My favorite summer month is here…August. I enjoy August because it is the penultimate month to the end of summer…September. I swear that I can feel a hint of autumn in August. For instance, this morning it is 72 degrees rather than 82. We have been experiencing several 90+ degree days with heat factors well over 100. August in the 1960’s was a pleasant time for me. I basically had 2 more weeks of carefree hours to wile away…and then it was either back to school or at least the preparation for returning to the classroom…took the majority of my last days of freedom. We stepped up our Pounds Hollow swimming forays to 4 or 5 days a week rather than 2. Pounds Hollow was nirvana from the relentless heat of hot and humid Southern Illinois. The cool waters of the Hollow soothed our souls and calmed our minds. It also was a lot of fun to float all over the lake and go beyond the guide rope set to remind all that once crossed…you are on your own. I was never a strong swimmer…but brother could I ever float. The sound of silence was peaceful and serene. The impression of being alone was immersive in the deep water where I neither could touch bottom but indeed had no idea of how far down that the floor of the lake was. The immeasurable water and my weak swimming skills…coupled with the fact that every now and then I could not seem to make floating on water work for me…brought a true excitement to the endeavor. When I would dog paddle for a season I would notice that my family and friends as well as the other swimmers…that were on the right side of the rope…were very small and difficult to distinguish who they were.

Buying new school clothes was a neat experience. Mom and I would travel to P.N. Hirsch Department store and look for all that I would need for the upcoming school year. I did not like blue jeans…so I did not wear any. I was a slacks person…and in the minority in that affection. I wore shirts with tails that were designed to tuck into your trousers. If you shirt tail was hanging outside off your pants…the teacher or the principal would tell you to go the rest room and tuck your shirt in. My hair had to be combed. I carried a comb in my pocket for this important purpose. If you wore a hat…and most of us did…you had to remove it when you entered the classroom. My friend, Jackie Brooks, began first grade at the same time that I did. For the first several days he forgot to remove his hat. When he would sit down at his desk the teacher would say to him, ‘Jackie, do not wear your hat in the house.’ He then would get up from his desk and take his hat to the cloak room.

Purchasing the notebooks and pencils and pencil sharpeners and all that would be necessary for a productive school year was exciting for me…for about the first week. After the first week of school…that was still in the summer…all I could think of was how hot it was in the classrooms. Schools did not have air conditioning…they had fold in windows. Opening windows, even large windows, when there is no breeze and placing a box fan in front of them is akin to having a gas forced air furnace blow hot air on you. I recall going to the principal’s office and it felt like walking into a refrigerator. I thought, ‘What is this?’ This was my first lesson in the inequality of life.

One of my greatest late summer and early school days pleasures was the mini-holiday we took to drive all of the way from Eldorado, Illinois to DuQuoin, Illinois…to attend one night of the Illinois State Fair. Now Illinois has 2 State Fairs and Southern Illinois is the lesser noted of the two. The Big Fair…or the Real Fair is held in Champaign, Illinois and is a 3 hour drive from Eldorado. My stepfather, Earl, said that the Champaign State Fair had nothing on the DuQuoin State Fair…and that an hour drive to get there was all that he was willing to do. The famous comedian and movie star, Bob Hope, often performed at the DuQuoin Fair…but I never got to see him…as the admission tickets were too expensive. The premier harness racing of the nation was held at DuQuoin, the Hambletonian. I loved what was called in those days…the freak shows. There was the headless woman and the man who transformed into a gorilla…before your eyes. We walked by a musical performance where women were dancing in their bathing suits and an African American man invited the pedestrians into the performance…if they wanted to see more… I mentioned to mom that the music was very nice…and she grabbed my hand tightly…and picked up her step. Often we would take our holiday to DuQuoin on Labor Day, which is the last day of the fair. Since we did not arrive until mid afternoon I wanted to squeeze every ounce of fair/fun that was in the annual event. On more than one occasion I would step up to enjoy a carnival ride and a grizzled man or woman would tell me that the ride was closed as they were preparing to break-down the machines to travel to their next fair destination.

