A full moon is coming.

Hot summer days often start with cool sunny mornings. I cannot describe the way I feel when I drive out of the lot up the hill and sun hits the front of the car. I wear sunglasses and that’s a good thing, for I would be blinded without them. This same trip most days of each week illustrates the change that comes as the sun and the moon make their trips with the seasons.

How long have these same paths been traveled and this same land witness to the sun and moon.

I noticed when I was out last night that the moon is near full. It was bright in the sky. Tomorrow night it will be full and when I drive up the hill to leave the next morning. On Wednesday or Thursday this week the moon will linger there above the sun.

Another astounding thing is that every human on the earth, this small blue marble, sees the same moon and the same sun, when they look up. The bright blue sky above my yard, near the trees and the wild honeysuckle, is the exact same sky seen by a young boy in Iraq or a woman standing under her laundry in Peru.

Books have history.

A vice of mine is purchasing hard cover books. I don’t buy paperback books. I buy hard cover books. This is a habit of long standing and would be the last thing I would give up before shelter and food.

Friends sometimes give me their books, if they need the room. It is fun to see what I end up with. One time by organizing what I had, I discovered I had two books written by Colon Powell. I knew I hadn’t bought them, but there I was with two of his books.

A friend recently gave me three books. They were very old. Her mother had died and these were in her things. There were inscriptions in two of them but my friend said the names were not familiar. This makes me wonder, did her mother purchase these at a tag sale or had a friend given them to her.

I have very few books with inscriptions. In books that were given to me as gifts there’s sometimes a note of who gave the gift with the date. There’s a couple signed by the author when I had a bookstore as a client. These days I only write inside the front cover the date I finished reading them for the first time.

Slamming into the world.

A boss of mine back before my business, told me I had a lead foot. He was right. At the time he said this, I’d been driving a company car and hit the curb hard making an exit off the expressway at twenty mph over the limit. The wheel was pushed back out of place and ruined.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s I got about 5 speeding tickets, on surface streets and the expressway. It was normal for me to drive ten miles over the limit and I was often driving at speeds in excess of twenty miles over the limit. Yes, I did this even when expressway speeds were 70 mph in Indiana and Kentucky!

After my last ticket in 1997 I have made an effort to drive the speed limit.

In the past year with the price of gas rising from $1.90 to $4.39, I’ve used driving slowly as a method of saving gas. There are things I have to drive to, not matter how I try to change my way of life, so you will see me driving 30 in a 35 zone and 55 in a 60 zone. When I drive north each month for my regular appointment I drive 60 in a 70 zone. It works!

Other drivers don’t drive the speed limit or anywhere near to it. I drive with my lights on and if someone is coming fast behind me, I flash my break lights. I find it especially amusing when a Hummer or a Ford Expedition flies by at 90.

I wonder what I was such a rush for all the years previous.

Time & Tranquility

It’s my opinion there are two kinds of people, in regards to getting where you’re expected on time.

A friend told me when he went to a doctor or dentist, they had 15 minutes to take him back and start the appointment. If they didn’t do so, he left and didn’t pay co-pay. He believes he’s trained many a doctor with this method. In the same regard, when he has a client call for an appointment, he will be on time and will wait days for them to appear. It’s a matter of who holds the power. He does with the doctor and his client does in that circumstance.

Myself, I’ve always felt my time was not as valuable as the person I had the appointment with, so I’ve spent many hours waiting for the appointed hour, having been early. If the appointment was for 10 a.m., I’ll be there at 9:50 a.m. and wait until 10:30 a.m. for the other person to appear.

I have given thought to this. When a particular person is always 30 plus minutes late, the time for the appointment isn’t really 10 a.m. It’s really 10:30 a.m. I’ve adjusted by calling the person or office at five minutes to and asking if they are there. If they are not, I don’t arrive until 10:20 a.m. Once in a while they will be there, and have to wait for me. I don’t apologize for being late. I just arrive and begin the appointment.

The person who is always late, in fact almost precisely the same amount of time late under the same circumstance, believes their time is more valuable than any other person. They are willing to immediately say they are sorry to be late and are always primed to tell you exactly why they are late. The reason is always someone else’s fault. Whereas I knew your time target and all things leading up to that target I worked toward the goal. If someone tried to delay me, I told them I was sorry I had to go.

I don’t react by chewing them out. I react by taking a book to read. I’ve read many books this way.

Pigment

When you think about the differences in skin color amongst all humans, there are many. In America, except for some remote tribe in a yet to be discovered place, all variations of the world are present. None of us are pure blood. You question this, take a moment and send off to one of the many DNA testing services. Google it: DNA Ancestry.

For a reasonable fee, they’ll send you a kit to take a sample of your own DNA. You ship it back to them, and after a time a report is issued telling you what genetic markers are in your blood. You may have had an ancient ancestor who walked the coast of Ireland in the 1300’s. You may have an ancestor who marched with Alexander’s army, conquering the known world in 323 BC. You get the idea. I imagine many a skinhead would be shocked to know he had “tainted” blood of those races he despises.

The simple truth is we humans are more similar than we are different. I believe the same can be said for almost anyone in relation to almost anyone else.

The bench.

When I walk in the morning at the mall, one of the draws for me are the benchs placed on my path. They are sturdy, wooden benches of the type you have seen in well planned and maintained gardens. They are redish color, either because they are made from that color wood, or from a stain. Placed outdoors in a garden, they will turn to a lovely faded gray.

The picture above is not exactly what I see, but maybe one morning I will remember my camera and get an actual picture of the mall benches.

The bright and shining Dara Torres.

I wouldn’t say that I am a dedicated sports fan. I am a bit fanatical about watching the Redskins play and went so far as spending too much money for direct TV this past season. But I don’t have season tickets for U of L football or basketball and I don’t get into arguments with UK fans about which player is best. I’ll watch the playoffs for soccer on ESPN, but I don’t stay up till 1 a.m. to do it. I watch re-runs! As to golf, I agree with the saying; golf is a good walk ruined! I watch the final game where Tiger Woods wins again. As to the non “ball” sports, I seldom watch them.

Last week on a couple of evenings the network aired a full hour of qualifications for the spots on the American swim team. Dara Torres was beyond impressive. She won so many spots on so many meets; she is going to have to choose which to swim in as she’s eligible for eight! This is a woman who retired to have a child and came back to beat records! She’ll be competing in her fifth Olympics at the age of 41. One day soon, maybe already and I’m not aware, Olympiads will be over fifty.

Finally a bright and shining star in this summer of dull eyed reality at the gas pumps and grocery!