A single moment in time

I'm working late at the office today.  I look at the window and see the dark cloudy skies as a backdrop to the vibrantly colored leaves.  They are a bright orange and the sky a pinky blue.  I grab my camera, go to the nearest window and snap several shots.  Each time I am disappointed that the camera doesn't see what I see.  I sit back at my desk.  I compose another email or three.  I glance back out the window and it's dark.  Now I see a black tree in front of a dark blue sky.  The moment is over. 

Good People

I grew up in a small town and graduated with about thirty kids in my class.  Most of us spending every year together since we were five.  How could you not make friends?  (And of course, how could you not make frenemies?)  Then I went to college where I met some of the most wonderful people in the world.  College was perfect, there was certainly more than 35 people to choose from, and you could find people that were more like you.  And even better, you could find people who complimented you.  I made good friends in college.  Following college, I worked abroad and as isolating as it could be, I always had a couple of good friends there with me to rely on.  I spent the next four years in graduate school (it's better not to ask why it took so long.)  In grad school you spend most of your waking hours doing (in my case) math.  The people in the program with you, well, they love math too, and they love you too because they have to, you're just like them. 
Then something happens after you leave school.   You move to start a new job.  And you leave your friends. I've spent the last three years at my job waiting to meet good people.  I keep waiting to make those friendships I've made in the past.  The other day it occurred to me.  What am I waiting for?  Those friendships that I made years ago and developed are still there.  Perhaps we don't talk all the time like we used to.  Perhaps we don't go to happy hour (at the Hoot Owl-for Blues Night, Rock and Roll-for strange drinks, RJs-for wings (or TRuggs), or Old Chicagos-for afternoon beers that make Analysis so much better, or the numerous others.)  But if I saw you, we would.  In the meantime without my knowing, I've met good people and continue to meet them.  It's just less obvious.  Sometimes, if we just take time, good things happen.

Welcoming Thoughts

I think about my Dad often.  I miss our talks.  I'm not sure if he ever really had much to say about my ramblings, but he always listened.  He listened, and I somehow figured out the problem at hand.  It's been just over two years since he's passed, but he stays very close to my heart.  I remembered a conversation years ago, we had about my car.  We were talking about the merits of a hybrid, and I told him that when it was time, I wanted to get one.  The problem now has become that I don't know when that time is right, let alone if the hybrid is right.  You see it's been nearly eight years since I bought my car.  I'm enjoying the excellent mileage it gets, the fact that it's well paid for, and that it is the only Emerald Green Kia Rio in the North Country.  Everyone knows it's me.  It just has this check engine light that never goes off.  Every fall, I begin the contemplation of whether it's time to trade Ozzy in for something new.  And every fall I find myself in the same boat.  Actually, the boat is a completely different situation all together.  I see the trees changing, and I know this is the time to decide if Ozzy can take one more winter.  Is it financially responsible to get a new car?  Should it be new or used?  Hybrid or not?  Now or later?  Is it necessary?  I wonder when it got so complicated.  Or perhaps it's not so complicated, maybe I just need someone to listen to me.  Or maybe I just need to write it all down and figure it out.  And if that's the case, then I thought I'd invite you along for the ride.  She's a smooth ride...except for the grinding and bumping behind the wheels.