Travels with AURORA

Date:                           January 17, 2010

Location:                    Daytona Beach, FL

1100

            Is there any news that is not about Haiti?  Is there a reason that anyone should be thinking about anything other than a way the can help these poor and devastated people?  I may not know the answer to either of those questions.  I do know that I have spent most of the last 5 days being either enrapt in news coverage or attempting to find a way that I can become involved in some type of aid or relief operation.  There has been little of my life that has not revolved around trying to become more informed in trying to understand what happened in Haiti on Tuesday near the 5:00 hour.

            Last evening my wife and I did manage to enter the world of normalcy, if for only a few moments.  It was playoff time in the National Football League.  It was not an enjoyable moment of normalcy in our house.  Neither of the teams that we support could find a way to win their game.  As a mater of fact, there is a real question as to the fact that one team may not have even shown up at the football field.  I think Arizona had a no fly zone over their airport and the team dressed in Cardinal uniforms was really the soda pop and beer venders form the stands.  I did not see many people that looked like play off qualified football players in red and white uniforms.  The score was much more indicative of the lack of competition than anything I can postulate.  And, the game was not even that close.

            As I watch too many experts bloviate for the sake of self ego I am preparing for the American ritual of Sunday afternoon.  I will make it through the Sunday morning offering of over qualified failures that now have nothing else to do but criticize people that are actually doing something.  I will calm my frustration over wanting to be of aid and not having the necessary skills to be of value.  And, I will fret the failure of “my team” as Connie and I prepare to watch another day of playoff football.  The world may have and may still be shaking, but our life does have some glint of normalcy.  Soup is on the stove, nachos are ready to be made and it is football Sunday.

            I just heard our President speak to America from the pulpit of a Baptist church in Washington, DC.  I can not, nor would I try to, recap the magic he offers through his spoken words.  If you have not heard him speak emotionally either this morning or on many other occasions, I sympathize for you.  If you can not be inspired by him when he speaks from his heart, I am in sympathy for your soul.  You do not have to agree with him to be affected by him.  His words do and should speak to your soul.

            I will now return to my life and its attempt at normalcy.  I will be happier if the Jets win, but I will wake in the morning either way.  I will, again, hear and feel the anguish of a devastated country as new stories are relayed from Haiti.  I will, also, enjoy the pleasure of eating some of Connie’s delicious homemade soup.  I will continue to check my e-mail to see if my cry to volunteer has been heard.  On some level, I guess I will return to a normal life, or something that will resemble normalcy in my life.

            PS

            The Bills are not part of my playoff Sunday.  I wonder why that is.  Oh yes, you have to have a football team to be part of playoff Sunday.  Maybe it will be next year, or two or three years or maybe next decade, or maybe not.

Wfdo2@wfdo2.com

Date:                           January 16, 2010

Location:                    Daytona Beach, FL

1200

            The sky is full of grey clouds and portending a day of rain and bad weather.  It is much a metaphorical example of life as it is being portrayed on national news.  We have spent entirely too many hours watching the travesty of nature played out on the shores of Haiti.  We have heard all too many experts offer all too many solutions to all too many problems and yet Hell is still very evident in the lives of the remaining living citizens of this devastated country.  From the comfort of a plush television studio it seems so simple to correct one of the major natural disasters that has ever happened in the history of man.  Being an expert is so easy when all you have to use is your mouth.

            At the first moment of realization that a major need of assistance was going to be required in Haiti, Connie and I made our availability known to the directors of the international disaster relief company with which we are affiliated.  It was the only thing we could think of to do that might make a slight difference.  We have been notified that we are on a deployment list, but as of this writing we are still awaiting the notification that we might be needed.  Again we have raised our hand to volunteer, but are, at present, in a long line of waiting and eager people with a need to help and a difficult avenue to find a means of accomplishing that desire.  Sometimes having a desire to help is not enough and that is a very difficult lesson to learn.  If we can help, our hands are raised.  If we can not help, our prayers are offered.

            There are many people with many opinions on what is right and what is wrong about the gigantic relief effort that is being instituted as we try to grasp the reality of a 7.0 earthquake in an over populated under developed section of the poorest country in our hemisphere.  I am sure that I too have opinions and advise. I can only hope that I may keep them to myself until there is enough information to formulate a valuable and intelligent position.  We can all agree that Hell has appeared in the destruction of Haiti.  We can all agree that nearly inhuman devastation has been inflicted on the poorest of the poor.  We can all agree that, as  human beings, it is our need and obligation to offer as much help as we can at what ever level we can find to offer that aid.  We can all agree to that if we are human and if we have a soul.  If you disagree I would have to question your quality and quantity of human soul.

