The City Mouse in the Country

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 tho

I am driving into the sunset.  The colors of the sky are brilliant; as pinks, oranges and reds dominate the skyline.  The sun continues to set and the palate changes into the darker hues.  It feels as if I'm driving into heaven itself as I make my way down some random country lane. Change and loss have been on my mind a lot this October.  We celebrated the second anniversary of our move from Florida quietly.  We remembered the passing of my mother quietly and are dealing with the loss of Susan's father the best we can.   Her father passed earlier this evening. It's only a matter of time for my father as well. Death and change have been on my mind as of late.   How do you deal with the passing of a parent?  How do you deal with the the realization of our own mortality?  Because like it or not we are next in line.   The coming days will be filled with grief as Susan’s family members say goodbye to their Dad.   I will be there beside them to provide what comfort I can.   One

  I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. - Thomas Jefferson            I sit outside on our front porch, a tall cool glass of home brewed iced tea in my hand.   I'm looking over our "front 40" - basically a few raised garden beds and containers holding our strawberries, cucumbers, tomato's, peppers, Brussels spouts and zucchini.  There is not much I can do for them now, just let them grow and hope that we get a harvest of something soon.   I'm actually a bit anxious about the garden, I want to have something...anything for the effort.     You can plant a seed and try to take care of it as much as possible, but so much is out of your control.     Although to be honest, for the most part I am actually very content, and I can't help but think of an opening line of a poem I once read.  Sadly the rest of the poem has slipped from memory.  The opening line was simply.  "