Moments — over in the blink of an eye

At its very best it would have been a horrific accident resulting in catastrophic injury — and at its worst, well...

The four-day forecast was as follows — twelve degrees Celsius with rain; eleven degrees Celsius with rain; six degrees with sunny periods; two degrees Celsius with rain. In the part of the world where I live the temperature in February should be minus fifteen degrees Celsius on a warm day. Weather as abnormal as this definitely changes your plans about going snowboarding for the day; it instead has you spending an evening with friends (good food, wine, and conversation) and then heading back to the city early the next day (once you've confirmed it's gonna rain some more).

Man-made or not — the weather she is a changin'.

With little traffic on the road I was making good time, and as I came over a rise I lost control of the car — there was a real possibility I was going to spin into the oncoming lane and flip the car into the ditch. I did regain control of the car (as well as my composure) and continued on my way. My only explanation for what happened was I hit a patch of black ice that had formed because of the rain and near freezing temperatures.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

As I drove on (a little slower I might add) I thought of a conversation we had the night before about our plans for the year; as I reflected on the conversation I became just a little melancholy over the lack of imagination on my part. I had been reminded this is all so very fragile, so the least I could do is be a little more imaginative with what I do.

iamgpe

PS: Thank you KW for the hospitality.

Moments — well it's Valentine's Day again...

Just to be clear, this is not about me piling onto the anti-Valentine's Day sentiment that is out there — I believe that love is probably the greatest human pursuit we have going and I support it in all its forms (even if sometimes it's represented by overpriced meals and twenty-five dollar roses).

Pixabay

This is about roses, and not the twenty-five dollar kind — it's here that I ask you to indulge me for a moment.

My experience over the years has me looking at roses by colour because, believe it or not, colour does matter when it comes to roses. I have simplified it in my little boy brain and it goes something like this — a red rose means love, a white rose means worthy of love, and a yellow rose means friendship (or out of love)... so if you are a purest (and put stock in this) you never really want to get a yellow rose unless everyone involved has an understanding of said friendship status.

I have always been partial to the white rose because it's a reminder that we are all worthy of love, and that this great pursuit comes in so many shapes and sizes. I will also say, I've always liked the way the great Louis Armstrong symbolically said it — 

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you

I think this is pretty much all I have to say on the topic of roses... except maybe to also say, "If you are gonna give roses, just give one." 

Symbolically, it's the only way to go!

iamgpe

Moments — the pithy quotes of Benjamin Franklin

I would be very surprised if there's anyone in North America over the age of twenty who hasn't heard the name Benjamin Franklin (probably applies to Europe to some degree as well). What I know of him is he was a businessman, a scientist, and one of the founding fathers of the United States of America — his legacy has influenced the past two hundred and seventy-five years.

It also seems he was rather prolific when it came to pithy quotes and I thought I'd share some of them. I will say I took these off of the Internet so their accuracy is suspect right from the start — they are still great quotes non the less.

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." 

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

"Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy."

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."

"Well done is better than well said."

"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."

"Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning."

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17th, 1706, and if he were alive today he would be exactly two hundred and fifty-four years older than me. I think I will pick up a biography on Benjamin Franklin because there's still lots of time to influence the world.

iamgpe