            There have been examples of deprived souls that have attempted politicize this calamity.  To them I we should all stand aside and allow them a clear path to Hell, for it is there that they belong.  There is not a human soul that does not feel some pain for the people trying to exist among the decaying and dead bodies that line the streets of Haiti.  If there are those that feel no compassion, as I stated, I question the existence of their soul.  The desire to help a fellow human in need is not Republican, Democrat, Conservative, or Liberal.  It is human.  When we take our share of air for the breath of life we should all first be humans.  If we are filled with life we should be filled with compassion long before we are affected by politics.

            Connie and I will remain by our phone waiting for a call that is less and less likely to arrive as each second ticks past.  We will still harbor a need to help and a desire to be present at the point of aid administration.  We will, also, attempt to understand if we are not needed physically to offer our help.  Being a volunteer is a very difficult job, especially if after raising your hand you are not called.  This is a reality that many of us have had to learn to live with and learn to accept.  Life is a lesson and we are all still learning.  Our prayers will be offered, our hearts will continue to ache, and our lives will go on in what ever direction they are meant to progress.  In life you must understand that you are where you are meant to be. 

            I am still exploring that lesson and I might even learn from it.  I might not learn, but I will try.  Let me see if I get this right:  “I will be where I am meant to be, not where I think I should be.”  I see it written; now I must study it and attempt to understand.

Wfdo2@wfdo2.com

Date:                           January 14, 2010

Location:                    Daytona Beach, FL

0900

            A couple of days ago the earth shock in the western hemisphere and most of the world is still feeling the shock.  As more information slowly crawls out of the rubble on the TVs and news media we are just beginning to understand the terrible tremors our souls have suffered.  A couple of days ago the earth rumbled and rolled and our lives have been shaken to the cores of our soul.

            Part of the earth shaking results of this devastation has been more metaphorical than geological.  We can see and try to understand the physical devastation that we see played before our eyes on news shows or the internet.  We can make some efforts at sympathizing with the poor people of Haiti as our hearts attempt to make some sense out of the pictures of total destruction we see.  We can attempt to understand, but most of us have no real point of reference from which to form an opinion.  We can cry, we can pray, we can profess our concern, but we can not understand.  The people that are living in the hell of reality don’t understand.  Once you are over 700 miles removed from the facts, reality can not nor will it ever be understandable.

            There is a result of the earth’s turmoil and devastation that we can perceive and attempt to understand.  The earth has shaken in many ways since the quake in Haiti.  With the first reporting of the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti there was a sign of a seismic quake in the souls of man kind around the world.  The political control of our hate and anger was being shaken from our souls and the desire of humanitarian compassion was taking its place.  Once politicians were relegated to the backs of our minds our human emotions of caring and compassion rose to the front of our desires.  People began thinking about how they could help there fellow man and not how that human may be different or belong to an opposing political party.  Adversaries joined together to provide the aid to the helpless.  They stood together to offer what minimal assistance they could in a time of enormous pain and destruction.  In a time of the most dismal tragedy the compassion of one human caring for needs of another human is taking control of the normally politically driven hate.  The souls of most men do not need to hear the cries of help, they will since the requirement of assistance and he will desire to run to the battle frontline to help.

            In times of natural disaster or enormous devastation, the hearts of all good men turn from personal desire and benefit to a need to be of help.  It takes a window into hell to make us live the life that will provide us a path to heaven.  This is an element of the human soul and being that I do not understand.  I have very sadly seen evidence of this from floods to terrorist attacks and still have no understanding.  And yet, it is comforting to see the humanity of man rise to the surface in the times of total devastation. Nations of every persuasion have rushed to the frontline to help Haiti at whatever level they can.  There is not a question of political position or religious persuasion, but only an understanding of human need and physical salvation.  Planes form Venezuela land and park next to relief transports from the USA.  China sends donations to the same country that now receives disaster relief teams from Iceland.  The United Nations would be leading the relief efforts if they were not at present decimated by the loss of their in country support facilities.  We as a human participant in this world do not need an organization to direct us.  We need a runway on which to land our planes filled with supplies and volunteers.  We do not need to know who you are, what you are, what color you are, what religion you are, or how you voted.  We need to help you.  We do NEED to help you.  It is in our hearts and in our souls to be of assistance.

