Status that Turned into a Blog Post

It's so surreal when those moments of a larger self awareness take place, and you have a few seconds or minutes to ponder your own frailty, and the unpredictability of life. "Will I make it through this intersection without someone running a red light and broadsiding me?" "Why is my wife running so late tonight?", "Will this driver see my motorcycle coming and not pull out in front of me?", "Will I see my kids grow up?" "Will my marriage live on 'til death do us part'?" (and yes, my marriage is fine -- it just scares me how many people split up after DECADES together!), etc., etc., etc.

Not to try and invoke feelings of fear, pain, or depression; It is just amazing how often we do not realize the absolute impossibility of actually directing our own destiny. (I'm sure the guy in Miami was not planning to get his face eaten off last week.)

It is a bit disconcerting to think about those things, but probably good to realize at the same time. Buuuuut... since there's really nothing we can do about it, there is no reason to live in fear of the unknown... Things will happen every day and whether they were predestined, or truly random, they still happen. We can't stop any of it, so when you are able to, soak up all the incredible things around you. "...Suck out all the marrow of life..." (to quote Thoreau).

I find it very unrealistic and financially impossible to actually "live each day like it's your last," or to think of each day as "the beginning of the rest of your life." If it was ACTUALLY my last day to live, I would not get up at 6:30 to go sell vinyl siding and roofing supplies. I don't know exactly what I would do, but I guarantee it'd be with my family, not at work. But I digress. And now I will shut up. Cuz this was supposed to be a status update; not a blog post. :-P

The Ant Timelapse

It's funny how certain animals, species, and people represent good things in our society -- to the point that they can do no wrong; while there are other species and groups that are automatically demonized and representative of bad things -- to the point that they can do no right.


Examples: Elephants - Excellent memories (though afraid of mice, I guess), Ants - Hardest workers in our entire galaxy, Ronald Reagan - Well, he was Ronald Reagan, Dogs - Loyalty and friendship, Owls - Wise, Chuck Norris - Round house kicking bad ass!, Mother Theresa - Compassionate and Saintly, Our Founding Fathers - They had the perfect form of government (it was like Eden before the apple...except in the USA!)...


Then there is the Porcupine - Don't touch it!, Skunks - Don't even go near it!, Donkeys - The armpit of the horsing community, Adolf Hitler - No explanation needed, Communism - Pretty much the same level as Satan himself, Vampires - Oh wait... no, they're cool now (yes, my wife is watching the newest Twilight movie right now). But you get the idea. 


The reason I even bring it up is I was just watching a time-lapse video of some ants digging tunnels, and I definitely saw some ants taking a break. A couple of them just stood there while the other ants were digging! That got me thinking: We really idolize ants as hard workers - and they most certainly are! - but they sort of looked like they exhibited the same behaviors as many would in a factory in our own society -- not like the Greek Gods of Labor that I had come to expect.


Well, I guess what I'm sort of thinking is that there are certain things that we have given an honorary title of Sainthood, while there are other things that have been black-balled to the point of automatic repulsion. And often, neither one of those things are 100% appropriate.