Monday, September 26, 2011
Our One-Legged Friend is Back
Our one-legged bird friend is back! Last winter there was this one-legged kolea bird hoping around our front yard nearly every day. Kolea spend their summers in Alaska and their winters in Hawaii. They have been gone for a few months. I have spotted several of them in the park recently, and I wondered if our friend would be back. Yesterday, our one-legged friend was there to great me in the front yard. I'm so impressed he made it all the way to Alaska and back!
I Just Don't Want To
I feel obligated to post an update on the last two weeks, and what life is like sans kids. Well, I just don't want to, so I'm not going to. Instead, please enjoy this fine musical selection.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Eye of the Storm
Yesterday I was on vacation with my family. Tomorrow I will be taking both of my kids to college. Today, by all accounts is a normal Sunday. I woke up early, went to church. I came home, ate the first thing I saw in the refrigerator, and promptly took a nap. I woke up disoriented, not sure if it was Monday morning, or if I had over slept for church. Now, I'm hungry for dinner and wishing that the kitchen fairy would show up and make me something fabulous.
It feels like I am sitting here in the eye of the storm, the calm moment sandwiched in between two big events. The past two days were a whirlwind of fun and excitement. We explored the island of Kauai with great enthusiasm, hardly coming up for air. It was pretty much non-stop action. We saw beautiful sites, played in the pool, and swam in the ocean. We ate fabulous food, and had a great time.
This was the first family trip we have taken in a long time. The last time we left the island together was 6 years ago, for my mother's wedding. A trip, just for fun, was long over due. It's easy to live in the moment during a trip. I guess that's the point of going on vacation, to leave your cares behind and enjoy just what you are doing right then and there. No wonder the family vacation is such a part of our culture. We should have tried it sooner :).
I had no idea, but there is this amazing, Grand Canyon like site on Kauai. It is Waimea Canyon, on the west side. The drive up there was long, and winding, and did I mention long? and winding? After hearing protests from the back seat of motion sickness, and my own rising sense of panic and queasiness, I cried, "uncle", about 2 minutes before we reached the top. Thankfully the driver didn't listen to me! That was a good lesson for me about not giving up too soon, etc, etc. Anyway ... see for yourself, the view was breathtaking!!
It's kind of hard to believe that all of these photos were taken on one island, only 33 miles wide and 25 miles long. It was cold and wet at the top of the Canyon, warm and sunny at the beach. When the river boat stopped at the Fern Grotto, it was down right hot.
... and today is, well, just plain old, normal. Which is good. Normal can be a very good thing.
Tomorrow both of my kids are packing up, and heading off to college. Not unlike the vacation, it will be a day full of excitement and activity. There will also be a couple of long drives, and maybe even a stop at the beach :).
And after tomorrow ... normal will be reset.
It feels like I am sitting here in the eye of the storm, the calm moment sandwiched in between two big events. The past two days were a whirlwind of fun and excitement. We explored the island of Kauai with great enthusiasm, hardly coming up for air. It was pretty much non-stop action. We saw beautiful sites, played in the pool, and swam in the ocean. We ate fabulous food, and had a great time.
It's kind of hard to believe that all of these photos were taken on one island, only 33 miles wide and 25 miles long. It was cold and wet at the top of the Canyon, warm and sunny at the beach. When the river boat stopped at the Fern Grotto, it was down right hot.
Tomorrow both of my kids are packing up, and heading off to college. Not unlike the vacation, it will be a day full of excitement and activity. There will also be a couple of long drives, and maybe even a stop at the beach :).
And after tomorrow ... normal will be reset.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Diving into Life
Life is like the ocean. Sometimes it is calm and peaceful, and
sometimes it is a raging storm. Even during the peaceful times, there
are waves and currents. The tides roll in, the tides roll out, day
after day, without fail. The ocean is always teaming with life and
activity. It is never still. It is always changing. Life is exactly
like this.
If you attempt to sit still in the ocean, you are carried one way or another by waves and currents. It takes some action on your part to direct your path, or to even stay in one place. You have to swim, tread water, kick, paddle, drop an anchor, do something, or you are going to be moved. If you pause, for even a moment, the current can move you great distances. The ocean is a powerful force, even when peaceful.
