I shot this photo the other day while visiting the Boardwalk area of the tiny coastal town of Kemah, Texas. I happened to notice, just a short distance away, a set of wooden posts out on the very edge of the shore.

Usually posts like this are covered with seagull poop seagulls. What kinda caught my eye was the fact that this time there was only a single bird there.

The Watcher

Now, if you click on the photo you’ll see it more clearly (it’ll take you to the Flickr page). It appears as if the seagull is checkin’ out those two sailboats as they zip off into the distance. On noticing that tiny detail, I was struck by a thought (sound of dull thud).

I thought it somewhat ironic how we humans, with our big giant brains (mind you, I’m speakin’ figuratively, not necessarily personally), can be so proud of our accomplishments. I mean, here are these two guys who, with a little diligence (not to mention a little cash) managed to learn how to spread a sail, capture the wind, and use it to drive themselves across the sea in an exhilarating fashion. (Hey, I’ve done it, and I can tell you it’s quite a rush!)

In the meantime, this little bird, with a brain no bigger than your average pea, simply spreads his wings and, with virtually no effort, sails up into the skies with nary a care in the world. And all on a budget of free-for-the-taking sardines, too.

But wait, you say, that’s not a fair comparison. It’s in the bird’s nature to fly. After all, he has wings. And if a bird spreads ‘em while the wind is blowing, well, physics happens, y’know?

We humans, on the other hand, have to learn everything for ourselves – ‘cause when we’re born, we got nothin’! I mean, we got no wings. We got no instincts. Alas, we got no aerodynamic shapes anywhere. In fact, if I were to jump off a cliff with only the things I was born with, the only physics that’ll happen is somethin’ along the lines of drop-like-a-sack-of-overripe-plums. Kinda excitin’ for a while, but then there’s that pesky sudden stop at the bottom.

OK, fair enough; birds can fly, and human-types can’t – at least, not without a lot of help. So what?

It’s About Potential…

The thing, I think, that makes the difference between the bird and the sailor, though, is the difference in their potential. See, a bird, bless his little pea-brain, is just a bird. He’s born a bird. He lives as a bird, and he’ll pass on to that great sky in the, er, sky, as – yep, you guessed it – a bird. What’s more (and here’s the nub of the gist, if you get my meanin’), he can never be anything but a bird (no matter how many times you read Jonathan Livingston Seagull). It’s just not in his nature.

Ah, but a human being, now – well that’s a whole ‘nuther pile o’ potatoes! Hey, as far as I’m concerned, one of the most amazing things about us human beings is the tremendous potential there is within every one of us. I mean, think about it (sound of grinding gears).

As I mentioned earlier, when we’re born, we have pretty much nothing. No instincts, no innate knowledge, practically a clean slate. We’re nothing more than a cute little squirming bundle of potentiality. (For the sake of expediency, I’m assumin’ that “cute” bit is always true.)

The fact is, given the opportunity (and the means, although that certainly doesn’t stop some folks) any baby can become pretty much anything they eventually want to be – subject to the laws of reality, of course. (Shame about reality, ain’t it? *Sigh* That’s pretty much why I had to give up on my childhood dream of, y’know, bein’ a spaceman.) All throughout our lives, we’re constantly besieged by all kinds of influences. Family, friends, information, you name it – it all goes into the mysterious mix that is us.

… And It’s About Choice

On top of that, there’s the matter of choice. Practically every moment of every day we’re faced with the need to make decisions. Sometimes big ones, sometimes little inconsequential ones, but you might as well face it; you’ll never be able to avoid them for long.

Admittedly, as a kid I rarely gave any thought to any possible long-term consequences my choices would create. Hey, that’s just the way it is when you’re a kid, y’know? Lack of experience, I know.

However, there’s no avoiding the fact that some of those choices did, indeed, form the basis for what I’m doing – and indeed, who I am – today. Do our choices limit who we can become in the future? I’m gonna say – most certainly. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Well, in my humble opinion, probably not.

That innate ability to become something we’re not, now that’s an exciting prospect, wouldn’t you say?

