of Angels, is frightening. When we stopped it took several minutes for the lady next to me to unwrap her fingers from the seat back in front of her where she had gripped so tightly. Those were not 'angels' driving cars. Six lane highways and high rates of speed  is a far cry from the 'one traffic light' town where I live, where our local police officer  sits in the parking lot of the local grocery store, attempting to catch speeders doing 5 mph over the speed limit down Somerset Ave.

   This was a working trip, so there was not time to get out and sight see, especially as someone my age attempts to adjust to the time changes. The clock on the night stand said its only 3:30 AM, but my internal clock kept telling me its 6:30. Should I get up and go exercise in the fitness center? Are you crazy? Why would I do that? I don't even work out at the local fitness center at home! OK. Maybe I can roll over and go back to sleep for a few minutes. And that's what it was, a few minutes! The new time on the clock was now 4:10 AM.

   The hotel was only a few brief steps from the Staple Center, the home of the Lakers, the Kings, and who knows who else. The enthusiasm for sports teams and entertainment in the area is displayed everywhere.

   And food? I will bet within a stones throw of the hotel, and not including the hotel restaurants, there were 20-25 restaurants, all shape, all sizes, and cuisines.

   After three days of hard work and jammed packed training, it was time to return home.

   The nice thing about coming home from anywhere west of Maine are the tail winds. The travel time not only seems much shorter but it usually is. See what a stiff breeze from behind will do?    
   But as with life in general and a strong breeze at your back, there are always trade offs. Sixty to seventy degree temperatures would give way to twenty to thirty degrees and chances are, upon arrival, it would be dark and much later, and I was just beginning to get used to the time change. And about the snow on my car in the parking lot due to the mid-week storm? I thought the airport staff might at least have cleaned off the windshield! Silly me.

   It's been a couple of days now and I am still trying to catch up on lost sleep, jet lag, and doing the laundry. It is nice to get away every once and awhile and see how the rest of the world lives, beyond the pine trees.  
   But traveling and seeing other places also serves to remind me of the choices I  made to live where I live, far away from the large cities and metropolitan areas, away from speeding traffic and crowded highways, and the long lines of people waiting to get into the movie theaters,  to live in town with only one traffic light and a police officer who sits mostly unnoticed behind the trees in the parking lot of the local shopping area, drinking a cup of coffee, eyes peeled to catch the next speeding vehicle on Somerset Avenue.  It is nice to get away every once and a while, but it's really nice to get back home too.  

  ( Christmas at the Staples Center (Is it the tree or Christmas that is sponsored by Coke?)