Don’t Look Back

Too late, I already did. It was More Than A Feeling.

Many pundits talk about the bar being set high or low. Some days I just want to sit at a bar.

Thinking of low bars, consider this. I’ll just dig around in the digital debris of my old posts hoping for an idea.

Yeah, It Don’t Come Easy because I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

Finally, I Can See Clearly Now. I found a Bridge Over Troubled Water. You don’t need to Take Me To The River because now I’m In The Mood to write a post.

Do You Believe In Magic? Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.

Hey sometimes you need to Dance To The Music when the Lion Sleeps Tonight.
 

Stop! In The Name Of Love.

But didn’t Michael Jackson sing, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough?

I Want To Take You Higher.
 
Alright, You May Be Right.
 
Finally, I’m Feeling Good but don’t expect another Emotional Rescue, It's Only Rock N' Roll. Actually, it’s only a blog.

Windmills of your mind

Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
...
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream

Windmills spinning are probably a nice pleasant way to describe the way one’s mind can spin. Wheels turning is a common description of a thinking brain. However when those wheels turn and spin out of control, the result might be unwanted.

Dreams start and end within your mind. I read that dreams are a way of our minds sorting out the world around us. Maybe I’m generalizing but I’ve noticed the difficult and confusing can team up to destroy your nice day. So my dreams spiral.

Inspirational music can really move me but so can a good escalator. Recently, I had the chance to visit the temple of coffee, Starbucks Reserve Roastery, in downtown Chicago.

My first ride on a curved escalator was worth the visit. It certainly beats spiral staircases.

The large structure rising up from below the ground floor had me thinking of a cathedral or Buck Rogers' starship. Here’s what Starbucks says about the structure:

Standing as the centerpiece of the roastery is a 56-foot steel cask (the company’s tallest), a sculptural blend of form and function, where coffee beans go to rest and de-gas after being roasted. The bronze-colored cask has a perforated shell that reveals roasted beans moving through tubes in all directions, and then accumulating throughout the day like grains of sand in an hourglass.

A very impressive place that is certainly a tourist attraction. I spent about 30 minutes there. While checking out 4 floors, I never ordered any coffee. It’s not clear where to line up for coffee. The 4th floor has a cocktail lounge. The whole place was busy.

coffee mills of your mind

reminds me of chemistry class

My coffee temple visit could have been better if I had time to sit and contemplate the roasting of coffee.

Have you ever described something by saying what it was not? Many concepts and ideas don’t necessarily have direct opposites. Ideas can be just a different shade of another idea.

Would you consider the opposite of “it’s good enough” to be “it could have been better if”? Perfection can be an illusion that is not reachable.

The storm of upsetting news coming out of the impeachment our President of Chaos conditioned me to notice the following lyrics from the song "Galileo" by the Indigo Girls.

Galileo head was on the block
Crime was looking up the truth

I don't believe crime will find the real truth. I do agree with the Indigo Girls that Galileo was the king of night vision, king of insight. How long before congress finds its soul, let alone getting it right?


I’ve provided youtube clips of the songs referenced here for those who don’t know the songs or would enjoy refreshing their memory of the songs.

King of the Road has taken the last exit

The long and winding road has come to a dead end. Think about it. We all have a dead end at our finish line. Ok, not everyone thinks of roads. How about dots?

If you gave me all the dots I would not have time to connect them. It takes a lifetime to connect the dots. That’s ok because that last dot - it’s a killer.

I’m writing this as I try to lighten-up a bit. Our family joke teller has passed on to his next gig today. I’ve already wept a few tears earlier today so now in the spirit of his joking I strive to write a remembrance on the lighter side of life’s road (at least I'll stay out of the ditch).

Back in Aug. 2011 in MO

I think of him as King of the Road. He has had over 6000 stitches and was thought to have died many times during his years. He has totaled more vehicles, cars, motorcycles, trucks than I have ever owned. Not all the mishaps were driving related. He worked construction and has visited a few bars during his life.

I first mentioned my uncle’s approach to his finish line in a post at the end of November. Since then it’s been a quick ride with him. Some dips and dangerous curves but also many scenic views of past memories. It was an absolute joy to share jokes with our family joke teller too. Even in this last phase of his trip, he could still joke and give a smile.

Less than 24 hours before his brakes failed, he told my cousin and me this joke.

Two blondes at a bar are asked by the bartender if they are sisters.
One quickly replies, “Oh no, we are not even Catholic.”

Two of our daughters were able to visit him on different days. Being separated by a whole generation, one daughter was curious to discover more about him and asked him about his life. I jumped into the conversation by mentioning the fact that he had two marriages. Then I learned my uncle was having a good day. He was surprisingly quick to pull my unsuspecting daughter into a joke.

King: “When I was first married, I picked wild mushrooms.”
Daughter with a puzzled look.
King: “My first wife died from a poison mushroom.”
Daughter with a concerned look: “Oh my”
King: “Do you know how my second wife died?”
Daughter: “No”
King: “A head concussion. (pause) She wouldn’t eat the mushrooms!”

All three of us had a great laugh. I believe he laughed hard enough to bounce the bed.

It was great seeing him with plenty of visitors. While in hospice, he celebrated his 89th birthday. This probably helped him going.

These past five or so weeks showed me the power of humor. Sharing a laugh creates new bonds and strengthens existing bonds. My uncle provided me a lesson without knowing it.

Hospice was a good decision. I think if you are about to leave earth on a one way no return ticket then you should turn off ground control (doctors trying to save you) and share the countdown with family.

If you want background on why I consider him King of the Road check out these older posts:

first one
second one