Today, I listened...

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Northern Arizona so I decided to sit out in the back yard for a while. There was a slight breeze blowing and things couldn't be more perfect. In just a short while, I began to doze off and almost forget where I was at. It was so relaxing.

Although, I was about half asleep I began to listen to all the different noises around the neighborhood. This particular area is at the edge of town and people have all sorts of things growing around here, things that might not be allowed in the city.All sort of critters...
Besides, everyone having too many dogs that bark constantly at everything, or sometimes nothing, we also have quite an array of cats(gives the dogs something else to bark at), and on down the road someone has a bunch of Geese. I have never seen them but they are making their distinctive sounds all day..all night. If I hadn't been raised on a farm their incessant noise could easily become irritating.A couple blocks over someone has horses, and I remember(somewhere) seeing a cow. So many different living beings and all totally different. I know they can't all think alike or be the same and yet (I realized) they don't spend all their time fighting with the ones that are NOT like THEM.They, actually, get along better than humans...
Watching the clouds rolling across the sky, I began to think about the one that created all this...including myself. The one and ONLY Creator...What some call God, others, maybe something else. But as the saying goes: A rose by any other name...

If for only a moment, we as individuals, would stop and look at all God has created and the wonder of his perfection (Perfect in his eyes and for his reasons), we might have to ask ourselves WHY would he go to all that trouble just so someone can come along and destroy it? I was told long ago that God is found in the SILENCE, not in the words of man or anything that man has tampered with. Men can't seem to help being anything but self- serving and meddlesome. Maybe, we would be better off talking directly to our Creator instead of listening to other men or reading and living by some book that,  GOD ONLY KNOWS, who wrote...
I, seriously, do not think evil was suppose to be the dish of the day. Nor did our Creator intend for us ALL to be the same, and in one way or another, to be different, for whatever reason.  Somewhere along the line men took it upon themselves to start judging God's DIFFERENT handiworks. If I remember the story right, someone else took it upon himself to rebel and try to take the place of the Creator. I hear he got in big trouble for that childish fit...
Whatever happened to meeting new(and different) peoples and each learning from one another? As to skin  color or anything else, it is only skin deep. Beneath all that, there isn't two ounces of different in any of us...Like it or not! I think humanity's biggest problem is ATTITUDES! Try smiling at a stranger instead of throwing rocks. Hopefully, he will smile back and all is well...
It is said that we should return good for evil. That is dang hard to do, UNLESS, we decide we are better than the guy with the bad attitude. A stronger person will do what is right, and I think we all (REALLY) know in our hearts, what is right and what is not.
Hate is never a cure for hate...

Just A Nice Day...

Believe it or not, I have nothing in particular to write about, but it is such a NICE day, I just felt compelled to say so.
For Arizona, in August, it doesn't seem too hot. A slight breeze makes what heat there is, tolerable. A couple of clouds in the sky....Maybe? A little rain would be nice about now, but till it happens, I won't hold my breath. It just feels like one of those days, that I am not rushed and want to lay around...

I am retired and don't understand why I EVER feel rushed. It's not suppose to be that way when we're retired...Right? Sounds good, anyway.
I live across the street from a school and I watch the kids running about, and remember how, LONG AGO, that was me doing the rushing thing. My whole life ahead of me; countless dreams of exploring, conquering the world. Yeh! I guess we all have a few memories, but now, my worlds have been conquered(as much as possible), all the hills have been topped and it gets increasing more difficult to reach the top. I knew I shouldn't have eaten that last Burrito...

Oh well, I have had a good run(life) and don't have too many regrets(except that Burrito), and regardless of the circumstances, I hope everyone else has, at least, one smile... and a good day...

RAIN ON THE ROOFTOP...

While some have too much, others have little or none. I am speaking of rain water...
The weather has it's own schedule and as other parts of the country( The world) are getting flooded, our desert is parched from a lack of the precious liquid. Too much and we drown, too little, we die from thirst. If only we could strike a happy balance. For now, I am thankful to suddenly wake from a deep sleep,  disturbed by the sounds of rain of the rooftop...

First, a slight peck, peck, the all at once, a sudden burst, as if the whole sky opened up and dropped everything at once. THEN, it stops...

I can only say thanks for that, and know that for a short while I can shut the swamp cooler off and enjoy the cool air. What a relief, even if it is only temporary...Hopefully, it will stay cloudy the rest of the new day....

JUST RIGHT Elevation...

When considering the weather, Kingman, Arizona sits in just about the right place and at a good elevation to escape most of the severe conditions surrounding it...
True, it gets hot here, in Summer, but sits high enough to avoid the intolerable heat to the west; Areas like Needles, California and along the Colorado River....

I watch the cars and trucks  coming off the Interstate(I-40) in summer, knowing what a relieve it was for me when I was driving a truck. Up, out of that furnace(120 or so degrees F) to a much cooler temperature. It is like being able to breathe again...
Sitting quite a bit higher than the Colorado River area(Arizona-California line), Kingman is what one might call the cooling off point. From here on east towards Flagstaff, the road continues to climb. Sometimes, by the time one gets to Flag(as we call it), even a jacket may be in order. It cools off quite drastically...

Now, in Winter, the temperatures prove to be just the opposite...
To the west(Needles, California and such), you might find people running around in T-shirts, riding motorcycles back and forth; Things that people in the north would do in Summer...
In the meantime, to our east, Flagstaff, Arizona(much higher than Kingman) is buried in snow and ice.
Once the traffic gets past our town,  the road conditions become very much intolerable and slippery.

While Flagstaff and the interstate highway up there may be treacherous, we seldom have any snow. If we have snow, it (usually) is just enough  to cover the ground...and it is gone in about an hour or so...Not bad at all. I  don't know of anyone around here that even OWNS a pair of snow chains. I can watch the trucks and cars coming  down the hill all covered with snow, but with a light jacket, we just go on about our business, as usual...

At times, I have entertained the idea of moving away from here(just restless) but when my thoughts come back to the weather...Well! I think maybe I should stay where I'm at...