Making New Friends

 For the past ten years my plans for the holidays consist of just relaxation for a couple reasons.  I detest the pity invites.  That’s why my plans usually just include me.  I will say that there are families that have welcomed me as their own, not only at the holidays, but year round and I am very thankful for that.   Now I’ve been in Colorado since August of ‘08 so I’ve spent one Christmas here.  It was just my brother and me.   I went for a bike ride and he worked.  I can’t even remember what we did on Thanksgiving.  At that time I had a wierd schedule and didn’t have many friends.  Fast forward to November of 2009.  I have a better schedule that has allowed me to get more involved at my church and as a result I have started meeting new people.  So this year I had a couple people ask what my plans were.  They were horrified to hear I essentially had no plans.  Their response was “No one should be alone on Thanksgiving!”  I shrugged because I’ve been alone before and unless circumstances in my life change I will be again at some point.  I was invited by the parents of a girl I have recently befriended to join them and the many people they were having over, most of which were not family.  I was much more comfortable with that and have made plans to attend and from what I understand it’s going to be quite a feast!  I look forward to the food as well as the fellowship.  So I guess this year I’m thankful for new friends.  Now even though I will most likely post again this week prior to Thanksgiving I wish you all a truly Happy Thanksgiving!

An Incurable Disease

My daily email came from the Writer’s Almanac and the following poem ws in it.  Enjoy!

Diagnosis  by Sharon Olds

 By the time I was six months old, she knew something
was wrong with me. I got looks on my face
she had not seen on any child
in the family, or the extended family,
or the neighborhood. My mother took me in
to the pediatrician with the kind hands,
a doctor with a name like a suit size for a wheel:
Hub Long. My mom did not tell him
what she thought in truth, that I was Possessed.
It was just these strange looks on my face–
he held me, and conversed with me,
chatting as one does with a baby, and my mother
said, She’s doing it now! Look!
She’s doing it now! and the doctor said,
What your daughter has
is called a sense
of humor. Ohhh, she said, and took me
back to the house where that sense would be tested
and found to be incurable.

“Diagnosis” by Sharon Olds, from One Secret Thing.  (c) Random House, Inc., 2009.  Reprinted with permission.

To All Lovers of God’s Creation

I lived for eight years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, specifically, Keewenaw County.  This world we live in is God’s tapestry and Keewenaw County is one of the most uniquely beautiful places I’ve lived.  It is located next to the largest freshwater lake (in area), Lake Superior, on earth.  AS you can see by looking at the map it is in a very remote part of Michigan.  I have a theory.  When Jesus returns and creates new heavens and a new earth he will take a knife and chisel out the Upper Peninsula, then put it on a shelf.  He’ll then proceed to make the new heavens and earth.  The last thing he’ll do before he finishes is take the Upper Peninsula, shake it, thereby removing all the flies, (a really nasty attritbute to the area) then he’ll reinsert it into the earth.  Of course I have no biblical proof of that, but it’s a nice thought.  It has been called God’s country and as time progresses you will see why.  You can be sure that I’ll share pictures from there on a regular basis, as I’ve taken many, but for those of you who want to see more than just my pictures  :-)  check this web site out:  www.pasty.com.  They post a picture every day from that area and it’s almost always a different photographer.  There are archives for the daily posted pictures as well as galleries with literally thousands more.  Check it out and while your there, order a pasty!    Otherwise, just look at the pictures.  Either way, I know you’ll enjoy it.

A Thing of Beauty

One of my hobbies is photography.  For eight years I lived in one of the most incredible places on earth (at least the earth I’ve seen).  There was a Kodak sunset every night.  Lake Superior is one of my favorite spots to be.  Yes.  It is very cold but its beauty is a warmth that I really miss at times.  I came across the below video this weekend and thought it’d be cool to share it.  Not only are the scenes breath taking but the music is quite captivating as well.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHaRnA644Uo

Brotherly Appreciation

Recently I felt something I’ve never had opportunity to feel before. Being the firstborn is a good thing but it’s harder to get that older brother appreciation simply because I don’t have an older brother.  I was hanging out with my boss after work this week.  The two of us went bowling after work on Friday morning.  I did exceptionally well and he told me he was proud of me.  My mom and dad have said that to me many times, as I’d hope they would.  However, not many others have said that to me.  When my boss said that to me my first thought was of an older brother telling saying to a younger sibling how proud he was of them.  It felt really good.  It was a new feeling and one I hope to experience again.

Greetings!

Ok.  So this is the first blog.  I think today I’m going to comment on some recent happenings in my life.  Actually, no.  I’ll  introduce myself.  My name is Paul Roberts and I live in Colorado Springs, CO.  I’m 35 years old and am trying to get my brain back in gear after several years of just letting it sit and do nothing but veg out.  My goal is to record daily things that happen to me but also books I’m reading, past events in my life, and anything else that comes into my head.  So enjoy and hopefully we’ll all learn something as I start and continue to blog.