Fear

There seems to be a lot of fear tactics being used these days to get you to buy one item or another and even to vote for one person or another.  The TV ads will warn you to watch out for H1N1 or the latest farm animal flu, be it bird, chicken or the infamous rhino.  These are scary things or are they?  The flu has always been around and probably always will be.  Wash your hands and try to avoid it.  If you get it, take care of yourself and get healthy.  Speaking of diseases the same goes for politicians.  The Republicans have become infamous for this tactic of scaring us.  The Republicans will tell you not to vote for the Democrat because of what harm will befall this great country of ours.  Before President Obama was elected, the Republicans told us to "Watch out because other nations will test him."  Test him how I thought to myself. Nothing has changed it's just one person.  A person with less and less power in this country as time goes on.  You can test the office of the Presidency but I would not recommend testing the resolve of the American people.  I wish that for just once the Republicans would come out and tell me what good they will do for the country and why I should vote FOR them rather than try to scare me into not voting for the Democrat.  This comes from a lifelong Republican, me.  Although, after the last few Republican Presidents, I would officially classify myself as a independent these days.

I don't have any fears.  Oh sure you could dig up some bone chilling event about my health or a loved one or some global incident that would find some fear within these bones of mine but I do not sit in fear on a daily basis.  In fact, I believe that without bad things you would never know to appreciate the good things life has to offer.  How could you appreciate the sun shinning everyday if it never were cloudy or rainy?  One would have a tendency to curse the warm glow of the sun after so much time having only sun and nothing else.  Too much of a good thing suddenly makes that thing not so good.  I won't go as far as to say that I embrace the bad but without bad is there good?  How would you know?

It's the same with war.  I think war is one of the dumbest things that mankind does.  I understand that not everyone can always get along but War just seems so outdated to me.  For people of different opinions to actually take up arms against each other and shoot and kill one another just makes me shake my head.  Could you imagine if a higher intelligence being (driving on the freeway these days makes me believe that there must be higher life somewhere) were to visit our planet today?  I wonder what they would think?  They would see all of these puny humans running around shooting each other.  I mean a higher being, go beyond your limits and imagine an entity that was so advanced that to them, we would look like a plastic set of army men on a bed of sand in some kids' sandbox.  What if these beings attacked us?  Would the nations and the people of good old planet Earth group together or would we simply protect our own land and boundaries?   Until then, world peace is just a Dream but I can Imagine, right Mr. Lennon?

I think it is mankinds natural arrogance that holds us back and takes us into war against each other.  For example, we look for life on other planets and we base whether life can exist on those planets by looking for things like oxygen and at the bare minimum we look for water or traces of it.  Why do we believe so strongly that water must exist for life to exist?  We need water and oxygen but how do these scientists state so factually that ALL life needs water.  How can they know that?  In all of the little round planets in all of the galaxies maybe there is a life form that breathes methane and drinks acid.  Perhaps if they were to visit us they would perish because they could only find fresh water and oxygen.  Maybe that is why they are not here - because this planet is not inhabitable for them.  We look at dust planets and imagine how brutal those conditions must be.  Perhaps life on that dust planet looks at this wet, humid planet and imagines the horrific conditions here as rain falls and tornado's twist and hurricanes brew.

Where this is going I am not sure. I got a bit off the topic but that is me and I warned you that these topics would go in many different directions.  Do I believe in little green men? Well, I will say this, that until humankind has explored all of the universe that anything is possible.  The bottom line is that I think it depends on your definition of "life".  I think it is a human trait and possible flaw to project ourselves as the definition of "life".  I believe that there could be life on the Moon or on Mars or any of the other planets but perhaps we cannot recognize it as what we define as life because it is a life of another type.  I do wonder who else thinks like this at 7 am on a Saturday morning.  Hmmm, I may need more coffee.

Whatever this may end up being

I really have no idea what I am about to write. I just noticed that it has been 2 months since my last rant so I decided to change that and write this - whatever "this" may end up being.

