Confusion

Things happen in our lives that are beyond our grasp of understanding.

Occasionally something will happen and we'll sit and ask ourselves why, pondering for a reason or reasons why some of these inconvenient things happen.

Sometimes though, like recently, an avalanche of things happen and we become bombarded by a barrage of occurences and are left standing in the fallout and trying to deduce just what the hell has happened and what has gone wrong.

Though we aren't supposed to question the reasoning behind these events, for those of us who believe in a higher power and a preordination of events, I find myself right now doing just that; questioning and trying to find reason.

Personally, my own life is going amazingly. Retirement is awesome, Peggy and I are spending much more time together and growing even closer, if one can believe that. We are travelling, spending an increasing amount of time with friends and being able to do things that the constraints of my job used to keep us from doing.

Since her job change, she has more time now, free weekends and longer amounts of time at home in the evening. It's awesome getting to spend this time with my soulmate and we are finding even more things to do and ways to spend quality time together.

However, those that touch our lives, friends, relatives and associates, those folks seem to be going thru some tough times as of late, and it's all happening at once.

We've been losing friends, family and acquaintances much too rapidly recently, and I hope that slows down, though I've been told by those much older and wiser than myself, that this does indeed happen as you get older. It's the nature of this beast called "Life."

I've never done well dealing with loss or having to say goodbye. It's one of my many shortcomings, and I find myself having to go thru it more and more now and at a very alarming rate.

I either need to learn to adapt or it needs to come to a complete and utter stop.

I know it makes no difference, because whichever way it goes, life will go on, with or without me.

Ah, sweet mystery of Life: BITE ME!!!

Labels

A dream of mine, other than the one I've always had of total and complete peace, is to live in a world free of labels.

You know the labels I am speaking of.

Black, white, Native American, Democrat, Republican, Christian, Catholic, Jew, Muslim, Fat, Skinny, the list goes on and on.

Why is it when people are talking they have to resort to labeling people as they talk, for instance, "My friend Bill, you know, the Black guy you saw me with..."?

Why can't they just say, "My friend Bill"?

I remember a few years ago I was reading an editorial in a small town newspaper that was written by the publisher and he was referring to his adopted son as "one of color." Why couldn't he just have referred to him as "my son." Was it really necessary for this man to explain his son's race? He complained that people stared at them out in public and I can't but wonder if maybe the root of his problem was maybe his own attitude towards his son.

Labeling is everywhere you look, everywhere you turn and everywhere you go.

Facebook is full of labeling. Everything from political to sexual to religious.

Someone is always trying to ram their political beliefs down everyone else's throats.

People use their religious beliefs to tell everyone else how to live their lives and who they can and cannot fall in love with.

Freedom of religion, to many, means that you are free to worship as "they" believe you should, not necessarily how you yourself actually believe.

A group of extremists in a religion create havoc and suddenly everyone associated with that religion is an enemy and is labeled as such.

Not only do we label, but we also tend to do so in a not so flattering manner.

I won't go into a list of these disgusting terms, because I don't want to repeat those words here. It's an ugly list and it spews forth hatred in so many ways.

Sadly, we are all guilty of labeling in one way or another.

I didn't realize just how many people consider themselves experts at figuring out who and what everyone else is and that they should all be judged accordingly.

It won't happen in my lifetime or probably in the next lifetime, but hopefully the day will come when people will no longer think it necessary to "brand" other folks based on race, color, political belief or religious preference.

"...you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."- John Lennon

What A Show!

What an awesome show The Georgia Satellites delivered this past Saturday evening, June 15th, at Rushville's beautiful Riverside Park. My hat is off to the band, four of the nicest and down to earth folks you would ever want to meet. They delivered an outstanding kick ass show and gave the crowd everything they wanted to hear and more!!!

I am certainly blessed to work with our outstanding board and a great slate of volunteers who give so unselfishly of themselves each year in an effort to provide this high quality of musical entertainment.

I am also blessed to be able to share this venture with so many friends and also with my best friend in the whole world, who I just happen to be fortunate enough to be married to.

I have made some outstanding friends on this board since I first started with them back in 2007 and I hope I'm able to continue indefinitely. Our board has matured to point that we are operating like a well oiled machine and the stress level is next to nothing and no drama seems to be going on at all behind the scenes.

My thanks once again to the band, a great group of guys who really knocked everyones socks off this past Saturday evening.

Our opening band, The Easthills, really did an outstanding job as well and got the crowd primed and ready for the headliners.

Our sound crew, Showtyme Sound, delivered the best sound available and proved once again why they have been doing sound at Riverside Park since 2006. They are indeed the best!!!