Have you ever stood at the beach and let the waves rush over you? Not ready to jump right in to all the chaos, you timidly walk down to where water meets sand and inch your way in. As you stand there enjoying the cool flood over your hot feet, WHAM! a huge wave comes and knocks you on your butt. As you try to stand, the sand under you rushes away, pulled back into the water with the receding wave, you lose your footing, and down you go again. As you struggle, another wave comes along, and you are rolled. That second wave doesn't need to be very big to knock you over, since you haven't fully recovered from the first one. You are only sort of standing, and very unsteady. As wave after wave continues to hit, you tumble, and roll, struggle, and gasp. Eventually, you back up, and retreat to higher ground, or dive on in and try to get all the sand out of your pants.
Inching towards a big change in life can be frightening. We approach with caution, and inch our way in. Standing there, hesitating, we can get hit with a big wave, a devastating set back, like a major illness, job loss, death of a loved one, etc. Then when we are down, and still struggling to stand, even the smallest waves can knock us back down, and keep us down, tumbling us over and over, as we struggle to breathe and stand. Sometimes it seems like those waves keep on coming, and that we are going to drown, that the ocean will win, and drag us out to sea. We might even need a friend to rescue us and pull us one way or another, out of the line of fire.
The best way to go for a swim in the ocean, is to run and dive right on in. Dive over the wave, into the wave, or under it. When you are swimming, you cannot be knocked down. The wave loses its power when you stop resisting, and go with the flow. What is a powerful force at the shore, capable of knocking you flat, is a gentle rocking motion when you are bobbing along in the middle of it. If you are swimming under the surface, it feels like nothing at all. While standing, or treading water, if a large wave approaches, and you aren't paying attention, you can still get walloped good. A face full of salt water that leaves you sputtering, but still upright. If you see it coming, all it takes is a little hop just at the right moment, and you float along, with your head safely above the surface. Resisting is what causes all the trouble.
In life, it's just the same. It's the resistance to life's changes,and challenges that bring all the destruction and pain. When we fight against the inevitable, when we hesitate to take the next step, that's when life really knocks us down. We have to pay attention, see what is coming our way, and then jump on board, and ride the wave. When we resist, we go under, we sputter, and gasp. Life is never going to be like a reflection pool - still and perfectly clear. It keeps moving, and changing. Every day we have new things come our way. Life changes. If we don't figure out how to adapt and change with it, we suffer, and life is harder than it needs to be.
Learning to anticipate the waves, and jump into them, rather than resist, helps smooth out the ride. If you see a future challenge coming, do what you can to prepare for it, and when it hits - jump up to great it, rather then try to out run it, you will float along with only a minor disruption. You can't out run, or out swim, the waves of change that life brings. Babies grow up, kids get married, people get sick, we have to move, jobs are lost, cars break down, we grow old, and everyone of us will eventually die. You can't avoid these normal life events. You can prepare, you can be watchful, and you can embrace each new wave as it comes your way. You can jump in and live life, rather than stand on the shore and let the waves beat you down. You must keep moving, if you wish to have any peace. There is no such thing as standing still.
If you attempt to sit still in the ocean, you are carried one way or another by waves and currents. It takes some action on your part to direct your path, or to even stay in one place. You have to swim, tread water, kick, paddle, drop an anchor, do something, or you are going to be moved. If you pause, for even a moment, the current can move you great distances. The ocean is a powerful force, even when peaceful.
Have you ever stood at the beach and let the waves rush over you? Not ready to jump right in to all the chaos, you timidly walk down to where water meets sand and inch your way in. As you stand there enjoying the cool flood over your hot feet, WHAM! a huge wave comes and knocks you on your butt. As you try to stand, the sand under you rushes away, pulled back into the water with the receding wave, you lose your footing, and down you go again. As you struggle, another wave comes along, and you are rolled. That second wave doesn't need to be very big to knock you over, since you haven't fully recovered from the first one. You are only sort of standing, and very unsteady. As wave after wave continues to hit, you tumble, and roll, struggle, and gasp. Eventually, you back up, and retreat to higher ground, or dive on in and try to get all the sand out of your pants.
Inching towards a big change in life can be frightening. We approach with caution, and inch our way in. Standing there, hesitating, we can get hit with a big wave, a devastating set back, like a major illness, job loss, death of a loved one, etc. Then when we are down, and still struggling to stand, even the smallest waves can knock us back down, and keep us down, tumbling us over and over, as we struggle to breathe and stand. Sometimes it seems like those waves keep on coming, and that we are going to drown, that the ocean will win, and drag us out to sea. We might even need a friend to rescue us and pull us one way or another, out of the line of fire.