I went back and read some of my older posts. Posts where I talked about playing poker. I laughed as I read some of my horrible bad beat stories from back then. Truth is they were probably more like bad "no folds" then they were "bad beats". Sometimes it is hard to throw hands away. But two kings have never beat 2 aces and I should know that by now. At least I have "invested" enough into the game of poker by now to know better. Throwing away things is not something I have an issue with in life. Although I will admit that I do keep some weird things for reasons unknown.

I have a beer can collection that I recently stacked in my pole barn. Thats them up above in the picture. The collection is special to me because I collected these cans when I was 8 years old and I've had them ever since. Back then there were not returnable (no deposit) cans here in Michigan so my very first can was a "Tall Boy" that someone had conveniently deposited onto the front lawn of my childhood home. All of my neighborhood friends were already collecting cans so I started with this one and from there I was hooked.

I spent a lot of time as a child at a corporate resort in Brighton, Michigan called "Burroughs Farms". No, not "Burroughs Farm" but "Burroughs Farms" with an "S". Sorry but that is a pet peeve with me. Yes I do have better things to worry about but I take issue with that whole "S" thing. Anyway, Burroughs Farms was a resort getaway for employees of Burroughs Corporation. (Burroughs later paired with Sperry to form Unysis) At Burroughs I found most of my empty beer cans for my now infamous collection. I would go to where the older kids were known to party or just walk through the woods and find their spots and also find their tossed beer cans. Gross? Yea it is now that I look back on it but it is pretty cool too and here is why. I found some areas where people used to party long ago. I found conehead cans and "no opener needed" budweiser cans. These things had sat out in these woods for years - long after the party had ended and probably long before these people who left them went on to be adults and get jobs and wives or husbands and families. Please note that I did not say "the good old days" lol.

So the can collection lived for about 31 years in the basement of my parents home. Annually I would receive the call from my Mother asking me "when I was going to take these darn cans." Too funny and it became a little joke with us. Sometimes I wish I hadn't gone and got them from her so she could still call and joke about those wonderful cans that she loved so much. Funny thing though she has never asked about the cans since I took them. I wonder why? I always thought that those cans would be worth something someday. Who else has a "Billy Beer" can that was opened from the bottom so the pull tab is still in place? Well, log onto ebay - there are a lot of them and the can is worth about a buck. Oh well.

Other strange things I have hung onto for unknown reasons: Old Computers, Old Cameras, Old Cell Phones, (I guess I can stop saying "old" in front of everything) Resumes, Printed Ads that I created for customers, bowling trophy's and awards, bowling balls, TV's, - wait a minute I just realized that I AM my Father. Ok this weekend is cleaning time. This makes everything sound like it is a mess but it really is not. My house is organized and well kept. I do need to remove a few of these things though and I will. But I still wonder why I held onto them.

I have bowling trophies from when my youth bowling team won the league in 1972. I still have high average trophies, league high game and high series trophies from that same year. I had the highest average at 95. Not bad for my first year of bowling. Last year (2008-2009) I averaged 229 for a season with 99 games.  I have showed some improvement over the years.  The sad part is that all of this "wonderful" stuff is just junk to anyone else. If I dropped off the face of the planet tonight someone would just back in a dumpster and load all of my precious junk for a quick trip to the dump. But it is special to me and that is why I keep it. Maybe we need more of that in this world?

Americans have become a throw away society where young folks go through 3-4 phones a year and it is ok. We lease cars now because heaven forbid we have a car with more than 10,000 miles on it. We are impatient while driving or on the internet because we have become accustomed to getting things right now. When I was growing up I didn't get a lot of toys or bikes or things like many of my friends got. We had money but my parents didn't believe in just giving out gifts. We got gifts at Christmas or on our Birthday and it made them more special although I didn't feel that way when I was young. My friends didn't appreciate their things like I did. Maybe that is why I take such good care of my things. If I broke a toy as a child I didn't just get another one, rather it was a lesson to be learned. So, I didn't break my toys.

