Tonight, I have been thinking a lot about regrets.  Or lack there of.

I am always amazed at those individuals who can say they have no regrets.  I don’t know that I am envious of those people.  But I certainly am struck by this.

To regret something is to feel sad or perhaps repentant.  It could be a disappointed.  This dismay might have come from something that has happened…. or an act that has been done.  It could be disappointment about a loss or a missed opportunity. It could even be apologetic.

But this much I can tell you…  I have know all those things.  On more than one occasion.  As they say… to err is human.

You see, I have made a lot of mistakes in my life.  I continue to make them.  I even think… in times long past… that some of these wrong doings have been ill-intentioned.   (All of a sudden… I feel like I am sitting in front of “The Confess-O-Cam”)

At any rate…these days, I try not to do anything with a mean spirit in my heart.  I think compassion is the better way now.  And I hope that I have learned from my mistakes.   Yes, hopefully,  in some way, I have grown from them.

Everything we experience should bring us information about life.  I hope to take that information, and learn from it.

So yes, I have regrets in life.  On the other hand, I have had a lot of pleasing and welcoming events throughout time.  There is a WHOLE lot to be thankful for.  Assuredly…. there is much that has gone right.  And I learn from those experiences as well.

It all goes full cycle, the goods and the bads… the ups and the downs.  But we would not appreciate one, without the other.

Heck.  If all we knew was double-fudge-brownie-chocolate-ice-cream with peanut butter syrup… well…   wellllll…. that is all we would know.  We wouldn’t have the same appreciation for it… if we didn’t have tofu topped with steamed okra… from time to time.  (That’s a big regret… I’ll tell you that much right now!)

All in all.. I think regrets are a part of being human.  We aren’t perfect.  Try as we may, we don’t always do things quite right.  And sometimes we miss the mark.  We fail the task.  At least THIS human does.

But I think it is okay.  As long as we keep moving forward.  With love in our hearts.

“The mind that is wise mourns less for what age takes away; than what it leaves behind.” – William Wordsworth

“I love you the more in that I believe you had liked me for my own sake and for nothing else.” – John Keats

One day…. in the very big woods… a burly old black bear and a little gray squirrel were sitting next to one another … at the common animal latrine.

Oh yes.  They have those latrines out in the woods.  They do.

So… this old bear and the squirrel were sitting there… getting ready to do their business.

“Hey, little buddy” says the bear to the squirrel, “Do you find that poop tends to stick to your fur when you go?”

“Well, what do know friend.    As a matter of fact…. yes…….. it does,” replied the squirrel.

“That’s good news!” says the bear.  And … the bear reaches over, picks him up off the ground…. and and wipes his rear end with the little squirrel.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one” – C. S. Lewis

People ask me… “What do you take pictures of?” or “Why are you taking a picture of that thing?”

There is no good answer to either question, really.  I photograph whatever strikes me at the moment.  It could be anything.  Anywhere.

The thing that happens in my little brain, prior to capturing an image on film, is quite simple.   I equate it to the rudimentary  response of the common crow.  It goes like this.  “Ohhhhhhhh  Looooook.  Shiny Object!  Shiny object, shiny object, shiny object.”

And that is all.

I see something that strikes me.  And I shoot.  I am sometimes driven by it… and it becomes important to me.

But here is the mockery of it all.  I don’t think that we can ever make a true recording of what is before us.  The image, the scene, the sound, the song.  Life events…. are…. life events.  It doesn’t seem to me that it can be captured in its wholeness.  No… the experience is unmistakably real.

The sound of a infant, laughing from the belly.  The magnitude and majesty of the vast red canyon.  The first light of sunrise.  The soulful song of a wolf’s cry.

Oh yes.  Technology is amazing.  The devices are clearer and more precise when it comes to the act of recording.  The scratchy banter of the old LPs has long been replaced by digital prowess.  The grain and blur of the old negatives, has fallen way to the digital sensors of movies and photos.

