A Priveledge to Serve

It was sure to happen.  The illness was too severe, and had progressed along that unstoppable path.  And so, just as one suspected, the obituary appeared in the paper.  Part of you feels sad but part of you feels relief.

Any person who has the real honor of serving in the Fire Department has had this experience.  You are called to help someone with an immediate physical need.   It rises out of their profound illness, sometimes early on but most often at stops along the way to a sure end.  One author I recently read described it as "a depth of sadness" in the eyes that takes many long years to understand.  People get sick, disease takes root and people die.

We don't like death in this country... unless it is in a video game or a movie.  We hide it away, we avoid the ugliness preferring to see a bright new home in heaven.  I understand it. 

Recently my fire station took one of our profoundly ill patients to the hospital.  The Parkinsons disease that had stolen his life was soon going to steal his Life.  His wife patiently and lovingly cared for his needs before we moved him to our gurney for the silent ride to the ER.

It is a priveledge to serve in the Fire Department.  Thank you to my community for giving me that chance.  It has changed me.  Sometimes I can see the 'depth of sadness' in me.  It is one way to understand the human condition.

I hate pictures... I love pictures.

Is there anything with which a person has a more convoluted relationship than photographs?  The camera is faithful.  It tells the unvarnished truth (if you let it) and while we all know they can be doctored to tell the story you want for the most part, especially with candids taken on the fly, it shows just what is.  I hate it.  I love it.  What a conundrum!

I have an image of myself in my mind and lately, every time I see a photo, it shocks me out of that reverie!  What has happened?  Where did the time go?  Who is that next to my family?  I hate it.

Pictures arrive regularly that show our family enjoying each other.  Whenever we can get together to do something we look like we are genuinely enjoying it!  I love it.

My grandsons live in Minnesota.  The internet provides the best link to their lives with youtube, facebook and skype.  They are such fun to watch and enjoy as they grow.  I love it.

I don't think this will be resolved any time soon...

Sitting around the fire

Last night we had a campfire.  We have a nice little spot on the west side of our house that is a ring of decorative stone.  There was also about 2 years worth of windfall twigs and branches from the trees on the west side of the house.  So with this happy coincidence we started a campfire.  We didn't cook or have marshmallows either.  We just sat and talked. We moved our chairs quite a bit too as the smoke was swirling.  Of course the fire had to be tended and encouraged and there were plenty of fallen branches to accomplish this task.  I really enjoyed the slow pace and pleasant conversation as we savored a mild evening and a fine campfire.  It was just my wife and I and one of our sons and daughters-in-law.  Fun.

This is not why this blog is labeled "Fire Garden".  More about that another time.

The Long Way Home

We returned from our trip to Kelowna, BC Canada today and decided to go straight south to the US/Canada border near Osoyoos and then take Hwy 20 across the mountains. Whew!  It was a bit of a drive.  There is still snow up there and the evidence of several snow slides/avalanches that clearly closed the road and took tremendous effort to clear.  There were a couple of spots that had snow still 12 - 15 feet deep as well.  Then, once we had summitted and started on our way down the west side we encountered, of course, rain!  Such rain too!  Waves of hard rain, then light rain, then dry and back to downpour all within a mile or two. Crazy!

Our conclusion is that this is a longer way to go, slowed by many small towns, low speed limits and many warnings of deer on the road (though we did not see any, alive or dead, during our trip today - there was a sign that indicated an average of 260 deer killed on Hwy 20 each year with 91 already killed this year!).  I think we will be using the Canadian route should we take more trips to the BC interior.

Snow... still deep in June!  Wild.

Hello?

Hello world.  Since this is my first posting I want to greet you... hey!   Now that's out of the way I guess I have to admit right off that I am not super sure where this is going to go or even where I want it to go.  My sense is that there is no way to know and that is the most interesting part of this journey.  I am joining the blogosphere because other members of my family have led the way and I have enjoyed the whole process of reading their writing and thinking.  So welcome and enjoy the journey.  It should be an interesting experience.

This weekend we have been in Canada visiting family.  My DIL graduated from nursing school and we were there to celebrate the event.  An interesting spot was early in the ceremony where a 'moment of silence' was held for those who wanted to thank (either spiritually or temporally) whoever or whatever.  It was a kind of "To Whom it May Concern" prayer time.  It reminded me of a BC comic strip where Curly was told by BC that he was having some trouble praying.  Curly said "Let me hear you pray".  So BC starts off "Dear Gosh" and Curly says, "I think I've spotted your problem".

Otherwise it was a grad as grads have been down through the ages... speeches, good speeches, weird speeches and the same old speech of '... the world is now yours, blah blah blah.'  Still, it was the culmination of lots of work and we were proud of her just as it should be.

So there you go... pedantic, pedestrian, and plain.  I am hoping for more.