I went into my local cell phone supplier to get a new phone.  The last cell phone I bought was the original "Blackjack".  When I bought it the phone was cutting edge but after several years it needed to be replaced.  When I showed the young person behind the counter my Blackjack he commented, "Wow I haven't seen one of these in years. Do you know that there have been two newer version of this phone sir?"  He also commented, as he looked at it in astonishment because it looked like it was new by saying, "Did you even use this phone?"  Now that is funny because being in sales as I am that phone was my lifeline.  It went with me everywhere.  Anyway, I bought a simple Motorola Karma phone and went on my way.  I've had the phone for a few months now and it is still in pristine condition.  oF course, now that I said that I expect to drop it on the pavement sometime today.

So there you go another moderately entertaining post from me. I guess that explains why I hang onto things like I do. But I am going to clean up a few things around here.....someday.

Who cares about Detroit?

I've been meaning to write this for some time now. Months ago I heard some TV personality say that the US Automakers should file for bankruptcy because after all they got themselves into this situation and why should we, the American People, have to bail them out. "Let Detroit go under" he said. The whole bailout thing I actually agree with. Why should my tax dollars be used to help a private industry or business? But I take serious issue with it being a "Detroit" problem. This problem is a national one and could be crippling for our economy for many years. To be so naive as to believe that Detroit is the only area affected by a possible bankruptcy of the "big 3" is well, naive.

I have customers in TN and KY who used to buy cutting tools on a weekly if not by-weekly basis. I can tell you that one of these two customers has not purchased anything in 8 months and the other has placed one order in the last 6 months. I know that each of those companies have also gone through some pretty massive layoffs. I hear it from customers all across the country that things are slow. Companies go out of business or are very slow paying their bills now.

I recently saw a show on CNN where a panel of 4 (2 men and 2 woman) were discussing this whole auto industry issue. They were interviewing the mayor of Lansing, Michigan (sorry I dont have his name right now). The Mayor of Lansing was insisting that we need to manufacture things in this country. One of the panelists argued with him saying that we as Americans cannot afford to buy things that were made in this country because they are just too darn expensive. After the Lansing Mayor hung up and the interview was over this same panalist stated that he personally wants to buy things made in China and that we have to keep making things in China because they are cheaper. I do not wish harm on anyone but I wonder how his opinion would be if he had a child that spent the afternoon chewing on the lead paint of its latest toy. I also wonder how he would feel if CNN became the "Chinese News Network" and he lost his job. Afterall couldn't we just pipe in via satellite the world news from Bejing? You could have an entire Chinese staff give us our American news. He would be the first one to cry when his overpaid job went away to foreign competition.

I have nothing against China or the Chinese. I do believe though that at one time the United States of America was the land of opportunity. We, as Americans, accept foreigners into this great country of ours so that we can share the American Dream. I have never heard of the Chinese Dream or the Asian Dream. When did it become our responsibility to worry about what lifestyle the people of communist China were living? Why is it presented to us that we cannot pull all of the work out of China and bring it back here to the US because it would devestate China? Where is the American Dream my Grandfather, Uncles and my Father fought for?! I don't get it.

So who cares about Detroit? Well, I as one do because I am not solely out for myself but I am out to save and restore what was once the American Dream - The Land of Opportunity - the greatest nation on Mother Earth. Oh sure, Ford GM and Chrysler could go the way of the Dinosaur and we would get by somehow. But if we do not continue to manufacture in this country where will we be? We must make things here to keep people working, to keep the economy flowing and to maintain our peace of mind. If we stop making things and we go to war how long will it take for China to make a tank for us and why once we get it do I see forward gear going reverse and left being right? It doesn't work people. A slow boat bringing us Chinese made armed tanks and aircraft doesn't make any more sense than us receiving lead paint toys for our children and tainted toothpaste for our twice a day routine.

What language would you be speaking now if it had not been for the manufacturing efforts of Detroit during the World Wars? The Declaration of Independence states that we as a people have an obligation to rise up and take back our country from our own government if that government fails to lead us in a prosperous direction. An OBLIGATION. I bet George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson are a little unsettled in their graves these days.

In Congress July 4, 1776. The unanimous declaration of the thirteen united States of America as penned by John Hancock states: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Hancock was speaking of the King of Great Britain but do not the same words apply to any government that governs and/or controls these great United States?

Why do things have to change?

