"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained."
- Mark Twain, Notebook, 1898
It seems to me that we will do anything to avoid change. We seem to have an innate desire for permanance. We crave stability and try desperately to find it. This explains so much. It explains the insurance industry and a host of human schemes designed to avoid inevitables. Governments try to hold back change. Police and fire departments and the military desperately attempt to keep us safe. To tell the truth, it's all madness.
In spite of our longings and desires we all know in lucid moments that nothing stays the same for very long. We can predict change with absolute certainty. It is as inevitable as the tide. It will come tomorrow and every day after. No matter how much we hope and wish, our world is changing. Tomorrow's change is hurdling toward us at the speed of light.
On Friday I watched testimony in Washington, DC, about the United States budget mess. Any sane person can predict that life in this big, amazing country is going to change. Like a large family, our country cannot continue to live large and pay small. If we are going to survive financially, we will have to discard some things we cherish. It's time to make hard decisions, but we are completely mad. Individual citizens are mad, Democats are mad, Republicans are mad, Congress is mad, and the whole country is Alice's Mad Hatter these days.
I have lived as a mad man myself. In January 2001 my family owned a very dynamic business with offices in four cities. We were working hard and expanding when change rocked our boat. The dot.com bubble popped. One stormy change after another hit us. For a while we madly fought the inevitable. We did everything to weather the storm, but in the end we had to make some horrendous decisions. We had to shut down the business and choose survival. This meant that if our boat was going to float, we had to lighten the load. We had to throw some cherished treasures overboard. We did, and we weathered the storm. In the end it would have been madness to do anything else.
I hear a lot of mad talk these days. Yesterday, I heard yelling and screaming about NPR defunding. Last week, I heard angry words about government pension reform. For a month I have been hearing furious rants over educational cuts this spring. Any change to social security or medicare or entitlements is greeted with screams of "You can't change my life! Change somebody else's life, not mine!" It's all madness.
I don't know how to painlessly lighten our finacial boat, but it will happen. We can choose to act, or we can madly wish and hope. Either way, the storm is coming. If madness keeps us from acting, we will lose everything. If we act, we just might be able to keep the boat afloat. It's the sane thing to do, but unfortunately, I have little faith in sanity these days.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later
"Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog."
- Mark Twain Speech, Nov. 23, 1900
21st century humans value knowledge but pay little attention to wisdom. We amass more facts each day than we can possibly analyze. We are literally drowning in data, and we are making very few good decisions. We seem to have lost our way.
We build nuclear plants to withstand 7.0 earthquakes and struggle to deal with a 9.0 quake. We fight terrorism in Afghanistan thousands of miles away and seem to pay no attention whatsoever to terrorism on our Mexican border. We have a looming tsunami of underfunded government pensions heading our way, and are doing little to address it. We have an unsustainable social security system and have repeatedly failed to modify it. We face unaddressed challenges to our economic and monetary systems. In most areas of life in 2011 Americans are failing to prepare for the long haul.
For example, with trouble in the Middle East and the world's continuing economic woes and the expanding disaster in Japan, the Congress of the United States is preparing to have hearings on the National Football League. What a misuse of time and energy! I don't know about you, but this makes me angry. We have serious issues desperately begging for attention while Congress fiddles with football. I pray daily for a little sanity.
A little wisdom would be great also.
- Mark Twain Speech, Nov. 23, 1900
21st century humans value knowledge but pay little attention to wisdom. We amass more facts each day than we can possibly analyze. We are literally drowning in data, and we are making very few good decisions. We seem to have lost our way.
We build nuclear plants to withstand 7.0 earthquakes and struggle to deal with a 9.0 quake. We fight terrorism in Afghanistan thousands of miles away and seem to pay no attention whatsoever to terrorism on our Mexican border. We have a looming tsunami of underfunded government pensions heading our way, and are doing little to address it. We have an unsustainable social security system and have repeatedly failed to modify it. We face unaddressed challenges to our economic and monetary systems. In most areas of life in 2011 Americans are failing to prepare for the long haul.