If you missed the show, you really missed a cosmic night. Hopefully you can attend one of our other five shows that will be onstage between now and mid September.

Yes, In Rushville, And Yes, It's Free

I've been doing the Summer Concert Series gig since 2007 and loving every minute of it. We've had some great shows the past few years, and this Saturday night we have a really good one coming up.

For those of you, my Faithful Few, who live in the area, make sure and get to Rushville's Riverside Park this Saturday evening, June 15th at 7PM, for the free Georgia Satellites concert. Opening at 7PM will be The Easthills, with the Satellites taking the stage around 8PM or so.

Yes, you read it right, the concert is free...all you need to do is bring your own lawnchair and sit back under the stars for what should turn out to be a really hard rocking show.

Food and beverages are available on site and all are priced very reasonably.

Hope many of you can make this show.

It's going to be a killer one!!!

Borrowed Message

My congratulations to all of the graduating high school seniors of 2013 and best wishes as you continue your journey in life.

Many years ago I heard a gentleman at a commencement exercise make a very profound statement, and each year I like to share that statement with those graduating from high school. I wish I could give him credit for it, because it is not my statement, but rather one I borrowed from him, but I can't recall the name of the individual who made it.

"Graduates, you may not realize it right now, but you have just finished the easiest 18 years of your life."

game over

attempts to use me
as a pawn
in your wicked and perverted game of
chess
only shows your weak and shattered
state

my continuation falls not dependent
on pieces in pathetic game
rather
on the strengths I have gained
by observing your
weaknesses

you may rush to reorganize
your pieces
yet fail to realize
that a full capture
has already
occured
leaving your side of the board
weak
unstructured
and without merit

checkmate

Clarity

Part of life is knowing what is important, what isn't, what you need to take with you to continue the journey and what to cast off as excess baggage that seems to be holding you back.

8 Years

Eight years ago today I began this adventure called blogging when I set out and typed my very first entry for this page. Since that time I've gone thru spells where I couldn't spend enough time blogging or I spent too much time blogging.

I've met some amazing people thru my blogging and I've gone thru some lessons in human relations as well.

Thru it all, though, I think I'm a better person, a better listener, a better person to share with and hopefully a bit of a better writer of sorts.

It never ceases to amaze me that some people take every entry seriously and think it's all about you, or in some really weird and extreme cases, they think every entry is about them. Trust me, nothing could be further from the truth.

However, that's part of the fun, too, because how many different views one single entry can have makes the writing of them even more fun, actually.

I can tell you that my "Remembering Summer Heat" entries has one, possibly two blogs left in the series. I hope to be tying that one up the near future, but I want the last one or two to be particularly special, since they will be coming to a close.

I have recently written several entries based upon down moods I was in and decided to put them in the trashcan, because, even tho they caught the temperment I was experiencing at the time, I decided I didn't want my Faithful Few to see that rarely exposed side of me.

I will say that one of the things I wrote quite in depth about was the massacre at Sandy Hook, and how I've seen hundreds of posts regarding "gun control" but probably less than twenty postings about the children that were senselessly murdered.

What a reflection on what our society has become. The satirical movie "Natural Born Killers" just seems to me to be more closely related to reality than fiction.

I am finished talking about that, but I'm sure if you stop and think about it, you'll realize that I'm right. I'm sick of hearing about guns and gun control especially by people who have their heads stuck so deep up their owns asses they can't even begin to see the reality of the truth of the situation.

There, enough of that...

Anyway, this blogging adventure will continue, not on a regular schedule, but on the same haphazzard way of publishing I've done it for the past eight years.

After all, that's part of the adventure!

Proverb Update

The grass isn't always greener on the other side, it's just that there is so much fertilizer on that side of the fence making it appear to be that way.

I Will Never Understand

I have never understood, nor will I ever understand, what enjoyment some get out of hurting others feelings, be it with words or actions. The concept is beyond my grasp.

But, so many do enjoy doing this and enjoy inflicting pain, emotional and mental, simply by directing words or actions against another.

I've blogged before about how I eliminated several Facebook friends because of their postings, which were simply either trying to evoke someone's emotions or cause someone pain with the post.

Most of those ignorant and evil people have no place in my life anymore, and sure, some will say "I was just expressing my opinion" but that certainly wasn't the entire reason for the post they made. I even had one friend tell me he makes a lot of those posts "just to see who I can piss off and get a reaction from them."

Sorry, but someone who lives their life doing this must really be starved for attention or simply just enjoying arguing or provoking people.

What a sorry way to live a life.