I thought about the title line for this post for a few minutes.  "Why do things have to change?".  At first read this sounds like something an old man might say along with "I remember when" or the infamous "Back in the day..." but I am not an old man.  Not by number or spirit.  I will say that I have seen change many times in my life and though many people do not like change I accept it and typically do not have an issue with it.  

Last week I heard of General Motors dropping the Pontiac Brand Name.  For most of you this probably passed in one ear and out the other as you could possibly care less about that news.  But for me it hit a nerve.  In 1984 I bought my first real car.  I had others in the past but they were given to me or sold to me by family members.  This car was my first out-of-the family car purchase.  A 1978 Pontiac Trans-AM.  Now, "back in the day" these babies had a 6.6 400 HP motor in them.  Mine had a .... hmmm.... well this is sad I cant remember if it was 454 or 455 but either way this car moved when you hit the gas.  My only complaint was that it was bright yellow with black interior.  The interior was going to receive peer approval for sure but the yellow exterior made me cringe a bit.  My friends were driving GTO's, Chevelle's, Fast back Mustangs and none of them were yellow.  There were a few of us who wrenched on cars and helped each other keep our road machines running.  

"I remember when" you could work on a car yourself.  If it stopped running you dragged it to "Norms" house. Yes his name was Norm.  He had all the tools and all the tricks to keep our cars on the road.  We would wrench on one thing or another for a couple of hours and "bam" you'd be up and running and the smile would return.  You can't work on cars anymore.  Many young people are probably asking why you would want to and the answer is this:  It was a bonding thing.  Three or four guys standing around a car, wrenching on this, replacing that and you talked about everything from hamburgers to girls while you worked.  It may sound crazy if you didnt participate in anything like this but it was fantastic.  It was worth having a car that needed constant wrenching to keep it going. (editors note: If you are smiling right now because you know what I am talking about you are ok in my book)

But this post really wasn't to be about my '78 Trans-AM.  No, it was about things changing.  You see, I don't see Norm or any of those guys anymore.  In fact our time together was fleeting because we were young and youth is fleeting.  We all grow up and move on to live our lives.  I met those guys when we all worked at McDonalds flipping burgers or doing maintenance.  Those were our first jobs so we shared that together too.  This is where my story starts.

I was born just after the baby boom in this country.  My older brothers generation caused many new schools to be built to hold their masses.  My generation was the beginning of the smaller families with fewer children.  All of the schools and teachers wouldn't be needed as class sizes diminished.  I had the honor of being the last class out of nearly every school I attended.  I went to Clay Elementary School in Livonia Michigan.  It closed after I graduated to Junior High or Middle School now I guess it is called - another thing that changed for no reason.  I attended Dickinson Junior High (Funny I can't remember now if it was spelled "Dickenson" or Dickinson" come to think of it I don't think I ever had to spell it before) also in Livonia.  It closed the year after I graduated from it.  Two schools closing right after my class.  This still may not mean much to you but I knew then that it was a sad thing because I would never be able to go back revisit my youth by walking the halls or if I lived in the area later in life have my children attend those schools and be able to mutter "I remember when".

Remember that McDonalds that my friends and I worked at?  Well, just after I left for a better job - they torn it down.  How many times have you seen a McDonalds get torn down? But it gets better.  They rebuilt a new McDonalds building, not down the block or around the corner but on the same plot of land.  In the exact same location.  I had many great times at that McDonalds Restaurant.  I met great friends, I dated many great girls, I practically started my adult life - the life after high school - there at McDonalds.  What a great place that was to meet people.  Most of my girlfriends at that time I met there.  We played baseball against the other area McDonalds. The store managers actually coordinated other crews from other McDonalds to come to our store and work it so we could go play baseball against another store.  You know, that was really cool!  I bet they do not do that anymore.  One other thing about that place, I had a few girls at the time who told me that they hated going to work until they pulled in and saw my yellow Trans-AM in the parking lot.  How cool did that make me feel? Great! - nice to hear too that the whole yellow car thing didn't keep me down! It must have been the shaker hood.

You can see how all of this is linking together.  It is my past.  It is ultimately how I have shaped into the person who I am today. Norm and some of the other fellas working together to get our cars ready for the weekend are still in my memories.  The great girls that I dated are still in my memory.  We all have a past of things that we experienced.  It would be nice if these remained the same so we could go back and visit but things must move on.  

