I Love You . . . at least I will try.

It is no wonder we all hate each other in the United States. A not so very uncommon occurrence happened recently and both sides latched on to it and blew it out of proportion . . . and we lapped it up like cats and dogs; spreading the hate like a virus with little jabs at the other side on our social media updates. I would use several links in this blog if I thought for one moment that what happened yesterday wasn’t so pervasive that there was a single person out there that did not know what I was talking about. Frankly, I am so sick of hearing about it from both sides that I would rather not even look at another link specifically related to this topic.

I wouldn’t even post this blog, but my heart aches at all the hatred out there right now and I can’t do anything else until I get this off my chest. Right now I am supposed to be getting ready to go out and buy some presents for my friends and family. The reason I do this is to celebrate God’s love and the gift that He gave us (and the gifts that He continues to give us) to show his love – to show his love for everyone. Every. Single. Person. Whether you agree with that person, love, or even hate that person. God loves that person. Period. At least that is what I hold to be paramount in my belief system.

I don’t want to get religious here but there really is no other way around this subject matter. Please don’t be offended by my beliefs and I will do everything I can not to be offended by your beliefs. But I believe that God loves you – whether or not you believe that too.

So a person gets fired by his employer for saying something that they believe and either that person is the devil incarnate or the company that no longer required their services is the fruit of the devil and everyone that works there should be shot. That was the basic consensus I got from reading my social media newsfeeds yesterday.

No seriously, here are some quotes from my newsfeed yesterday:

’I wish y'all cared as much about your senators, mayors and local governments as you do about Duck Dynasty.’

This gives the air that you believe all the people that watch this show are ignorant, or at the very least, uneducated about the government process. How does a comment like this make people that watch the show feel?

God loves the uneducated.

‘I'm not mad at Phil Robertson, I believe ignorant people should have ample opportunity to identify themselves.’

That would suggest that anyone that agrees with him is an ignorant person. How does this statement make people that agree with him feel? Does this mean that you have never had a belief that is based on ignorance? Couldn’t you have gotten your point across without using the term ‘ignorant’?

God loves the ignorant.

‘An extremely intelligent, well-written response to the Duck Dynasty situation from someone who is Christian.

Contrasted with an incredibly dumb response by someone who regularly writes with self-indignant idiocy.’

This statement suggests that it is rare for a Christian to be intelligent and have composed thoughts. How do you think this statement comes across to Christians?

God loves unintelligent Christians.

‘Finally all of these homophobes’ dumb opinions aren’t being tolerated. About time. Beards but no brains.’

This statement suggests that people that believe homosexuality is a sin are homophobes and that if you are a homophobic you must not have a brain.

God loves homosexuals and homophobes.

‘A&E is apparently a bunch of bigots, since they say they support equality and tolerance for all’

Everyone that works for this company is a bigot. Do we really know all the conversations that took place prior to this decision? Do we really have enough information to make such a statement?

God loves bigots.

‘But are we really going to give him a martyr card for being fired from his second job while already a millionaire because he's an uneducated hick and his employer doesn't think a man liking another man is a prerequisite to f*cking a dog?’

Because he listed two sins in the same sentence he must believe that they are inherently related. If he had listed disobeying your parents instead, would that have been a prerequisite to spending too much time with a dog? What makes him an uneducated hick?

God loves uneducated hicks.

Liberal elites laughed & promoted Miley Cyrus’ twerking but suspend Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson… More proof the left doesn’t get it.

An apparent bias can be clearly attributed to a single group of people. No one from any other group has ever promoted a bias in thinking. This political party is clearly evil because I don’t understand their logic.

God loves liberals. God loves Miley Cyrus. Heck God even loves twerkers.

For God so loved the WORLD . . . everyone. I am far from perfect and I do not want anyone to ever think that I am ever promoting the notion that I am better than anyone of the people I quoted today. All I am saying is hate begets hate and love begets love. How do we expect a person to react when we say hurtful things about them?

