Sic Transit Gloria

I have been struck lately by the thought of how things are always in transit.  Whenever I get frustrated by things at work I stop and realize that this isn't going to be my workplace for very much longer. 

All we are
    is dust in the wind
           dude.

Now it would be quite easy to make the step towards what is called nihilism.  Nothing matters, nothing changes, it doesn't matter what you do, how you live, what choices you make.  It will all come to nothing in the end.  Therefore (to quote that famous twosome)   Party on dude!

Interesting that Scripture says that we will give an account for every word we say!   Seems to go against that view that nothing matters, eh?

I am now the age I remember my grandparents being when I was a small child.  Time will pass and my grandsons will be sitting at a computer in the future and... you know, I don't know where they will be sitting in the future!  What I hope is that they will remember me with fondness, with a certainty that they were loved and cherished by those who went before.

I love reading Norm Maclean's "A River Runs Through It".

    "It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.
     Now nearly all those I loved and did not understand when I was
     younger are dead, but I still reach out to them."

Fortunately for me nearly all those I loved (and did not understand) are living and I still reach out to them.  Last quote from the famous twosome - Be excellent to each other!

Profundity and all that.

There are times in life when it would be nice to have a trove of profound thoughts and sayings stored up for use in the perfect moment.  All too often though, I find myself seeing the perfect moment slip by without so much as a word.  In fact I usually find profound moments in my 'rear view mirror' instead of coming attractions down the road.  Isn't that the real world anyway?  How many cringe worthy events can you recall where your profound comment was limited to 'duh?' or 'what did you say?'  I can think of four or five moments right off the top where I recall my comment or response with absolute clarity to the point that I can make myself blush!  Some of those events happened 40 or more years ago too!  Why don't I have great moments of profound wisdom rolling from my lips in that same dead light of clarity?  Perhaps this is why... I am not the one who gets to declare a thought or statement as profound.

Drat!

Perhaps this is also why we can appreciate poetry or music as the writer or composer has the luxury of spending quality time over the phrasing, tempo, metre and lilt. "If I had that kind of time, energy and expertise I too could compose a sonnet, write a top 10 hit, or have my work quoted in school papers everywhere."  Dream on buddy!

So I will have to let this blog scratch that proverbial itch and leaving it up to you, the reader, to decide if any 'pearls' escape to be quoted some day later on.

So here are a couple of pearls that I have found in birthday cards over the years.  My family will attest to the fact that I still have some of these in my possession!

"When it comes to friends you are a peach."  (Then inside the card) "Well, except for the fuzz and that 'butt crack' thing."

A Birthday Poem

"It's easy to smile
when your ship comes in
and your friends all like you a lot.
But brave is the man
who still can smile
when his shorts creep up in a knot!"

(And my all time favorite!)

[Picture of a rather portly couple in the kitchen of their home]
We've given up sex for eating.
(Inside the card)
Now we can't even get in our own pants!

Hope you have enjoyed my 'moments of profundity'.

I have.

A New Computer

Last time I tried to post something on this blog the computer I was using just didn't cooperate.  It finally stopped all together at the end of September.  It was off to the store and we came home with a new computer.  It is so much better.  Perhaps now I will be able to 'blog' a bit more regularly.

So.

Since my last post:

- I have turned 60 years of age.
- I have completed my 23rd year of full time firefighting.
- We purchased a newer vehicle than the ones we are currently using.
- We had a visit from my folks.
- We had a reunion of fellow alumni from VBC.
- This is the 40th year since I was in the 1973 EC.

So I am pretty sure that anyone who was reading this blog regularly gave up on me.  So here is hoping that I will be able to get this restarted.

No promises mind you, just hopefulness.