did you know?

Did you know that memorial day was originally established as a federal holiday in rememberance of the confederate and union soldiers that fought and died during the american civil war?

motorcycle superhero

today, while driving to a friend's house i passed two men touring around the country roads on their big beautiful harleys. what i saw as i passed them is the thing that made me laugh

the man leading was wearing all his motorcycle gear, helmet, goggles, leather and on top of all of that had put on a navy blue buttondown shirt. i don't know if he planned this, but as he drove down the road as fast as he could, the unbuttoned shirt was lifted from his back and flapped in the wind like a miniature cape. resembling something that a little kid would tie around his neck and run through the fields to pretend to "fly"

in these moments, i realize that we never really grow up, as much as we want to be older when we are little kids, i think we strive to be little kids when we are grown up.

a belt of any color

late breaking news from my local nbc station...

apparently there are about 10million men in america that are color blind...could this be the explanation for the miss matching brown belt/ black shoes or black belt/ brown shoes dressing dilemma that i seem to notice on many a males?

maybe? maybe not?

in honor of those

the other day, someone noticed the POW bracelet that i wear. i don't often think that other people notice it or make comment about it, but when this man asked me how long i had been wearing it, it made be think of what it was that i was wearing.

it is something that i gratefully inherited from my father (served in vietnam) when he passed away a few years ago. it is something that he always wore and that i hold near and dear to my heart.

but then i began to really think about what this bracelet stands for...not my memories, but someone else's. it is a connection to someone's past, someone else's desire to fight for a country that they believed in, someone else who was at one point and may still be a prisoner of war.

by wearing this simple band of metal with the name of a long lost soldier, I am honoring both my father, the man whose name is emblazon across it (still listed as missing) and any person that is willing to put their life on the line for this country.

i mention this as we come upon memorial day and think of all the soldiers, past, present and future that have the courage to fight for what i think is often taken for granted. we are free and remain free because they choose to defend us.

so it is with loving remembrance, pride, and a little sadness that i will continue to wear this bracelet. each time it is noticed, i will not only remember my father, but i will remember what it means to be free.

happy memorial day.
thank you to all who have served and continue to serve.

a new part time jobs produces a bad part time poet...

the night before prom and all through the shop
all the teenage creatures were stirring and moving about
the boy were all spiffy in their tux jackets and tails,
the girls were a glitter, without a single pout

their parents were watching as their children dressed for the affair.
as the glimmer of limo, flowers and parties dance in their heads

as i settle down after a hard days work,
it is nice to reflect on this magic moment in the high school years
these kids all come in with the future in their hands
and the anticipation is almost more than they can stand

tomorrow there will be pictures and prom kings and queens
an evening to remember many years from now
and a day of work that we did well.

sorry to subject you all to this cornball thing, but i got on a roll and could not stop;)

the road less traveled

did you know there is a place on rt 17 going through new jersey that you get this perfect postcard frame of the entire city skyline of new york?

as i was driving to the city today i took a different road then i usually take, this took me down rt 17 through mahwah, nj (makes you wonder where these new jerseyans come up with the town names)and toward ny. as you drive over the rising hill somewhere near dykes lumber (free advertising)and the muffler store, there it is right in front of you.....

the grey shadow of great city. from this distance you can't hear the people or be stuck in the traffic or smell the fumes, so it truly is the ideal image. you see why people think it is place that is bigger than life, because it literally fills the whole windshield of my car. (this is no small feat considering i have a mini van)

as i look at that city, i know that i love it and love every chance i get to be there and at the same time, i realize that i am ready to see something new. there are so many other great cities and i wonder what color shadows they will have. as i edge closer to a huge move, this is a comforting thought.

the other comforting thought is that i will always know that nyc ain't going nowhere and i can always make a home here again.

in the silence of the night

thanks to my dog walking duties....

did you ever notice that rain falling in a forest sounds like a faint waterfall in the distance?

in the quiet of my late evening walk, the only sound that i could hear, besides the rustle of the plastic bag (sign of a responsible pet owner) and the click of my furry friend's retractable leash, was the cold spring rain hitting the leaves of the recently sprung maple trees.

such a simple sound that i don't think most people get the chance to hear, because really, who is dumb enough to walk their dog in the middle of the night during a rainstorm....well i am glad I am that dumb or that my dog is that stubborn......

sleep well

oh what a quote

not to long ago, i was given a present from a dear friend. the present was a piece of art work that had the following words of wisdom incorporated:

" some people come into our lives and quickly go- some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same"

it is this quote that makes me think of the grauman's chinese theatre in LA, the one with the footprints in the cement.

concrete proof that they were here! is this permanence what we are searching for; some memory or fame of who we are. there are movie stars that will live forever on the screen, there are writers that will always have the printed work...but for those who are not writers or actors this quote could be the answer to a permanent mark on life....we are who we touch and influence, and that might be the most important parts of all of our lives.

so here's my thanks to all those passerbys and for those that left the footprints. you will never know how you change a life, but know that you have.

new 5 am ritual

so i am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but my faithful furry companion has a new waking hour that is in time with a rooster...yes, if it is just before dawn, he is at the side of my bed making short, patient little ruffs....ruffs...ruffs. the morning call for the outside walk.

i try to ignore it but before long, the constant ruff, ruff, ruff is more annoying then my snooze alarm ring that has been known to wake the neighbors.

so, i roll out of bed, make my way to the front door, grab the leash and we are out in the wee morning hours. walking in the hazy blue of the early morning and the cold wet morning dew making its way through to my once bed warmed toes....burrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

but the furry friend is happy and i have had the chance to see the morning light, see the fog rise from the trees, and hear the little birds. then i crawl back into bed to await the real alarm clock that i will inevitably hit the snooze button on for atleast an hour.

wandering wondering thoughts debut

driving in my car the other day, i was struck by the beauty of an awesome combination of an afternoon rainstorm and the evening sunset. for those of us who remember those science classes in middle school, you know that the end result of these two feats of nature is the rainbow, in this case, a double rainbow.

as a drove a further along, i realized how close i was to the end of the rainbow and that old wives tale or kids story came to mind...something about "finding gold at the end of the rainbow"....

needless to say the more i drove the more i realized that it is physically maybe even scientifically impossible to actually get to the end rainbow. no matter how fast i drove, the end of the rainbow continued to be just beyond my reach.

as i thought about that childhood promise of the gold at the end of this natural phenomenon i wondered what that story actually meant. there is something to be said for searching for the end of a rainbow. i think it is the search that is the important part of that story. the search is what gives us the gold, which as i think about it now, has nothing to do with money, but with the riches of leading a life and making choices.

as the summer starts and the rainstorms come in, my hope is that people continue to search for that gold at the end of every rainbow.