For example, with trouble in the Middle East and the world's continuing economic woes and the expanding disaster in Japan, the Congress of the United States is preparing to have hearings on the National Football League. What a misuse of time and energy! I don't know about you, but this makes me angry. We have serious issues desperately begging for attention while Congress fiddles with football. I pray daily for a little sanity.
A little wisdom would be great also.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
School Boards and Stupidity
"In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards."
-Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar
I frequently hear concerns expressed about American education. I hear parents agonizing about the toxic environment students encounter at school. I hear young people concerned about the quality of the education they are receiving. I hear pundits offering opinions from the practical to the ridiculous.
I hear a lots of talk and almost no intelligent action. As a former educator, I know what works. Real education takes place when someone is prepared to learn and someone is prepared to teach. It sounds simple. It really works, but we have added layer on layer of nonsense. These layers are now crushing the life out of the classroom.
It is critical to focus on the classroom where students and teachers make education happen. Instead, we have focused on buildings and technology and educational initiatives. We have too many administrators and not enough good teachers. We spend too much money on non-essentials and not enough on essentials. Why? Decision-makers are not making good decisions.
I love history and the little nuggets we can mine from history. Military science tells is that soldiers must have officers to lead them. Inexperienced soldiers do, but history shows us that by the time the Army of Northern Virginia got to Gettysburg, they did not need officers. They knew what was at stake. These battle-hardened men knew combat first hand. They knew what needed to be done and would have done it with or without officers. I believe this is true of good, veteran teachers.
Dedicated, experienced teachers do not need administrators above the principal level. For most teachers, school boards and superintendents and supervisors contribute nothing to the educational process. In many ways they interfere and block quality instruction with paperwork and red tape. In so many ways, the administration of American education is absolute idiocy.
This is true at the macro and micro levels. Last year a western Illinois school district hired about 50 teachers with federal stimulus money. This spring they are firing about 60 teachers. This is nothing more than short-term thinking in a long-term business. Also, at the micro level I see so much absolute stupidity. Last Friday, the Ladue District in St. Louis interrupted class for five teachers and asked them to step out into the hall. These teachers were then told they did not have a job for 2011-2012. This is an amazing display of administrative incompetence.
In fact, this is inexcusable behavior. Classes were disrupted. Teachers were traumatized in the middle of the day. No one was counseled or allowed to expressed concerns. The superintendent later said, "In hindsight perhaps it should have been handled differently." No kidding. In fact, this is a great example of stupidity.
I have a suggestion: Why not just fire the superintendent and district administrators? Why don't we fire the bottom ten per cent of teachers we know to be incompetent? Why don't we focus all our attention on essentials? Why not make a few intelligent decisions for a change?
Oh, for a moment I forgot I was writing about intelligence and school boards in the same sentence. Sorry! Again, Mark Twain has it right.
-Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar
I frequently hear concerns expressed about American education. I hear parents agonizing about the toxic environment students encounter at school. I hear young people concerned about the quality of the education they are receiving. I hear pundits offering opinions from the practical to the ridiculous.
I hear a lots of talk and almost no intelligent action. As a former educator, I know what works. Real education takes place when someone is prepared to learn and someone is prepared to teach. It sounds simple. It really works, but we have added layer on layer of nonsense. These layers are now crushing the life out of the classroom.
It is critical to focus on the classroom where students and teachers make education happen. Instead, we have focused on buildings and technology and educational initiatives. We have too many administrators and not enough good teachers. We spend too much money on non-essentials and not enough on essentials. Why? Decision-makers are not making good decisions.
I love history and the little nuggets we can mine from history. Military science tells is that soldiers must have officers to lead them. Inexperienced soldiers do, but history shows us that by the time the Army of Northern Virginia got to Gettysburg, they did not need officers. They knew what was at stake. These battle-hardened men knew combat first hand. They knew what needed to be done and would have done it with or without officers. I believe this is true of good, veteran teachers.
