My Daughter Knows Me.

Yesterday, my daughter showed me a picture of a larger person hugging a smaller person.


She had written the larger person saying, "I love you." and the little one saying "I love you, too."


I asked her if the little one was her or her brother.


She replied, "No. That's you with one of your kids at work."


She's a a very perceptive child.

To the Mighty Oak

Oh, mighty oak...

You have dwelt in my yard for longer than I have lived.

Generations have gazed in awe at your stature,

your unyielding presence.



I, for one, am no longer impressed.

While I can agree that you are strong,

you are large,

you are unmoving,

and you provide the promise of shade in summer,

the promise of shelter in rain,

the promise of a burst of color in the dreariest of months;

I am through with you.

For you bring more struggle than joy.

You bring more worry than encouragement.

While your boughs seem mighty,

in winter I see them heaped with heavy burden.

You stand, resolutely lifting mounds of snow.

My home, next to you, feels threatened.

In any moment, the strength you display may give way,

allowing that which would have gently caressed

to careen

to cascade in a thunderous roar

upon those I love most.

Your mighty roots, though deep,

have eroded life around you.

Moss survives at you feet,

permitting the soil to sponge

to slip

and we to spill.

I fear, someday, even you to spill

as the sponge you have created

gives way.

Your leaves do shade in summer.

For a few months

from June 'til September,

I find solace in your shade;

only to look up and know that

every

leaf

will soon blanket my labor

and cause even more

from October

until

May.

I see the happy vermin

scurry in your branches.

They enjoy the nuts

you bear

which I

can not stomach.

The rodents enjoy the bounty

and then deposit the remains

in my gutters

flooding my roof

challenging the solace of my castle.

I do feel

someday soon

I will rejoice

when you are reduced

to wood

for my fire.

Hope for the future

It's the end of July / beginning of August.
It's the time of year when, no matter where I've been, there's been uncertainty.
It's usually at this point, when I was a public school teacher, bank accounts would be running low and the first pay check for the next school year was about to be delayed by an extra week or two.

A year ago, we were unsure about whether I'd be gainfully employed or collecting unemployment. In the end, I found employment earning about the same as I might have if unemployed, but with health benefits.

Now we're at a crossroads for job opportunities. Both my wife & I have applied for some opportunities that would either increase income, increase time at home, or even both. Both of us are on edge about the prospects of change.

I've bounced thoughts around my head regarding what life would be like given the different potential changes and whether or not I could even enjoy them. I've thought a lot about "what do *really want* to be doing?" I've questioned how my job skills and talents should best be utilized; knowing that one person's "strength" is another's "weakness."

Then, I went for a walk and was reminded...

Life is not just about hope for tomorrow, but it's about experiencing joy in the gifts of the present. (Insert piles of applicable scripture, inspirational quotes, and other advice here.)

Car Insurance


I'd like to change the way my car insurance works.

I'd like a monthly fee of, perhaps, $200 with the following things covered:

Gas at most any gas station at the cost of $10 a month for however many gallons it takes to keep my car running a month.

A visit to any local fix-it-shop for regular maintenance and repairs as often a I think my car is "running funny" at a cost to me of only $20 a visit.

and

A visit to a dealership to replace my car if recommended by my fix-it guy for only 20% of the MSRP.


Seems fair when compared to health-care coverage.