So What About You?

So lemme ask ya; do you think you’ve reached your full potential? What makes you think so? And if you still have one or two things on your horizon, how do you plan to get there?

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Tags: bird, choice, Kemah, musing, potential, water

Last Monday, I posted a list of questions that seem to have no reasonable answers. (‘Course, if you’d be willin’ to settle for unreasonable answers – hey, we got plenty of those.)

Out of Place

The other day I drove by one of our neighborhood U.S. Post Offices and, well, if you’ll glance at the photo you’ll see what I saw. Yeah, I know; there’s nothing particularly special about the place with its somewhat uninspired architecture, concrete parking lot, and boring landscaping. But… something seemed to jump out at me as, I don’t know, a bit out of place.

A little later I drove by the same spot and took the time to really check out the scene again. Finally I spotted what was bothering me. That tiny white spot the big, black arrow is pointing at is a mailbox. Wait – what? Yep, there it is; embedded in that short, square brick pillar, located right outside the post office door.

Now I ask you: Why would a post office need an external mailbox? Seems like a somewhat superfluous addition, don’cha think? I suddenly had an urge to mail a letter to the branch’s Postmaster, just to see if a mail carrier had to bring it outside and put it in the box. If I can just find a stamp. And paper. And, uh, a pen. (Naah, just kidding. I still remember how to actually hand write a letter (although my penmanship was never all that great), and I even know where Mrs. MZM keeps the stamps.)

(Sound of Dull Thud)

Anyhoo, as I wrote this post, it suddenly hit me! (sound of dull thud) In fact, it’s so obvious, I’m almost embarrassed to confess this. It seems like, after all these years of tellin’ y’all there are lessons to be learned from life pretty much everywhere – well, I sorta forgot that little detail for a bit. Call it a decade moment of insanity.

So there I was, taking note of this odd little architectural detail, wondering just what the heck it was all about. So what did I do? Took this photo, hopped into my car, drove home and wrote this post, right?

Now I ask ya: What’s wrong with this picture. (No, not that picture up there; this whole cotton-pickin’ episode.) Yep; you guessed it in one! Why didn’t I just go up there and take a look at the thing and find out why it’s there? As you can see from the photo, there’s obviously a plaque of some kind on top of that structure. Probably explaining exactly why it’s there and what it means.

All it would have taken was just a tiny little bit of time – to actually, y’know, look.

So gettin’ back to imponderable questions… Now the imponderable question is this: How come I didn’t take the time to go find out for myself? I mean, I was already there!

I hate to admit it, but for that one I have no answer.

Assignment for the Day Life

Awright y’all; now’s the time to learn from my mistake.

Your assignment, should you decide to accept it, is to take 5 minutes sometime today, find a good comfy spot, and take the time to observe the world around you. And don’t just be at rest; I want you to really look. Pretend you’re a recording device capturing everything around you in full fidelity. Listen to the sounds, smell the smells. Experience those minutes as fully as you can.

Now, write down as much as you can remember about what you noticed. Be as detailed as you can. If you really want to get something out of this exercise, do this every day for a week, writing down everything you can possibly remember.

And most of all – should you, like I did, see something that raises a question in your mind, don’t just wonder about it (like I did) – take an extra minute and go over there and find out the answer!

I’m tellin’ ya; you may be surprised at what you’ll discover!

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I love questions that really make you wonder. Questions like, Is there an exception to the rule “there’s an exception to every rule”? Or one of my personal favorites, Why are there 5 syllables in the word “monosyllabic”?

The fact is, you don’t have to go searching for ‘em; they sometimes show up right at your feet. In fact, it happened just the other evening when a neighbor from down the street dropped by to chat with Mrs. MZM for a few minutes. She happened to bring her cute little son along with her, and as is typical whenever multiple adults and only one child get together, the tiniest member of the group became the center of attention. (How do they do that, anyway?)

C’mon, Push the Button

Just so you know, our house isn’t exactly child-proof, mind you, nor is it filled with fun stuff for babies to play with, either. However, unlike us adults, children have an innate ability to uncover the entertainment value in practically anything (up to and including dirt).

We usually keep an electric heating pad lying on the floor next to the couch. (What can I say? Sometimes it just, er, helps. If you know what I mean – great. If not – one day you will. Just sayin’.) Now, you and I both know this isn’t an appropriate plaything for a baby. So of course the little critter made a beeline right for it.

He grabbed the control pad and quickly discovered that pushing its buttons caused the little light to change colors in the following sequence: push #1 = yellow, push #2 = orange, push #3 = red, push #4 = off. (Please be assured – and you’ll have to trust me on this – all three of us were watching him closely and there was absolutely no danger involved.)

This impromptu “toy” seemed to keep him happy, but it was the “off” setting that threw him for a loop. Although the pretty glowing light fascinated him, every time it turned off his imagined solution was to simply push that button all the harder. In fact, I could see his hands and arms literally shaking with the effort to make that light go on, as if he could make it work by sheer strength. Eventually, of course, he’d let go – then push it again and voila! the whole sequence began all over again.

Now, when you think about it, wasn’t it silly of him to imagine that if a certain action (pushing a button) failed to produce an expected result (the light changed color), that doing that same action with even more effort (c’mon, push harder!) would magically make it work?

On the other hand… don’t we adults do the same thing? No, you say? Have you ever flipped a light switch, only to find the light didn’t work – then (and be honest here) flipped it at least a couple more times, just to be sure? Yep; thought so.

Well then why do you press harder on a TV remote control when you know the battery is dead? (Yes, you!) I mean, you know it’s dead, right? Then, um, why – ?

Yeah, sometimes we adults aren’t quite so smart as all that, are we?

Questions, Questions

Ah, questions, questions, questions! The fact is, life if chock full of imponderable questions, isn’t it? So, just to celebrate that fact, here’s a whole herd o’ questions for which I have never found a meaningful answer:

• Why do ballet dancers dance on their toes? Why doesn’t the company just hire taller dancers?
• Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible black cinder which no decent human being (nor most self-respecting animals, either) would ever eat?
• Speaking of bread – since all sandwich bread is square, why do they make round sandwich meats?
• What should you do if you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?
• If laughter is the best medicine, what does it mean when someone dies laughing?
• If milk goes bad when not refrigerated, why doesn’t it go bad in the cow?
• If a train station is where a train stops, what happens at a work station?
• Does a lightning rod on top of a church demonstrate a lack of faith?
• Do sheep get static cling when they rub against one another? And why don’t they shrink when it rains?
• If most car accidents occur within five miles of home, why doesn’t everyone just move 10 miles away?

Needless to say, there are plenty more where these came from! However, I’ll leave you with this one final question:

• If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?

By the way, if you happen to know the answer to any of these questions, then by all means feel free to chime in with it down there in the comment box. What the heck, if you feel particularly inspired, go ahead and make an answer up! I might even award extra points for the most creative answers.

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Tags: answer, button, child, imponderable, push, question, wonder

Morning Dew

Night fog lifted

Gentle morning dew

Dawn-kissed jewels

Sleeps lightly on summer grass

Refreshed and renewed

Awaiting a child’s playful tread

As I stepped out the other morning to head for work, I happened to take a few moments to admire the fresh coating of morning’s dew on our lawn. The way the myriad droplets were just beginning to catch the first rays of the rising sun was just… inspirational!

Few things inspire me to write poetry; I freely admit to being not too much of a poet. I dunno; bein’ an engineer and all, maybe I’m just too literal to be very good at it. But still… when I see something like this, it just makes me want to try. Hope you liked it.

[Note from the proprietor on the poem: Liked it? Hated it? Couldn’t care less? Hey, I’m not too old a dog to learn a few new tricks. If you have any critiques, comments, or suggestions – bring ‘em on!]

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Tags: dew, early, grass, inspiration, morning, night, wet

A Bad Sign

I’m just askin’, mind you, but would you consider it a bad sign if a large carrion bird sat outside your window and stared at you as if… well, as if you were their next meal?