Now it is Pontiac.  Up until last week when GM announced it would drop the Pontiac label I held hope for a new Trans-AM.  Even after the new Camaro came out I still thought there was a chance but now there is no chance.  It is ok and I will survive but it is just another thing that I will never be able to go back and revisit.  One of my favorite songs of that era was "When you close your eyes do you dream about me?"  I believe it was by Honeymoon Suite but I may be wrong. One of the lines in that song is "I remember when we learned about love in the back of a Chevrolet".  It just doesn't sound the same if it were: "I remember when we learned about love in our Toyota". 

Move on and get over it.  I can read your mind you know.  Especially if you are young you are probably thinking that I should stop complaining and move on - things change.  Just remember this, one day your children will be playing virtual reality video games.  They will put a helmet on and sit in a chair or lay down on their bed and they will be able to just think their next move.  You will stand there and say, "Back in the day we had it made - we actually had to move levers and push buttons and hold a controller.  Now a days these young people don't know what it's like to play a video game. All they do is sit there and think and the game does everything for them. These kids are lazy."   

Ah age - the horrible part is that things change - the great part is too that things change.  Wouldn't it be boring if everyday were the same as the last one?  Some like blondes, some like brunettes for me it's redheads. 

Happy New Year

So we have another new year. 2009. My parents were right in that time does go faster and faster the older you get. What is it about a new year that gets everyone so excited? Is it just another reason to party? Is it just another reason to get a day or two off from work? Is it the rare opportunity to see family that we only see during this time of the year? I don’t think so. To me and through my observations it seems that it is the sense of new hope and a chance of a brighter future that leads everyone to celebrate the New Year so much.

You know, of course, that the New Year is not just celebrated here in the US but it is globally celebrated and embraced. I watched live footage of several countries as the New Year rang in. Australia where the fireworks and the celebration were on a very grand scale. Bejing where the lights flashed and people cheered (although I thought that the Chinese New Year took place in our January but what do I know I sell cutting tools for a living). And, of course, in New York where many of us love to watch a glowing ball drop down a poll as we count down the remaining seconds. Don’t get me wrong I feel the same joy and excitement of bringing in a new year. I just don’t understand why I feel this way.

If the current year was so bad and we just want to get rid of it and move on then I understand the joy of sending it packing into history. If there were something big coming in the New Year (world peace would be nice) I would understand it too. But we know nothing of the coming New Year. One thing for sure is that it brings us one year closer to the end of the Mayan Calendar which some say predicts the end of mankind in the year 2012. “Oh don’t be so negative and enjoy the moment” I can hear you now and I agree we should enjoy this moment. Perhaps this is exactly what I am getting at.

Why don’t we celebrate everyday as if it were the last day of the year and the dawn of a new one? Nobody was upset yesterday. I stood in line at a small convenience store at 8:30pm needing Tequila to make margaritas. No salt – shaken not stirred – a small slice of lime and pour it over a glass stuffed with ice please. So here was this line, a line that typically would consist of people moaning and griping and wondering why the lady in front is writing a check for $15.81 and holding up the line. But last night there was none of that. There was only patience and understanding. Sure, everyone there had someplace they were going even if it were just back home to make sour drinks with ice. Lots of ice – did I mention that yet? So why is everyone so kind and understanding on December 31st and how do we roll that into January 1 and so on?

So how can we get pumped up like this everyday? I’ve said before that I admit a lot of personal things on this blog - probably much more than I should. I chest pound. Yes, you read that correctly. I pound my own chest. I take right hand into a loose fist and I tap the left side of my upper chest two times. Just below the shoulder to be exact and only twice. No, not three times as I would after scoring any goal in air hockey but only two times. The air hockey thing I will tell you about at another time. At least one person knows that story and is shaking their head right now remembering it in utter dismay. Why do I chest pound? I don’t know for sure. My wife hates it. She says I look silly and a few other things but I do it anyway. It isn’t for her or anyone else. I do it only for myself. My daughters have not seen it yet but my wife still doesn’t feel special about being introduced to the chest pound. I wonder why?