So I will go out and buy my presents and try to love everyone I meet today, not because I am capable of doing so, or even because they deserve to be loved, but because God chose to love me before I deserved to be loved. I hope you do the same.

Until next we meet.

One Way Trip to Mars?

No seriously, what would you think if I left for Mars in 10 years and never made it back to my home planet? Mars would be my home from that point forward. Really, after a few years on Mars, my body would have adjusted to the gravity difference anyway, making a return trip unrealistic at best. But what an adventure it would be! What a potential to propel human kind forward! What a legacy!

I think I could consider this home.

 I saw an article online yesterday that detailed Mars One’s plan to send 4 people to Mars by 2023 (and an additional 4 people every two years—up to 40 people total). I posted a link to that article on my facebook page, hinting at an interest but questioning whether I would be too old of a candidate by the time 2023 rolled around.

So I took a brief look at the website to look at requirements and maybe a little more background information on the project; not as a serious consideration, but more to satisfy my curiosity.  It turned out that the only age requirement was that you had to currently be at least 18 years old so that you could enter into a legal contract so I delved a little deeper and looked through the videos that had been submitted for consideration thus far. It turned out that there were several people that had already applied that were in my age-range and even a couple that were several years older than I am.

Still, I ultimately dismissed the idea believing that those my age probably would not hold much of a chance of being selected over those in their 20s. And although they said they were not looking for specific qualifications (only general attitudes) because they were planning on training those selected in everything they would need to know to survive an inhospitable planet, I figured an old shovelbum would not have much business up there compared to doctors and pilots and computer engineers.

So I closed the link and moved on to one of the many items on my to-do list and did not give it much more thought . . .

But then I got a message from a friend that expressed the thought that I might be a perfect candidate to apply, if I was at all interested. It read as follows:

I want to encourage you to apply for the mars trip if you are sincerely interested. I feel like you would be a genuine and strong candidate, with your even-tempered and dependable qualities. 

The age seems perfect to me - enough for both maturity and vigor. 

Your experience with anthropology gives you insight into the essentials of culture and civilization.

You're accustomed to a desert environment. 

Your experience in the field makes you a diligent and arduous laborer when it is required. 

And you've shown a commitment to health, kindness and consideration for the well-being of others. 

I seriously think you would be an excellent choice for such an endeavor. Just sayin': go for it if you actually want it!

I was blown away. First, for all of the incredible compliments I had just received in one message, but then at the prospect that I might actually be a ‘strong candidate’.

Then I started thinking about the prospects of that potential reality and my stomach fell to the floor. I am certainly not so naïve to think that there are any certainties in moving forward with such a decision and I also became suddenly well aware of all that I would have to leave behind to go forward with that decision. I have built a pretty stable life so far (as stable as a shovelbum can be), am I really willing to do a 180 for the opportunity to go on an adventure of a lifetime?

I don’t know . . . maybe?

I mean, maybe my friend is right. Maybe my experiences and well-rounded approach to life have all led me to this moment. Maybe all the things I have done and my characteristics do make me a ‘strong candidate’ for such an adventure. I mean, it is not like I am tied down with a family or anything. As more and more of my friends and family have settled down and started a family, I am no closer to that than I have ever been. Maybe that is because I am not meant to be tied down. Maybe I was meant to do this.

But what a leap of faith that is . . . I have never been good at those kind of leaps. Mars One opened applications two days ago and already there are about 100 videos of would-be Martians. When you consider that you have to pay $38 to apply, I find that hard to believe. I envy that they are so sure of their decision that they did not have to give it more than a days thought.  I don’t think I could weigh the pros and cons for a year and still be completely comfortable with such a decision.

All I know is I have been thinking about the idea, the implications, the adventures, and the catastrophes all day when I should be catching up on that to-do list.

Although I am pretty sure my room would never look this neat!

Until next we meet.  

