Life's too short

I say it a lot; Life's too short. It is part of my creed and it is a reminder about what is and is not important. If I get to ranting and raving about something too much or if I am carrying anger and resentments, the thought comes to me, life is too short.

Many people go through life bothering themselves and making mountains of mole hills. In so doing, they miss the enjoyment of life. For instance, right this moment as I type, I am aware of Bear chewing his dog biscuits in the kitchen. I hear the crunching. The fresh smell of coffee is wafting in and calling me for that first cup. If my mind were occupied with social intrigue, I would miss all of that.

When I stepped out of the house in the predawn light to fetch the newspaper, I sensed the cool and less humid air. The birds were singing and it was a peaceful world. Soon I will step outside again for my run then go about my day. Worry could have blinded me to all of that.

I see people all the time upset about the smallest things. They are big things to them at the time, but in an hour or two, they will be upset about another big thing.

Life is too short for all of that.

In my line of work, hospitals are not the most secure places to work. When I first started working, I stayed worried about being downsized or cut. I carried that worry with me, but there was really nothing I could do about it except to be a good worker and hope that if they did downsize, they would keep me.

I worried so much that I realized the reality of my worry couldn't be worse than what I was doing to myself by constantly fretting about it. In a way, I accepted the possibility that I might lose my job. If that happened, I would figure something out, I reasoned.

Over the years the security of my jobs has come and gone, but I have always had a job.

Life is too short to get high blood pressure about something beyond my control that might happen.

To let "it" go, "it" being the thing that you bother yourself with is to accept it; accept that it could happen, but know you will deal with it and it will be OK.

Are you afraid you will be alone, unemployed, will die, will run out of money, or be left out? Are you jealous or angry about something, real or imagined? Are you the type to take on every problem as if it were your own?

Life is too short for all of that.

The way I figure it, I am going to die, so I want to live now. My health will eventually head south, so I will use my body and do things now. I don't know the future and I may be left alone at some point, so I will cherish the relationships I am blessed with now.

Life is too short and I don't want to be sitting around mulling over regrets and thinking about the things I should have done.

Life is like an ice cream cone on a summer day. You can eat and enjoy it or you can try to save it, but it will melt away into a useless puddle of goo on the sidewalk.

Now where is that dog leash, I have to go enjoy life some more. Life is too short not to.

Until the next time
John Strain

My World

by Bear

Hi everyone, it's me Bear.

It's bark and tell today. Look what has been happening in my corner of the world.

Daddy said I shouldn't focus on one sport; fetching the tennis ball so he got me a frisbee. It is fun, but I am still learning. I have caught it a few times, but it tricks me a lot.

If I had my way, I would chew it up. Daddy won't let me though.

All of that exercise makes me hungry. Daddy peeled these shrimp and mommy made shrimp scampi. I got to eat some too - ummmmm.

Saturday morning I heard a noise way up in a tree. I thought it was a great big squirrel or something, but it was a man. He was way up in the air and cutting a tree from the top down. Daddy said it's because of the hurricane.

Here is a closer look at the man who made all the noise.

Now where's daddy? I need to go out and practice frisbee some more.

Have a good one and I hope you don't bark up any wrong trees today.

Bear

That's how you know it's love

This is a beautiful song and nice lyrics. I especially like the line:
When the span of forever just never seems long enough.

Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend.

Now enjoy this song.

That's How You Know It's Love
by Deana Carter

If you get out in the drivin' rain
Stand in the eye of the hurricane
And never think twice
If you turn your back on selfishness
And your thoughts are for someone else
Cause' they've changed your life

That's how you know it's love
That's how you know it's meant to be
When the span of forever
Just never seems long enough
That's how you know it's love

When your heart insists that you give it all
When you no longer fear the fall
And you just let go
When the past is finally dead and gone
Fate leads you somewhere to the one
That has your soul
That's how you know it's love
That's how you know it's meant to be
When the span of forever
Just never seems long enough
That's how you know it's love

No part of you questions
No part of you doubts
You're only sure this is what love's about
And nothing and no one
Can stand in your way
Or keep you from sayin' what your heart is dyin' to say
That's how you know it's love
That's how you know it's meant to be
When the span of forever
Just never seems long enough
That's how you know it's love

Until the next time
John Strain

Hurricane season begins

Like the innocent, gentle, dusty swirls of air in West Africa that become tropical waves and eventually hurricanes; no one knows their future. The hurricane season of 2006 is that way.

People along the Gulf Coast are understandably gun shy. It has only been 9 months since the winds and waters of Katrina had their way. Since then a lot has happened to rebuild, but some things are forever changed and other things will not be rebuilt for a long time still.

