All I Have To Do Is Last 3 More Years

I come to learn that the world only has 3 more years to go, according to the Mayan calendar and the I Ching and other sources that predict the future. For some people that is a horrible thing, thinking that the end is near, but the truth is, it is always near. For me, it was a bit of a comfort. Hey, I can last three more years of a bad economy, and whatever else comes our way. The idea of trying to last for 50 more years is much more daunting.
I figure if you only have 3 years left, it is about time to start hitting the waves and playing some music!

What Set Him Off

There is a local news item about a man that owned a piece of real estate and mowed down the trees and invited homeless people to live there with a few small signs. This outraged a nearby subdivision, a golf community of 'over 55ers'. The president of the community complained to the city, phone calls, and finally the newspaper goes out and gets photos and the story. Nobody seemed to have a clue why the man suddenly did this, but at the end of the article there was something about his land not having any access to a road but to the private road maintained by the community. Still, nobody had spoken with the man, no one knew why in the world he would do such a thing.
I laughed out loud at the words that were not written, thinking of the snobs in the golfing community thinking they had this guy over a barrel because he had no access, never thinking he would go to the extreme of setting up a homeless camp in their front yard. There is no bad guy in this story, just a struggle between the rock and the hard place. I laugh because I am familiar with the people who think that if they command it, it is done. If things don't go their way, well then things had better change. Sooner or later these people finally learn. The illusion was that the president of the golfing community was in control. Maybe he was a politician before he retired, maybe he was a big boss in a factory. Now, he is learning to contend with the fading thoughts of being in power. At least in this case, a homeless guy got a job watching the property.

While He Was Reading The Sad Poetry

It's either because our new president refers to him frequently, the bad times, or the fact that president's day is right around the corner, but Abraham Lincoln is coming up in conversation a lot lately. One article I read yesterday stated that it was known that he suffered from Depression and one of his means of coping with that condition was reading sad poetry. It was also said that he was the only president known to write poetry, but I'm not as sure of that.
Well, we're living in times now that could depress a happy person, much less anyone that really has problems. There was news today about the housing market that basically said that you might as well slit your wrists now so you don't have to deal with the pain coming up next year. And jobs? Well, there just won't be any, will there?
Then I turn to the forums on the music biz, and it's dog-eat-dog over the little scraps of money to be made. Everyone is trying to figure out how to succeed in a business that is difficult when times are good, much less the current climate.
It makes me think that Lincoln was known for rising out of the mire and into greatness in spite of the obstacles that faced him. We need to think of that now and how it is the time to go for it when everyone expects failure...or we could read some sad poetry.

If Only You Knew Where To Look

Maybe if you carry around a decent camera and click enough photos, sooner or later anyone would get lucky. I sure did this weekend. I froze my butt off camping at Blue Springs in Florida...but one thing the place is famous for is being the winter hangout for manatees. The water is a constant 72 degrees and that is nice and warm in the winter. For some reason, more and more manatees are showing up there and I just happened to catch this photo at 7:30 am, before the park opened and right after my first cup of coffee. What I saw before me was like an impressionist painting, the sun coming up and the steam rising from the water and what at first seemed to be boulders in the stream. Once your eyes focused and realized that you were seeing something along the lines of 200 manatees in close quarters, the thrill deepened. The photo was right there, the image that the longer you looked, the more you saw.
The most amazing part is that in spite of our fellow Floridians best efforts at paving over all that is nature, this still exists only 22 miles away from the big city!

Sleeping below 30 degrees and making friends with the animals

I fully admit that I was a little afraid of trying to sleep the night in a tent in the woods when the weatherman was telling us there was a freeze warning and we were not allowed to have a fire.
We decided to have a charcoal fire anyway and the ranger came to check on us and make sure that we knew that it was going to be in the 20's that night. I was already shivering in my big coat and gloves, standing next to the fire. It seemed like the temperature was dropping quickly and I wasn't at all sure I could sleep or even if my truck would be a warmer alternative. It was about then that we noticed 3 rather large raccoons wandering in and out of the dark, going to check the door of my dad's heated camper (that had no room for me!) and inching in closer to our group, as if wanting to be near the fire (or food!).
I grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and finally made my way to my tent and the sleeping bag and quilt that turned out to be plenty warm as long as I kept it zipped up. I came bolt wide awake about an hour later, hearing sounds in my tent and finding that my cup of cocoa was spilled and a really big raccoon heading back out of the tent. I zipped the tent up tight, but he came back two more times and finally, it was leaving a lantern on the rest of the night that kept him out. I guess this was really more his campsite than mine, and chocolate tastes just as good to a raccoon as it does to a frozen Florida boy.