The best way to go for a swim in the ocean, is to run and dive right on in. Dive over the wave, into the wave, or under it. When you are swimming, you cannot be knocked down. The wave loses its power when you stop resisting, and go with the flow. What is a powerful force at the shore, capable of knocking you flat, is a gentle rocking motion when you are bobbing along in the middle of it. If you are swimming under the surface, it feels like nothing at all. While standing, or treading water, if a large wave approaches, and you aren't paying attention, you can still get walloped good. A face full of salt water that leaves you sputtering, but still upright. If you see it coming, all it takes is a little hop just at the right moment, and you float along, with your head safely above the surface. Resisting is what causes all the trouble.
In life, it's just the same. It's the resistance to life's changes,and challenges that bring all the destruction and pain. When we fight against the inevitable, when we hesitate to take the next step, that's when life really knocks us down. We have to pay attention, see what is coming our way, and then jump on board, and ride the wave. When we resist, we go under, we sputter, and gasp. Life is never going to be like a reflection pool - still and perfectly clear. It keeps moving, and changing. Every day we have new things come our way. Life changes. If we don't figure out how to adapt and change with it, we suffer, and life is harder than it needs to be.
Learning to anticipate the waves, and jump into them, rather than resist, helps smooth out the ride. If you see a future challenge coming, do what you can to prepare for it, and when it hits - jump up to great it, rather then try to out run it, you will float along with only a minor disruption. You can't out run, or out swim, the waves of change that life brings. Babies grow up, kids get married, people get sick, we have to move, jobs are lost, cars break down, we grow old, and everyone of us will eventually die. You can't avoid these normal life events. You can prepare, you can be watchful, and you can embrace each new wave as it comes your way. You can jump in and live life, rather than stand on the shore and let the waves beat you down. You must keep moving, if you wish to have any peace. There is no such thing as standing still.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Taking My Own Advice
Blogger has made some pretty drastic changes since I last updated the look of my blog. Who knew that the day I decide to mess around with new templates and backgrounds would be the day that Blogger also introduced a totally new look to the user interface? So, I am finally updating the look of my blog and the editor I am using looks TOTALLY DIFFERENT than I am used to!!! It's a bit like riding a new bike, with a new pair of legs. Not as easy as I had imagined!!
Anyway, I have been a big proponent of "white space" for years. Every client I work with on websites, or marketing materials, has heard my "white space" speech. It was even my personal theme for the entire year of 2010. Websites, and other media, can get too cluttered. Just because you can put in a custom background color AND photo AND texture, doesn't mean you should. There may be a hundred cool gadgets available, but that doesn't mean your page NEEDS them all. It's the whole "less is more" kind of idea. If you clutter up a page the reader doesn't know what they are supposed to pay attention to. If everything is bold, then in reality, nothing is bold. You know those friends that post everything on Facebook in all caps? After a while you just turn down the "shouting" and read it in your normal voice. White space is what you need to surround your important stuff, so it stands out. It's like the matting in a frame around a photo.
My blog was pretty much devoid of white space. It still needs more, but I'm working on it. Dealing with this new user interface is slowing me down just a bit, or a lot. I can't figure out how to get more than one post to show on the home page. The settings all say that it should show up to 5, but, alas, you are only seeing one .... I've about had it for the night. The rest is work for another day. Maybe by morning, Blogger will have fixed the glitch.
Anyway, I have been a big proponent of "white space" for years. Every client I work with on websites, or marketing materials, has heard my "white space" speech. It was even my personal theme for the entire year of 2010. Websites, and other media, can get too cluttered. Just because you can put in a custom background color AND photo AND texture, doesn't mean you should. There may be a hundred cool gadgets available, but that doesn't mean your page NEEDS them all. It's the whole "less is more" kind of idea. If you clutter up a page the reader doesn't know what they are supposed to pay attention to. If everything is bold, then in reality, nothing is bold. You know those friends that post everything on Facebook in all caps? After a while you just turn down the "shouting" and read it in your normal voice. White space is what you need to surround your important stuff, so it stands out. It's like the matting in a frame around a photo.
My blog was pretty much devoid of white space. It still needs more, but I'm working on it. Dealing with this new user interface is slowing me down just a bit, or a lot. I can't figure out how to get more than one post to show on the home page. The settings all say that it should show up to 5, but, alas, you are only seeing one .... I've about had it for the night. The rest is work for another day. Maybe by morning, Blogger will have fixed the glitch.
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