I try so very hard NOT to hurt people or their feelings. Sure, I screw up at times and I will admit I have made Facebook postings before and then thought of how it might affect someone emotionally, and I try and get that post removed before it does do damage to someone's feelings.

But I do not intentionally go out of my way and deliberately try and offend or hurt someone.

Hopefully I've made a point here, if for no other than reason to spare one person's feelings from being hurt.

Thirty-Five Years

As hard as it is to believe, this coming Friday, February 22nd, will mark Peggy's and my 35th wedding anniversary.

There's been so much that has happened in all those years, and I won't lie and tell you they have all been awesome and wonderful years, but believe me when I do tell you that there isn't anyone on the face of this earth that I would have rather spent the last thirty-five years with.

We had a lot of things against us when we first started out, and we've tackled several obstacles over the years. Thru them all, however, we have remained together, for better or worse, in sickness and health, for richer and for poorer and we've beaten the odds when the odds were stacked against us at times.

I'm not bragging, I'm not gloating, I'm merely stating that I truly believe the good Lord above brought us together, despite all the challenges and the differences, and He knew we would rise above all those things and that we would truly be soulmates for the rest of our lives.

He's allowed us to walk down a troubled path at times, but those walks have strengthened us and have taken our love to new heights and made us both realize how very blessed we both are to have each other and to share a love so strong and so positive.

We have enrichened each others lives and we have developed a bond that rarely two people have nowadays...

This past weekend we went back to Sybaris for the first time in a few years and we reserved ourselves a chalet for the first time and we spent an afternoon, an evening, a night and a morning together, just the two of us, with no contact from the outside world. It was a special and intimate time and it was a time to reflect and be thankful for all we have and for all we have gone thru together...

I'm blessed beyond words, and I consider my marriage the biggest single blessing in my life. My wife Peggy has endured a lot with me and she's seen a great deal of changes in me over the years and thankfully, she has stayed with me thru it all. I am in awe of her each and everyday I have the pleasure of being around her. She completes who I am like no one else ever could and over the years I have discovered just how deep the depth of my love for her goes, as does hers for me.

So, in another three days, we will celebrate another calendar year together and we shall cross over the thirty-five year mark and continue on in this journey of life, love and marriage together.

How could I have ever doubted we would have come this far together?

I love you, Peggy Sue...happy 35th anniversary to you!

Rest In Peace, Nic

The beautiful brown alpaca I have my arms around in this picture had to be put down today...what can I say other than the fact that he was a most awesome and gentle animal and probably the best dispostioned animal out of the lot...I am sure going to miss him...Rest In Peace, Nic!

Down

So much of life I do not understand.

So many painful decisions that have to be made during the course of one's life and no where to turn for the right answers.

Hatred of disease, hatred of the rotting purtification of that which is living, then saddled with the decision to hasten the outcome.

Sometimes the gift of death is the most wonderful gift you can give to one who is suffering, despite what that gift you are about to bestow does to you.

I asked for an answer, and it seems this is the answer He has given unto me.

Even though it's the answer I was expecting, I don't like the answer anymore than I did when I hadn't been given it.

I don't admire my decision that I am going to have to make, and actually, probably already have.

The power and the gift of life is bestowed by the creator, yet at times, the creator reveals to us that it is time for the decision to be made to remove that gift and that power, and to take it away in an effort to be unselfish.

The burden has been passed to me and the decision to proceed is now mine to make.

I don't have to like it.

I don't have to understand it.

But it's me who has to make it.

And I'm still asking, "Why?"

Visual Mirage

Sometimes the most wonderful and abundant things we have in our lives are the ones that are right in front of us and we fail too often to see. Open your eyes, along with your heart, each and everyday and be thankful for those things we all tend to take too much for granted.

70 Years

It's hard to believe, but seventy years ago today, in Port Arthur, Texas, Dorothy East Joplin and her husband Seth Joplin became the parents of a daughter they named Janis.

Seventy years ago today, the face of rock music took a step toward a major change, even before rock came into existence, with the birth of Janis Joplin.

As has always been the case since the first time I heard Janis sing, I feel her loss daily, and I always remember her birthday and the day her life was cut all too short by a lethal dose of nearly pure heroin, which was October 4, 1970.

Everyday the song Summertime goes thru my head. Summertime was always my favorite song by Janis, and since that first time I heard her sing, Janis has become my favorite female vocalist of all time.

I hope and pray, on this seventieth anniversary of her birth, that she has finally found the peace she could not find when she lived upon this earth.

Todd Snider - Conservative Christian..

America Held Hostage

I don't like to post political items, and actually, in a matter of speaking, this really isn't political, because it hits both sides of the fence.