The chest pound is a way of showing confidence in me. It pumps me up after a big sale or making a good decision. It is reserved and not used daily but only used for special situations. I know you are reading into that “special” and I do not blame you as I will admit it is a bit strange but I never was one to get in line and follow. Up until this Christmas I only chest pounded in the privacy of my own home. This holiday season I introduced my visiting from out of town family to the chest pound. Yea, nobody understood it.

Wouldn’t it be a great thing though if we all got fired up everyday like we do on New Years? So here is a toast, moderate on the sour mix, a bit heavy on the Tequila, a squirt of lime and packed with a bunch of ice for a new year filled with happiness, joy and peace. May we all carry with us each day the warmth we feel on New Years Eve. Happy 2009!

Leading a Horse to Water.

Growing up my parents had many sayings:

"Do you want your face to stay like that?"

"It only hurts for a little while"

The infamous: "If they were jumping off a bridge would you do that too?" -- sorry to say that I did indeed jump off of bridges, rooftops, garages and out of trees which leads to wonder why I never heard: "There is something not right about that one" from my Father.

Speaking of my Father he has to be one of the best, yet still undiscovered, sayings creator in history.  I'll never forget the gems my Father came up with when he would get angry while working in the garage on one of our cars.  If things went awry he would shout out things like:

"Cheese and crackers!"

"Son of a pup!" - I didn't get this one until I was much older and I still don't get the whole cheese and crackers thing - although I do like cheese and crackers to this day. I wonder if that is some type of psychological thing?

You see my Father worked on vehicles in the Korean war.  He is an electrical engineer by education and a purchasing manager by occupation - retired now - thank you very much.  I know first hand how working on vehicles and being a purchasing manager can drive you a bit batty because I have been there. No, I have never muttered "Cheese and crackers" of course, unless there were a bottle of wine near by.

One of their best sayings and one said by many over the years is "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink." I often think about where I would be today if someone actually told me things straight out instead of in rhyme.  Just tell me that you can show people what they should do but only they can choose to do it or not. Is that so hard?  So that was me growing up amongst all of these life lessons hidden within speech.  It leads me to my topic today: "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink."

Take Toolinghouse.com for example.  Come on, you knew this was leading to commercial. Did you think you would get all of this wonderful stuff to read without hearing a pitch or two? Toolinghouse competes with the big boys of the online world - you know who they are so I don't have to mention them.  If you were to compare our prices against their prices I can tell you that Toolinghouse is 25-55% lower on almost everything we sell.  I have introduced many end users of cutting tools to toolinghouse.com.  Many have ordered from me over the years and continue to do so today.  I cherish my customers as I know they are my corporate lifeline. What makes me wonder though are the others whom I have introduced Toolinghouse.com to but who have never ordered a thing from me and worse yet, continue to buy from that 3-letter company.  It is ultimately the buyers choice but coming from a purchasing background like I do, I cannot resist wondering why they choose to spend more for the same things they can get from me much cheaper?  "Well, I need it here tomorrow" and I reply with "so order it from me today and you will have it tomorrow." Most of our items can ship same day just like the 3-letter company. Now, for those of you who do not know, Toolinghouse is not some multi-billion dollar company with warehouses all over the land.  Kudos to the big boys for having so many brick and mortar locations.  This overhead of theirs is passed on to you the customer in higher tooling costs.  That's it. I have much lower overhead and therefore much lower prices.  The drawback, and I hope you find my honesty refreshing, is that all of our orders ship out of Michigan.  I'm not selling gasoline and I do not have a location on every street corner - nor do I have the high prices associated with that type of infrastructure.  That's how I can sell you "Great Tools - at Great Prices."

In today's market there are many goofballs (that's the technical term for it) running around out there telling you anything you want to hear to try and make a sale.  It is tough out there these days but I do not believe in deception as a sales technique.  Those of you who know me know that I am a straight up kind of guy, I don't - hey, I just remembered another parent saying, worse yet it came to mind just now and it applies - "Pull the wool over your eyes." Yikes, that stuff is still up in my head.  Probably because I am still trying to figure out what half of it means - 40 some years later.