September, especially in the middle and end of the month, brought the promise of fall. The Halloween decorations on the bulletin boards in our school…reminded me that my favorite time of the year had finally arrived. Soon my October birthday would be here again…that my friend, Jackie and I shared…as well as a last name, and I would be another wonderful year older…and soon to be an adult…I was certain…

‘I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.’ Ray Bradbury

Truth comes packaged in the most unique phrases. Or as a good friend told me one time, ‘Jay…you really do your own thing.’ I must confess that I was born this way. As a youngster I watched adults say some very strange and hurtful utterances and make some terrible and counterproductive decisions. Although I have been in the midst of authority figures all of my life…I regularly observed them uttering commandments or strong suggestions that were not in the interest of the people that they were speaking to. For instance for a minister or pastor to suggest that you give of your meager finances…until it hurts…and god will give you riches untold…is an abuse of power. Or, if a supervisor or manager personalizes their role in your work life…such as suggesting that they may have to cast you down to hell…that leader has relinquished their right to hold a management position.

You can be in the wrong place. If friends and colleagues do not appreciate you for your individuality…find new friends and colleagues. So many times we join a group or engage in an activity because it seems that everyone else is doing so. That is a poor excuse for a reason to follow the leader…said the lemming at the back of the line…

Comfort in your own skin…is a life long blessing. To seek the praise and affirmation of the reflection that stares back at you…is a vocation that is worthy of your employment. I never liked sports. I have a pond in my backyard that I have not fished in for over 20 years. I do not know how to play any card games…but Old Maid. I love writing and reading and photography and travel. I am a movie aficionado. If you are a human on our planet…you are my brother and my sister.

Fierce individualism and free thinking are my mantras. I am a christian for the past 52 years and I believe that Christ reveals himself to individuals and that there is no man or woman who has cornered the market on what, ‘God said.’ I think that churches should stir up their leadership and open themselves to new thoughts and new ways of worship and to ask themselves the hard questions on what it means to be a christian and what it means to be a member of a church…

Freedom is youth…and youth understand freedom… We understood as children that life is a mystery and that anything was possible if we only believed. We knew that we could be astronauts and travel to space. We understood that we could become authors and actors…and the scientist that cures cancer….and even the President of the United States…

Aaron came over and cut some of my most difficult weeds that are next to our backyard pond…just now. I always called the type of weeds that they are…Horse Weeds. Jonathon assisted me in some carpet cleaning this morning…they are good sons! Pastor Kerry preached an intriguing sermon this morning and one of the main take away points for me was…the complexity of God. A complex Creator created a complex creation. For instance, as Kerry illustrated in his sermon, King David, of the Old Testament, committed adultery with one of his leading warriors, Uriah the Hittite’s wife, and when Bathsheba became pregnant with their child…he sought to cover up his sin by ordering Uriah to go to his home. When Uriah refused the command due to his soldiers not being able to enjoy the comforts of their homes and wives…David commanded that Uriah be placed at the heat of the battle and that his comrades withdraw from him to ensure his death. God sent his prophet Nathan to tell David that God was aware of his sin…and David repented that he, ‘Had sinned before God,’…with no mention regarding the death of Uriah or the sexual abuse and perhaps rape of Bathsheba. Their first child died…but the second child was…Solomon.

Good things come from bad people. I have not met the person…and I will soon be 64 years old, who is entirely good…or entirely bad. The human creation is as varied and complex as the multitude of changing prisms of a kaleidoscope. I have done what is called ‘good things’ with several motivations fueling the enterprise. We desperately want life to be black and white…when it is almost always…gray. Former President Lyndon Baines Johnson was a champion of civil right and yet can be heard on tape using the N Word. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is a hero of the Civil Rights Movement and yet had to be cajoled and dragged to the cause by events transpiring in the south. Dr. Martin Luther King is an icon of the Civil Rights Movement…and yet his morality was somewhat akin to King Davids.

And, so, today we look for the morally pure and the ethically upright and person who has unfailing love for their fellow man…and we come up short. That is what this life is about…coming up short… The search for perfection in any human being…is an exercise in futility. The dogma or belief that if you are holy enough or righteous enough or if you fast enough or pray enough that you are going to become an elite member of God’s Holiness Club…with all subsequent Gold Club Members Rights…is not only folly but a perverse motivation for the exercise of a christian walk back to Jerusalem.