Dedicated, experienced teachers do not need administrators above the principal level. For most teachers, school boards and superintendents and supervisors contribute nothing to the educational process. In many ways they interfere and block quality instruction with paperwork and red tape. In so many ways, the administration of American education is absolute idiocy.
This is true at the macro and micro levels. Last year a western Illinois school district hired about 50 teachers with federal stimulus money. This spring they are firing about 60 teachers. This is nothing more than short-term thinking in a long-term business. Also, at the micro level I see so much absolute stupidity. Last Friday, the Ladue District in St. Louis interrupted class for five teachers and asked them to step out into the hall. These teachers were then told they did not have a job for 2011-2012. This is an amazing display of administrative incompetence.
In fact, this is inexcusable behavior. Classes were disrupted. Teachers were traumatized in the middle of the day. No one was counseled or allowed to expressed concerns. The superintendent later said, "In hindsight perhaps it should have been handled differently." No kidding. In fact, this is a great example of stupidity.
I have a suggestion: Why not just fire the superintendent and district administrators? Why don't we fire the bottom ten per cent of teachers we know to be incompetent? Why don't we focus all our attention on essentials? Why not make a few intelligent decisions for a change?
Oh, for a moment I forgot I was writing about intelligence and school boards in the same sentence. Sorry! Again, Mark Twain has it right.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Praying at the Basilica
"So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: 'Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is.' Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code." - Mark Twain, a Biography
This place is a visual prayer. I am sitting today in the middle of a lavish outpouring of worship and praise. The St. Louis Basilica has no paint. Surfaces are all marble and ceramic tile. Ceramic art covers the vaulted ceilings and walls. Light plays with all the facets. Small lights flicker from candles and beams of light cover the soaring spaces. Small boxes narrow my focus and huge Biblical scenes come to life emerging out of small tiles.
We just walked through this enormous space and into a small chapel. We have been sitting quietly for several minutes. I am writing while a priest is singing in the other small chapel. The congregation sounds like a choir in this man-made cavern. I hear human voices and group responses, but I cannot decipher the words. Voices echo through the vault.
Speaking of echoes, I scanned the radio in my van last week looking for a safe spot on the digital dial. I skipped past two musical formats and landed on religious venom. Hatred spewed from the speakers. I moved on to another religious broadcast. More venom surged out like a verbal tsunami. Both broadcasts were verbally attacking other faiths. Both broadcasts claimed to be the one true faith. In both cases I quickly switched to a new station.
Religious venom, however, is not limited to the radio. Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder was killed while serving in Iraq. Snyder’s family wanted to honor him in the best way they could with a respectful funeral. Far from respectful, church members from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, flew all the way to Maryland to protest at the funeral. Fred Phelps, founder of the church, picketed near the Snyder funeral with his two daughters and four grandchildren. They carried signs that read THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, SEMPER FI FAGS, and FAG TROOPS. Members of Westboro Baptist Church didn't know anything about Snyder. The church simply used his funeral as a vehicle to spread their message that God is punishing the United States for tolerating homosexuality.
How can religious people who claim to worship a caring God behave so badly? Do they not see the disconnect? Do they not understand how ridiculous they seem? The poet Robert Burns wrote “Oh would some power the gift to give us, To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion.”
Religious people have always been dangerous, but disciples of various faiths are not dangerous because they are people of faith. They are not dangerous because they join a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple. They are dangerous because they “know with absolute certainty” that they are right.
All of us have our opinions and beliefs. Most of us think we know right and wrong. Religious zealots know. It is no accident that the 911 terrorists “knew” the will of Allah with certainty. They died in the Twin Towers to verify it.
The truly faithful believe, and belief is just a prayer until it comes true. The truly faithful honor the faith of others. They wait for God instead of being His avenger. If I truly believe, my God is powerful enough to take care of Himself.
