Happy Friday, it's funny how I seem to get happy on Friday. I think it says something when you look so forward to the weekend. Life resumes for a few days and work goes away. Temperature soared today as it reached 97, only shows what is ahead. Time to start the summer habits again, wake up very early, get things done early, enjoy the a/c or the pool the rest of the day. It isn't so bad in the morning and you can get a lot done when there is an incentive.
We are headed out for a long run tomorrow or Sunday, hope to get up to 7 miles at least. It is a nice distance to keep. Things did not go well at the Copper Crawl so we need to keep up the distance. Miami was a neat little town and I guess it could be said it is the Copper town formally known as a ghost town or old mining town. It had snowed, do you believe 60 miles from here could snow? So they delayed the start of the run and that was enough for us, we needed to get back. We did get time before we left to check out the town and do the stair climb... twice. It is packed with antiques and antique stores, not bad prices and so prevelant that it is like stepping back in time.
We liked the town, the buildings are pretty old and not very good shape. But they do have character and with the copper flowing again, I'm sure the town will pick up. The best building in the town is the old YMCA and is up for sale. Even though we couldn't run the race, we did get the shirt and pancakes. Great pancakes and pretty scenery made for a very nice morning. Only thing missing was good coffee, none to be found. Go see for yourself, it is pretty there. Maybe not for long though. The copper mines are strip mines and that ruins the mountains beauty. They are producing jobs and from what I hear there are 6 active mines now in Arizona.

Trust... it can be so hard to gain and so easy to lose. As we grow in mind and in wisdom it seems to be a good lesson to learn. Without trust people can not work together it is like a lower branch of Maslov's hierarchy of needs. You need the trust in another that they will be true and will not falter in their commitment to you. Max De Pree writes of a covenant that needs to be developed between employer and employee, and I can see that.
An employee needs to believe an employer will reward hard work and dedication with true honest intentions. Employees are not commodities they are assets and need nurturing and appreciation. With this they can do great things, amazing things. Without it, they can do little. They will be so preoccupied by looking for another job or occupation where they can grow and flourish.

Got some great pictures of the Netherlands from Andy. Him, the children and his wife moved to a nice country house. I think I'd enjoy living in Europe, but not sure. The novelty would wear off, but at least I wouldn't have as much TV to choose from. What a pretty back yard...

The neat part in Amsterdam are the canals, they divide the city into small islands. It's fun to walk the streets and see buildings over 30 years old. Many very, very old. There are a lot of stories there I saw where Anne Frank hid from the Nazis for all those days and nights. They had lived well in Amsterdam until the Germans started to decide Jews needed a solution. That would have been a frightening experience. As you go through the little rooms they occupied in the attic and walk through their halls, you can picture their life. I liked looking out into the backyard and thought Anne probably did too. There are carvings on the walls the hieroglyphics of the Holocaust. It is Hitlers birthday tomorrow with all the bad events that seem to occur lately in association with it, I think it is just the perpetual bad kharma.

I noticed the Dutch have a real sensitivity to the German invasion and the Nazi occupation. It has a connection to the bikes you see all over Amsterdam. Evidently, the people there are still very upset over the Nazis stealing their bikes when they fled Amsterdam. I was told they took most of the cities bikes as they were trying to flee from the allies. I think my friend Shawn would understand the way resentment can simmer when someone messes with your bike. He's had repeated problems with someone vandalizing the light on his bike.

It is off to the Copper Boomtown festival in Miami AZ this weekend. Some fun events, like lugging my butt 13K with a 1200 ft elevation gain. The good part though is the pancake breakfast afterward. Pancakes are my favorite and it ties back to Amsterdam, because they have the best pancakes. Except they should not be called pancakes, more of a cross between a crepe and a pancake. And they put regular food on them, like chicken, cheese, veggies and all sorts of great stuff.

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg VA, what a terrible thing that happened there today. 33 young lives ended far, far before they should have. There are those who believe that all things happen for a reason and that something good might be found from this. I don't think so... I don't think any of those poor families, the mothers, the fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, loves, any who knew or cared for any of those people would find the good from this. There is probably pain and sadness, a deep sadness, maybe numbness flowing through their body. They might imagine it is a dream or hope it is one, or maybe a mistake and that their loved one will walk through that door at any time.
Any of us who care for someone we lose in this world can relate, there is that aching in your heart. The part of your life that feels empty or missing, and why can't it be restored? We are a society, a family, friends, and we all feel it now. I saw a door mat I liked this weekend, it said: "Friends are the family you choose" There were a lot of friends taken today, it will take a long time for healing. Probably a long time before they will feel safe. Now more than ever they will need patience, love, space, time... time to heal. Safety was taken from all of us in a more or less sense.
We have this silent agreement between us all, it is a basis of trust we build between us. We agree we won't kill each other. That trust has been damaged, and we will all need time to heal from this. It is always a selfish self-centered act, someone putting there own emotional needs above anothers existence. Now when we need each other the most, we will be a little less trusting. We will be more protective over the people we care for, which limits how we care for each other. I mean no criticism, because I feel it too. If my daughter was here with me, I'd hold her hug a little longer, I'd tell her I love her a little more, I'd hound her to be careful. We do not want any of the sadness we know the ones who loved those people in Blacksburg are feeling.
I can only pray for those that lost someone, that they will be healed. I pray that we will all be healed. That we can rebuild the trust we lost today. We need to restore the trust we have in each other. That trust is what allows us to work together, to participate in our communities, to help each other. With trust we can obtain peace, which helps even more to strengthen our communities and build stronger relationships. The Dalai Lama says,
"Peace starts within each one of us. When we have inner peacee we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is at a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities"
Blacksburg, I pray that peace will come to you and wish you all peace. God bless all those who lost their lives there today.

