Moral Code

This was not the plan. Every day, then every week, now once a month. I plan to get better at this again and more consistent, but for now here we are.

This one is pretty simple, and for a friend that has always been consistent, never faded, always been in my corner and believes a great deal more in me than I do.

I have said before that I not perfect, not even close, and when it comes to living by a "moral code," I have slipped more often than I like to think, but my friend is right about the basic concept.

I do believe, very much so, that there are very clear lines between right and wrong, and while the ones the line that exists for big things, like how to be a human being and be kind, caring and respectful of others, is very important.

There are things that should never be said, period. There are things that should never be done, no matter what, ever. There is a way to act in the privacy of your own home, and then a higher standard in public, and then an even higher standard in "mixed" company.

Is this "old fashioned?" Sure, I guess. Has the world changed? Yes. Has it changed for the better? In this sense, not at all, in any way, or any fashion. Is it better in some parts of our country and the world than others? Unfortunately, yes.

I was recently allowed the opportunity to spend some time observing a great man, and a great coach, and someone that has endured a great deal in his life, and persevered. This man very much lives by this code, and he instills this in his players, and in every player, student, young man, that he has the opportunity to come in contact with. I watched this Gentlemen address a group of young people, and college players, and youth and college coaches, and his message was, to paraphrase, be a good person, and be a good teammate, "open a door for a teammate." I am not certain, but fairly much so, that he meant that figuratively, as well as quite literally.

There is right and wrong, and anybody that tells you different, or believes different, is part of the problem we face in the world today. This is not about censoring, or restricting ones right to be free, this is about reeducating the world on what is good, kind, moral human behavior, and what isn't, and how important, necessary, vital, to our planet it is to for everyone to try and be the kindest person on the planet because then even though nobody can be perfect, at least we have a chance if everyone is trying.

"Look out for number 1." I believe that statement should be look out for number 2 because if everyone did that then everyone would be looked out for in return.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.

Questions and Answers

A friend sent me these questions today and thought I would include the answers and perhaps some further explanation. The questions from today are italicizd, the original answers in bold.

What is your favorite...

Color?

Have you seen my paintings?? I like blue, and red, but I just like color.

Season of the year?

Fall for the leaves, Winter for the skiing and how crystally everything looks, the reflection of the sun off the ice on the trees, spring for the smell of promise, and summer for the warmth.

Holiday?

Thanksgiving for the food and Christmas for the giving. Although it has been a very long time since Thanksgiving has been as it was once upon a time, and Christmas has lost its spirit.

Activity?

Skiing. Very few people get to know the shear joy of skiing, at level some of us are lucky enough to experience. The quiet of standing on top of a mountain, completely alone, long after all are gone. Looking out across most of Vermont, and some of Hew Hampshire, Lake Champlain with NY in the distance. Gliding down deserted trails catching the last glimpses of light as the day comes to an end. Or, standing, quite literally, on the edge of the Alps seperating Switzerland from Italy in the shadow of das Matterhorn.

Past time?

Isn't this the same as activity?? Cooking. A love, and gift, I got from Ernistine.

Movie?

You are kidding right?? I am watching one now, watch too many probably, but love many. I am watching Sabrina, the remake, with Harrison Ford. Very well done and very funny. The answer is I love movies, not Horror, and not stupid, but other than that, most. There will be a link here soon to my movie suggestions for those that are interested.

Book?

I have to think about this for a while. When I was younger, Old Man and The Sea. Later, Of Mice and Men.

How would you describe yourself?

Crazy. Caring.

If you could do anything in the world what would it be?

Retire. That is not the answer, but I don't want to answer right now.

Teach
Coach
Consult
Mentor (read help others learn from the multiple of listakes I have made)
Write
Paint
Act
Produce
Love

Thank you again for getting this far with me.

Where's the Rush

Just a quick thought about Rush Limbaugh.  The other morning I was listening to the news on a talk radio station, having woken up early to hear this particular show.  I had spent the evening before with the two anchors of the show at a friends wine tasting dinner and they were going to be discussing the dinner and the restaurant on air so I tuned in.  The only problem was that they are on from six to nine AM.

 

I woke up at 5:30, tuned in the station and laid in bed waiting.  I heard them come on the air and surprisingly only one sounded a bit groggy, and was not the one that I would have guessed based on the wine consumption.  Anyway, I was laying in bed listening to the show, and I must have drifted off just before they discussed the event because I missed it.  For the next two hours I drifted in and out hearing their show, but also hearing this commercial for the Rush Limbaugh show which apparently follows theirs each morning.