Today Is A New Day - Just Like Tomorrow

Today is the first day of the new year. Three hundred and sixty-six days (leap year guys) from the day we collectively looked at 2012 as a new beginning and celebrated the possibilities of that new beginning. Taken on its own, it is no different than tomorrow or the next day. Today’s significance is arbitrary; based solely on our current system of measuring the earth’s trip around the sun.

There is nothing magical about this day. Nothing about today will make me a better person. That better person has to be created inside of me; I cannot rely on the day itself.

Besides, that is a lot of pressure for one day. Just like that, I am supposed to change into this idealistic version of myself. A few hours ago I was a disappointing version that was inexcusably flawed, but now I am going to be perfect from today on!

Not that I don’t see the benefit of having a day like today in our culture. It is good to have a tangible starting line. But it might be beneficial to look at each day as a new beginning; a chance to inch toward that person you eventually wish to become so that it becomes more like a process and less like an ultimatum.

I do like to use today as a starting line though. It is convenient, even if it is arbitrary.

Last year, like the past seven years, I made a series of goals to be achieved in 2012 in an effort to inch toward the person I wish to become. Today is the day for me to reflect on the progress toward those goals and set new goals for the possibility that is 2013.

Last year’s goals were to:

• Not have any energy drinks – Done. I did not have a single energy drink last year and I feel really good about that.
• Only have one soda a week – Well I made it to June on this one, but slipped when I needed a little extra caffeine to work through a four day leadership seminar with only five hours sleep in four nights. An understandable slip. I tried a few times to start over with it, but I gave up after several slips in the following months and decided to wait for the new starting line and asses the goal at this time.  It may come down to an all or nothing attitude with these kinds of items.
• Lose the 20 pounds I’ve gained since I broke my knee – I actually lost 30 pounds by June!  Grant it I have since gained 10 pounds, but that puts me at 20 pounds and a success in my book.
• Write a blog once a week – I managed to pen 36 entries here last year. Given that there are 52 weeks in a year, I ended up being 8 shy of my goal. But the idea behind the goal was to write more and get my thoughts, memories and experiences on paper (so to speak) so that I would always have them. I took a stroll through some of them over the last couple days and came across several items that I had already forgotten had happened. However mundane some of them might have been, they would have been lost forever but now I will always be able to remember this time in my life . . . so I consider 36 entries a success.
• Write a Novel in November – As November crept up on me, I found myself stressing about this item a lot. I didn’t like that pressure so as other items that I wanted to do built up around me, I decided to back off that goal.  Maybe one day I will write a novel and maybe I won’t.  Right now it is just not a priority and if it does become a priority, I don’t believe setting such a stringent deadline will be appropriate for me.  But I did get a few ideas for a story out of it and I did get to share a couple shorter stories with you all.

It certainly was not my most successful year in terms of reaching the goals that I have set out for myself, but it was forward momentum. That forward momentum is always a success in my book.

Now I must evaluate my progress and decide what my goals for this year should be. After careful thought throughout the year, I have decided on the following.

• One soda a week – I have a new approach that I wish to try to see if I can make this happen or determine if moderation just is not an option for me when it comes to soda
•  No beer – I am not nixing all alcohol from my life this year. But I recently found out I had an allergy to baker’s yeast. Apparently there is a difference between baker’s yeast and brewer’s yeast and I did not test positive for a brewer’s yeast allergy. But I am still having issues that I believe are allergy related that I have yet to get under control. So this is an experiment to see if I feel better with no brewer’s yeast in my system too.
• Visit my grandparents in Colorado at least once – It is really bad that it has come down to making this an actual goal. But I have created quite a busy life for me and that has led to me taking for granted that they are there.  I need to make more of an effort to spend time with my family and this is part of that determination.
• Visit my grandma at least 6 times – I envision an every other month sort of deal here for the same reasons stated previously
• Visit my sister in Australia – My sister is taking a year to study in Australia!  I had a friend working over there for awhile and was to slow to take advantage of that opportunity to see a new place. I will not make that mistake twice.
• Catalog my music - I am to the point where having a list of all the music I have and the mediums I have them in would be convenient - and it sounds like a lot of fun!  

