Life is all around us and is especially notable at this time of year when the trees have burst forth in all of their glory and the flowers are blooming in an array of colors. People have come back outside with their children and their pets. The world is bursting with living organisms both seen and unseen. Of course it is in human beings that the magnificence of intellect is most apparent. We have used our minds over the centuries to harness energy and to understand the inner workings of our own bodies. The human brain is incredible and its abilities have given us domain over all of the earth. There have been those among us capable of eradicating diseases, creating machines that can fly, finding solutions to the problems that plague us. When we celebrate the accomplishments of mankind we often focus on the mathematical, scientific, and engineering feats that have made our lives more comfortable. We have risen above the animals because of our desire to do more than merely survive. We also possess a longing to express our feelings and our humanity and we often use art as a conduit for demonstrating just what a piece of work is man. Continue reading “Art is Beauty”
Author: Sharron Burnett
Mad Dogs
It’s not actually summertime yet and with all of the rain of late the temperature hasn’t been all that hot but stories in the news recently have lead me to believe that the craziness generally associated with the warmest time of year has already begun. Upon hearing word about the gunfight, riot, or whatever you wish to call it that took place in a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco this past weekend the lyrics from Noel Coward’s satirical song Mad Dogs and Englishmen kept running through my head. It also confirmed my belief that there must be something really strange in the water in Waco. Continue reading “Mad Dogs”
Don’t Blink
Be careful! Do not blink! While your eyes are averted time will slip alway from you. When you think to look again the hours and the days and the months and the years will be gone. The baby that you once held in your arms will be an adult. The long nights that you spent without sleep will be little more than a memory. The skinned knees, hurt feelings, and ceaseless questions from that tiny little one will become less frequent. You will watch as a child that once totally depended on you pushes away, becomes independent. It will make you both proud and a tiny bit sad as you watch the cycle of life play out before your very eyes. The thing that you hoped would happen does and it is a bittersweet moment. Love is giving your children wings and hoping that they will fly away to experience adventures of their own. It is the way of life and it happens sooner than you may ever think, so cherish every single opportunity that you have to enjoy your babies for soon enough, if you have done your job well, they will need to walk away so that they might be on their own. Continue reading “Don’t Blink”
Relax Already!
Retirement is supposed to be the time in life when it is legal to indulge in a lazy day here and there. My problem is that I really don’t feel comfortable being aimless. My Type A personality demands that I have proof of some kind of accomplishment for every single moment that I am awake. I sometimes despise myself for being this way but it is who I am. The best days for me are the ones when I rise early in the morning and get so many things done that it is difficult to keep track of all of my activities. Last year when I was recuperating from surgery I nearly went insane in the early weeks when I wasn’t supposed to drive or exert myself too much. I’ll be the first to admit that I probably need an intervention of some kind because I just don’t know how to adequately relax. Continue reading “Relax Already!”
The Great Debate
When I was young I was like a little mouse, tiny, insignificant, and afraid. My usual response to seeing injustice was to grow internally angry. I simply didn’t have the chops to do something constructive or to speak out. I suppose that I most enjoyed my debate class because it gave me a legitimate platform for asserting my thoughts and taught me how to use facts, data, and persuasive arguments to bolster my opinions. I was still an innocent even back then. I remember some crushing defeats that my debate partner and I endured at the hands of more skilled thespians who had perfected the art of rhetoric and, dare I say it, the big lie. I remember being shocked the first time that I realized that some of my opponents were willing to make things up just to win. Asserting, “That’s not true!‘ did little to convince the judges that they were being had. I had to learn how to fight fire with fire but I found it just too unethical to use shady tactics. Continue reading “The Great Debate”