We are surrounded by Dolby and 3-D and Panorama and Surround Sound.  But none of it can compare to the real thing.

None of it comes close to actually being there.
Being there…. in the moment.  The most precious thing of all.

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.” – Emily Dickinson

Space.  The Final Frontier.  Or so they say.

I like the idea of Outer Space.  I think there are all sorts of things out there we really have no idea about.  But I guess we are learning.  Yet… people ask…. Is it really important to find these things out?

Rocket Scientists think so.  And if a Rocket Scientist thinks so…. well…. who the hell am I to argue.

So yes.  We continue to learn about space.

For instance, on this date, January 19, in the year 2006….  an unmanned NASA spacecraft hurtled toward Pluto on a 3-billion-mile  journey to the solar system’s last unexplored planet.  Now this voyage is going to take a LONG dang time.  Whether it is in space-travel-years… or dog years.

They are guessing it will get there about 9 1/2 years after take off.  That would be 2015.  I’m not sure where it is right now…..  but it was the fastest spacecraft ever launched…. reaching a maximum velocity of 36,256 mph.  And you think I drive fast.

The probe, powered by 24 pounds (11 kilograms) of plutonium, will not land on Pluto. However…. it will photograph it, analyze its atmosphere and send data back across the solar system to Earth.  They won’t be using Instagram.  I can tell you that much right now.

But here is the thing.  When they launched it…. they were sending it to the PLANET Pluto… as I alluded to earlier.  Eight months after they sent the little beast on its way…. those Scientests kicked PLUTO out of our Solar System.  Yep.  My favorite planet got booted off the island.

So now…. Pluto will now be dubbed a dwarf planet.  Pluto.  A dwarf.  There are about 50 other dwarf planets out there…. from what I’ve read.  Hi Ho.  Hi Ho.  Snow White and the 50 Dwarf Planets.

As I mentioned.  We continue to learn about the deep, dark, depths of outer space.  Can it help us?  I don’t know.  Ask a Rocket Scientist that one.

But I’ll tell you… if Walt Disney kicks Pluto out of Disney World… I am going to see stars.

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” – Galileo Galilei

I had an imaginary friend when I was growing up.  His name was Alexander McFinney McSmith.  He went most places with me.  He didn’t eat much.  And….. he hardly ever let me get a word in edgewise. But we were great pals.

I liked Alexander McFinney McSmith. I’m not sure why he left.

The last time I saw him was at King’s Island.  You had to be taller than the “Scooby Doo Sign” to ride on the Spinning Tea Cups. I was.  Alexander McFinney McSmith wasn’t.

When I got off the ride…. he was gone.  I never saw him again.

“To bring anything into your life, imagine that it’s already there.” – Richard Bach

“We are what we imagine ourselves to be.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“To imagine is everything.  To know is nothing at all.” – Anatole France

There is that age old question.  What is love?

I am not sure that there are adequate words to describe it.  Poets have tried.  Great writers, and philosophers have given it definitions.  Painters have attempted to give it a face.

Yet I think all of those fall slightly short.  Because “love” for each one of us, is slightly different.  And what may feel like “love” to one person, may be quite different from the next.

If we are lucky enough, we know it for ourselves.  It is an unmistakable feeling.  A resplendent feeling.

Love comes in different forms to.  It could be the ultimate love of our spouse… our soulmate… our heart song.

We can know great love from friends… and family.

If we are fortunate enough, we love our fathers and our mothers and our children…. and they love us. Without conditions.

In the way of love, I have to say, that I have truly been blessed.  For all around me… those closest and nearest to me… are quite possibly the best people on the face of this earth. The dearest.

And you…. probably feel the same magnitude and significance … about the ones you love.

“The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Things in life are all about how you look at them, really.

Our perceptions are based on our experience.  What we already know affects everything that will come before us in future events.

But sometimes.

Yes THOSE times.

When you see something one way.  And then you wait a few minutes, or hours, days…. or even years.   And that same thing looks completely different.