            As the compassion and warmth of human desires make it to the top of every man’s being there are still element of the dirge of society.  Scam artist will attempt to deceive and steal from the poorest of the poor as we try to exercise our desire to contribute what we can to facilitate assistance. Some will see only personal gain in the aftermath of monumental devastation and destruction.  But I pray that the flood of personal sacrifice and desire to be of true help will hopefully loudly over shadow this darker side of man.  Some disgusting politician will see only an avenue of hatred and opportunity in this time of enormous need.  I can only pray that we will remember their lacking of soul in the future as we slowly return to a more normal point in our lives.  We are a better species than people like Pat Robertson or Rush Limbaugh exemplify.  I know that our God will deal with them in the here after, I can only hope that we living can tune them out in the here and now.

            It is extremely sad that a moment of human devastation must occur to shine the light of human compassion from our souls.  It is sad, but it is true.  We are a better being than we often portray on the evening news or in our daily lives.  We are a better example of God’s creativity and often we forget that fact.  This compassion and caring has been and will always be a major element of our human make-up.  It is not that these characteristics are hidden on a normal day it is only that they are not channeled on a single traumatic event.  We are ignoring the leadership of hatred and political advantage to follow our inner voice of compassion and desire to help.  In the world, we are a compassionate people when we are not led by our self serving political leaders. 

            In the days ahead I pray we follow our hearts and the mind of our soul as we find ways to help the neediest of the needy.  I can also hope we remember those that find a way to politicize this travesty for personal benefit or political gain and I pray we deposit this scum on the trash heap of rubble and destruction as we attempt to clean our world both physically and metaphorically.

            We are a good species, capable of doing good things when we follow our hearts and souls and not our self serving vocal leaders of pop culture.  If we listen to the voice from within and not from without we will find a way to repair the destruction that the earth as shown us.  We will rebuild both buildings and lives and maybe we can appear on the other side of this moment in human history a better person and a better being.  At times of the deepest turmoil in our lives it is often better to lead with our heart and follow our instincts and not follow the self bloviating voices of hypocrisy that so often filling our radio waves of news and information.

            Connie and I have and are searching for means to volunteer our assistance at whatever level we are capable.  That is the voice in our heart.  Take a moment and find the voce in your heart and then follow it.  Small efforts offered by large multitudes of people can and will perform miracles.  Haiti does not need “A” miracle it needs constant miracles now and for all too many days, weeks and years in the future.

Wfdo2@wfdo2.com

Date:                           January 12, 2010

Location:                    Daytona Beach, FL

1000

            Life is attempting to return to normal in the frozen tundra called Florida.  The weather wonks promise us temperatures that return to a neighborhood of normalcy, but we all know how weathermen lie and make a living out if being wrong.  As I look out my window the sky is beautiful in its bright blue color, the air seems to be clear and maybe just a bit crisp, and the people walking around the campground have no idea what to wear.  Some are wrapped up in the winter clothing that they had thought they did not need when they headed south.  Others are trying to look brave and strong in their Bermudas shorts.  What they really look is stupid.  Connie and I, again, have on long pants and long sleeved shirts and are trying to hide our long faces. By this week-end it is supposed to be near or at 70.  There are some houses in the northeast that won’t be that warm inside.

            One might ask, “What does a retired old duffer do when the tropics turn into the popsicles?”  One might ask that, or one might not even care.  As this old duffer finishes his complaining and whining about something over which he has no control he does feel a need to do something.  I could work around the house, but it is too cold for that.  I could take a ride in a warm car to some foreign retreat in the cold expanse know as Florida, but I just returned from a 3,000 mile trek to the white cold of the northeast and back and I think I have had my fill of driving for a week or so.  What is there to do and do I really want to do it?

            Believing that boredom is, in fact, a self inflicted would I decided to take on a new adventure.  My grandkids and there very busy mom have been sending me “Farmville” gifts and hints on Facebook.  I had no idea what “Farmville” was or what it had to do with me.  That is until a few days ago.  I am now a gentleman farmer with chickens, horses, cows, a goat, and a fluffy bunny.  I am sure I have a few other animals running around my farm, but I am new at this virtual farming and may need some time to get up to full speed.  I plant my crops, hope for some other friendly farmer to come and fertilize them and then I harvest them for a profit which I then reinvest in my growing farm.  Sounds like normal farming.  I am not getting rich, I spend at least as much as I make and usually a lot more, and I don’t ever seem to be getting ahead.  I don’t get dirty fingers nor does the smell of fertilizer permeate our home when I return to the world of reality.  Yes, I am becoming a virtual farmer in Farmville.

