Don't Be a Lemming

Sometimes we over-informed, suffer from short attention spans, and super eager to be a part of things. Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, as we.....er, I begin a new year (Hello, 2014, you arrived far too early!), I realize how SO many things sound like fun and that I should join in said fun.

• A friend posts her first image of 2014, tags it 1/365, and I immediately think, "Hey, I should do that!"
• I get an invitation to the One Little Word class for 2014 and I'm ready to register.
• Someone else shares their new Read the Bible in a Year plan and I start thinking about which plan I'd like to do this year.

But here's the thing. Or maybe two.

1. I can't do everything that sounds like fun. Oh, I can try, and often do, but it leads to being overwhelmed, frustrated, and eventually disappointed in myself for falling behind. At least most of the time it does.

2. Just because my friends, the "cool kids," or whoever else is doing it, doesn't mean I need to (I sound so parental!). Their journey isn't the same as mine. We may cross paths occasionally or even walk the same road for a time, but I don't have to follow them everywhere.

What I really need to do is stop and think about it. (Anyone else cue over to Aretha Franklin in the Blues Brothers at that moment? Or was that just me, too?) Is this something that I truly desire to do for myself? Is it something that can fit into my life? Am I already committed to another project that may be quite similar?

And how about this?

Could I just enjoy the projects that other people do without always feeling the need to do it myself, too? Read their posts, look at their images, listen to what they have to say. Then encourage them in their pursuits. Pretty simple, really. No pressure on me. And then join in only on the things that really have some sort of value to me.

I've already committed to a few such projects and I think I need to stop right there.

Before diving off the cliff.

Happy New Year!

Life is Short

We hear about the brevity of life and sometimes, when we've experienced the death of someone close and/or unexpected, we're more aware. But I think that in addition to human life, we can forget that even our surroundings might not always be the same. But we live like they will be.

I imagine that every day I'm blessed to wake up alive here on earth that Pike's Peak will still be a part of the Rocky Mountains and a part of my landscape toward the west. I don't concern myself whether or not the Rockies will be there each and every day. Even on a smaller scale, I assume that my yard will look the way it does (barring some landscape work on our part), that the neighborhood will look relatively the same, and that the roads will be intact.

Yet that's not always true. Yes, for them most part, that's how life works. Major thoroughfares typically don't just go away or become altered. But they can.

The fires burn uncontrollably.

The rains gush down relentlessly.

And the landscape changes.

I got an update today on my great uncle who lives on the Big Thompson River in the canyon between Loveland and Estes Park. I knew he had to have been evacuated given all the information on the news. I believe he's 86 years old and still lives alone in that house where he's been for over 30 years. He and his wife bought it in 1977-78. The Big Thompson Flood happened in 1976 - a "100 year flood" - so they figured they wouldn't live long enough to see another flood of such proportions. My great aunt didn't. Surprise, surprise - my great uncle is still alive and kicking. In the same house. And the next 100 year flood did not wait 100 years to arrive.

It's one of the most peaceful places I've ever had the opportunity to visit. It's only a few hours from here and I haven't been there all that often (though I wish I had been). But when my aunt and my cousin's kids came to visit this summer, we did get the chance - no, we made the time to go visit him. My boys came along, too, for which I'm now even more grateful. It was a perfect day. Of course, I had my camera and took numerous pictures. While my pictures always are valuable to me, they are an even great treasure to me now.

My great uncle is in red. Probably pretty easy to figure that out. That's the Big Thompson River behind us.


The river runs off to the right just outside the picture and you can see it a tiny bit in the center background. This place is just so wonderful. At least it was prior to last week.


Beautiful.


Zach, relaxing and enjoying the water flowing past.


My cousin's lovely daughter, taking in the fresh mountain air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My uncle was helicoptered out last week during the rain and flooding. They took him to a shelter and one of his kids drove in from Kansas to get him. I'm not sure if he'll be coming back. I'm not sure what he'll have to come back to. While his house is elevated from the river a bit, we've had a ridiculous amount of water in Colorado this past week.

My heart just breaks for him and the thousands of other people impacted by this devastating weather. My heart breaks even selfishly for myself, not knowing if I'll have the chance to go back to that amazing place. But I'm so grateful I was there this summer.

None of us knows what life will look like tomorrow. Appreciate and savor the life you have, the people in it, and the places that you go while you have the opportunity to do so.