As I sit here in this beautiful Basilica, I also pray. This is not my church or my faith represented here, but I can enjoy and respect these prayers in art. I can worship here because others believed enough to create a house of prayer here. This is what I believe this Sunday morning in St. Louis.
I honor those who created this Basilica not because they were right or wrong. I honor them this morning because their faith created this special place. I pray for all people of faith this morning. I pray that all of us can see ourselves as the rest of the world sees us.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wants and Needs
Early this morning as I walked, my thoughts were sailing thousands of miles away. My empathy reached out across time and space to human beings now contending with forces beyond their control. Violent shaking of tectonic plates, giant whirlpools, and 20 foot walls of water are unwanted intrusions into human life. It is beautiful here on this morning in the heartland, but I am under no illusions.
Spring is beginning to show new green shoots in the flower beds. Dormant winter grass is greening in the warmth of the sun. Trees stand ready to leaf in the next warm hours. Geese are migrating in huge V's moving north up the Mississippi. When I listen closely, I hear a rhythmic beat. It's just the drumbeat of life on this March Missouri morning, but I am moving out to a panoramic view today.
A catastrophic event thousands of miles away is a strong tap on the shoulder. When I turn, I come face to face with my own life. When I see the hopes and dreams of lifetimes being swept away like toys in a gutter, I have to consider it. What do I want from this journey we call life? What do I really, truly need?
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sagebrush as a Vegetable
"Sagebrush is a very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child the mule." -Mark Twain, Roughing It
I go to restaurants for the food. I know I should pay more attention to the ambiance and interior design, but I don't. I go for the food, and, fortunately, most restaurants do not serve sagebrush. I have never ordered sagebrush even as a specialty item, but I have seen some strange salads in my day.
One day Patricia and I stopped at a restaurant overlooking the Mississippi. It was a great location, and we were enjoying the atmosphere very much until the salad appeared. I have never seen anything quite like it. The whole salad was smothered in a half-inch-thick, white ranch dressing. I discovered quickly that the dressing was just a coverup. Underneath was brown lettuce and aged salad ingredients. Sagebrush would have been better. I declined my salad, but the couple and their two children at an adjoining table seemed to relish theirs. To each his own I always say. Perhaps they were foreigners.
Last night, we made reservations at a nice restaurant. The food was good, and the atmosphere was great, but our poor waitress was hopeless. With few exceptions my restaurant complaints are not about food but about service. Last night we had the poster child. She tried so very hard. She was enthusiastic, and she was energetic. She got our orders wrong twice. She came back to interrupt our conversation many times in a loud voice, "Is everything OK? I will have the next course out shortly." She never waited for the right moment; she just blurted in. After a while, she moved from irritating to annoying. She remained annoying the rest of the evening.
On the plus side, she did not spill anything on me. This is always a plus. I wish I could say otherwise, but food and drink seem to sail my way. The worst was on a road trip several years ago. We had enjoyed a nice meal with excellent service. The well-known national chain was filled with customers. In fact, the wait staff was working very hard--too hard perhaps. We were getting ready to leave when a young woman bussing tables walked by with a leaning Tower of Pisa stack of twenty plates. The tower leaned and then fell in my direction. I could see it fall in slow motion. My whole restaurant life flashed before my eyes. Trapped in the booth, there was no escape. Plates and potatoes and steak sauce cascaded down onto my hair, my shirt, and down to my shoes. Even my mustache was covered in gravy, bits of salad, potatoe peelings, and sagebrush. I dug myself out of the debri and staggered to the Men's Room for cleanup.
Cleanup--now that's laugh. I discarded the big pieces and removed the worst offenders, but there was no cleaning up. I also had a five hour drive ahead. So I stumbled back to the table a walking buffet. The manager was there apologizing profusely. He offered us all dessert. I was not in the mood for more sagebrush. He offered to get my clothes cleaned. I declined since I lived five hours away.