Look, I know you have choices when it comes to making your cutting tool decisions.  All I ask for is an opportunity to quote your cutting tool needs.  All I can do is show you how I can save you money and provide you with quality US Made Cutting Tools at affordable prices. That's the sales pitch - not much to it I know but it is the truth and that is the best kind of water to be led to isn't it?  Call me today and let's talk. Toll Free: 1-866-583-TOOL. Or log onto www.toolinghouse.com and check us out. 

The bottom line is that good 'ol Mom and Dad were right about most things, confusing and twisted in their method of getting it across to me, but right none the less. They taught me some important lessons.  They confused the heck out of me and they have instilled some of the silliest yet pertinent sayings into this head of mine - even if I have only deciphered 50% of them so far.

The Wonderment of Youth

I had a 9:12 tee time this morning but a rain shower has pushed my time back to 12:16. So that gives me some time to sit here at my iMac and write. When I woke up this morning, it was already raining. I made my coffee as I usually do and I took it along with a blueberry muffin out onto my screened in porch to sit and watch the rain. Actually, I really like rainy days except for when they kill tee times.

While sitting and watching the rain fall I saw a mother deer and her fawn run past my driveway and onto my neighbors property. Great thing these fawns are as they sleep during the day either under some of my trees or my neighbors and the mother sleeps in the woods behind my house. Why they separate like this during the day I do not know but they do.

Today, the mother walked and the fawns bounded around and along side of her. If you have read my blogs you probably know that I have a 2 year old daughter. I had mentioned this before when I warned the world that I reproduce every 14 years. You know what is really great about kids? The innocence and the wonderment of everything they do. They do not know anything. They do not know to be afraid. They do not judge people on looks. I can carry an extra few pounds around the middle and she doesn't care one single bit.

It's funny how those fawns were bounding and bouncing around their mother this morning. Ironically enough my daughter does the same thing. Anytime she wants to go somewhere she runs. Time for lunch and she runs to the table. Time to go outside and play and she runs to the back door. Time to brush her teeth and she runs the other way. The joy of life in her is one of the things I love so much. She is just amazing because she is just happy to be. To be what? It doesn't matter. Just to be is enough for a child as they can find pleasure and happiness in anything.

There is absolutely no greater feeling on Mother Earth for me then walking in the back door from the garage to see my little girl running just as fast as her little legs will take her, down the hallway, past the kitchen towards the back door where "Dada" has just come in. The exuberance in her actions as those little legs try to run 90 mph just to get to see me faster. What an amazing feeling that is for me. She runs so fast that her hair blows back and she almost loses her balance.

We, as adults should take this approach to life. At least, if it does nothing else, it would help some of us tone up a bit. After all, when was the last time you ran to your car just because you were so excited to take a drive to the post office? When was the last time you ran as fast as you could to catch a big yellow rubber ball you had just kicked across the lawn? I admit some strange and personal things on this blog and this will be right in line with those other confessions. I've run around on the inside of my house chasing my daughter and playing as she plays and it is not easy to keep up. I run to a lot of places now. I sprint to the car in the garage. If I am going to water the trees in the back, I run to the faucet. My 2 year old giggles at me and that is why I do it. But what a great change of pace for me. She and I will run around the yard. Instead of taking long strides I take what seems to be about two trillion tiny steps to get where I am going. Just like she does.

I hope she will always feel that exuberance when I come home and when she sees me for the first time on any given day. Right now, is very special and I am old enough to know it. The sheer magic that "Dada" holds right now is fleeting. There will come a time when she will question everything I say and I look forward to her doing it. But right now, I am reveling in what can only be called one of the best times of a Fathers life. Sure, those little legs that try so hard just to get to the back door a little faster will slow down. The excitement will fade in the legs but I hope that, if I do my job right, the excitement will never fade in her spirit or her desire to see Dada.

Maybe one day she will call me "Father" or "Dad" and maybe even in quite or silly times between us I will be the "old man". I'm not sure but I do know that even though Dada by name may fade, Dada by spirit in me, never will.

Keep jumping - keep leaping. We need more of that in this world.