more normal than not

Old postcards…..

Fun.

We went to the Emerald Village Mine up around Spruce Pine for Isaac’s birthday.

I showed Sparrow a geode when we were there….showed her how the “jewels” were inside the rough rock.

There’s some real beauty in some of that roughness.

I don’t think I’d know a geode if I tripped over one.

I only would recognize it if the jewels were somehow revealed.

Today, Jenny went to the laundromat to do a bunch of laundry.

Our dryer is broken….and the washer broke, too.

It’s hard to do laundry at home when the tools we use are busted.

Sparrow was playing in one of the baskets under a folding table, and this woman who was working on her laundry nearby bent down in Sparrow’s face and said, “YOU ARE A NOISY LITTLE GIRL AND YOU HURT MY EARS!!!”

Of course, Sparrow started to cry and (I was so proud of her) Jenny had to give that woman an earful about how inappropriate it was to talk to someone else’s child like that.

It makes me angry just to think about that situation.

Of course, the woman cowed under the attentions of an angry mother.

It’s easier to confront a relatively helpless 2-year-old.

That’s what a bully does….they attack the ones they think are helpless.

Man….that woman is a real turd for talking to my little princess like that.

I was thinking about how it’s easy to love the lovable, though, on my way home….but that it’s really hard to love the people who interact with us in repulsive ways.

I don’t know how to do that.

I get my back up sometimes.

I want to do battle with the ones who hurt the ones I love.

I don’t know that this woman had any jewels inside her.

Maybe jewels can grow under the right circumstances?

All I saw was rough and common.

How do you love beyond the pain that sad people can bring to your life?

Again….I don’t know.

I do know that if you mess with my people, you’re going to get pounded if you don’t watch it.

How Christian is that?

Geodes are kind of cool.

I should work at remembering the potential in some of these mean people.

Maybe that lady was shiny on the inside?

Nah. She was a turd.

Weirdo.

Shut your mouth, weirdo, or next time you’re going to get a pounding.

That’s not Christian….but it’s a promise.

 

 

The less you own, the less you owe.

Unless you have a whole bunch of stuff that you paid off already.

Here’s a video about a guy living in a Westphalia van….in Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara is expensive.

If you can find a place to park your house, you have a place to live.

Easy.

Cheap.

Did I use this video already?

It seems like something that I’d do….in spite of all my efforts to not repeat myself too much.

Wait for the comments about the “waterfront pass”.

For 90 dollars a year, this guy gets a pass that allows him to park in any waterfront area in Santa Barbara during the day.

At night, he parks at a friend’s house.

(Man…you could get a membership at the YMCA….workout, shower….maybe even sleep in the parking lot. How cool is that? If we got a really big camper van…or a school bus….we could all live a wacky and unconventional life until the cops came to chase us out. We could live free!!! Or….not.)

What a plan!

You can figure out a way to live cheap almost anywhere….and not be sleeping on a piece of cardboard in the woods.

I guess you do need a van, though.

Man, you always need stuff.

Man…..this world is a big and exciting place.

This is a video about the need for wild places and ….rivers.

We consume and because of that consumption, rivers are damned to supply the power to feed the things that we consume.

I guess that if you can place the dam in a location where there isn’t a huge population it makes sense, too.

Who wants to look at a dam all the time?

Why not stick it where there aren’t a lot of people?

The wild places are the only places where there aren’t a lot of people.

(I just realized that I typed “rivers are damned”. Is the correct way to spell it “dammed”? Must have been a slip of some kind….but maybe “damned” is closer to right….)

Now, of course, these folks are paddling around in giant chunks of plastic.

Plastic’s perfect for a boat….but plastic is kind of nasty stuff if you think too much about it.

We’re selective about our environmentalism.

What we need is OK, usually.

You can’t back up from some of these decisions…..like the ones to dam up a river.

Maybe we need to get our monkey wrenches out?

It’s been hot here lately.

It’s July….so that’s to be expected….but, still….it’s hot.

Now, of course, if I went down to South Carolina or back to Georgia, I might know what “hot” really is.

It’s comfortable up here in North Carolina….but….it’s still hot.

Kind of hot.

Anyway, I drive mail around in a Jeep without a working air conditioner, so if the wind isn’t hitting me just right, it feels hot.

(I can’t get off this “hot” thing, can I?)

I carry some water with me, and by the time I finish the bulk of the route, my water is getting pretty warm.

The funny thing is that a swallow of lukewarm water tastes pretty good when I need it.

I’m thankful for my water when I get this hot.

I guess that it’s easy to get jaded, though, when your options aren’t limited.

No, that’s not really right.

It’s easy to get jaded when your options are limited….you just have to settle for a lower level of expectation….and get jaded about smaller details.

Awwwwww, shoot…..what am I saying?

Sometimes, even I can’t answer that question.

I guess that what I’m saying is that when the need is greatest, you can appreciate something that you might be disappointed in some other time.

Warm water is a good thing when you need a drink.

One of my new co-workers bought a new Jeep, and from all outward appearances, it is a beautiful machine.

It looks new….shiny.

She took it in to have a u-joint replaced and the bulk of the front end was so jacked up with rust that by the time she finished fixing stuff, it was going to cost 1500.00.

It’s still shiny where it’s obvious.

You never know about cars….appearances are deceiving.

I hope that I can always savor lukewarm water.

Thankfulness is something good to cultivate.