The Emerald Rose

While today is a holiday here in the States, and most of the time we pause to reflect on these things, holidays sort of “creep me out” as that commercial goes. Veterans Day, today, I think of all the guys I knew that never came back from ‘Nam. The knowledge that it still goes on to this day, that the black sedan pulls up, two Officers get out,…and, well, you know what comes next.
I have nothing but the best for those who did come back, it changes you, one way or another, whether you like it or not, sometimes for the best, sometimes for the worse. But your country and your fellow citizens OWE you thier respect for going.
The most moving thing I saw during this past Presidential Election was a commercial that never aired. It was done for John McCain, not by his “machine”, but by a few supporters. Click this link and you will see what I’m talking about;

I guess I’m bumming because we allowed our Country to get to this point, we allowed, and fostered a greed driven “It’s all about me!” mentality, and our younger generation has lost something,….it’s principles. They lost them, because they never took the time to see what they were, they never took the time to sit quietly and meditate on anything. They never listened to the birds sing, they never listened to the brook as is moved along, they never took the time to be awed by a sunset, or be even more awed by the miracle of a sunrise, bursting onto our land.
They never shut off the iPod long enough to listen. A sad commentary indeed.
I still stop and think, I get up early because that sunrise creeping in my kitchen window in the morning is the bright smile of another day, another time I get to go forward and do something for someone else. A time when I can leave my mark, all be it such a small mark, on this planet.

The search engine Goggle has a business motto, it’s clear, concise, and understandable even for a three year old,…”Do no evil.” Too bad we can’t get that tattooed on a few eyelids around this world.

Well, the holiday “funk” has to go away now, I need to get back on track. But I must say I’m begining to understand why most older people don’t fear death as much as I thought they would, because they’ve seen the sunrises, they’ve seen the sunsets, they’ve witnessed those “random acts of kindness” again and again. They are in a place where thier faith in mankind is restored,….me?,…I ‘ve still got a long ways to go to get there. I used to think it was because I was a fighter, a Don Quixote battling the “windmills of my mind”, my perception of what the world ought to be. But it’s because I’m getting further and further away from just sitting under the shade of the tree watching the sun slide over the horizon,..and just appreciating it for what it is, …a beautiful sunset.

I’ll put a note in my daytimer for today, just a short note, to try and watch a sunset today before I let the world come back into my mind. Maybe just go to “The Whales Tale”, sit with a quiet little cocktail, and toast the beauty of the day I got to live,….an even say a little prayer, and toast all those who have already seen thier last sunset.

Maybe a little humor later today, but I’m pensive right now.

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