That’s pretty much exactly what I thought the other day when I visited a coworker’s office and was greeted by this somewhat disquieting scene right outside his office window.

Me bein’ me and all, naturally a whole host of great one-liners instantly came to mind:

“I dunno; if I were you I’d check the organization chart for your name.”

“Have you, er, noticed a dramatic drop in your emails, lately?”

… not to mention,

“I see HR is using a new approach for sending out layoff notices.”

Of course, I could always do the time-honored “pull out a tape measure and start checking if all my stuff will fit in his office routine”… but that’s been done to death, don’cha think? (Get it? Carrion birds? Death? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Er, sorry.)

Aw, don’t worry; I’m just kidding. I don’t really think he’s got anything to worry about. After all, with today’s economy in the shape it’s in, there’s no reason for anything but optimism, right?

Expect the Unexpected

What was really funny about the whole thing was when I moved closer to capture a good close-up. (Yes, he could see me easily, right through the heavy silvering on the outside of the glass.) As I eased my phone closer for a portrait, he reached out and started tap-tap-tapping on the glass. Good thing it was there or I’d be lunch meat!

Anyway, I just thought this was a rather, um, graphic reminder for all of us: when you’re in the midst of your plans, schemes, etc. – don’t forget to expect the unexpected. I mean, you never know, y’know? Just sayin’.

So… anything unexpected happen to YOU lately?

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Tags: expectations, signs, unexpected

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

- opening line of “A Tale of Two Cities”, by Charles Dickens

Well, it ain’t exactly Dickens, but please allow me to share with you the following tale of two corridors…

Corridor #1

I was moseying down (that’s “walking”, for y’all non-Texans in the audience) a fairly long hallway at my workplace the other day (see the photo on the right) when I noticed an interesting phenomenuh an interesting phenominom something unusual.

As I gradually approached the double doors at the end of the corridor (it’s that small black square waaay down there), it almost seemed as though, instead of getting closer, the hallway was growing longer. An optical illusion, to be sure, but still a bit disconcerting. Only as I finally neared the end did everything sorta go back to normal again. (Of course, “normal” in my world is a relative term – but that’s an entirely different skillet o’ catfish.)

Needless to say, it was an odd little bit of perspective shift – almost claustrophobic, if you know what I mean. Strange.

Corridor #2

Another day, another corridor, this one on the way to the company cafeteria…

Not surprisingly, there was a distinctly different feel to this one. Unlike that other weird, Twilight-Zone-esque corridor, this one engendered no odd sense of eternity stretching out before me. This time it was just a pleasant walk. (Of course, the prospect of, y’know, food at the end may have had something to do with it. Just sayin’.)

So what was the difference?

Well, obviously one big difference is the fact that the second corridor is lined with windows, right? Not only does the outside view make the corridor “feel” bigger, but the scenery is a lot more interesting.

Also, I think the vertical window frames serve as a sortof, well, let’s call it a “progress meter” (at least to the subconscious mind, anyway), silently ticking the moments by as I made my way down its length (the two corridors are pretty much the same length. Unlike the first corridor, which seems like a gray, almost unbroken tunnel, this one is light and cheery with, as I mentioned before, something delicious at the end of it.

So What?

By now you’re probably wonderin’ to yourselves just what the heck this all has to do with the price of a side o’ beef in, say, Timbuktu. Well, I guess the best answer is, “Not much.” On the other hand, though, thinkin’ of these two corridors did make me reflect a bit on life, the universe, and… well, you get the picture, right?

If your life is anything like mine, you’ve surely experienced a period of waiting at some time or another. Yep; thought so. Sometimes it feels almost like life is a nothing but a never-ending series of momentary events, preceded by periods of restless waiting, doesn’t it?

Take job-hunting, for instance (please!) I’ve done my share of it, and every time it’s the same thing: work like mad to generate job leads, send a stream of resumes out to even the remotest of possibilities, and no matter what, leave no stone unturned in that quest for employment.