Shockingly, the manager did not offer to comp our meal. We were all shocked; I am still shocked to this day. So wrapped in gravy and sauce, I paid my bill and left. To this day, I cannot go back to that restaurant chain. I was not a satisfied customer. I will never be a customer again. I value my safety too much.
I understand there is a national search for the next great restaurant idea. Perhaps I should suggest a sagebrush restaurant. It could be western themed. I can see it now--sagebrush salad, sagebrush burgers, sagebrush stirfry, and sagebrush desserts. It's a great, new idea. No one else is doing it, and it could get a lot of press. I will also suggest that the "cowboys and cowgirls" serving the sagebrush be thoroughly trained. Maybe even sagebrush would be delicious with the right service.
I go to restaurants for the food. I know I should pay more attention to the ambiance and interior design, but I don't. I go for the food, and, fortunately, most restaurants do not serve sagebrush. I have never ordered sagebrush even as a specialty item, but I have seen some strange salads in my day.
One day Patricia and I stopped at a restaurant overlooking the Mississippi. It was a great location, and we were enjoying the atmosphere very much until the salad appeared. I have never seen anything quite like it. The whole salad was smothered in a half-inch-thick, white ranch dressing. I discovered quickly that the dressing was just a coverup. Underneath was brown lettuce and aged salad ingredients. Sagebrush would have been better. I declined my salad, but the couple and their two children at an adjoining table seemed to relish theirs. To each his own I always say. Perhaps they were foreigners.
Last night, we made reservations at a nice restaurant. The food was good, and the atmosphere was great, but our poor waitress was hopeless. With few exceptions my restaurant complaints are not about food but about service. Last night we had the poster child. She tried so very hard. She was enthusiastic, and she was energetic. She got our orders wrong twice. She came back to interrupt our conversation many times in a loud voice, "Is everything OK? I will have the next course out shortly." She never waited for the right moment; she just blurted in. After a while, she moved from irritating to annoying. She remained annoying the rest of the evening.
On the plus side, she did not spill anything on me. This is always a plus. I wish I could say otherwise, but food and drink seem to sail my way. The worst was on a road trip several years ago. We had enjoyed a nice meal with excellent service. The well-known national chain was filled with customers. In fact, the wait staff was working very hard--too hard perhaps. We were getting ready to leave when a young woman bussing tables walked by with a leaning Tower of Pisa stack of twenty plates. The tower leaned and then fell in my direction. I could see it fall in slow motion. My whole restaurant life flashed before my eyes. Trapped in the booth, there was no escape. Plates and potatoes and steak sauce cascaded down onto my hair, my shirt, and down to my shoes. Even my mustache was covered in gravy, bits of salad, potatoe peelings, and sagebrush. I dug myself out of the debri and staggered to the Men's Room for cleanup.
Cleanup--now that's laugh. I discarded the big pieces and removed the worst offenders, but there was no cleaning up. I also had a five hour drive ahead. So I stumbled back to the table a walking buffet. The manager was there apologizing profusely. He offered us all dessert. I was not in the mood for more sagebrush. He offered to get my clothes cleaned. I declined since I lived five hours away.
Shockingly, the manager did not offer to comp our meal. We were all shocked; I am still shocked to this day. So wrapped in gravy and sauce, I paid my bill and left. To this day, I cannot go back to that restaurant chain. I was not a satisfied customer. I will never be a customer again. I value my safety too much.
I understand there is a national search for the next great restaurant idea. Perhaps I should suggest a sagebrush restaurant. It could be western themed. I can see it now--sagebrush salad, sagebrush burgers, sagebrush stirfry, and sagebrush desserts. It's a great, new idea. No one else is doing it, and it could get a lot of press. I will also suggest that the "cowboys and cowgirls" serving the sagebrush be thoroughly trained. Maybe even sagebrush would be delicious with the right service.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Gratitude
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson
A few years ago I had a friend who took great delight in the harrassment of waiters in nice restaurants. I don't know why. I don't know when the obsession started. I only know that going to a restaurant with this woman was an uncomfortable event.