And that is that. I made no goals to continue in any manner with this blog.  It is my hope that I will continue to use this medium, but maybe it won’t be as often. Certainly I would like to do the same semi-daily updates for my trip to Australia that I did with my European adventure. I guess time will tell.

Either way, I don’t think I will be posting the links to each post on my social media feed.  I got a little uncomfortable with the ‘hey look at me’ perception that I felt from doing that. Those that are interested know it is here. It has been a worthy adventure and I thank you all for sharing it with me.

Until next we meet

My Apocalyptic Camping Trip…or The Day the World Didn’t End - Part III

Part III – Are You Really Still Reading This

I woke up the next morning as the night sky began to lighten and I sprung out of my sleeping bag and out of my tent. I wanted to get up on the finger ridge behind us before the sun did so I could watch the very last sunrise ever. I made it to the top just in time for the few clouds over the Whetstone Mountains to start changing color.

There weren’t many clouds in the sky, but they were all in the right spot to give a show that did not disappoint. I have seen better sunrises, but I couldn’t complain since I might not see another one. The sun actually popped up a little further south along the horizon. As the sun arched over the Biscuit Mountain and the rest of the Mustangs, I thought it fitting that it would accent such a prominent image of my childhood. Memories of my childhood came rushing through my head as if a dam had been breached somewhere in a place I forgot existed.

I was content.

I have had a pretty great life up to this point and if God was going to tell me my time was up today, I was alright with that. Good times, bad times, mistakes and triumphs, I was satisfied that I had made the most of the life I had been given. I was ready to sit in my chair, in front of the fire and watch the end of the world in all its grandeur.

 But first breakfast. I had decided that after I fed the pups I would cook me up some corned beef and hash—not a bad potential last meal if I do say so myself. Up until that point the cans that I had to open for the dog food and dinner the night before were all the fancy pull top lids, but that was not going to be the case for my Albertson’s brand corned beef and hash. So I dug through my camp box for my can opener . . . Nothing. Okay, well then I will dig through my backpack for my little emergency can opener . . . Not there.

Really?!

I had a lot of paper weights.

I stood there looking at all the cans I brought that did not have the new fancy pull lids and thought to myself, ‘how am I supposed to survive this brave new post-apocalyptic world if I can’t even remember to bring a can operner?’ Oh well at least my dogs won’t starve as long as they can find someone else to open their cans when I do.

Then I remembered my great-grandfather’s multi-tool that I had been given years back (I think it was in my original end of the world kit). I had already gotten it out because I had been made painfully aware that I had also forgotten to pack a spoon – I’m batting a thousand on this trip! So I pulled it out and, sure enough, it had one of those old school hook-shaped can openers on it that they would show on old Tom & Jerry cartoons. Watching those cartoons was the only reason I knew what it was or how it works. I tried it out and after a while perfecting the technique, the can was no match for me.

Don't let your parents tell you cartoons
only rot your brains, kids

 With breakfast out of the way and still no sign of the apocalypse, I spent the morning fixing the holes Gehenna put in my tent the night before. Not exactly how I envisioned spending my last morning, but if I was going to play out my Mad Max visions, my tent would have to make it long enough for me to perfect my pithouse. That’s right, I am bringing back the Hohokam pithouse as my habitation of choice at least for the first decade or so of my stint beyond Thunderdome. I figure after the 20 or so I have excavated I could probably perfect the process by the second or third attempt.

Nothing says 'Post-apocalyptic warrior' like living in a mud hut.

After fixing the mosquito netting of my tent and grabbing a quick bite of Campbell’s Soup for lunch I decided it was a good time to turn on the radio to hear about the chaos that was sure to be ensuing in the big city at that very moment. The first song I heard was Ænema by Tool . . . Clearly a sign. But lo, that was not the case. The DJs on every station I turned to were going on like it was just another day despite the epic battle that was going on all around them. A likely story. I wasn’t going to be fooled by their mass media conspiracy to mislead the public.

