Manhole & Other Ground Covers

My cousin JoAnn threw down the gauntlet with a challenge of exploring manhole covers. I accepted the challenge and with iPad in hand pounded the streets looking for manhole covers. After getting honked at a few times I decided to expand my search to sidewalk grates and other ground covers. This proved to be successful and a bit more safer. I survived the many stares from on lookers and the approach of one city worker who asked me if it was my turn to count the city's covers. I have thought a lot about manhole covers over the past two days. I have to admit they do not bring any zen like thoughts or feelings to my mind. Although I will tell you on the occasions where I have encountered a worker sticking his head from a manhole I always chuckle.

Manhole & Other Ground Covers

My cousin JoAnn threw down the gauntlet with a challenge of exploring manhole covers. I accepted the challenge and with iPad in hand pounded the streets looking for manhole covers. After getting honked at a few times I decided to expand my search to sidewalk grates and other ground covers. This proved to be successful and a bit more safer. I survived the many stares from on lookers and the approach of one city worker who asked me if it was my turn to count the city's covers. I have thought a lot about manhole covers over the past two days. I have to admit they do not bring any zen like thoughts or feelings to my mind. Although I will tell you on the occasions where I have encountered a worker sticking his head from a manhole I always chuckle.

Round

I often doodle during times when I am bored in a meeting or if I am pondering life. I draw the usual rabbit, stick people, an occasional box, but I draw a lot of circles. I find a lot of roundness in nature and my own life.

The old adage that history repeats itself is a symbol of how round our lives can be. History does repeat itself as does many people in their own lives as evidenced by their own actions and choices they make. But like history, I think each one of us hopes that as we complete our life circles we move in a linear fashion forward. Taking our experiences to heighten our physical, emotional, mental and financial being in a positive way.

I look back into my own life and see the roundness of my life's journey. While I find it frustrating to think that my round linear approach takes up more time to reach the person I truly want to be, I hope that my circles get smaller so I can spend more time moving faster in my linear life's path to become a better person.

May your circles be small, may you find inner peace in your own journey, be kind to yourself and help others when you can.

Hot Air Balloons

Early one Phoenix morning, my grandma woke me up, told me to get dressed as my grandpa wanted to take me for ride. There was excitement in the air. My grandpa and I got into the car and away we went. He drove with a sense of urgency. Anybody who had ever been in a vehicle with my grandpa knows that when I write he drove with a sense of urgency means it was a very scary ride. But when we rounded a corner and as my eyes followed his arm and finger pointing out the window my fear turned to awe. For the first time a saw a hot air ballon hovering in the sky above the silent desert.

He drove ahead of the balloon and stopped the car. I quickly stepped out with my camera in hand clicking non-stop as it drifted towards us. The balloon was almost directly above us when the pilot pulled a lever igniting the burner which produced a whooshing sound that I would never forget. It was at that moment I fell in love with the beauty of hot air ballooning. The pilot and the passengers waved to us as they silently drifted away across the desert. It was a magical moment standing in the desert in cool morning air with my grandpa.

Occupy Phoenix

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Our First Amendment right, Freedom of Speech. Personally I love the First Amendment. I support people who use it. I may not always agree with what is being said but it certainly is away to get someone's attention.

As a nation we continue to struggle with tough issues, high unemployment, lack of support for our education system, continued rise of health care costs, corporations continue to move jobs out of the States and a banking system that needs to be held accountable for all the bad loans they issued. We have a congress full of people who are self serving, who refuse to work together and will not make any decision to move this country forward. So if the only way to get the attention of the President and Congress is to protest then so be it.

There have been a lot of judgmental statements made about the people in the occupy movement. Tired of bad news reporting and the lack of tolerance by my fellow American citizens, I spent a few hours following the Occupy Phoenix march.

I met young people who were having difficulty finding jobs in the areas that they majored in, people who had lost their jobs and were having trouble finding jobs that would meet their needs, retired people who are scared of the continued rise of health care costs, people who can not get refinanced and were about to loose their homes, people who are close to retirement fearing their pensions will not survive the economic down turn, and of coarse people who want marijuana legalized; God love them if that is their only concern.

I spoke with real people who are afraid of the uncertainty of our countries future and theirs. If the only way to get the attention of the leaders of this great nation is to hold protests under the First Amendment, then I support them as I too share some of the same fears. Perhaps if more of us took to the streets we could direct our nations leaders to move forward rather than be slaves to those who have financial influence over them. Rather than spending time judging those who are using their voice, we should spend time to educate ourselves for the upcoming elections and fire some people who are suppose to be working for the people.