These two photos were shot, by the same person…. moi….. from the exact same location.  Same camera.    Yet, each with a slightly different perspective, and each with a different amount of magnification.  And of course, at different times during the day.

And the outcome.  Completely unique.

I think this analogy is indicative of life.   One minute this way.  And the next minute that.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” – Plato

Perhaps we just need to be aware.  To continue to look.  And watch.  And learn.

Some nights, I think…. in my little busy brain…. there is a lot to be said here.  And so I write.

And some nights, I don’t know anything for certain.

Nope. Tonight, there is not too much I know for sure….. on this blue ball of ours.
Well……. I DO know the blue ball is spinning.  Through space.

And hence, so are we.  Yes.  We truly are.

So just remember… as you think you might be standing still… you are actually moving at thousands and thousands miles per hour.  If something happens to come your way while all this spinning is occurring…. try to remember … to duck.

“If you wait to do everything until you’re sure it’s right, you’ll probably never do much of anything.” – Win Borden

I love animals.  This is absolutely no secret to anyone.  In fact, I suppose some of my friends think I am slightly loopy about my preponderance concerning the connection between the animal world and humans.

Of course I love my dogs.  But….. I have felt an intuitive association with many different animals, since I was a child.

I think every kid rescues the injured bird, or mouse, and has aspirations of becoming a Veterinarian one day.  I did this too.  But with me, it wasn’t so much about “healing” them… as it was “recognizing” that they are little beings on this planet too.  Or big beings on this planet, depending on the animal.  I have sympathized with them, cried about them, taking great joy from the presence, sat quietly with them….. and it goes on and on, really.

Sometimes, I will learn a little fact about an animal, and self-associate.  I’ll  think…. “Holy smokes.  I am sort of like a Tunisian Grasshopper.”  …. or …. whatever the case may be.

So tonight I read some information…. and found more similarities.

For one little example ….  Moles have to eat every few hours or will starve to death.   Yes.  In that way, I am mole. 

Another.  The Pileated Woodpecker is about the size of a crow…. and…. it pecks an average of about 12,000 times per day.  Now…. that bird can peck away at about 20 times in one second.  I tend to exhibit this type of behavior.    Much like jamming the front of my head into the trunk of a tree,  again and again and again.

Here is another.  Elephants are not really afraid of mice.  I am not really afraid of mice.  In fact, I think they are extremely cute.

Squirrels have thumbs.  They are born in the early spring.  During winter storms, or severe cold, the squirrel may not leave the nest for days.  Me too. Me too. Me too.

Orangutans love fruit.  A lot.   I am like an Orangutan in that way. 

We could do this all night.

But back to the topic at hand.  I truly believe animals think, and feel.  I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and these observations always touch my heart.

So, I will keep on being a squirrel, and a monkey, and a fish…. in my own little ways.  It reminds me about the responsibility I have as being a part of this planet. For I am merely one of the inhabitants here.  And we…. all of us…. are  sharing the same ground,  the same water,  the air and the sun.

Yep. Here we are.  Time for me to go bark at the moon.

“Das Glück ist das einzige, das sich verdoppelt, wenn man es teilt.”  – Albert Schweitzer

“Happiness is the only thing that doubles when you share it.”

The cool thing about Hawaii is that it is out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Hawaii is the most isolated population center on the face of the earth. This State is 2,390 miles from California; 3,850 miles from Japan; 4,900 miles from China; and 5,280 miles from the Philippines. Specifically, it is 4507 miles from Ohio.  Yes.  Paradise.

The not-so-cool thing about Hawaii is that it is out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  It is 4507 miles from Ohio.

Where is the dude from Star Trek when you need him?  Beam me up Scotty…. dang it… and do it right now.

And sooooo….. …. here we are….. after a long journey….  back in Ohio….

Returned to the “Every Day” of it all.

Greeted by the rain and the grayest of skies.  At the same time…. we were greeted by a different kind of gray.  The furry kind.

And…. that…. to me…. is all a part of HOME.  Truly …. is the warmest place in the world.

“Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach