Unconditional Love

I had a talk with one of the guys I work with lately and the subject centered around kids and the joy they bring and even the heartache they cause. And how seemingly no matter how mad you get at them, or how many times they push your buttons, you still cannot help but love them, completely. This is unconditional love. How is it that someone you have never met, never laid eyes on, never held in your arms, you would, at that instant, laid down your life for without question. That is how I feel about my kids. Jenna is my 16 year old daughter. She can get under my skin almost like no other (her older brother was pretty good too). There is almost no day that goes by where we don't clash in one area or another, driving, boys, friends the list is endless. But in the midst of strife and even when the dust settles, I can't help but love her completely. Alyssa drove me batty, Zachary tried to kill me, Jenna is in the middle of slaying me and Shelby is beginning to aim the gun. But I love em!! Unconditionally.

I have friendships that border on this as well. I can experience strife, miscommunication, LOS (see previous posts), but I always come back to them, I care for them, I worry for them, and I continue to love them. I hurt when they hurt, I am sad when they are sad and I miss them when they are not around. They pursue me or I pursue them, either way there is no obstacle or barrier that cannot be overcome. They love me unconditionally sometimes even in spite of me. I need these people in my life, more and more. They keep me grounded and challenged and I need that.

Smitten

These two are at it again. Inseparable. It is definitely against all odds. The only word I can think of for these two is Smitten.

Smokey + Kitten = Smitten.

They are together constantly. One with beauty and grace and the other with protection and security. There is no explanation other than they are Smitten by each other. I think I'm going to have a small ceremony for the two of them.

Out of Reach

I was recently in a grocery store near my house and while walking down one of the isles watched as a lady was hopelessly looking for ways to reach an item on the top shelf. There was no way she was going to succeed, absolutely not it was completely out of reach. So being a 6 ft tall (ruggedly handsome) man, I asked her if I could help and promptly got her item.

My son became a Fire Explorer at the station I work at, even though he is not under my direct supervision I can reach out and touch him. Alyssa lives in Colorado and while it may be difficult at times I can still call, or text, or in some way reach out and touch her. My best friends live in Ohio and Washington State and I can at almost anytime night or day, reach out and call, text, skype or email.

It's when things or people are out of reach, just beyond my ability to call, text affect, or reach that makes me sad. When they are on the top shelf just inches from your fingertips and if you could grow your arm . . .just . . . alittle then you could reach them. Worse when you can see the item and watch your fingers dance on the edge of grasping.

NASA calls this time during re-entry, LOS for Loss of Signal. It is roughly 1310 seconds and during that time everyone is on edge, in anticipation of ROS or Return Of Signal.
I don't want to have 1310 seconds of LOS from any of those who I love and care about much less 1 second. And if they are, then I can't wait to have them ROS

Paradise

Charles Lindbergh, as he was dying of cancer was given the opportunity to stay in New York and go through therapy that could possibly briefly extend his life or home to the island of Maui in Hawaii. Before two weeks ago I would have thought him crazy, but after having spent just a little time there I can easily see his point of view.
The moment we landed at LAX we knew we were back. The airport smelled of smoke, people were hurrying on their way not even bothering to look up or heaven forbid say hello.
Paradise was gone.
The soft sandy beaches, flip flops (my new shoe of choice) shorts and where the evening entertainment is the sunset on the beach and it never grows old. This is what we left. The happy part is that I know this place exists and I will be going back. Soon.

Sent from my iPhone

The next to the Last Day

It is the second to the last night here in Hawaii. I cannot believe all the things we have done. It would seem that whenever we go on vacations to a place we have never been before, we do everything imaginable in the short time we have here. Parasailing, zip lining, snorkeling, boat tours Road to Hana, paddle boarding, jumping off cliffs into ponds. All these things that most people do over the coarse of years, we do in one week. Hectic fast furious and a lot of fun with a capital F. One of these days we will take a vacation and actually rest and relax. . . . Maybe

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Mermaid

I knew we would see one and she is beautiful. My Mermaid

Dolphins!!!!

We went on a boat/snorkeling tour one day. We went to Molokini which is a giant underwater crater that has great snorkeling and then to a site called Mani Lau where there was allot of the same fish. I think they just followed the boat and showed up looking for handouts. Now don't get me wrong, snorkeling is fun although I can only take so much of floating around looking at the bottom of the ocean. The real fun came on the return trip the marina where we came across a extremely large pod of dolphins. We were not guaranteed any dolphin sightings so when we came upon this pod it was exciting. Almost as exciting as 122 people rushing to one side of the boat. Good thing there was a few of the heavier people who stayed on the other side.