            This may sound like a frivolous waste of time and a slip into a world of fantasy to some people.  Most of them would be very right.  It does waste my time.  It is pure fantasy.  And, it feels like a refuge form reality at times.  All of this is a factual description of my farming efforts, but it also keeps me from getting too caught up in the news of the day, the slanderous rumors of the hour, or the frustration of trying to understand the total incompetents of our elected leaders.  The term “leaders” I use very loosely because I should not swear in public. 

            I could be expounding on the idiocy of spending days of news coverage on a civil rights supporter being dumb enough to be quoted using “in-artful” language to state a fact of truth that we all believe but may be to ashamed to admit.  I could pontificate on and cajole the lack of real reform that is being nurtured and prepared to be shoved down, or up depending on your perspective, the voting public’s well being.  I could be heating your furnaces of opinions as I regale my positions on what we call today’s politics.  I could, but instead I am planting my crops, petting my horse, and collecting my chicken eggs in the virtual world of Farmville.  My bunny does no bite, my goat does not eat my crops, and my cows give me milk everyday as my crops grow and grow and grow.  My farmer avatar even smiles most of the time.  In my spare time I visit my neighbor’s farms in Farmville and help them attain their desired levels of accomplishment by scaring off foxes, picking weeds or feeding their chickens. 

            It is a good word, too bad it is virtual not real.  I most go tend my crops now, or maybe I will just relax under one of my trees and wait until my artichokes are ready to be harvested.

Wfdo2@wfdo2.com

Date:                           January 10, 2010

Location:                    Daytona Beach, FL

1000

            Brrrr!

            That could, pretty much, complete my blog this morning.  It is still cold in the tropic wonderland known as Florida and it is not forecast to get any warmer for the next couple of days.  I realize that we are not alone in our suffering, but I can still be self-centeredly despondent.  I had to make a garbage run yesterday afternoon and I managed to sneak it in before the first football game.  It was chilly and the temperature was hanging around the 45 degree mark.  As I, stupidly, rushed to the car with no jacket on I prayed that the heater would kick in immediately as I started Chianti and headed to the dumpster.  There were a few drops of water on the windshield so I turned on the wipers and pulled out of our site.  Can you believe that my wipers sloshed a blade full of ice across my windshield?  This is in Florida, under palm trees, just north of the Tropic of Cancer.  It is supposed to be warm here, not a place where ice crystals collect on your window.

            Daytona Beach is actually making the news channels these days.  From the warmth of the weather babes’ studios they find humor or joy in regaling the shock of sleet or frozen rain as it falls on the white sands of the beach.  As a snowbird resident, I can vouch for the fact that we are not enjoying it at all.  From the comfort of my warm throne I can observe the park residents trying to figure out how to handle the unexpected dive into cold and winter.  Some people are wrapped in winter coats with ear muffs and gloves while others are still in Bermuda shorts.  Of course the idiots wearing shorts are also wrapped in ear muffs and gloves only they are also strolling around with blue legs.  One wonders if they have no long pants or do the just have short brains. 

            The sub freezing weather is expected to break within the next couple of days.  It may even be approaching the 70s by mid week.  I will have to find something else to whine and cry about, but I am guessing that will not be too difficult.  Connie and I may even be able to pack a picnic and visit our favorite place in Daytona Beach and ride along the chilling surf.  All will be getting back to something that should resemble normal in a relatively short time.   I will still carry, in my memory, the horror of seeing pelts of ice fall from the tropical sky of mid Florida.  I will still waste time complaining about the subfreezing temperatures.  And, I still get a laugh watching the snowbirds out my window trying to exist in a weather atmosphere that they thought they had left behind north of the Mason Dixon Line.

            The outside temperature will rise.  I will find a new avenue of frustration to walk my blog through.  And, life will return to normal, or a reflection of what we think normal should look like.  I will be able to return to my opining on political opinions and finally quit whining about being cold.  Come to think of it, my blogging and complaining has had just as much effect on the political climate as it has had on the Florida climate.  It does exercise my fingers and whatever is left of my brain.

            The sky is blue, the beauty of palm trees still punctuates the scenery and I have completed another blog.  If the world is not warm it is, at least, attempting to remain right.  Turn up the thermostat, put on another sweater and for goodness sake cover up those ugly old legs before they remain that weird color of blue.

Wfdo2@wfdo2.com