Some of the meanest looking people in the world have been my friends. Some of the seemingly kindest and placid and peaceful people in my world have been passive aggressive personalities. You can not judge a book by its cover. No one sees what is in the heart of a human…but God. We are all members of a large Theatrical Production called Life… Our roles are written with the nuances of the master writer. God knows how to write a hell of a story…

Parker Gulley was a rescue dog. She had been thrown out of a moving automobile and had her jaw broken. The vet had to reset the jaw and remove three teeth. When we first saw her she was a tiny bundle of soft black fur and sharp little teeth. She captured our hearts completely. In a matter of a few weeks she developed allergies to such an extent that it appeared she was dying prior to her first birthday. One early morning, around 2:00 A:M:, she defecated and urinated while at the same time vomiting. I awakened MJ and told her that Parker appeared to be dying and that she would want to get up if she wanted to see her while she was still alive. As MJ feverishly began telephoning to find an emergency veterinary hospital to take her to…she suddenly became calm and went to sleep. Parker received allergy shots on a monthly basis for the rest of her life. She also had a preponderance of fatty tumors that we she underwent surgery for…twice…and yet found that they were not cancerous. We loved Parker and cared for her like a child.

Look around you and you will see…friends and colleagues that need someone to rescue them. Many are homeless…yet they live in a house. Many are ill, not only physically, but mentally. Mental illness is an illness that most people will experience in some form during sometime of their life…and yet it is unspoken and often unseen. The ignorant saying, ‘Suck it up buttercup, when referring to mental distress…destroyed countless people. Simone Biles is a hero for protecting her mental health and listening to her body.

We all need rescue from our biases and prejudices. We need to be rescued from the, ‘John Wayne form of christianity,’ which leads us to believe that the tougher we are…the more christian and god fearing that we are. Insurrectionist stormed our United States Capitol on January the sixth. They crushed and beat the police officers. They announced that they were going to kill a police officer with his own gun. They called African American police officers the N Word. The same insurrectionist…prayed in the Capitol Rotunda… for god to give them the victory over the democratically elected representatives of our government…both Republicans and Democrats.

Fantasy and conspiracy theories have captured the imagination of many of us. There is currently a virulent Pandemic of the unvaccinated in our nation. One hundred million of us have refused to get one of the readily available Covid vaccines. It has gotten so bad that the Center For Disease Control has advised that all people, vaccinated and unvaccinated, should return to wearing face masks in academic settings as well as businesses and faith communities. Now how did this happen. How did we reject the common sense of when I was a lad…where I stood in line with the rest of my classmates and received the Polio Vaccination. How have we laid aside the common sense of our grandparents and our parents and become a Twilight Zone Land of the Lost? How do we ascribe that we ‘Back The Blue’. which I have always believed in…and yet turn our head when our…white…brothers and sisters…beat them within an inch of their lives? That is not Conservative versus Liberal…this is people who live in an empirical reality…and people who live in an alternate universe…or on Earth 2…

Rescue us from not caring about the people that Jesus cared about the most during his ministry. Jesus loved what we often call…marginalized. He cared for the poor and the needy and the sick and suffering…and the lonely. The Bible says that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. When Christ was looking for the type of heart for others…those that love their neighbor as themselves…he found it in the disenfranchised and the marginalized and those who had been thrown out of a moving vehicle and had their jaw broken…

I have been a member of one church or another for over 52 years. Each had its benefits and each had its drawbacks. Each was supremely uplifting…at times…and each was deflating…at others. “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build this church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’ Matthew 16: 13-18. KJV

We christians take a great store in church. We spend much of life there. We believe that we were commissioned by Christ to gather in churches. We donate our money and our time and our talents to ensuring that the church succeeds. We gather with people like us. Fundamentalist and Progressives are very much alike in this regard. Where is the outsider going to fulfill the commandments of Jesus to gather together and await his return?