When the waiter brought the menus, the first assault was launched with a barrage of questions. How long have you been in business? Do you change the menu often? Do you use frozen or fresh? After a short interrogation, the waiter was allowed to retreat. In her defense the woman always harrassed with a big smile.
Ordering was another opportunity. Questions would fly about how dishes were prepared, details of ingredients, various options and alterations, etc. The poor waiter would finally leave with our orders but also struggle with a heavy load of menu alterations. The order pad would sometimes look like a legal brief. Sadly, the waiter could not hope to comply with all the little amendments that had been made. Often, this smiling, sadistic woman would call the overwhelmed waiter back for one last modification. Woe be to the new or unprepared waiter.
When the order was delivered, this normally civilized woman would complain about the mistakes, fuss about the seasonings, change orders, and send dishes back. It was a classic coup de grace delivered with another smile. When it was all over, the waiter and the rest of us at the table were exhausted, but she was enjoying herself immensely. In her defense, this restaurant terrorist always left a good tip to cover the entertainment, and she always left with a smile.
The term coup de grace means “stroke of grace” referring originally to a merciful stroke putting a fatally wounded person out of his misery. How kind and thoughtful? It would have been such a merciful thing to do for the waiter, but the woman never put one out of his misery.
The average human being is amazingly complex. We are rarely grateful even when we say we are. We love to grouse and complain. We love to point out flaws. Most of us love to stir things up. Most human beings are not as obvious than the restaurant bully, but I think we are rarely grateful.
My dog never complains about the menu. He is always ready for a walk. He likes my company even when I am not very good at it. Jack would never bite me, but humans have. They can be vicious, and I have the scars to prove it.
Perhaps we should create some new signs warning "Beware: Vicious Human" and sell them. Perhaps there is a market. I know I would rather face a vicious dog any day. How about you?
A few years ago I had a friend who took great delight in the harrassment of waiters in nice restaurants. I don't know why. I don't know when the obsession started. I only know that going to a restaurant with this woman was an uncomfortable event.
When the waiter brought the menus, the first assault was launched with a barrage of questions. How long have you been in business? Do you change the menu often? Do you use frozen or fresh? After a short interrogation, the waiter was allowed to retreat. In her defense the woman always harrassed with a big smile.
Ordering was another opportunity. Questions would fly about how dishes were prepared, details of ingredients, various options and alterations, etc. The poor waiter would finally leave with our orders but also struggle with a heavy load of menu alterations. The order pad would sometimes look like a legal brief. Sadly, the waiter could not hope to comply with all the little amendments that had been made. Often, this smiling, sadistic woman would call the overwhelmed waiter back for one last modification. Woe be to the new or unprepared waiter.
When the order was delivered, this normally civilized woman would complain about the mistakes, fuss about the seasonings, change orders, and send dishes back. It was a classic coup de grace delivered with another smile. When it was all over, the waiter and the rest of us at the table were exhausted, but she was enjoying herself immensely. In her defense, this restaurant terrorist always left a good tip to cover the entertainment, and she always left with a smile.
The term coup de grace means “stroke of grace” referring originally to a merciful stroke putting a fatally wounded person out of his misery. How kind and thoughtful? It would have been such a merciful thing to do for the waiter, but the woman never put one out of his misery.
The average human being is amazingly complex. We are rarely grateful even when we say we are. We love to grouse and complain. We love to point out flaws. Most of us love to stir things up. Most human beings are not as obvious than the restaurant bully, but I think we are rarely grateful.
My dog never complains about the menu. He is always ready for a walk. He likes my company even when I am not very good at it. Jack would never bite me, but humans have. They can be vicious, and I have the scars to prove it.
Perhaps we should create some new signs warning "Beware: Vicious Human" and sell them. Perhaps there is a market. I know I would rather face a vicious dog any day. How about you?
