quote of the day

People say you have to travel to see the world. Sometimes I think that if you just stay in one place and keep your eyes open, you're going to see just about all that you can handle.
Paul Auster

fireman

Last night I attended a meeting of our local volunteer fire department. A neighbor invited me because they were in need of more members to help respond to fires and other emergencies. I got the feeling that although they need more volunteers, they really aren't looking for geezers. I don't think I'll join, although they do have pretty cool fireman hats, and maybe if I could drive the fire truck and work the siren, but no, I can't see myself at my age doing something as heroic as runnning into a burning building, axe in hand, but then again, maybe I could stand outside and squirt water on it. I'll think about it.

at school

Dorothy was going through some old photos and clippings and found this. I went to the first grade class at Cherokee Elementary, Tahlequah. Ok. and "delivered" letters to each child. Occasionally, a teenager will approach me on the route and ask me if I remember them from that day. It's funny how something like that sticks in the mind of a child. It reminds me that whenever we have an opportunity to have a positive encounter with a child, we should never fail to do so.

tara at sonic

We stopped at Sonic for lunch and our grand daughter Tara waited on us

ready for retirement

Dorothy gave me this hammock as a retirement gift. You know where I'll be if you want me.

quote of the day

The Christian mind has always been haunted by the feeling that the sins of the saints are worse than the sins of the sinners, that in some mysterious way the one who is struggling for salvation is nearer to hell and to the heart of evil than the unashamed harlot or thief. It has recognized that the devil is an angel, and as pure spirit is not really interested in the sins of the flesh. The sins after the devil's heart are the intricacies of spiritual pride, the mazes of self deception, and the subtle mockeries of hypocrisy where mask hides behind mask behind mask and reality is lost altogether.
Alan Watts -- The Wisdom of Insecurity

i hope you dance

There's a song on the radio whose lyrics declare: "And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance, I hope you dance." Well, the writer of that song hasn't seen me dance. There seems to be a neural interrupt between my brain and feet; they just won't do what I tell them to. But, have you seen that Six Flags commercial with the old guy dancing up a storm? Now, there's one cool dude. If he would just put out a how-to video, I could learn to maneuver out on the dance floor just like him. Dorothy's always wanted to go dancing and when I told her that once I'm able to dance like him we'd go dancing all the time. She said I'd be dancing alone. I will never understand the female mind.

youngest photographer

My five year old grand daughter picked up the camera and took this picture. I liked it so much I'm using it as my profile photo.

quote of the day

The conventional "self" or "person" is composed mainly of a history consisting of selected memories, and beginning from the moment of parturition. According to convention I am not simply what I am doing now, I am also what I have done, and my conventionally edited version of my past is made to seem almost more the real "me" than what I am at this moment. For what I am seems so fleeting and intangible, but what I was is fixed and final. It is the firm basis for predictions of what I will be in the future, and so it comes about that I am more closely identified with what no longer exists than with what actually is.
Alan Watts - The Way of Zen

idyllic setting

Marley and Hunter try to roll a bale of hay.

quote of the day

Ideas of the world and of oneself which are social conventions and institutions are not to be confused with reality. The rules of communication are not necessarily the rules of the universe, and man is not the role or identity which society thrusts upon him. For when a man no longer confuses himself with the definition of himself that others have given him, he is at once universal and unique.
Alan Watts -- Psychotherapy East and West

quote of the day

From the Taoist point of view, an educated man is one who believes he has not succeeded when he has, but is not so sure he has failed when he fails, while the mark of the half educated man is his assumptions that his outward successes and failures are absolute and real.
Lin Yutang -- The Importance of Living

the top of my dresser

Dorothy has been nagging encouraging me to clean the top of my dresser for some time now. Last night I finally got around to it. There was a lot of stuff on there. Here's a list:

1 package of new crew socks

1 rock

1 disposable camera

1 ziplock bag of chess pieces

1 receipt for the purchase of pipe fittings

1 container of paint brush cleaner

2 eyeglass cases

1 battery charger plug in for a digital camera

1 driver's license (mine) expired 8/89

1 installation instructions for mini blinds

1 gas receipt (12/04)

4 annual leave request forms. (approved) earliest dating 9/03

4 pair shoe laces

1 zip lock bag containg miniblind screws and brackets

1 atm receipt (1/05)

1 phillips drill driver bit

2 packets Hot Hands hand warmers

1 bolo tie?

1 atm receipt (3/04)

1 stick of gum (age unknown)

1 hair cutting kit

1 vibrating massager (for my back)

1 bottle of GermX hand cleaner

1 shoe shine rag

1 portable tv antenna

1 shoe shine kit

1 wall switch cover plate

1 13mm box end wrench (I wondered where that was)

1 bottle of Purell hand cleaner

1 drill motor chuck key

3 two cent stamps

1 7mm socket

6 ball point pens

1 atm receipt (12/03)

1 military can opener ( I've had this since basic training 1966. It was for opening C-rations)

1 12.5mm telescope eye piece

17 guitar picks

1 Alto sax reed

4 pocket knives

4 .22 caliber bullets (you never know when you might find a snake in the house)

1 pr tweezers

1 key chain

25 pennies

1 dime

1 safe driving award pin (23 yrs without an accident)

1 photo of Dorothy, Me, Tara, Samantha at Sea World, San Antonio, 1993

1 set of checkers

1 cassette tape

1 index card file box containing a recipe for pizza dough and some assorted quotations which will be appearing as the quote of the day on this blog.

13 wallet size photos of the grandkids.

After compiling this inventory, I didn't know what to do with it so I put it all back on my dresser. I'll decide where to put it some other time.

a life's calling

When I was in high school an occupational aptitude test was administered to the entire freshman class. I can't remember the list of jobs that I was psychologically suited for, but I do recall that working outside would appeal to me. Yet, I always worked in offices for most of my work life until 1984 when, at the age of 39 I started working as a letter carrier in north east Oklahoma. I do like being outside. Not only was I able to watch the seasons change over the course of years, but I was exposed to the freezing cold of winter, and heat and humidity of summer. Working on a walking mail route for 21 years has kept my heart in good shape and my blood pressure at acceptable levels. I'm about to retire and I can't help looking back over the years and taking stock of all the experiences that have come my way. I've made many friends, not only fellow employees, but customers that eagerly await my deliveries each day. I'm grateful for the employment I've had with the Postal Service. It's provided a comfortable living for me and my family, and an adequate retirement with health benefits. Over the past twenty one years I've driven over snow covered roads and ice to get to work and deliver the route. I've walked the beat on days when the high temperature was seven degrees. There were days, during spring thunderstorms, when I thought I was going to be struck by lightning. I've delivered mail after dark, reading the addresses by the glow of a porch light. And now, in 19 days it's all coming to an end. I won't miss the aggressive dogs, or the land mines they leave in yards. Nor will I miss the extremes of weather that impeded my progress on some days. But I will miss the opportunity to serve the public, even in a small way. The gratitude on people's faces after receiving a much anticipated mailing, the small talk that occurred at each brief encounter with customers (after all, were only at each delivery for a few seconds), the knowledge that what we do is important to the community and the economy. I'll miss all that.