It has been another closet cleaning day for Fibber McGee and Molly’s closet. After some significant labor and returning memories…we have finally completed the Closet Project. It is currently 90 degrees and feels like 99. For tomorrow a heat advisory has been issued. It was a good day to stay inside and clean the closet. I wonder what possessed us to save so much stuff? There was a VCR that does not work and 2 camcorders from the 1980’s. One camcorder recoded on full size VCR tapes while the other took much reduced in size tapes with an adaptor that the tapes were placed in to facilitate their playback in a VCR. The full size VCR camcorder was my deceased step-father’s while the second was my pride and joy as I recorded 100’s of hours of tape when Aaron and Jonathon were very young. All holidays and special occasions are recorded as well as the old man and MJ…when they were much younger. There are also many loved ones who are no longer with us…that are smiling and in the holiday spirit…on the tapes. I began a TV Guide collection in the 1980’s that I pared down in latter years. The guides were in the box with the VCR tapes. We re-discovered an old handbag that was full of coins. When we stored it…20 years ago…we vowed that we would go through it…and so we did…today. There were two framed photos of me and my last director, Phil, with then Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich. Former Governor Blagojevich after that photo went on to achieve some measure of infamy by being sent to prison for attempting to sell or barter the vacant Senate Seat of Presidential candidate Barack Obama. There were neckties strewn on the floor. Over my 25 years as a manager/administrator at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale…I purchased a lot of ties. I enjoyed a good silk tie…and often they were not cheap. Knowing that I have a drawer that is packed with ties that I will never wear again…I discarded the escapees.

So today WordPress informs me that I have passed 100,000 views on The Happy Traveler. I was pleased to hear it since I average around 20 likes per blog. However likes and views are different. I began blogging in 2012…infrequently. I did not begin blogging on a regular basis until our month long visit to Europe in 2014. Our friend Margo is an accomplished author and we stayed with her and Jeff for a week in Nice, France. When I saw her office and heard her speak of her love of writing…I was hooked…and have never become unhooked since that summer visit to the south of France. We were guests of Margo at an authors event held by Patricia Sands. Patricia was so welcoming to MJ and me and the French authors were inspiring with their passion to write…I became a Constant Blogger…

My blogging is a bit like most of my endeavors…plodding and slow…but steady and resolute. I write about what I like and what I am thinking about when I sit down to produce a few readable thoughts. If I am anything…I am a thinker. I seldom accept something at face value. If the preacher or the politician or the pundit tells me the truth as they see it…I often disagree after thinking about what they have said and using my ruler or measuring the utterances against the empirical facts. I love free spirits. I love people who fly their Freak Flag…unashamedly. People who question…are in my club. I think that blogging is a marvelous expression of freedom of thought. In my mind…there is no higher calling…

Hot July is upon us. It is the kind of heat that makes you appreciate air conditioning. It seems hotter to me than when I was a child…but I was hot then…with no relief. In those days I took baths, as we had no showers, and began to perspire prior to getting dressed. Riding in the car was hot as was sleeping in a sweat soaked bed and sitting in front of a box fan that felt like a furnace blowing on you. Climatize is a good word for the young. I dislike the hot weather as badly as the extreme cold that comes with winter. But, I said all of that to say that we Americans as well as most of the industrialized world…are somewhat spoiled. Conditioning does matter. I read of my friend and fellow blogger in Scotland who rides his bike often as transportation. When I read of the loving manner that he speaks of his bike and his new bike…it makes me want a bike. I am sure that he is more healthier than I with my motorized lifestyle. Although I am proud of my continued 10,000 steps per day.

My friend, Jeff, is an inspiration to me. He lives an honest life and is dedicated to the principles that he believes in. I have been friends with Jeff for 50 years…and he has always had a fierce intellect. He questions many things from a standard of truth…rather than what the majority believe and call…truth. Jeff lives his life by his own lights…and I have attempted to do the same. He does not have the clutter and confusion of mechanization surrounding him…and yet he is happy and thinks deeply regarding the challenges that our modern life presents us with. I saw my friend today and it always a joy to talk to a true soul…

If there is anything that can be said about our 2020/2021 Pandemic it would be that we do not know what is coming next. To say that we do understand what is around the corner… would be to ignore what is unfolding before us. It seems to me that neither the health professionals nor the politicians nor the pundits…fully understand where we will be in the upcoming fall and winter. I think that we should be ready for closures again and that may include churches and businesses. It is highly possible that masks will once again be required for most face to face transactions. The ancient term for Pandemic would be Plague…and Plagues are unpredictable. The Bible speaks of the 7 last Plagues. I do not ascribe to the fundamentalist views of these scriptures…but our planet is in a precipitous decline due to our human neglect.