I turned off the radio and went over to finish the last bit of my can of soda. As the last bit of liquid hit my tongue I noticed a fuzzy object mixed in with the expected and instantly spit it all out. I knew exactly what it was. Just as I expected, in the area where the liquid landed was a stunned little bee trying to process what had just happened. Man, that would have been a rough way to spend my last few hours.

They Mayans sent you, didn't they?!

All the excitement, I was ready to spend the afternoon in my chair writing what could be my last musings. I guess it had better be good. As I sat into my chair I noticed a spider crawling where I was about to sit. It reminded me of a scene from Seeking a Friend for the End of the World where Steve Carell has just found out that there are only two weeks left until an asteroid will strike the earth and kill us all. He turns on the light in his bathroom and sees a spider in the sink. His first reaction is to grab something to smash it but hesitates in mid-swing. After a brief pause he turned the light back off and let the spider live out its last few days. He goes to sleep and the next scene starts with him driving into work with several presumed spider bites up his face. ‘Well Mr. Spider, I never intended on killing you,’ I thought as I scooted him off the chair. ‘I would appreciate it if I did not wake up with bites all over my face.

Oddly enough they are all better the next day?

The afternoon and evening passed uneventfully as I enjoyed some spam (with reduced sodium – gotta think heart healthy you know) and corn for dinner. Still no sign the world was about to end. As I settled into my chair in front of the fire, I looked up at the moon. It was bright and had one of those rings around it—really beautiful. But high clouds were moving in and blocking all the other heavenly bodies, save Venus. ‘Not going to be much of a show tonight. I should really stay up until midnight though – don’t want to miss the action!’

High clouds, nothing! This is the work of the Mayans!

Once again, I did not make it to 9pm.

But I woke up in the middle of the night again to relieve some bladder pressure and this time I made a concerted effort to check the time. 3am. Well Looks like I survived the Mayan onslaught. Tomorrow I will begin my effort to bring civilization back to the world – but until then I could use a couple more hours of sleep.

No apocalypse, Tommy Boy need sleepy.

The next morning I went on a nice long hike with my pups, ate some breakfast and started a small fire with nothing out of the ordinary happening. By noon I had mused a bit more and decided it was a good time to check the radio again. Sure enough, everyone was going on like the world hadn’t ended yesterday.

I decided I was not going to take the word of the lying media, but the distant sound of a chainsaw and ATV’s indicated that people were going back to their regularly scheduled program. I had to investigate first hand to see the Mayan atrocities. So I cleaned up my camp site (always leave your camp cleaner than when you got there kids!) and headed out.

On the way back I had to go through the Border Patrol checkpoint . . . it was still there?!  Wouldn’t you know it; everything else was as it had always been too as I made my trek back to my house. Those darn Mayans lied to me! See if I ever trust a Mayan again . . . maybe I shouldn’t have cashed out my 401k.

Until next we meet.

My Apocalyptic Camping Trip…or The Day the World Didn’t End - Part II

The Adventure Begins

Work slowed down so I ended up taking the 20^th off too. The plan was to leave straight after work so I could get to my spot well before the apocalypse—you know, just in case the Mayans were on Easter Standard Time. But now I could leave even earlier in case they were originally from Australia. Then I thought that was silly since all of my detailed research of the Mayans—on the internet—did not once mention their affinity of Vegemite. 

Come on Mayans, be specific!

So I thought it would be alright to stick around a little while longer to make sure I had everything and take care of some last minute items—like cashing in my checking and savings accounts and buying up some gold.  I still made it out around mid-day because I figured daylight savings always throws me off since we don’t have it in Arizona, so it had to wreak havoc on the Mayans. 

Did your apocalypse remember to fall back?!

My dogs were all settled in the back seat of my Jetta because it will be lonely when I am the last person alive and they would be a lot better than a volley ball. Kvasir still gets kind of nervous with car rides, but he will thank me when it is all said and done.

No Wilson, we're still good.