 

Every time I heard this commercial I simply wanted to pick up the phone, in my half asleep haze, and tell Rush what a moron he is.  Sorry to those that like him, but he is.  His voice has always grated on me, no more so than when trying to fall back to sleep, and he comes up with some of the most aggravating views, or ideas, one could ever come up with, and they are nonsensical.

 

The one from that morning, that was in his commercial each time, was his view that President Obama's redistribution of wealth was hugely unfair to the "super rich," his term not mine, and a huge windfall for the "super poor."  What??  His example was even funnier because mathematically it made no sense.

 

Rush may in fact be right that the super poor will gain an average of $ 2000, and the super rich will lose on average $ 120,000, or whatever number he used for the super rich, again I was half asleep, but $ 2000 to someone that has no money is amazing and will absolutely change a persons life, $120,000, $ 200,000, it does not matter, to the super rich, is pocket change.  If the total annual income for an entire family is $ 20,000 a year than an additional 10 % is real money.  For multi-millionaires, or billionaires, $ 200,000 is at worst 1% of their income, or rounding error.

 

If Mr. Limbaugh wants to make arguments against redistribution, or "big government," or anything else, he should at least use a sound mathematical argument, something that can't be easily defeated by a fifth grader!!

 

Thank you again for getting this far with me.

It Is What It Is

"now a days people really take kindness for weakness"

I have tried to write about this very thought on many occasions, and have not come close to expressing this thought this well. I have never claimed to be eloquent, nor succinct. This is a quote from an e-mail I received last night. This is from a friend that I respect and admire and I thank him for sharing.

I have felt this way for a long time now, "death of common courtesy," and people have been telling me for years that I have to stop being so nice, whatever that means, as if it were possible. I can only be who I am and will never stop, at least not before I stop breathing.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.

Déjà vu All Over Again

How is it that no matter what we do, or how hard we try to change things, we seem to always find ourselves back looking at the same situations, the same dilemmas? If the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting a different result than I am definitely completely nuts, thankfully I am confident that I am in no way alone. Then there is the old standby, “history is doomed to repeat itself.”

Not sure I got that last one right, but you get my point. I am a giant gerbil running on a wheel and I just don’t seem to have the sense to stop, or maybe the know how to jump off. To some extent or another we all are, and I take comfort in the fact that I am not alone, but at the same time would love to find a way get off the wheel even if just for a little while to see what it is like to not be running, to not keep seeing the same pieces of the wheel coming back again.

The other side of course is that there are things that I would have to change in the way I like at life, and at people, and choices I have made about who I am that I simply don’t want to change. Most notably, I believe that deep down all people are good, and that everyone deserves a chance. If I can help someone I am going to do so. When you take this approach you are going to be disappointed, you are going to be hurt, and you are going to have a whole bunch of people saying I told you so, or telling you that you were foolish to trust that person, to give them a chance, to reach out. So what.

This is something I am never going to stop. Seeing the few victories in this approach make it worth doing, and if it is true that I continue to “look the fool,” then so be it. I would rather look the fool and see someone achieve something that no one thought achievable, especially the person in question, than worry about appearances and let someone fail.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.

Rearview Mirror

How nice it is to be able to always be looking forward, always be anticipating the next great challenge, always be happy with where one is and where one is going.

How many of us actually get to do that? How many of us can't stop looking in the rearview mirror as we continue down our individual roads? It is a tough way to drive. I am not suggesting anyone ever try this in real life, but it would be awfully hard to drive down the road looking in the rearview mirror the whole time and actually get where we are going, or even get anywhere without causing a major wreck.

Ok, so I guess I just figured out why it is I am where I am on my particular journey, and not where I thought I would be. All I can do now is keep trying to spend more time looking out the windshield and less time in the rearview mirror.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.

Catching Up

A month has gone by since I have written a word, or at least since I have published a word, for the two of you that read this blog I am sorry it has been so long. This month has seemed much longer, both in missing the writing, craving it, and in where I have been and in the distance and time covered with two simple trips.

I will write shortly about pieces of those trips, thoughts and memories evoked, people and places visited. I will write shortly about other things as well, I hope.

Thank you for reading what came out in the first two months. I hope you will enjoy what comes next. We will all find out what that is as it happens.

Thank you -- once -- again for getting this far with me.