Where never lark or even eagle flew

     Time for a little whimsy. No life lessons today except you shoud stop and do something fun once in a while. Today's picture I combine two things that encompass most of my life. Airplanes and Critters. You get to witness Gizmo's first airplane ride. And I have to tell you, he was thrilled. For those of you who don't know, this is kindof what I do for a living. I send animals, along with a lot of other things, on planes. Gizmo is a new addition to our family,(Christmas), so I thought he could use a little screen time.





Doogie Howser thought for the day......Go out and do something goofy this week. Something that will make your friends just shake their heads....Like putting a guinea pig in a toy plane and taking a picture of it. Why not.....

New beginnings? Hardly

     One look at today's picture should inspire me to write about new beginnings, new opportunities, a new day. It should scream for an article about how we all experience a new beginning like a new morning. Second chances that we are given and how we should seize on these opportunities to improve ourselves. No?
     How about this. We need to take time to stop and enjoy the beauty of the earth because it is fleeting much like sunrise. if you don't catch it at the right moment you may miss it. We need to slow down and smell the roses, admire nature and all the beauty that surrounds us. Okay, a little corny. So lets try this.

 I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
~Joyce Kilmer, "Trees," 1914

I do like this but it is not what I am looking for today, so lets try to go a little Doogie Howser today......

I set out this morning with nothing in mind. Saw the sunrise over the airport. (Notice the plane landing in the background.) Turned out to be a wonderful day. Warm winds to sail by. What could be better than that.....

Always on our minds

    January 4th brings us the fan blades of an MD-11. I work at the airport. I work for a company whose planes were used as weapons against the US on 9/11. People remember many things about that day. Where they were. What they were doing. The images that are burned into our memories.
     What you probably don't think about is those of us that work for these airlines that have think about that terrible event, every day. You see, everyone you come across at the airport, that works for an airline is there for one thing. No, it is not to irritate and stress you out. We are all there to make sure you are safe. I manage an air freight facility for United Airlines. Our number one goal is to make sure each and every piece of freight loaded on those airplanes, is safe. The crews at the terminal are there to make sure that no one gets on a plane with bad intentions. The baggage people are there to make sure no unsafe items get on that plane. The flight attendants are not there to serve drinks, they are there to keep you safe. Mechanics, pilots, gate agents, fuelers, ramp agents are all there to make sure you get where you are going safely.
     We have to keep 9/11 in our minds all the time. We are constantly tested and retested to make sure we are at the top of our game all the time. We can't afford to make mistakes. Not even one.
     If you feel like yelling at an agent at the airport, don't. We get it all the time. We understand that you are under a lot of stress when traveling, but remember why we are there. We are a very eclectic and diverse group here at Kansas City International. But don't be fooled. We are the most focused and safety minded people you will ever meet.
     Our colleagues and friends were killed that day, and we are left with the burden of never letting it happen again. It is a burden which each and every one of us accepts.

Enough of my ranting. If you don't like paying a little extra for fees you think are wrong, think about how scary it would be to fly on an airplane that has not had any of its passengers, bags or freight screened. A frightening thought. This is the day and age we live in. Safety comes first in my mind. Me and my team protect people from terrorists every day. We like what we do and we are good at it. Cut us a little slack if your inconvenienced in any way. And thanks for flying. Buh bye.............

For the love of a dog

     It happened just as I thought it would. Mistakes would be made. I packed my camera early this morning. I planned on getting to work early, take a pick of sunrise over the runway or something. But no. I forgot to put the card back in my camera the night before. Terrific....
     I then thought that I should just post a blank picture today like the one I had taken without a card in my camera. I could talk about blank slates, mistakes, and forming pictures in our heads. A bit sappy. Not what I was looking for as a Doogie Howser moment for the day. I had a pretty good day, so I thought the best way to end it was with a picture of one of my best friends, Truman.
     Dogs are a funny and special thing. If you let them into your heart and make them a complete part of your life, they can become the best companion you will ever find.

     He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. He deserves to be featured as the third pic of my year because he will be with me for most of this adventure. He is definitely my partner in crime. Get used to seeing him here loyal reader.
     Until tomorrow, I now will put the card back in the camera. Hopefully........

Difficult Day Two

     When I began this project, all of one day ago, I did not realize how difficult it was going to be. It is not as if I have run out of suitable subject matter. It is that I forgot that I work all day, drive an hour home, make dinner and collapse on the couch. When do I find time to take a picture?
     I asked myself this question all day long. Do I take a picture of my desk? Do I walk outside and take a picture of an aircraft? I just don't know. Driving home I felt desparate. A bit broken and unsure of my commitment. On my long drive home I spotted a subject matter that looked, in a way, the same way that I felt. A little broken, worn and tired. Ready to fall, or fail at any moment. I turned around on the highway, pulled off on the shoulder and took this shot from the window of my car. I know, setup could have been better. The angle was a little too 'broad side of a barn,' but oh well. One shot, one chance, no take backs. Like it or don't, it's what's for dinner.