A group of 535 bastards in Washington, DC, are holding the residents of this great nation of ours hostage.

Hostages being held because of 535 bastards political interests.

535 bastards who don't care about the common man, the working man or the senior citizen on a fixed income.

535 assholes who continue to draw their pay, even after they leave office, every year for the rest of their lives.

And to top it all off, they voted themselves a raise today for holding us hostage.

A raise that was supported by the President of the United States.

A President that I had confidence in.

Without a doubt, those 535 bastards are the worst Congress this nation of ours has ever had.

All about politcal agendas.

All about power!


To hell with them all!

Confessions Of A Confused Mind (short version)

Once again Americans are being held hostage by the antics of a partisan group of politicans in Washington. Thankfully, I can say, I didn't vote for a single member of Congress who was a part of this garbage before. Apparently that puts me in the minority of Americans, most of whom apparently enjoy the childish antics of a group of grown men and women who refuse to put the best interests of Americans first.

The life expectancy of human bodys has continued to get longer and longer. It's a shame the mind hasn't kept up. As our bodies continue to improve in stability, Alzheimers and dementia related illnesses are affecting more and more people all the time.

The media continues to bask in the violent, the deadly and the bizzare, while the beautiful and wonderful things that happen in this world take a backseat and are hardly, if at all, ever reported about.

We continually hear about how obesity is taking over our nation, and we hear it in between the commercials for fast food and sugar laden goodies.

CD sales continue to drop, online musical services continue to grow and concert tickets have risen to a totally ridiculous price. A ticket to see KISS back in 1977 cost $7, today, a similar ticket costs $130.

Write a check, stick a stamp on it and mail it and get it anywhere in the nation in three days or less for 45 cents. Use an online billpay service and read the fine print and see that it takes most online bill paying services 10 days to process the same payment for you. Yet this is the way most Americans seem to be doing business now.

Home schooling is at an all time high and young people seem to lack social skills and parents wonder why.

Communities sponsor summer activities with the generosity of sponsorship dollars and provide different types of entertainment for their residents, yet the majority of the residents ignore these activities and complain that there's nothing to do.

Crude oil prices continue to drop yet gas prices remain at an all time high and no longer reflect the price of crude per barrel and Americans have quit asking why and the oil companies continue to rake in record profits and no one seems to care anymore.

Respect has all but disappeared, violence continues to plague our world and if anyone challenges anything in this regard, we're told we are infringing on someone else's rights.

Really?

I will be 61 years old, good Lord willing, in less than two months, and I am amazed at how our world has changed in the last 40 years. I am even more amazed at how much it has changed in the last 5 years.

Can you imagine what another 5 years is going to do?

Confused? Yes, I'm confused, and I don't think it's going to get any better.

Blizzard of 2012?

We just endured what the media cast as the Blizzard of 2012.

That's what the media called it.

I called it a bunch of snow (8 to 12 inches) with strong winds for about 14 - 16 hours.

In my opinion, it didn't live up to the hype the news media was giving it.

Yes, it was bad, the roads were bad and the wind was pretty fierce.

However, it wasn't 15 and a half inches of snow partnered with 40 to 50 mile per hour winds in excess of 2 1/2 days...

That was the Blizzard of 1978, which to me has been the granddaddy of blizzards in my lifetime, and something I hope I never have to live thru again.

In 1978, nothing moved for days. Electric was out for days. Mail trucks could NOT get thru. Hell, nothing got thru!

I won't go into elaborate details about Indiana's Blizzard of '78, you can Google that yourself and see what happened. The picture heading this selection was taken in Indiana after the Blizzard of '78 went thru. The whole darned state looked like this!

I challenge anyone who went thru yesterday's "Blizzard of 2012" to show me a picture that even comes close to this...

It's a challenge that won't be met.

And in my humble opinion, that's a good thing for sure!

Christmas 2012

My wishes to each of you, my Faithful Few, for a most awesome and peaceful Christmas.

Having now been retired for a little over a year, it's rewarding to me to no longer be a part of that magical time of the year at the post office.

Last year, a part of me really missed being there and being a part of the hustle and bustle.

This year, I view it in a different light and am thankful that I no longer have to put in those long exhausting days.

The baton has been passed to a really great group of people in the office and they are doing a stellar job.

During your holiday, try to remember what the season is all about and why we celebrate the holiday itself.

I give you no Happy Holidays greetings, because I am just hard headed enough to remember what the season is truly about, and I wish each and every one of you the Merriest of Christmases ever.

May God truly bless each and everyone of you!