On Katrina and the seasons

I'm resting at home as I've been feeling rather under the weather the past few days. I was going to go back to bed and was just checking my e-mail when I realized that I have not blogged in what seems like forever. So I decided to write down some of my fleeting thoughts before they are gone forever.

I watched some of the coverage of the hurricane Katrina onslaught and my heart goes out to those people who have lost everything and yet will somehow prevail. I find it a small penitance to have to temporarily pay higher gas prices at the pump when I could have lost everything as many of these people did. When I see a natural disaster like this hurricane it makes me step back and see how humans are such an arrogant species. We strut around thinking the world is ours and then mother nature plays with out lives and all the petty little things for which we struggle and work so hard. It puts many things back into perspective and for me at least makes me realize how important are the little things, the small joys in life. A shared cup of coffee with a friend, listening to the rainfall through the leaves of a tree, watching birds fluttering by collecting bits of branches to build their nests or simply absorbing oneself in a good book while curled up in a favourite chair. I suppose as I get older and life seems to throw more challenges at me I sometimes struggle to get back to the simple pleasures. Unfortunately like many people, I too have been pulled into that consumerism maelstrom of the buying frenzy and often wish I had this or that gadget. In the end, when I do, on the occasion, buy some new electronic gizmo I often find that the anticipation is often more exciting than actual ownership. I recently re-discovered my local public library, that bastion of quiet literary sanctity was there all along yet somehow I never took heed. Well my 2 year old daughter re-introduced me to the library as my wife often goes there to borough books for our little girl. I started reading books on UFOs, music composition and even some books on Star Trek. I was surprised at how relaxing it was just sitting for an afternoon in the library leafing through some books without an internet link in sight and without having to strain my eyes on a computer screen, it was rather refreshing.

The kids have gone back to school this week and life has taken that flurry of activity that always accompanies the pre-dawn weeks of Autumn. As my favourite season, Autumn brings with it crisp cooler invigorating mornings and sense that new things abound. In my particular case, I have many projects that have slept during the hot duldroms of Summer and with the upcoming change in season many of these projects will start up again. I will not bore the reader with the details as many of my projects are rather personal, but some of them can be found on my website http://www.slandi.net.

So I leave my blog and head back for some much needed rest. Until next time then...

Good-bye Smokey my dear friend

I thought I was going to be strong enough to type this blog entry this afternoon, but even now as I type this my eyes are starting to water. I had to have our dear cat friend Smokey put down this past Sunday as he had kidney problems and the veterinarian gave him a poor prognosis. I will miss the little guy terribly as he was a great, affectionate little cat with the nicest disposition I'd ever seen in a cat. I've taken his loss rather hard and I can only attribute it to my emotional state at this time in my life. I guess I may be going through my mid-life crisis, I'll have more on this in another blog entry. I will be dedicating my web site to Smokey and will have a whole section devoted to his pictures. Good-bye Smokarooo hope you're chasing lots of birds in heaven :)