It is not hurricane arrogance to say, "Unless you were here, you cannot begin to understand what it is all about." That is a truth. It is a truth similar to that of being a victim of a crime or a soldier in combat.

Yes, you can understand a lot. You can read the papers, listen to the eyewitnesses, and watch video footage, but there is much more to the experience if you lived through it and lived the feelings and emotions.

The eyes give a perspective no camera can capture. The heart feels things that words cannot express.

There are wounds here that will never heal. Long after the buildings are reconstructed, emotional scars of Katrina will remain.

Are we ready for another hurricane? Are you ready for open heart surgery? Are you ready to have everything in your life interrupted from drinking water to communication with the outside world?

The evidence of Katrina is still quite visible. The landscape still bears the scars of broken trees, houses are unoccupied and their lawns are grown out of control. Blue tarps adorn rooftops and the whir of chainsaws can still be heard.

It is going to take a long time to put Humpty Dumpty back together and even then he will never look the same.

What society does is the accumulation of individual choices. One of the injustices done during the aftermath of Katrina was to over-generalize the bad behavior of some and the expressions of some to the larger population of the city of New Orleans, Louisianans, and folks along the Gulf Coast. I did it myself and I live here.

A lot of people stayed behind to ride out the hurricane. Some had elderly loved ones to care for, some would not leave their pets, and some had no means to leave. They made choices that in retrospect, looked stupid. However, many of us would have made the same choices.

I may very well have stayed with my dog Bear and risk dying if the alternative was to leave him in the house alone for an undetermined span of time. We had no yardstick with which to measure this storm. Plausible decisions before the storm looked dumb after the storm.

The looting sickened me and still does. The truth is that a few people by comparison to the general population took advantage of an opportunity. Their values allowed them to steal from another because of their own inconvenience.

Some looting was for food, but the majority of the looting cannot be justified. Even worse, policemen were taking part in these criminal acts. The sad part about all of this is that these actions of a few got more coverage than the countless stories of first responders and regular folks performing selfless acts and heroic acts.

Because the hurricane was so vast it makes sense there would be differences in how someone would respond to it. Criminals will respond like one would expect a criminal. A decent person will respond in a decent way. A hurricane is a good way to bring out the true nature of someone.

Employers found out what their employees were really like. Did they protect the interests of the employer? Likewise, employees found out if their employers had a heart. Many employers paid their help through the down time of the business and went above and beyond their obligations.

Volunteers poured in from around the country; con men too. Insurance companies stalled and low-balled claims, politicians pontificated and blamed to cover their own mistakes, while others worked to address the problems. The fact is you could find almost every response from every segment of society. There are things that would make you proud of people and their were things to make you sick.

Race became a major topic. Of course it would; lately, race is insinuated into almost every topic. Jesse Jackson has become the little boy who cried wolf. He sees a racist behind every bush. In fact, he sees them everywhere, but in his own mirror.

When flood waters have not receded and helicopters are plucking people from rooftops; it is not the appropriate time to be debating racism. The people on the ground were not worried about racism, they were looking for help. Hurricane Katrina was not a racist, she was an equal opportunity hurricane.

Ray Nagin was re-elected. My personal opinion of Ray is he is in over his head. I do not think he is particularly smart and I do not think he is very honest. He is not identified as a politician, but he seems to tell his audience what they want to hear.

Ray came up with a last minute evacuation plan recently that would send many people to Baton Rouge in busses and Amtrak trains. This must have been thrown together overnight, because he didn't bother to discuss it with the mayor of Baton Rouge or Amtrak.

When called on this failure to communicate, his response was, "The mayor of Baton Rouge knows my number, he can call me." Unbelievable.

If a storm like Katrina hits anywhere in the US, I believe similar things will happen. Hopefully the Federal Government will respond sooner with food and water. Hopefully the people in hurricane prone areas will have their own plans and provisions. I know I will be better prepared than I was last year.

So strap yourselves in and hang on. It could be another wild ride or it could be just a lazy, uneventful summer.

Time will tell. Time will tell.

Unitl the next time
John Strain

Speaking of freedom . . .

Ahhh, the freedom to work. What would life be like without a job? what would you talk about? Think how much harder it would be to bore your friends and neighbors? Some of the best gossip material comes from work. Some of the funniest stuff comes from work.

Without work, I don't know where I would be. I would not be living in this house, watching DirecTV, and enjoying wireless Internet.

Weekends wouldn't be as nice because without work, there would be nothing to set them apart; nothing to rest up from or look forward to.

Work can be a pain in the you know what, but it gives us the opportunity to be loyal, creative, determined, perseverant, and a lot of other things.

Still, I sure could use another day or two off.

Happy back to work day anyway and Friday is a day closer already.

Until the next time
John Strain