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Kaleidoscope - rambling on about life

I'm not sure if kids today have ever played with a Kaleidoscope.  You used to be able to buy this silly little toy, which consisted of two or more refractive surfaces in the tube, at any toy store.  Turn it one way and see one colorful pattern, turn it another and see a completely different pattern.  The number of patterns depended on a couple of things which I’m not going to go into here.


Kaleidoscopes however are a thing of the past.  Simple little toys that didn’t beep or let you beat up hookers or kill Big Bad Monsters.  There was no winners, no losers.   There were only moments of simple fleeting beauty.

Relationships, particularly family relationships are a kaleidoscope.  For example, my brother and I are only 3 years apart in age, grew up in the same home and were raised by the same parents, but we were raised by two completely different people and have two completely separate memories of events.

Turn the tube slightly and entirely new patterns appear. 

I thought about that as I listened quietly to the stories of Susan’s family members concerning their recently passed father.  I thought about the conversations that my brother and I have had concerning our family.

Just as the kaleidoscope shows you fleeting moments of beauty, there are fleeting moments in life to reconnect to the things that really matter; that being family and friends.

As I write this the woman I love is sleeping in bed, I hear her roll over and sigh as she makes herself comfortable.  She has grown used to me waking up at 6:30 or so.  She has grown used to my typing away.   She’s not sure why I have to do this, writing a blog that nearly no one actually bothers to read, but here I am.   She accepts that.

It’s a turn of the knob and the beauty falls into place.

We have reached an age where some of our friends are no longer with us, and it seems hard to make new friends.  So we reach out to old friends and hold them tight, remembering old stories and laughing over silly times.

Like that Christmas party/gift exchange where the most sought after gift was a trash can with a smiley face on it.   You had to be there to understand, but even now I smile at the memory. 

As I race towards retirement – and frankly it can’t get here soon enough – I worry that we will not be ready for it or that we will not have enough money.  Sue smiles.  “We will find a way, we always do.” She says.  I believe her.

It’s the turn of a knob and beauty falls into place.

If there is a point to any of this, and I’m not sure if there is…it has to be found in the change of seasons.  The smile of a happy baby, the old couple holding hands as they walk slowly away.  The surety that the sun will set only to raise in the morning and this old Earth will continue to turn.  That we are here to help each other through this mess of a life the best that we can.

To enjoy those fleeting moments when the kaleidoscope falls into place and perfect moments of color burst through the grayness of life. 

No, I'm not depressed although I do feel for my extended family.  I'm going to try and find more color to celebrate life.   I'm going to look through that Kaleidoscope. I am going to celebrate those fleeting moments when everything falls into place and the world bursts into color.

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Location: Stoneboro, PA 16153, USA

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