Under the Tequesta Sun

One of my favorite movies is Under The Tuscan Sun. The purchase of our new house has brought it to my mind again. Our house isn't an Italian villa in Tuscany but a beautiful home that was neglected and not loved. Tequesta not Tuscany but still a beautiful quiet little village with character and charm. Our house isn't being renovated by polish wokmen  and paid with homemade dinners but by hispanic men whom we paid with Dunkin donuts and Sweet Ice tea. Like the movie our ceiling was falling down, animals inhabited the rooms, not much of anything was in working order and a patio enclosure was falling down. Tuscany has it's rolling hills and vineyards, we have our 11 oak trees and many varieties of trees and foliage. Works in progress are like art. It may take time but worth the investment. One day it will be finished, the workmen will be gone, and we can rest until we come up with a new project.

Rants I'd like to get off my chest!

Well, I haven't written for a while, lot going on. Now I have the time to get some rants off my chest.
 First, the legal system in the United States isn't broken. It works fine. The appearance of malfunction comes from the incompetence of the lawyers using the system. The expectations of convictions on flimsy, circumstantial evidence is always a crapshoot. The practice of having only one or two possible  choices to convict also backfires often. Be assured though, as I have written before, no one escapes Karma. Sooner or later everyone pays the price. It may take years and go unnoticed but it does strike justice.

I have experienced, first hand , in my life that when couples have relationship problems the same thing happens. One of the parties will buy new clothes, fix a great dinner, buy tickets for an event, lose weight or try to change something physical. Oblivious to what is really going on. The reason couples argue, disagree and eventually split up is because of the inner person. The person has to change from within. This of course takes an honest step back to examine what one is really like. Extremely difficult this can be. Unless is done and a change in one's inner self occurs no harmony will ever be acheived.

I wish I had the knowledge I have now forty years ago. I was like everyone else. I thought I knew a lot. When I taught, coached, was a parent, I thought I was pretty knowledgable. Turns out I knew practically nothing compared to today. Man what a difference it would have made in my life. I think that's why I still teach and coach so that all of this great stuff I've learned doesn't go to waste and maybe I can pass it on to someone else.

Regrets I have a few. I regret all the time lost having hard feeelings with friends and relatives. I regret not having moved to Florida sooner in my life. I regret no being able to see my kids and grandkids more. But the biggest regret is not having met my wife sooner. These five years have been great and you can't get enough of a good thing.

Catalysts

A catalyst is someone or something that helps an outcome to occur.  Some people play this role better than others. I know in my life that I promote change because I tend to speak up about things I see that I find unfair or things I feel need to be improved. People are catalysts in a variety of ways. They help people deal with situations in their lives, relationships, and jobs. They may drift in, do their part, and drift out again. Others may stay in the relationship having done their job anomalously. In either case the importance of that person is enormous. I have found that losing a job that has been the catalyst for me to pursue a better position.

What I learned from my Father.

Today, Father's day, there was an article in Parade Magazine relating what clebrities had learned from their fathers. I thought I'd share mine. My father started working as toolmaker in a company called Nicholson File. His salary was miniscule. He was married  to Dorothy and had a son Tom. He entered World War II as  an Army private. Shortly afterwards he was captured at the Battle of the Bulge. He spent more than a year in a Nazi prisoner of war camp. When he finally got home he worked for the Post Office for 35 years before retiring. Unfortunately he died two years later from colon cancer. Like many fathers he worked his whole life, had it interrupted and changed by war and tried to live his life as normally as possible. My father worked hard. He wanted to show how far he had come by his possesion of materials things. He bought a house and never finished adding or subtracting something from it. He had Cadillac Eldorado convertibles. He spent months in Miami Beach. From all this I learned that soldiers never talk about war, they keep it inside but never far from the surface. Emotional wounds never heal completely, they scab over ready to be opened. Material things have no feelings and time should be spent with people. No one should retire and not enjoy more than a few years of enjoyment. I hope my kids have learned some positive things from me. Happy Father's Day Dad!

Obstacles

It always seems that just when you feel that you have the world by the gonads, an obstacle appears. Those dreaded obstcales. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes, races and genders, brunettes, blonds, redheads, and bald. Out of nowhere they rear their ugly heads. You work hard to obtain solace. You know what I mean. We want a nice place to work, a nice restaurant to dine in, a nice place to fish, a nice theater to watch a movie. But no! That damn obstcale sees that you're happier than them and then all hell brakes loose. They want your job, they're jealous, they want to make it difficult in the workplace, they're rude and noisy in a restaurant, sorry I fished in that spot yesterday so it's mine, excuse while I explain the whole movie to the person sitting next to me in a loud voice. Just a few of the numerous examples of the stuff we put up with from obstacles. Well obstacles are like the trash on the corner, the mountains that were in the way of the railroad, the annoying mosquito, they are meant to dealt with head on and confronted so they are obstacles to no one anymore.  Good luck with yours. Remember! They will always be around somewhere.

Chance Encounters

Chance encounters are taken for granted by us everyday. We meet people randomly in all sorts of situations and never give them a second thought. Each person provides a unique opportunity to expand the boundaries of of our existence. I never pass up the opportunity to further the realtionship. People are put in our paths for a reason. The people with whom we make eye contact look at us with the same knowledge that we have. We were put in their path for a reason too. It rarely fails that a conversation leads to something beneficial for both of us. When I first came to Florida I knew absolutley no one except for the owner of my house. Fate put people in mylife the very first day and hasn't stopped yet. There are no chance encounters. Only encounters that give you the chance to fufill your lfe. Take advantage of them. They're there for the taking.

My Office!

My office is a cozy place. It is well lit, well ventilated, and small but not too small. It is a place I can go to and get my business done. I often read there and contemplate the day in front of me. Tough decisions are made there. Like any office it is a very busy place. Visitors are always coming by to say hello. Some linger and talk to me, others just poke their head in, say Hi!, look what's going on and then on their merry way. My office is especially busy in the morning. My friends just getting started in their day. It is much quiter in the afternoon, you know siesta time, Five Hour Energy time. Like all offices I have my own clique. Roger, Devin, and Xavier stop by on a regular basis. Seth stops by now and then to say Hi! and grab a quick drink of water. The boy's club, quite a group of friends.  I'm lucky that my cats are my friends and we all like to hang in my office, which also doubles as my bathroom.