Can a picture guarantee a happy feeling?

Thank you, Lord, for another day.

This morning I added a picture of my Granddaughter Lily to the blog, and it really classes up the joint, I must say! I stole it from my daughter Megan's blog, and it has fast become one of my favorite pictures of all time. I'm also using it as my screen saver ... and I'm thinking about getting it as a tattoo ... OK, not really on the tattoo part ... but I do love this picture! (And this baby and her parents).

And you have to admit, there is something special about a smiling and laughing baby. The pureness - the clear eyes and the unabashed joy of the moment - the simplicity of the knowledge that all that existed for her in that moment was pure laughter. At that moment, she was uncontrollably drawn to just throw back her head and let all the joy she was feeling just spill out all over the world no matter who was or wasn't watching, or how the world would react. It was just her and her happiness, and it was a gift to catch it on camera and record it for posterity.

Which led me to this thought: I have spontaneously burst into tears with happiness twice in my life. Once when I first saw my daughter Megan after she was born, and the second time when I hugged Megan after she gave birth to Lily. I have cried many times with feelings of loss and grief, but I thank God that at least twice in my life I have experienced emotional joy that surged past the societal barriers that are established to help identify "real men", and sobbed tears of unrestrained joy and relief.

And now I'm thinking, "Why did 'they' pick crying as being taboo?", and by "they" I mean my father, and his father, and his father before him, etc. I mean, what if the taboo was smiling (although I think a lot of men have this confused as well ...), or even laughter itself? Think of a world without laughter ... how dark would that be? It's interesting, isn't it, that in other cultures we see men crying uncontrollably at funerals, but it's a TV news shot when a single tear rolls down the cheek of an American soldier mourning the loss of a comrade. Is strength really shown by the society that keeps its emotions in control? Is a man who is willing to display his emotions really less of a "man"? And what's the deal with women who tell me their spouses never "open up" to them, but who decry a guy "being a cry baby." What's up with that conundrum, girlfriends? In the mixed mesages section of relationship, this is one I find particularly disturbing.

Oh well, little does it matter to me. My die has been cast. I well up with tears during a Hallmark commercial. Especially that Hallmark commercial when the soldier is calling home to his mother and she gets his card, and then he shows up at the door? That gets me every time. And don't even make me watch the ending of Field of Dreams again ... "Hey Dad, want to have a catch?" ... water works, baby. Emotional tsunami - run for your lives!

But hey - that's just me.

Have a great day - and know God loves you!

Plumbing - a necessary evil

Good afternoon. Thank you, Lord, for another day.

Breathes there a man with soul so dead, who never to himself has said, "I hate plumbing. I hate thinking about plumbing, I hate having to figure plumbing out, and most of all - above almost all things in life - I hate cleaning up after plumbing fails to work properly."

Yesterday, however, such was my lot in life. In whatever way I angered or displeased God so that He allowed this to be my fate, Lord, please accept my humblest apology. There is no sin I would willingly commit were I cognizant before the fact that my restitution would include cleaning up after failed plumbing. In fact, Lord, if you're listening (and I know you are), I suggest that if this punishment were applied on a more universal scale, world peace and stopping global warming might become nothing but a distant memory. That is not to say that really difficult issues - like right wing fanatics who claim to be patriots willing to say anything to sow discord and discontent in order to enhance their own personal objectives - could be solved ... but things easier than that (like world hunger and human rights) could be materially advanced with just the threat of the punishment that I endured yesterday.

So today's posting would be incomplete without an appropriate nod to a product for which I now have the utmost respect. I think there should be a national day reserved in order to honor bleach!! It cleans, it whitens, it disinfects (and this is a key issue in the world of failed plumbing), and now they even make bleach that smells like ... well, like something other than bleach! I chose "fresh linen" smell. Yahoo! What will they think of next? I don't know, but if the thinking is done by the guy who invented bleach, count me in!

Then, after it was all over, I wore the tennis shoes I cleaned up in over to Kohl's, went directly into the shoe department, threw them away and walked out in a new, clean pair of tennis shoes. I'm not sure you'll notice the shoes if you see me because except for the crap and assorted paper products accumulated in the laces of the old shoes, the new ones I bought look exactly like the old shoes ... but I am not a slave to fashion. It's my dream that for the rest of my life, whenever I need new tennis shoes, this exact model of shoe will be available - and so far, so good!

Man - if my life stays this exciting, this blog will be a thrilling place to start your day, won't it??
Ha Ha ...

And so it is - God Bless

It's September 24, 2009

Good morning. Thank you, Lord, for another day. Welcome to my brand new blog.

I'm excited to be entering the blogosphere - not that adding my voice to the internet din will be of any particular influence - but I do think blogging is a communications tool with an amazing amount of potential, including some fun and laughs. Am I mistaken, or do we all need more fun and laughs in our lives? I know I do, and I hope this will give me a chance for a few. And a political rant or two every now and again? I think that might be in the cards, too ...

My trepidation, of course, is based on the fact that I cannot get my head around the idea that anyone would care to read my musings in addition to the bazillion other communications we all receive every day through e-mail, TV, radio, the newspapers ... and, oh yeah ... just talking to each other face-to-face. Let's not forget that concept ...

But, trepidations be damned! Did a rainy day stop Ben Franklin from flying his kite? Did almost no singing ability whatsoever stop Bob Dylan? Have you seen some of those tryouts for American Idol?? They all pressed on and so must I! Let's get on with it!

I want to start my musings with a ringing endorsement of the newly published book by Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code author) entitled "The Lost Symbol". It's a thriller with plot twists, hidden messages, historical trivia, the CIA, thought provoking philosophical and religious considerations, good vs. evil, God Bless America ... it had me on the edge of my La-Z-Boy (a great place for my ritualized combination of read/doze/read some more/doze again). I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but somewhere past the age of 50 I developed the pattern of not being able to read more than 40 pages in a book without the ZZZZZ monster overtaking me. But I persevered and got to the very appealing ending in just three days. I know it's not for everyone - for example, there is absolutely no love interest in the book at all - and it's particularly appealing to me because I love all the history and the symbolism the author uses to drive the story, but if you love a thriller with a big dose of, "Now how in the world are they going to get out of that predicament??", then this book's for you!

And, hey - you know what's not fun? Writing your first blog entry and going, "What's that smell?", only to find that this morning's shower water apparently didn't make it all the way out to the sewer system, and the resulting backup created about an inch of water on the laundry room floor with an odor that only a rat could love. Can you say, "How about spending a day with the plumber?"

And so it is - blessings to all