Ah... Spring Is In The Air

A time when men's fancy turns to belly button revealing girls.....enjoying the outdoors.....

Vocabulary Lesson

This is really strange.... I don't understand it, but over the last couple years I seem to be getting more and more afraid of myself.

I'm not sure, but I may be coming down with a case of peladophobia....



(No, I'm not going to tell you.  Look it up, lazy!  I mean, you do have the internet.)

A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste........

Last week I decided it was time to pressure wash my drive and sidewalks.  It's not alot of fun, but it does give you 3-4 hours to yourself.  Time to think, as you really can't listen to music or talk on the phone with all the engine noise....

Yep, the perfect time to examine your life and make adjustments to any bad habits that have crept up; a time to pray and spend time with God; a time to reassess goals for the year and measure success' and failures.  You know, be productive....

That all sounds well and good, doesn't it?  Well, here's just a small, unsolicitated peek into my thoughts during that valuable 3-4 hours of time...... Okay, should I clean across the sidewalk, or go with it?  Hmmm, I think it's coming cleaner if I take smaller strokes and move the wand faster.  Yeah, kinda like that.  That seems to be working okay.  What a beautiful day to be working outside.  This is great.  Thanks God for the time to spend with you.  Boy, would I love to be playing golf right now.  I know what I need to do now.  Take the club straight back, not jerk it inside.  Then keep the elbow in, maintain a good path, don't be casting my wrists at the bottom of the swing. That's why I keep hitting it fat.  I KNOW I can be a better golfer.  I've just got to practice more.

I wonder if these neighbors going by are saying, "What a guy!  He sure keeps his place looking great.  I'm really glad to have Terry as a neighbor.  He really takes pride in his property."  No, they're probably saying, "Well, it's about time.  His place was really looking shabby....".  God, it's so good to have time to talk with you.  I really want to spend some quality time in your presence.... Ow! What was that?  Oh, I guess it was just a leaf falling and hit me in the neck.  So, where was I?  Hmmm, this section is larger. I wonder if I should change the cleaning pattern and take larger strokes..... My arm and back are starting to get a little tired.  I've really got some business calls to make before the day's over.... wonder what time it is and how long I've been out here.  This gas is really going down fast.

You know what?  It's really easy to get distracted out here with my thoughts and not really focus on anything but daydreaming... I wonder if everybody does this, or it's just me.  I wonder if this would be something I can blog about?  Naw... nobody would be interested enough to even finish reading something like that....

Do You Need Something To Think About?

If you do, here's a few to keep you going for a little while anyhow..... If you don't... forget I even brought them up.

• If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?
• If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?
• Would a fly without wings be a walk?
• When it rains, why don't sheep shrink?
• Should vegetarians eat animal crackers?
• If the cops arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

and while I'm at it.....

• If you shoot a mime, do you need a silencer?

Winter

Winter means different things to different people, doesn't it.  I just flew up to Iowa to visit my father for a long weekend.  And, of course, they WOULD wait to have the second snow of the year right after I get here.

To me, being transplanted to Florida for so long, the snow is beautiful and I enjoy standing outside and just looking up.  (Kind of like a tourist in New York City.  I guess pick pockets are probably on the rise in Iowa during snow storms.... catch your mark while he's mesmerized by the snow.....)  It keeps the economy strong.

My dad and brothers could go all year without seeing it as it just means shoveling, scraping and sliding cars.  Not something they find that beautiful.  To each his own I guess.  Life is full of perspectives.

Two thoughts --  1) keep life in perspective today and focus on the positive; and 2) don't forget that other people are not "wrong" because they have a different perspective than you do.

Success Is Not An Accident

I"m trusting that you've gotten off to a great start in 2012 and the Lord is blessing you with incredible success. 


I'm reading "Success Is Not An Accident", by Tommy Newberry. Below are a few of his thoughts that might be worth pondering......

• High achievers are motivated by pleasurable outcomes. Underachievers are motivated by pleasurable methods.

• Living on purpose requires deliberately deciding in advance how you are going to grow more like the person God wants you to become.

• Circumstance does not make a man, it reveals him.

• When you take responsibility for your actions, accept that life isn't fair, get rid of excuses, become a doer, and develop an abundance mentality, you will break down many of the barriers keeping you from true success.

I needed to be reminded of some of these things as I move toward accomplishing my goals for 2012.  It can be so easy to allow short term gratification to get in the way of long term results......

I pray you are successful TODAY!

Fireflies

Do you remember catching fireflies at night when you were a kid?  We all did it, right?  Well, except the kids west of the Rockies..... fireflies do not exist west of the Rockies.  What a sad childhood those kids must have had....

There are 1,900 variety of fireflies in the world, with 200 located in the United States.  Did you know that each variety of firefly has it's own unique signal or "Morse code" used to communicate with it's own.  The males are able to look across the field and find their mate just by following the signal given by the females light pattern.  The females don't fly, but climb up a weed, flower or branch and wait for their mate to come.  They typically live two weeks, mate and die...... what a shame.

Additionally, 97% of the firefly's illumination is light and 3% is heat.  Compare that to the standard light bulb, that is just the opposite -- 3% illumination and 97% heat......

My point is this -- Do we have the most incredible creator or what?

If God spent as much time on fireflies as he did creating it's variety and unique signals, just think of the thought he put into you and me.  No wonder he let's us live 70 years plus, instead of two weeks.  He wants to show off his human creation to the world just a little bit longer.

And boy, when he makes something,he does it right.  If only he would have made the light bulb... I'm sure they would have been much more efficient.

Oh, and tell your kids not to worry about putting grass in the jar when they catch them, because they really don't eat.  Two weeks to live and a lot to do... no time for food.