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Flotsam and Jetsam
"We recognize that there are no trivial occurrences in life if we get the right focus on them."
- Mark Twain's Autobiography
The Sunday morning air was crisp in St. Louis as the sun peeked through white clouds. The light blue sky played hide and seek with the clouds as I walked the dog. Today we had the sidewalks all to ourselves and our own thoughts. Jack's dog thoughts were about tantalizing odors, startling sounds, and the temptingly quick movements of a squirrel.
As I walk, I think about the week to come. Jack never does. He keeps his nose in the here and now. I wonder who has it right?
Right away, I find Mardi Gras beads left behind and think about the St. Louis Mardi Gras celebration. I hear it is second only to New Orleans. I find lots of evidence the revelers were here. That was Saturday night; this is Sunday morning. What a difference a few hours make.
My thoughts leap to the past and think about beautiful old French St. Louis laid out along the Mississippi River. Quaint and very European with pleasing balconies and black iron work, this town was La France mid-America. I sadly recall that it all was ripped away by a raging, unstoppable firestorm in 1848. I think "What a shame!" I miss what was lost.
My attention is drawn back to more beads lying in the grass, a crushed McDonald's cup, and four Bud Lights. I puzzle out three bottles and one can lying together. Perhaps, another story lurks in that grouping.
The flotsam and jetsam of life teased me this morning. It was everywhere I looked. I also found some lagan and derelict wrecks as we walked through the shop and restaurant area. One young man looked absolutey unseaworthy. I think he better stay home.
I thought about all the things we leave behind throughout life. Some are just old paper cups, and some are pure gold. Some are just cheap plastic beads, and some works of art, but I have to agree with my friend Sam Clemens that "there are no trivial occurences in life."
Sometimes on walks, I think too much. Jack never does. He lives in the moment. I jump back and forth from the present to the past and on to the future. That's exactly why I walk. Jack, on the other hand, simply walks on the off chance he will meet a squirrel. Both reasons may be valid. I think so.
We will try again tomorrow and see if we can find anything trivial.
- Mark Twain's Autobiography
The Sunday morning air was crisp in St. Louis as the sun peeked through white clouds. The light blue sky played hide and seek with the clouds as I walked the dog. Today we had the sidewalks all to ourselves and our own thoughts. Jack's dog thoughts were about tantalizing odors, startling sounds, and the temptingly quick movements of a squirrel.
As I walk, I think about the week to come. Jack never does. He keeps his nose in the here and now. I wonder who has it right?
Right away, I find Mardi Gras beads left behind and think about the St. Louis Mardi Gras celebration. I hear it is second only to New Orleans. I find lots of evidence the revelers were here. That was Saturday night; this is Sunday morning. What a difference a few hours make.
My thoughts leap to the past and think about beautiful old French St. Louis laid out along the Mississippi River. Quaint and very European with pleasing balconies and black iron work, this town was La France mid-America. I sadly recall that it all was ripped away by a raging, unstoppable firestorm in 1848. I think "What a shame!" I miss what was lost.
My attention is drawn back to more beads lying in the grass, a crushed McDonald's cup, and four Bud Lights. I puzzle out three bottles and one can lying together. Perhaps, another story lurks in that grouping.
The flotsam and jetsam of life teased me this morning. It was everywhere I looked. I also found some lagan and derelict wrecks as we walked through the shop and restaurant area. One young man looked absolutey unseaworthy. I think he better stay home.
I thought about all the things we leave behind throughout life. Some are just old paper cups, and some are pure gold. Some are just cheap plastic beads, and some works of art, but I have to agree with my friend Sam Clemens that "there are no trivial occurences in life."
Sometimes on walks, I think too much. Jack never does. He lives in the moment. I jump back and forth from the present to the past and on to the future. That's exactly why I walk. Jack, on the other hand, simply walks on the off chance he will meet a squirrel. Both reasons may be valid. I think so.
We will try again tomorrow and see if we can find anything trivial.
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