• Heresy.

    Someone suggested to me the other day that they needed to move further south. When I asked why, they replied that they needed to move away from the cold. Cold!?! Here is an example of our weather: lows in the upper 40’s, highs in the lower 60’s, and clear blue skies. I’ve just described my version of heaven, and they want to move. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one reason anyone would want to live in Florida – winter. Mind you, I would like it a little colder, just to shake things up a little – to remind us that there is a season that comes between fall and spring (other than summer). I guess we won’t be moving to Nome anytime soon.

  • Windows to the soul.

    Earlier this evening I was sitting down next to Beth and she was enthusiastically talking about something; exactly what it was escapes me. Some kind of parent I am, teaching my daughter such wonderful listening skills. I bring this up not to point out more of my shortcomings as a parent, but to try and explain something I observed that may prove to be unexplainable. While Beth was speaking I noted her tone, if not the words themselves. It was a tone that I have come to think of as: “child pretending to be an adult in explanation mode”. It is not uncommon for Beth to take this tone on a dozen occasions in a single day. There is something about a five year old explaining the concept of “all grass being green” that tickles me. Anyway, she was explaining some such nugget of five year old wisdom when I noticed her eyes. They were wide open, yet relaxed. They were inquisitive yet giving. Looking into her eyes I was reminded what a remarkable thing it is to have a child.

  • Oodles of desire, not so much experience.

    Cheryl called me earlier this week with some discouraging news: she didn’t think her interview went well. She was taking a shot in the dark on a position with the county that she thought she would enjoy. It was a supervisory position with the court system, working as a kind of liaison between the court, drug treatment providers and the Department of Corrections. She has been working with the drug court in her capacity with the Department of Corrections for some time now, but she has no management experience. When two of the three questions they asked her concerned the management experience that she didn’t have, it was not a good sign. We’ve known it was a bit of a long shot, but it was still disappointing. Well, life goes on – even if it is at the same old job.