Weather has improved, it is much more livable now. It even rained! The temperature was in the 70's today and a very windy day. Winds were gusting to 40, for the most part it was steady in the 20's.
It is hard to make out South Mountain in the picture but that's what happens when the wind kicks up the sand. You get a gritty feeling in your mouth and nose. Not the most pleasant, kind of builds that Arizona character.

In Arizona we dream on windy days like today that we are close to the ocean. At least I can deceive myself to turn the dust swirled by the wind into mist slowly carried from the ocean to our shore. I try to make out a distant ship on the waters and imagine what it would be like on the sea. I like this poem:

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tideIs a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,And quite sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

By John Masefield (1878-1967)

Time to get back to work John....

Spring

It has been very hot this spring, it is only March and has gone over 95. It seems so different than the midwest, no blankets of snow, no bone chilling winds, no aches in my chest from the cold air rushing into my lungs. The heat has it's own challenges. The sun is so powerful and the rays quickly heat your skin. It is like this ball of fire scorching your soul. We do not talk about it much, at least not directly. We say things like thank goodness it's only spring... 95 degrees and we are thankful it is only spring. So different than Chicago or to the northwest of Chicago where I grew up. Lately there has been a lot of conversation about the lights we've seen in the night sky over Phoenix.
They have had a lot of coverage in the press and on tv. The lights are in horizontal line on a straight axis about 15-20,000 feet up. It is even more of a subject of discussion due to them appearing about 10 years to the day that similar lights appeared in the southwestern Phoenix skies. There seems to be a polarization in the views in what is causing this phenomena. There are some who believe it is aliens and others that they are caused by military top secret weapons.
The UFers (believe it is UFOs) are certain it is the ten year return of the aliens to collect another sample of humans for examination and analysis. Most of them believe this has really gone on for some time and have a kind of abduction family tree that traces the alien visits coinciding with some acquantance or family member meeting an uncertain fate. Some also have matrices that show a deeper correlation to world events or catastrophes.
One told me of an Aunt Edith who dissappeared to never be heard from again. A beautiful, free spirited young woman. So alive so full of life in her prime, just gone and then the lights. It seemed so sad, but they preferred to think the best, that she was in a happier place. Some thought she had gone to Los Angeles or New York to find her place in the world. But she knew her Aunt Edith would never leave her and not return, no she was certain that the lights had something to do with it all. Even with the military taking credit, she seemed unmistakably sure.
The military claimed that the lights were simply flares dropped from aircraft for night excercises being conducted outside of town. Night excercises indeed thought the UFers, it only boldened their confidence. It also fed the belief of those who knew the truth that the lights were top secret military experiments. I don't know who is right, I look at the lights and try to make out what they are. They don't seem to move and I tire quickly from it. I have seemed to be very tired this spring due to the heat. I look for ways to take my mind from it, maybe the lights help me. I remember the summers in the midwest.
I remember my grandfather and how we'd share a love of ice cream after a long hot summer day. My grandfather was a kind gentle man, and we would spend the summers with him at his cottage. It was on an island in Pistakee lake in McHenry. I have so many fond memories of my time there and life there. At the end of the day we'd gather on the screened porch and he would tell us stories as we would rock in cane Kennedy rockers and watch beautiful sunsets over the lake. There were funny stories and dramatic stories and stories of the Chicago gangsters. It never seemed scary, always more important to get lost in the way he'd tell them. More important to lick the ice cream dripping from the cone.
I saw Vice President Gore's movie on global warming, it was scary. He seem like a nice man, and I think he does care about us. I will try to help to... I like to walk, and ride my bike, and run, and do yoga. Those things do not seem to hurt the earth too much. I hope we can fix this warming, the earth is really a pretty place. At the cottage I did not fear global warming or carbon poisoning the air. I always thought the best for the future, kind of like how my friend hoped the best for his Aunt Edith. Maybe the lights are from aliens, I hope that they like us. Do you think they prefer Americans? I know in the movies and on tv the aliens always seem to prefer Americans. I hope it's not because they have good taste. I really do not know what to think about them. I know they help me take my mind off the heat. It has been very hot here this spring.