The biggest problem with this sort of thing is, it’s really hard to tell if you’re getting anywhere! Kinda like moseyin’ down that first corridor, y’know? Trust me, I know; most folks have been there too. You’re walkin’, walkin’, and still walkin’ – but you can’t tell if you’re makin’ any headway. In fact, it may even seem like you’re losing ground.

Conversely, other times the job hunt has progressed relatively steadily. From initial contact to the resume submittal, then on to that first interview, negotiation and then – employment! (sound of crowd cheering) Yeah, I’ve had that one happen, too, and when it does it’s more like that second corridor, the one with the windows, the view, and the reward at the end.

Strange how life seems to imitate art corridors, isn’t it? But still, I find it’s not the waiting that gets me down. It’s the fact that I can’t see if things are progressing. (And it’s not just that they’re not progressing as I want them too; it’s that they don’t seem to be progressing at all.)

Sad to say, most waiting periods are like that. You get no sense of what’s happening outside of your own personal world – of the things going on behind the scenes. Whereas, if you can actually see things progressing, get some feedback from the outside world – well, it makes the passing of time and the waiting a whole lot easier, don’t you think?

What to Do?

Anyhoo – I brought all this up to offer an encouraging word or two, should you happen to actually be in a waiting period right now (uh, is anyone not?)

First of all, suffice it to say I know exactly how you feel, and it ain’t no fun, I can tell ya. The good news is, there are some things you can do to help alleviate that stretched-out eternity feeling.

Don’t shut your spouse out. OK, obviously, if you’re not married then this one won’t apply to you. But if you are, then you have a built-in support mechanism from someone who once said they’d be there for you through thick and thin. It never ceases to amaze me how many folks (sadly, we men are especially guilty of this one) would rather try and “work things out” for ourselves. It stems from a feeling that by admitting we’re troubled we’ll appear weak or something. Hey, I’ve been there; I know. All I can say is, if you’re blessed with a spouse who loves you, then share your life with ‘em – all of it. Trust me when I tell you it can be truly rewarding!

Keep in touch  with your friends. I’ve noticed it over the years, and I bet you have too: having a friend to talk to makes time pass a whole lot faster than if you’re spending it all alone. Especially if you’re spending your time alone thinkin’ oh, woe is me! (Been there!) If you’re in the waiting room, find a friend to spend some time with. If you don’t have a handy friend, go make a new one! Even better, find a friend who’s down in the dumps and, instead of you both sobbing into your root beers, try passing along an encouraging word or two. Nothing dispels self-absorption like lifting the spirits of someone else!

Learn something new. One of the things I promised myself long ago was to never stop learning new stuff. Whether it’s discovering photography, learning to appreciate Masterpiece Theater, or finally getting good at juggling chainsaws (better make sure your Life Insurance is paid up for that one!), it’s always a good thing to expand your brain into new pathways. A bonus: you’ll be surprised how it’ll give you new insights into all those old challenges, too. And there’s nothin’ like stirrin’ up the little gray cells now and then to breathe fresh air into otherwise stagnant thinking.

Keep on walkin’ Bubba! (Or if you’re in Texas, keep on moseyin’.) Put this one in blazing letters a foot high, my friend! The worst thing you can do is… stop. Stop trying, stop learning, stop talking – to stop living. Hey, waiting is one thing – we all end up there sooner or later. But stopping is a whole ‘nuther animal altogether. Keep doin’ what you know to do, and never lose hope. Trust that outside of your perception, outside of that dark, long corridor, things really are happening. Use your imagination and put some windows in that long, dark corridor you’re traveling. (OK, no more metaphors, I promise!) You have to believe that and keep goin’ with all your heart because, in fact, it’s true! One thing we can all agree on is that life is all about change, and change happens all the time, all around us. Just because you can’t see it happening…

This Too Shall Pass

Just remember, Bubba; these things haven’t come to stay in your life. Nope, they’ve come to pass. And in passing, we grow.

Are you in life’s waiting room at the moment? Then join the crowd! Trust me; you’re not the Lone Stranger in here – not by a long shot! In fact, at the moment, I’m right there with ya! (Why not come on over and we’ll visit a spell? Just look for the hat.)