Not Doogie today, but Mary Pickford. “If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

A Journey in Time

     Here it is loyal reader. My New Year's project that I hope to continue for the remainder of this year and see where it takes me.
     The project? I plan on taking one picture every day for the sole purpose of posting on my blog.I want these photos to both inspire and give pause as to what I may have saw that day. What sparked my imagination or curiosity to take a photo of that.
     Here's the rub. I get one shot. One photo. Click and done. Like it or not. No do overs. If it turns out to be a picture of the inside of my camera bag, so be it. That will be the topic of discussion for that day. Mistakes that we can't take back. If I'm working sunup to sundown, it may just be a pic of my pillow. Who knows?
     I hope Project 2012 inspires me to seek out new things, new destinations, and force me to take the time to look at things a little closer. Much like today's subject.
     I went to the park today with my dog, as I often do, but this time I took my camera. I have to say, everything looked either brown or grey. The air was cold and the wind was strong. No pretty reflections off the lake were going to happen today. Everything was blowing so hard, I was afraid no matter what I did, the pic would be out of focus. This forced me and my dog to journey deeper into the woods where the wind was not as strong. Still very brown and grey, I felt it would be a lost cause and I would have to look elsewhere, when I came upon the spot I photographed. One bit of color among the bleakness. A speck of life trying to hang on. Something so small can demand great attention when surrounded by nothing extraordinary. So today's Doogie Howser thought of the day. 'Don't worry if you stick out amongst the fray. People will seek you out because of your uniqueness.'

January 1st 2012

Is There a Wrong Way to Rub Me?

'It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.'  ~Henry Louis Mencken, A Little Book in C Major, 1916

The Space Between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain

Dave Matthews Band

Question.....Is honesty the best policy? Is it better to lie in some situations? Why can telling someone the hard, cold truth sometime....often times.....rub them the wrong way?

The answers I think must be derived on a case by case basis. Here's the way I look at it. I have two very good friends who for all intents and purposes tell you the truth. They don't seem to care if it is going to hurt any one's feelings, or come across as mean. Frankly I find this to be very refreshing. You always know where you stand with them. You know for a fact that when your with them, there is no way your zipper is down or there's food in your teeth. They would have told you by now. Bad haircut...they will let you know. Does my butt look fat in these jeans? Butt of course. You never have to wonder if you look like or are acting like an idiot, because they will tell you up front and right to you face. 'Yes, Steve, you are being an idiot, so knock it off, and while your at it zip up your pants, wipe the snot off your nose, and get that green thing out of your teeth.'

Some people may get annoyed by such honesty, but I find it so refreshing. I really like hanging out with these two friends. Up front, straight forward, and no wishy washy, spare my feelings crap that you might usually get in social situations. So the question is, 'Is honesty always the best policy?' Things are probably not this black and white, but suppose they were. Would you have a different set of friends if they told you exactly what they thought all the time? Would you be irritated and frustrated all the time but such disregard for one's feelings. I don't think so. I think it is so much easier to better oneself when we know what are faults may be. Don't get me wrong, my friends are not honest in a mean way. They just tell you the truth. All the time. They like me for who I am with all my faults and I feel the same about them. We know exactly where we stand with each other. For better or worse.

Trying to tell the truth all the time gets a little more difficult when you get serious about it. Do you tell your boss when you screwed up? That might work once in a while, but I think keeping it to yourself may have better consequences in the long term. Are things left unsaid lies in themselves? Is the act of omission a failure to be completely honest or is it just sparing someone the details that they don't need to know about? Should you keep the truth from someone when there is no way that it would benefit them in any way? What if the truth would only hurt them?

These fickle, fuddled words confuse me
Like 'Will it rain today?'
Waste the hours with talking, talking
These twisted games we're playing

We're strange allies
With warring hearts
What wild-eyed beast you be
The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep safe from the pain

I think honesty is the best policy, but I also think we need to be careful not to alienate and rub people the wrong way. There is a right and wrong way to tell the truth. Telling wicked lies to keep someone safe from pain will only come back to haunt you. Telling the hard cold truth is much like walking on thin ice. (Also hard and cold) One must tread lightly. Carefully. But wouldn't you rather know the truth so you can deal with whatever it is instead of being in the dark? What if your doctor wanted to spare your feelings? Delay treatment because they didn't want to tell you how bad it really was. Not a good plan. Life is much the same. Filled with painful truths that we must confront and act on.

Let me know your feelings loyal readers. I am curious. I tried to find a conclusion to the blog so I could wrap it up and move on, but I couldn't seem to come up with a hook, so it has sat for a long time. Sorry.......


I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won t.
Mark Twain