Mermaids and Hoo-Haw

Amazing News First:

Auburn Aries passed to level four Monday night! That’s right, the Mermaid is no longer a fish out of water. I couldn’t help but think that it may have been due to the fact that Thor went with us. I think there’s a certain “show off” factor in front of a guy that even my eight year old understands.

She was her usual apprehensive self initially and then out of nowhere she pushed off the wall swimming underneath the water, feet just a kickin’ swimming toward her instructor. It was so awesome to watch. All I could do was sit there on the bleachers and wipe away tears of happiness. I was never more proud of her than I was at that moment.

Even Thor was excited as we clapped and cheered her on. I saw the Owner walk up and test Auburn Aries without her knowing she was being tested. I watched the instructor’s face until I saw her mouth the words, “She passed.”

Suddenly Watching from the Bleachers wasn’t such a bad deal.


Contemplative Hoo-haw:

I was driving home one night last week looking at all of the people I passed. It was as though everything around me had fallen silent. Though the stereo was on, the sound seemed so faint I could hardly notice it in the background. My focus was guided from person to person and though I was cognizant of my driving, it was as though someone else was at the wheel. I was supposed to look at these people. There was a message within my observations.

I saw a woman waiting for the walk-signal. A man crossing the street. A boy on a bicycle. A teenager with his ass/boxers hanging out of his Levi’s. A blue collar worker heading into a strip joint. A heavy-set high school kid. A young woman walking with her toddler. A guy leaning against the light pole at an intersection, smoking a cigarette. There were others. These few are those I distinctly remember.

Each person was unique. Each one going about their day, their paths never crossing; never knowing a single thing about the other.

Yet there was one common thread that linked them, and all of us together. Everyone is searching. Everyone is lost and looking for a way to belong. It just depends on the degree to which you are willing to search. Some people will drift through their entire lives and not know their place in the world. Some of those people I saw last week. Others will not only find their place, belonging will never be a question for them again.

Could be a lot of mumbo-jumbo. Could be the truth. I choose the latter.