Care to tell us about it? What other techniques have you learned over the years that have helped you – and maybe can help the rest of us as we wait? Take a moment, why don’t you, and share ‘em with us down there in the comment box. Hey, we’ll surely thank you!

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Tags: corridor, linkedin, tale, two, wait, waiting

Allow me to ask you a personal question. (sound of audience stampeding from the room)

Gee, that went well, don’cha think? Anyhoo – here’s the question:

Have you ever had a moment when you suddenly doubted your senses? You know what I mean, right? A time when you saw something that made your brain put the brakes on full and come to a screeching halt?

Yep; thought so. Here’s one that happened to me the other day.

Lunch Break

Mrs. MZM and I visited a cute little place called Drew’s Pastry Place for lunch not too long ago. (Despite the name, they make some really great – and really reasonably priced – lunches.) We like to support small, local businesses whenever we can (hence the link), and this is one of our favorites. I’ll tell ya; although Drew makes a mouth-watering selection of wonderful pastries, he also makes this delicious pizza that’s to die for…

Anyway, while waiting for our lunch to make its way to our table, my eyes naturally wandered around, sizing up the surroundings for possible photogenic opportunities. (Alas, that’s what happens when you catch the camera bug. Even Mrs. MZM is getting into the spirit of things, cheerfully pointing out interesting things every now and then.)

Since we were sitting at a table right by the window, I spent some time just observing the scenery outside. That’s when it happened. I glanced up and there, flashing on and off like a big red neon sign floating in the sky, was the word, “OPEN”.

Now since, as far as I know, I have almost never suffered from hallucinations, my brain immediately did a double-take. I thought to myself, “Ungh? Why in the world would there be a ghostly word floating up there in the clear blue sky? And written backwards, no less! What could it mean?

Well, a few scenarios immediately jumped to mind. Could it have been that a clandestine alien secret agent, after having thoroughly investigated the Earth’s paltry defenses, was signaling the nearby invasion force to drop in and take over. Or, maybe it was some giant advertising campaign, intended to let folks know some retailer was now, uh, open for business. (Since the word was written backwards, I tended to discount the possibility it was a message from God.)

I immediately put my lightning-fast and highly-skilled powers of reasoning to bear on the situation. (Meaning: I scratched my head and thought about it for a few seconds.) Now, in order to get to the nub of the gist, the first issue to be dealt with was a rather foundational one: Was I the only one who could see it?

How to Establish Your Sanity (Without Appearing Insane)

The obvious solution was to verify my sanity (such as it is) with Mrs. MZM. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to do that without sounding completely idiotic, if you get my meanin’.

“Um…” I said, trying not to lead the witness, “you don’t happen to see anything odd up there in the sky, do you?”

“Like what?” she immediately replied, peering upwards out the window.

“Oh, like… er, well…” Alas, there was no way to avoid it, so I took the bull by the horns and continued. “Well, I sorta see this big, red, floating word up there. It says, ‘OPEN… OPEN…OPEN…’”

I had to admit that now I had said it out loud, it did sound pretty weird.

Silence for a few seconds… then, “Oh, I see it too!” Needless to say, a sense of relief flooded through me.

My sanity assured (he said, blithely), the next question was, where on Earth was it coming from? Luckily for my sanity, that one solved itself pretty easily. There was a lighted “OPEN” sign hanging above me, a few feet back from the window. It was clearly visible from the outside, but from our table (right next to the window), it was completely out of our sight.

Mystery solved! (sound of big sigh of relief) Well, at least I knew I wasn’t going crazy! (At least, not due to random hallucinations, anyway.)

Has This Ever Happened To You?

So… just out of curiosity, has something like this ever happened to you? I mean, have you ever seen something that just made you doubt your sanity for a few moments? Hey, don’t be shy – go ahead and share it with us down there in the comment box. I’ll leave the light on.

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[Disclaimer: The Mrs. and I received no compensation for mentioning Drew's Pastry Place. We just like it and want folks to know about it. Drop by if you get a chance; you won't regret it.]

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Tags: restaurant sign open sky doubt senses linkedin