The boat ride to Catalina was great. When we landed, I got a taxi to the condo. The view is spectacular and the condo is perfect.
Just plan to relax and go exploring tomorrow.
Shine On
Category Archives: April
Catalina Here I Come
“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.”
Robert Orben
My ride to Catalina will be on the sexy Catalina Express.
Well it is final, tomorrow I leave for Santa Catalina. Not only am I excited about taking a vacation, which I haven’t had in over 15 years, but I’m finally visiting Catalina. A land that I’ve dreamed of once in lullaby.
Since I was a a child I have wanted to go to Catalina and Avalon. Through the years I have had numerous opportunities to visit Catalina, but never went because the only two options to reach Catalina are by helicopter or by boat: I’m scared to death of helicopters and I get seasickness on boats. But, last year I discovered I no longer get sick when I ride in a boat. You might say, I found my sea legs.
So, I’ve packed all my good reads, my laptop, camera, iPad, my banjo and my hiking boots. Six days of reading, writing, photography, playing my banjo, and exploring beautiful Catalina.
Catalina here I come!
Shine On
Forgiveness is a Fable
“When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.
Then I realized that the Lord doesn’t work that way,
so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.”
Emo Philips
I read an excellent blog post the other day about the subject of forgiveness titled, Grappling with Forgiveness. One of my fellow bloggers wrote a comment about this post that really hit home with me. She wrote:
“You take things personally because they are personal and intended as personal. It is just that those callous hurtful people are like soul vandals, or internet virus creators. They don’t really care, they just want to hurt somebody, so they do. Empathetic people tend to see through social niceties to the person underneath, and that often is painful.
They don’t really want forgiveness, they want safety and power. Vandals, of all sorts, cause real pain and real hardship and do real damage. The only protection is to learn to recognize when it’s on purpose and when it is an honest mistake. As perceptive as you are, it won’t take you long to recognize the clues. You may have to work with such people, and interact, but you are not required to like them, or share your privacy, or voluntarily give them access to vulnerabilities, professional or personal.”
Let’s face it, there are people in this world that are vile, period. They have no moral compass, no values and no empathy. They believe that by just saying the words, “I’m sorry”, time after time that it fixes everything. Some people will never change, and their behavior is just part of who they are and their true nature.
There’s a fable I’m reminded of when I think of forgiveness, behavior and actions that are unforgivable. Some of you might be familiar with this fable:
A scorpion asks a frog to carry him over a river. The frog is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stung the frog, both would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog agrees and begins carrying the scorpion, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both.
When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its nature.
The moral is, “The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.”
I realize that forgiveness is important for us to move forward with our lives. Like the old saying goes, forgive and forget. Much easier to say than to do. Some people are extremely talented at hiding their evil tendencies with their sheepish costumes. In my opinion, these people I do not allow in my life and all their “I’m sorry’s” will not allow me to give them forgiveness. Especially when the hurt is deep and leaves a crippling wound that will never heal. Call me cynical, but I believe in some instances, forgiveness is a fable.
Shine On
A Real Hero
“We must appreciate and
never underestimate
our own inner power.”
Noah Galloway
never underestimate
our own inner power.”
Noah Galloway
Noah Galloway, Dancing with the Stars Season 20 contestant.
A few years before the tragedy of 911, my son had to write a third grade essay about a hero. He asked me, “what makes a hero and who I thought was a hero?”
I told my young son that real heroes are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Heroes can be found in all walks of life. They are people who work jobs that are not only thankless but can also have jobs that jeopardize their own well-being. I told him that my heroes range from the janitor at his school to soldiers and veterans, policemen, firemen, doctors, nurses, teachers, all the unsung workers and the backbone of America.
On Monday evening on Dancing with the Stars I watched through tears, contestant Noah Galloway, a former United States Army soldier, a model and athlete dance his heart out. He dedicated the dance by saying, “This dance represents a journey of acceptance from the man I was to the man I’ve become.”
You see Noah was injured during the Iraq War, losing his left arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee. Before Noah danced his routine he told us his story. How he put his life back together after he was injured in 2005 during “Operation Iraqi Freedom”.
After years of spiraling downward in his life he awoke one day and looking in the mirror he stopped seeing what was missing and began seeing a reflection of what he still had.
Mr. Galloway is a true inspiration to young and old and represents to me, the true meaning of a real hero.
Shine On
Yip Harburg
“Words make you think a thought.
Music makes you feel a feeling.
A song makes you feel a thought.”
E. Y. Harburg
E.Y. Harburg, April 8, 1896 to March 5, 1981
Do you recognize this man? Most of us under the age of 60 don’t recognize or even know his name and what he meant to music and literature.
His name is Edgar Yip Harburg and today Mr. Harburg would have been 119 years young.
His career spanned over fifty years from the 1920s to 1981. He was known as a master lyricist, poet and book writer but also was dedicated to social justice.
Writing the words to over 600 songs including the well – known Brother, Can You Spare a Dime; he wrote one of my favorite songs, Over the Rainbow, and all the lyrics in the 1939 motion picture classic The Wizard of Oz. His Over the Rainbow song was voted Number 1 song of the 20th century by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Recording Institute of America.
Do you have a famous or non-famous person you wish you could meet and sit and talk with? I have numerous people I wish I could have met. And one of them is Mr. Yip Harburg.
Shine On
Chronicles of a Blogaholic 