I made it to my spot in good time. A friend turned me on to the spot a couple years back and I thought it would be the perfect place to make my last stand. It is an amazing spot with huge oak trees and not a soul for miles.  I guess I ran the risk that I would have stumbled upon that friend camping there when I arrived but there were several other locations I noted on the same road that I think I would have enjoyed checking out too.

Fortunately it did not come down to that and my spot was vacant. There were still patches of snow in places from the last storm! It was going to be a great trip. I opened my 12-pack of soda and placed them in the snow.

Nature's cooler!

Then I set up my chair, tent, sleeping bag and a few other necessities and went to collect some firewood for the night. The previous tenant left some wood when they left so I didn’t have to work too hard at it.  I thought about paying the favor forward, but I would be the last camper at that site. So I fixed up the fire pit and piled on the kindling and such so that all I had to do was light it. Then I snapped a photo:

Home, sweet apocalyptic home!

It was a clear, cool and quiet night. I got the fire going real nice and added a bit of rum to my soda and life was perfect. After feeding the pups I heated up some Dinty Moore in the can and settled in for a nice night of star gazing.

I thought it would be appropriate to stay up until midnight. I mean, was the end of the world going to start right at midnight? I didn’t want to miss out on any of the fire and brimstone show!

I don’t think I made it to 9pm.

I headed off to the tent to go to bed and called the pups. It was supposed to get to freezing in Tucson, so that meant low 20’s there, so I was going to let them sleep in the tent too. I opened the door and Kvasir went right in.  Then I looked inside and found that Gehenna was already inside. I assumed that he snuck in through the partially opened zipper and went to bed.

Well sometime in the middle of the night Gehenna decided that it was much warmer in front of my face. I’m not sure how much of that I endured before I woke up but I decided that was a good enough reason to get up and use the little boy’s room. The pups went out too—I remember thinking to myself how positively stunning the stars were at that moment—Well I finished checking on that man about a horse and darted back to the tent to get back in my warm sleeping bag.

This is a true fact.

I guess my eyes had properly adjusted to the night sky because it was at that time that I saw how Gehenna got in. Apparently he gnawed at the mospuito netting until he got a hole big enough to stick his nose through and forced the rest of his body through said hole . . . both dogs spent the rest of the night outside.

If I had thought, it would have been a perfect dog shaming

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion to my tale! Did the end of the world happen? Was it on Eastern Standard Time? Did my dogs join Team Mayans after the snub? All these questions and more will be answered tomorrow!

Until next we meet

My Apocalyptic Camping Trip…or The Day the World Didn’t End

Part I – The Preface

12/21/12 – The end of the Mayan Long Count Calender. The last day before it starts all over again . . . or if you would rather, the end of the world!  Was it really going to be the end of the world?  I didn’t think so, but I also knew there would be a fair number of people out that would be a lot less rational.  I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous about what some of those people might do on that day.

At least the Facebook posts got a little more entertaining

.Explains a lot. I would have done the same

Then there are all the people that say, ‘Woo hoo! It is the end of the world, let’s party like there is no tomorrow!’  That was fun in 1999 when I had just turned 21.  But that was 13 years ago and the idea is less than appealing to the older, more sensible me.  The best outcome that scenario would give me was a miserable hangover on the 22^nd and I could think of much worse outcomes; especially if I happened to bump into a person that exhibited both previously mentioned qualities.

Been there. Done that.  I'll pass this go round.

So I decided to go camping to avoid the issue altogether.  I haven’t had the opportunity to go camping much this year and I have not had many opportunities to be alone with my thoughts either.  The idea of doing both was more than appealing.  But it was more than a camp trip.  I was going to be prepared to stay out there longer than my intended trip if I had to do so.  You know, in case individuals in that first group I mentioned decided to do something crazy.

See when I was a kid my dad had a backpack that had everything we would need to survive in the mountains ready at all times so that if things got real, so to speak, he could grab it and be gone in a moment’s notice. I am not sure of the exact reason why this was necessary but it probably had at least a little to do with the fact that he grew up in the aftermath of the height of the cold war when the threat of nuclear weapons was very real and the cities were where those devices were targeted.  So if you had any notification it was not going to be much, and the city was the last place you wanted to be.