A simple life is a good life. It seems that we seek the answers to life’s persistent problems among the partisan politicians that are more concerned with protecting their next paycheck than protecting their constituents. We look to the minister who has commissioned him or herself and anointed by God…because they told us that they were… We religiously watch the television media to reveal to us the truth….as they define it. And we become sick…and we die…and we wonder why…

Thought is a beautiful thing. Albert Einstein developed the Theory Of Relativity by thought. Think about what you are being told by your leaders and then think about your empirical reality…and see if they square. Air conditioners and televisions and modern industrial life will not produce truth for us. Media will not bring us closer to God or to our fellow man. Someone telling us what to think…will not produce truth or peace or contentment in our daily struggles. Research and wood burning in our brains…will reveal a path that our mothers and fathers and our grandmothers and grandfathers understood as a result of their education and their upbringing.

For those of us who like to roam and ramble there is an old saying…’Itchy Feet.’ The prospect of travel has always excited me. I can remember that just going to another town or especially a state or more away from my home state of Illinois…was like a Lewis and Clark Expedition to me when I was a lad. A night in a motel or hotel was so different than what I was accustomed to that I could hardly sleep in view of the strange surroundings that I found myself in. I felt a bit like Aaron who told his mom when we were spending a night in a hotel and he discovered a King James Bible in one of the drawers, ‘Mommy I am going to read this Bible…all night!’ I know that in the late 1990’s when we were in the midst of our Great Eastern Adventure and spending two nights in Manhattan…that there was so much loud and interesting night excitement that was just below our hotel window…that each of us had to look out of our windows on numerous occasions to receive our update on the city that never sleeps.

Travel is the rare spice of life…that you can not find just anywhere that you look. During our early years of marriage and even before Aaron and Jonathon were born we would drive two or three nights journey to the south. We loved Tennessee and still do. MJ and I had breakfast in a Cracker Barrel restaurant this morning in Marion, Illinois. When we were traveling to Tennessee in the 70’s there were no Cracker Barrel eateries much beyond the Tennessee border. Each time that we dined in one…I noticed the life like statues called Tom Clark Gnomes or Cairn and wanted badly to purchase one…but there was no money for such artistic endeavors in those days. Indeed we took short overnight trips because, ‘The gas money could give out in Gurnsey,’ as Cousin Eddie told Clark Griswold in the holiday classic…’Christmas Vacation. Gatlinburg, Tennessee was our favorite destination. We loved to stay a few nights in the picturesque town.that is nestled at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains. There is a hotel in the town that is built over the Little Pigeon river and the sound of the rushing water from the river is a delight. Many times we have driven into the Smoky’s and visited the old settlement of Cades Cove. ‘The valley has a rich history. For hundreds of years Cherokee Indians hunted in Cades Cove but archeologists have found no evidence of major settlements. The first Europeans settled in the Cove sometime between 1818 and 1821. By 1830 the population of the area had already swelled to 271. Cades Cove offers the widest variety of historic buildings of any area in the national park. Scattered along the loop road are three churches, a working grist mill, barns, log houses, and many other faithfully restored 18th and 19th century structures. ‘ Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We were so enamored with the Cove that we purchased hand made replicas of each of the buildings and proudly display them to this day.

Several Christmases we had the tradition of meeting our friends, Faye and Steve, for a three our four night stay in Gatlinburg. Usually we would arrive just before the end of Christmas…after enjoying a wonderful holiday feast with Ron and Mary Jane and Tara and Mrs. Moore. I vividly recall Steve and I standing out on the balcony of our condo that we had rented that was located in full view off the Smokies and the brightly lit town below. As the smoke lay on the mountains and the Christmas lights sparkled in holiday reverence below…I considered that I had not felt a more peaceful feeling.

