Saturday, June 30, 2012

Road to Fifty - Part 5

It seems that as time rolls along, the world does still RE-volve.  And we inhabitants E-volve. 

I did have such a great time in Hawaii.  It had so many highs and none involved herbs.  haha.  It seemed funny that a place so associated with pot seemed so removed from pot.  No Maui Wowi smells the entire trip.  However, when I returned to LA, there was more Maui than in all of Hawaii.  haha.  Times do e-volve.

Years ago I heard that the brighter the Light becomes the more intense the Darkness becomes.  How many times have we walked into a dark room from outside in the bright sunshine and become temporarily blinded by the change.  Thankfully, so many people in my life are embracing Light and goodness and fun and frivolity....  I am goofy and funny and fun-loving and I try to surround myself with others with the same outlook.  Oh, if you know me, you know I can bitch about that grain of sand in my shoe or the rock on the beautiful beach that I stub my toe on.  It's not that hard.  And even though it's not a part of my nature that I like so much, I do need to "vent" or "get it out of my system" somedays.  How else will I be able to ascertain if I'm all the way nuts or just skirting the issue of nutdom?  So somedays my chums get to hear about my presumed trials and tribulations.  But for the most part, I do really try to be positive.  And again, so many of friends are the same.

Lately I've noticed that the "Dark" seems to be intesifying in some.  I see people do and say things that I thought were completely off limtes.  I see some drive like maniacs with absolutely no regard to others safety.  I've had to make a conscious decision lately to just hang back and let them do it their way; and, I maintain a distance to keep myself safe and sound.

When Solomon prayed for Wisdom, God gave him trials.  I think that example in the Bible so relates to everyday life and love.  And since I'm a wee bit chicken, I pray for Half Wisdom so I will only get half the trials. 

Peace and Love! 

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Road to Fifty #4 - Hawaii Impressions

Hawaii was simply fantastic.  First impressions can (and often) are misleading.

The big Island was so not what I thought it would be in terms of topography.  I do know there is a volcano there.  And so does anyone with eyes.  There are tons of signs reading Volcano 96 miles, Volcano 87 miles.  Right for Volcano.  Volcano This Way -->.  But I didn't know there was so much black rock.  It was a visual shock to begin with, but I adapted easily since I had no choice.  Plenty of beaches had sand and more black rock. 

Once I got past the black rock look, I discovered discovered an Island of many different looks.  I could so easily see parts of Miami, plenty of Central America, some of the East Coast of the USA and the beaches of both east and west coast.  It seemed incredible that an Island that small in size could pack such a punch.  We drove through a small rain forest.  From hot and humid beach areas to a temperature 30 degrees cooler in a span of 30 minutes.   A 2500 foot climb in less than 10 miles.

But the water.  Oh the glorious water.  Blues, greens, clear.  Sheer Heaven!

However, the look of the Island was almost second to the look of the people.  Unless you are born on the Island, you really must want to live there to live there.  It's not like LA where you can drive to Vegas, San Fran or even Palm Springs.  Oh no!  After 2 hours, you are at the other end of the Island.  Yes, it takes many more hours to drive all around the Island, but it is still an Island.  Having said that, the people I met were simply devine.  And just like big cities, the Island attracts people from all walks of life, ethnic backgrounds and ages.  I met quite a few southerners who are transplanted to Hawaii.  Our server at the hotel was from Liverpool.  One new chum was from Santa Barbara, CA.

But/And the common denominator was that they "wanted" to be there.  And they were happy.  They weren't there to because they couldn't get out (or off as the case may be), but they were there because that's where they wanted to be.  In the 4 days I was there, I heard only one person blow the horn at another driver.  I never heard one explitive directed at another person.  Even I let people ahead of me in traffic.  (See miracles do still happen!!)

I don't think I would ever want to live in Hawaii.  But "honk honk", I sure as hell want to visit again soon!

XO

Saturday, June 23, 2012

On the Road to 50 - 3

Even though I just uploaded #2, I'm already for #3.

Yesterday (June 22nd) was the second day in Hawaii.  Patrick (my friend who has joined me on this trip) and I went to the beach outside the Hotel; then, we drove up the coast.  We stopped at another beach about 45 minutes away. It was so heavenly.  Several families dotted this small beach with beautiful sand and rock outcroppings.  We got into the water for a bit, then hopped back in the car and drove further up the coast stopping at several villages to sample local color, coffees and sweets.  Next, we drove through a small rain forest and into the Waipio Valley on the north coast of the Island.

The sights and sounds and peace was so wondrous.  Yesterday, I spent more than 8 hours with the cellphone in the trunk of the car and the camera unattached from me.  I did take a few photos, but more often than not, I simply snapped a record into my memory.

Patrick and I knew each other when he lived in Los Angeles.  Now he's back in Melbourne Australia.  I must have said 25 times yesterday:  "I'm just happy!"  20 plus years ago a wonderful Medium told me that Hawaii was my supreme vacation destination.  Not a place as a home, but a great place to just be.  And June, you were so right.  It took me a while to get here, but it was worth the wait.