Whatever the reasons, does not take away from the fact that it is always a good idea to have a contingency plan in case you can’t rely on the modern conveniences that our advances have afforded us.  There are a lot of things out there that can knock out the power grid for a couple days.  Do you have everything you would need to ride that out?

I understand that the power running out for a couple days might not warrant running out into the mountains and living like Bear Grylls, but what if it lasted for several weeks or months?  If you answered ‘no’ to my last question, imagine everyone else that did the same.  What if aid to all those people was unable to happen for one unfortunate reason or another? It might make since to get out of an urban setting and away from the potential mob mentality at that point.

It's all fake anyway.

When my dad had that backpack, I wanted to do everything that he did so I wanted one too.  My dad threw together a hatchet, a collapsible fishing pole, a backpacking stove and a first aid kit and put it into a little school backpack with a few other things for me. Realistically I probably would not have been able to last a day with it on my own, but I was happy.  I ended up taking it out with me a few times in high school where it affectionately became known as my ‘end of the world kit’.

But as I finished college and got into the professional world, I had always intended to make a more functional pack.  And that grew into a desire to have extra food, water, and other supplies around the house as a means of just being a little more prepared for the unexpected; especially after I started volunteering for the Red Cross. I was slowly working toward that goal but still wasn’t where I had hoped to be.  So I looked at this camp trip as an opportunity set a deadline to get to the point of basic preparedness that I had always intended.

And it was exciting. Not because I was preparing for the end of the world, but because I was achieving a goal I seemed to have always had. That excitement bled over into thoughts of actually having the opportunity to use it all.  I found myself thinking, ‘well if the apocalypse does happen I could use such and such to do this’ or ‘if the end of the world does happen I would have enough supplies to last so long.’  I found myself planning out how I would survive the apocalypse for as long as the earth let me not because I thought it would happen, but because I was finally prepared for an unexpected emergency; at least as much as I could foresee happening.

I mean who could have predicted that there would be no more Twinkies?!

 Because of this excitement, I found myself doing and saying things in a tongue-in-cheek manner as if I were waiting for the Mayans to come and end it all.  I decided to write about my camping experience in the same manner because it was funny—at least to me it was.

So tune in tomorrow to see if I even made it out the door or if the Mayans were waiting at my house for a surprise sneak attack!

Until next we meet.

Please Give Me Today

Wow.  Could I ask a favor to anyone reading this?  Whether you are a friend, family or a complete stranger, could I ask that should you ever wake up one day and have the uncontrollable urge to shoot a little kid, please shoot yourself in the face first? Yes, if I know you I will be saddened by this outcome.  But I will get over it a lot quicker than if you kill a little kid.

Forgive me, that was a little blunt. But I am more than a little pissed off about this whole thing.  And now I get to hear both sides dust off their same old arguments on how to solve this problem.  It is funny how the only answer is either more control on guns or less control on guns. I’m not going to pretend that I know what the answer is either, but I know it is not going to come from a knee-jerk reactionary social media status update.

Okay, maybe that was a little blunt too.  Forgive me, I just need time to process this and arguments on how to proceed after the Connecticut shootings just aren’t helping.

They were 6 and 7 . . . 6 and 7!

I keep picturing myself and everyone I have ever known when we were 6 and 7. I had barely begun to live.  Then I think of all the great things those same people have done since they were 6 and 7 and it breaks my heart that these 20 children won’t get that same chance.  On what planet is there a good enough reason to do that?

I know that actions need to be taken to keep this from happening again, but I don’t need to be drug into the same old argument about what those actions should be – not today. Today I need to remember those kids.  Today I need to pray for those kids, the teachers, and their families.  Today I need to pray for the children and teachers that are in my life.  I’ll sit through all your propaganda tomorrow; please just give me today.

Until next we meet.