Travel affords an education that you can not receive in the finest universities. It is a bias and prejudice deflator…if you allow it to perform it’s good work on you. You learn that God has many children…and that he loves them all…

Today I returned to church…that is the church building…for the first time in over 16 months. Now I did attend a memorial service a little over a week ago, but this was my first worship service. The pews were partitioned with bright green ribbon to facilitate social distancing. Most of the congregation were wearing face masks. It was a singular joy to see so many of our church family out to attend their church in the bright summertime. Our ongoing Pandemic has kept us apart…and may do so again. Millions of Americans have refused, thus far, to be inoculated against Covid. That coupled with the Delta Variant of the virus has caused a Pandemic among the unvaccinated.

The church bulletin seemed unusually large to me…today. I wondered if it was because I had not seen one in nearly a year and one half. I had supremely enjoyed the Zoom Church that we have had and still do have. But, there is nothing like gathering together to share a mutual faith with fellow believers and members of our human family. I just read, ‘I guess we should retire the expression ‘avoid it like the plague’ given how little effort people put into avoiding an actual plague.’ The CDC is reexamining its’ mask policy due to the intransigence of the plethora of Pandemic deniers.

Attending church has been an integral part of my life for the past 52 years. When I do not go to church…I do not feel like myself. Something is missing. There was a wonderful special music this morning from Pat and Kathy’s son, Anthony, that transported me to another world for a few moments. His resonate voice caused me to recall the outstanding singing of one of the Wisemen in a Christmas play that we saw at Shryock Auditorium almost 30 years ago. I have been listening to our Music Director, Carlyn’s, lovely voice over Zoom for sometime and it is always wonderful…but it was a special blessing to hear it in person…this morning!

Kerry was behind the pulpit with his effervescent smile and his shock of snow white hair…and his welcoming spirit. When I see Kerry I see a disciple of Christ…who desires to be an encouragement to all that he encounters. I saw many who were not able to avail themselves of Zoom Church…and I was especially glad for the reopening of our building.

So Jonathon and I dropped by Electric Larrys and I found a couple of vintage Star Wars Action Figures from the 1970’s. It takes a vintage old man to appreciate a vintage toy.

Our 2020/2021 Pandemic is more than what we thought that it was and more than we expected.

Upon my first day of retirement I knew that I must remain active. I had worked an average of 10 hours a day for 25 years which included weekends and holidays. I received telephone calls from work when I was on cruises and on every major event including anniversaries and birthdays. I was involved in so many committees at SIUC that I lost count of the number throughout the years. Instead of wanting to do less…I wanted to accomplish more. I was surrounded by the elite of professionalism and courage and dedication of my wonderful colleagues. So I learned over my career that if I wanted something to happen…I had to make it happen. Waiting for someone to take an interest in me or open doors for me was not a practical application of my hours on earth. Waiting for the life to come your way that you believe that you are entitled to is an exercise in futility.

Jerry Seinfeld said in an interview that I saw that when he awakens each morning and is still laying in bed…he feels awful and depressed and totally lacking in the necessary skills to perform his daily task. However he went on to note that once he gets out of bed and begins to move…he feels better and the dark cloud that covered his thoughts at his awakening…lifted. I think that we are all a bit like Jerry in that the process of thinking about all that we have to do or worrying about what needs to be accomplished…without putting legs onto the tasks…is debilitating. We humans are designed for movement. A sedentary lifestyle is bad for our health.

Stir up the juices. If you want to travel…it is time to do so. If you have hobbies that are a passion…indulge your’ passion. We often say to ourselves, you know that inner voice that says you are not good enough or smart enough, that we could never accomplish what many of our peers have…or media celebrities that appear to be somewhat god like in comparison to we mere mortals. Everything that you admire that someone has accomplished was by a human being that is made from the same materials that you are. To refer to someone as gifted is a somewhat overused phrase. The famous inventor, Thomas Edison, said that success was 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Life is taken by the horns by those who are willing to get up and go grab the horns… Leadership is taken by those who want to help others and to inspire others by their example. The wrong people ascend to leadership positions when there is a vacuum…

Ten years has gone by like the Biblical reference of a ‘Weaver’s Shuttle,’ or as the singer James Taylor extols us, ‘The secret of life is enjoying the passing of time.’ Life is most enjoyed when we are immersed in it…not setting back and contemplating it. I love the saying to stop and smell the flowers…and there are a lot of flowers…