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Turtles

   Being a grown up sucks! It's full of responsibilities. You have to do things and be concerned about family, friends, even yourself. Just came home from taking Cooper to the vet to have a large fatty tumor removed.


 For those of us without children pets fill a good piece of that void. With both children and pets adults are faced with making decisions on their behalf. Some decisions are easy like "let's go for a walk" and need no deeper conversation. Other decisions, well, you wish you could have a deeper conversation if only to assuage your guilt over the pain and reassure them it will be OK. 

 I wrote the last blog about the, underlying and joined, libertarian principles of Rights and responsibilities. In a bit of kismet Deb and I visited Standing Bear Park in Ponca City. I knew nothing about Standing Bear we were simply following a suggestion of a good place to walk Cooper. The walk was nice but the interpretative pieces of the park were in a bit of disrepair and I left knowing little about the man. Apparently, the universe felt I needed another nudge. The Post Office put out a commemorative stamp of Standing Bear. The article announcing the stamp had some links which I hope you'll also follow and learn a bit about this civil Rights leader. I am a man is a declaration of the fundamental element of a Right. 

 Ah, but today is about responsibilities. As I sit here dipping repeatedly into a half full bag of pretzels, I'm reminded that as a grown up I am responsible for my health. Not only can I not grouse about what Mom made for dinner but I'm responsible for the fact that we don't have any Parmesan cheese for the spaghetti. As a society we have had the pleasure of living in a time of not merely plenty but plentiful choices. It's hard to really give that little Italian restaurant 4 stars when the Parm wasn't shaved or grated tableside. I mean heck I can get desiccated Parm in a jar at home (OK, not my home but...). Thus it's not unbelievable that most American's gripe about government is that Mom isn't serving up what they wanted. Oh, and if you turn that delicious spaghetti dinner into a steady diet of 'white food' vs say a healthy backyard garden of veggies (had to sneak that in!) and oddly your waistline and diabetes blossom - that's not my fault! Mom should fix that - and don't forget I have the 'Right' to eat whatever I choose - you can't tell me what to do. I guess I could repeat the point substituting drugs, alcohol, exercise, heck move on to get a job, learn about money, save for a rainy day. Thing is the point remains the same. Having the responsibility for a pet, a child, or some other person in your life is a turning point from childhood to being an adult. Some people handle it with aplomb others just bomb.

  The drunks have all the really great sayings (fortune cookies come in a close second! Note always add the phrase ..."under the covers" for a good laugh). One I'm trying to lean on these days is - "just do the next good thing". It's a stop gap measure. Good for when you're not sure what to do.

  By the way the music today is courtesy of the radio and Hank FM. A wonderful station that I 'discovered' while driving from the high plains of Colorado to central Oklahoma, repeatedly. No matter your location it's worth tuning them in. They just played Dolly Parton singing The National Anthem followed by The Dixie Chicks. If you like country and western they got both kinds. No kidding, very good play list and Gospel on Sunday mornings if you can get up early enough! 

  'The next good thing' will get your 'to do' list under control and make you look very responsible. It will leave you hungry an hour later. The cure suggested for that is just do the next good thing - rinse, repeat Ad nauseam. "Wait for the miracle" is the supporting structure for this stack of turtles. It is a great solution when your life is in turmoil. I stumbled across the value of keeping myself busy back when I quit drinking and it was something of a miracle in what I was able to create in a very short time. Being between homes and gardens have made recent times a different type of tumultuous. Mowing an acre or two of lawn and more trips moving boxes than I can count have kept me busy and not without a point and purpose but it's a temporary purpose. I get lost on the bigger piece of purpose. The not what am I doing today but what am I doing this year, this decade, this life. I picked up a copy of The Purpose Driven Life at an estate sale for a buck (unused - there is irony in there somewhere!). I had heard of the book and found the title irresistible. (not to mention the price tho' paying nine cents tax pissed this cheap old lib off!)  I knew the book was aimed at a Christian market but had assume it would offer lessons of universal applicability. It really left me high and dry as an agnostic of oddly strong agnostic 'beliefs'. Those of you who are Christian will likely both get it and - well, just not understand why I didn't. Sorry man, I'll continue my search for meaning.

  It has been my somewhat superstitious and certainly not strongly agnostic habit these last few years to cross myself upon seeing an animal dead alongside the road. After crossing myself I acknowledge God has a tough job and ask that he have found purpose in that creatures life and that it's death brought it peace. Staying for now in a rural area and driving quite often, the frequency of my crossing myself must have both left God a bit tired with me and my neighbors driving towards me wondering just a bit. Lately, it's been an ungodly number of Armadillos and turtles. My agnostic self justifies this as a way of escaping a mental loop for that which I no control over and can't put properly into my mind. Purpose, Peace, God - I don't know man.

 The turtles have some weird need to be boogieing. I'm told it has to do with rain and it has rained a lot recently so could be some primal/expand the range evolutionary thing. 'course evolution hasn't had time to factor into the equation roads and cars. Your driving along and right in the middle of your lane is this baseball size cute as a cartoon turtle. You swerve to avoid it and think "hurry dude" or wait hmmm... Then you see his big brother resting up on the yellow line and think wow the odds, stay go?! Well at least people will avoid them if only to avoid losing a tire to that protective shell. I stopped the other day where the red dirt road meets the two lane and saw some pterodactyl looking monster plodding to sure death on the busy road. Figured oh what the heck jumped out and moved him along in his journey. He re-payed me by peeing on me - apparently they have a couple of defensive systems. Thing is you can stop on the dirt road and jump into a two lane for some karmic bonus points. Same act on a 4 lane will take out you and a few of my fast driving neighbors. So what advice do you think of for that turtle you can't jump out and 'save'. I mean aren't we all in some ways stupid turtles sitting on the yellow line amazed that we've made it this far and wondering run or wait.

  The garden remains onions and spinach and doing quite well. The future garden remains little more than a concept as we are through all the machinations of buying our house but are far from unpacked let alone digging and planting. Some thoughts are germinating but barely that. Still lots of questions to ask knowledgeable locals. Time to pick up Coop. Doug A 

                                  Some child labor laws broken but Jay and family did unpack us.
P.S. Coop is 'home' very sore with a Frankenstein set of stitches lying next to me.


  

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