I won't be giving up my "big city life" anytime soon.  But I have found a wonderful place to rest, relax and wallow in the peace.

Mahalo Hawaii.

Aloha for now!  XO

On he Road to Fifty - 2


(That's entry #2, not 52)

Around the first of this year, I saw a blurb about the book: “365 Thank Yous”.  It seems the book was published a couple of years ago.  I quickly glanced at the synopsis, and thought that seems interesting.  As it sometimes happens, that’s where I left the thought.

Again a few weeks back near the beginning of June, I saw another blurb about this book.  I downloaded it from B&N and quickly devoured the entire book in two settings.  (Or is it seatings?)  Either way this small book delivered a huge wallop. 

I have always considered myself quite lucky.  I was born on a Friday, the Luckiest day of the week. I am a Pisces, the luckiest sign of all.  I was born in the year of the Rabbit, again, the luckiest sign of all.  If you ask me, I’m pretty darned Lucky.  And  just as lucky as I feel, I always try to remember to be thankful.

So there I am on day one reading this book while I have dinner at a favorite steakhouse.  The book is powerful in quiet ways.  I sat eating my dead cow and crying behind my glasses.  Such a pretty sight!  Oh, I guess I’m supposed to be thankful for that sight too. ... I suppose.  Ha ha.

Anyway, the jist of the book is “the more thankful we are, the more we have things to be thankful for.”  And I agree; this is truly an idea that I can get behind.  I’m now writing thank you notes, left, right and center, and finding more each day to be thankful for.

Today, I am thankful, that I got up, I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, the staff at the airport were all polite and courteous, and as I write this, I’m high over the Pacific Ocean on my way to a First Time visit to Hawaii.

Thankful I am that I’m still on the Road to Fifty!  XO  

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Fractions of Dan: Road to Fifty

So I've decided to add a section about the "Road to 50."  So here goes...

As of today-ish, I am 49.25 years old.  I am far past being able to say "I'm this many".

So often we hear "age is just a number."  To which I say "Bullshit."  Almost everything we do is tied to a number.  We celebrate (or hope to forget to celebrate) birthdays.  I had a cake almost every year.  I had my one and only real birthday party at Five.  And even though I had only the one party, there was always a celebration of the day.

For me, one of the biggies was 16.  I had wanted to drive way earlier.  And on a rare occasion I did.  At thirteen, I did 2 weeks of work in Tobacco.  I hated it.  But I drove the tractor.  Then for the next two summers I worked all summer long in Tobacco.  And for the most part I drove the tractor.  One year we pulled a two story harvester behind the tractor.  I could turn that sucker around on a dime.  Or at least a quarter.  So, hating working in the fields, as I approached 16 I began to look for a job "in town" where there were no Tobacco fields.  And then I drove a lot.

Other numbers include 18 (voting age), 21 (legal age for alcohol), 25 (cheaper car insurance) and so on.  When you're 20-something you couldn't care how old you are as long as you're not "THAT" old.  However old that is.  And then when you're 30-something (I was 20 something when 30 something was on TV), you remember the things you did in your 20s because that was like yesterday.

Then comes 40.  The age most men (and lots of women) go a little coo-coo.  The grass is always greener somewhere else.  I moved from Florida to California when I was 37.  So my 40s were already in greener pastures, sorta.  Now comes the advent of 50.  And that brings lots of thoughts which I intend to share along the way.

I do accounting for a living but yesterday my brain was on vacation.  Not from work, but from logic.  I saw a post by my high school English teacher on facebook and began to think "If I'm going to be 50 soon, how old is she?"  This is where my brain went haywire.  At first I thought I should send her a copy of my idea for a new blog post and see if she will tell me her age.  Then I began to do the math.  If she was maybe 30 or so, then my god, she will be 80 this year.  She doesn't seem that old.  Maybe she was in her late 20s when she was my teacher.  She did tell us about ECU (my alma mater too) and the fun times they had there.  Wow, could she really be THAT old.  My mom is 76.  I didn't think they were close to the same age.  BTW, my mom's not old.  And so the thought process went.  I kept thinking Mrs. A's THAT old.  So of course I logged onto f/b and looked at her profile.

And that's when my error was acutely apparent.  She might have been 30 or so, but I was 15-18.  NOT zero.  If Mrs A was 30 when I was 15, then she's 15 years older than I am.  Then I thought oh jeepers, I'm glad I didn't ask her if she was indeed turning 80 this year.

So see, I am right in a way.  Numbers do matter.  I suspect when the hangover wears off on the morning I am 50, I won't feel significantly different, but I bet I will be keenly aware that a new number, and new decade, a new portion of my life has arrived.

So here's to the "Road To 50".  May it be FABULOUS!  (Arms waving and flapping!)