Support

I have now been rebitten by the snowshoeing bug. I went out again this afternoon fr abut 1 1/2 hours. I trekked over the field and down into the woods beyond. My dog Regal was having a ball running on the snow. Being light enough she just skimmed the surface of the snow supported by the icy crust below the surface. before I get totally into the gist of this post I do have to relate a story. When I got down to the bottom of the access road to the wood lot, I noticed some old moose tracks, and wanting to get a picture of the depth of the snow for Anya, at college I put one pole into the hoof print and another pole even with the surface of the snow to show her the approximate depth of the snow in the woods. I looked up and Regal was gone so I whistled and called for her. Just then I heard a nise of branches snapping and turned around just in time to see a large brown shadow about 50 feet away moving off into the woods. The moose who made the tracks had made his appearance. I snowshoed down to where I had seen him and found an obviously fresh pile of his leavings still partially steaming, and a spot where he had obviously lain down in the snow. When my breathing evened out I could hear him off in the background crashing through the branches in the woods. Regal heard him too, and was not to eager to leave my side.

Now for the main reason for my post, as I have a penchant for and as the three pastors who preach at my church often say, I am always looking for illustrations to base my writings and musings on as they are always looking for sermon illustrations. During this trek out through my field, and on into the woods I was noticing how well the snowshoes held me up on some of the deepest snow we have had in a long time. They would sink down briefly into the soft powder on top but the overall size of the snowshoe and the webbing would keep me up on the surface of the snow. If I did not have them on I would be breaking through not only the powdery layer but also the crusty surface underneath and buried in snow most likely up past my knees. I would tire out very easily, and most likely not get very far. With the snow shoes I would be able to just sink briefly into the powder but the snowshoe would spread my bulky weight out over the entire expanse of the shoe and support me on the crust underneath. Occasionally I would crack the crust but not sink very far into the snow at all.

The illustration I found this supports is my walk with Christ. My belief in God is like the snowshoe. He keeps me buoyed up in the quagmire of life's trial and tribulations. I break through the surface of the muck of life, but with God's support through my belief in Christ helps keep me from getting bogged down like being stuck in quicksand. Our lives are not completely trouble free, and God does allow us to get into scrapes and situations, but belief in Him does help support us form getting bogged down in the mire of despair that we could be. He is the snowshoe that keeps us on the surface and traveling down the path. In a note written by Sue Dorian thanking people for their support after the passing of her dear husband Paul, she noted that she could rejoice in his passing because she knew through her belief tat Paul was with God in heaven, but on the earthly side there was a void in her life now that could never be filled. Her belief in Christ is keeping her from getting to mired down in the snows of life, that our earthly bodies can find ourselves

Cold and Impersonal?

I can't believe it has been three weeks since I last posted on my blog. Time sure has a way from slipping away from us. It has been a a hectic three weeks and there is a lot to be excited abut. With the Budget Committee for town we wrapped up our meetings and the public hearing and submitted all our paperwork to the town and the state. I have also become involved in the committee to bring the moving wall to Center Ossipee for Memorial Day Weekend of all days. I have been asked to serve on the executive committee for the project and we are all very excited about this opportunity. The honor of this appearance of the wall on such a solemn holiday is immense.

Now to the reason for this post. I got tired today of being house bound because of the depth of the snow in the yard. The weather was fantastic, about 4 inches of fresh powder sat on top of the ice encrusted snow out in the field, all four feet of compacted snow. I went out int he barn and dug out my old snowshoes which I have had for about 30 years. They are made by an old Indian in a traditional style. Varnished wood and gut webbing with a modified neoprene binding. There is a basic simplicity to the design of these shoes. They have been hand crafted and worked with a quality that is hard to imagine. Tref Bolduc was the maker of the shoes with a quality that is seldom seen today. The warmth and sturdiness of these wooden shoes can not be equaled by the cold impersonal metal contraptions they sell today. Yes the newer models may be lighter weight and easier to care for but they lose the personality of the traditional snowshoe.

This is so true in all aspects of our society. We go for the cold and the impersonal rather than the warmth and caring. Rather than the local hardware store or lumberyard people shop at Lowes, and Home Depot. Rather than the local supermarket people shop at the warehouse stores such as Sams and BJ's. The cold and impersonal has become the mainstay of our society rather than the customer service of the smaller stores.

When I as out at a training class for Pella they gave us a book about customer service. The gist of the book was about how to make you customers happy, and give the personal touch. There are several stories in this book about how people have made the difference. The first story is about a boy with Downs Syndrome who wanted to make his mark on the customers of the store for which he worked. He decided he could find a quote of the day and print it out and put one in each customers order as he bagged the order. The result of this little initiative was people were willing to wait in line for Johnny's quote of the day. His personal little touch made each persons day just that much more enjoyable. People would stop by the store daily just to buy a small item so they could get Johnny's quote. Other departments started doing small little things for their customers as well making the store a much friendlier place to shop. I reflect on this often as I watch my wife go about her daily job at a small grocery store. She takes the time to make her customers experience in the store much more pleasurable. There was on little lady who unfortunately passed away recently, but she would come by the store and being legally blind she could not see the things she needed to get, so Janet would take her around the store and help her do her shopping. She jokes with customers and tries to make their visit to the store a more pleasurable one. She refers to them all as her customers. She enjoys her job and she tries to show that to each and every customer that walks through the store.

I don't know why we settle for inferior products and impersonal service. We seem to have grown used to it as a normal course of life. I usually shop at Freedom Hardware, when you go to the counter and ask for an item someone comes out from behind the counter and takes you to the product you are looking for. Recently I had to go to another Hardware store in the are to get something. I walked up to the counter and asked where the gaskets were, one guy just pointed in the general direction of the stairs, another said it was downstairs. When I went down the stairs there was an employee sitting at a work table downstairs , just sitting there not really doing anything, I again asked for the gaskets and he just pointed to a rack. When I was over at the gaskets I was hesitant about which one I needed, he never asked if he could help me, or what exactly I needed, he just kind of grunted at me about the whole think being kind of complicated. This is a prime example f what our customer service has become.

I have been a salesman most of my adult life, and I am a customer service fanatic. I believe follow though is one of the most important things you can do.When I sell a customer a window package I try to give them a small gift to show my appreciation for their order. It may be something as simple as a framed poem I wrote, or a copy of my book. I did a job once for a gentleman who was restoring a camp back to original condition. It had a lot of native American decorations, so I found a small knick knack that fit in with the decor of the house. He loved it.

Let's put the customer and the service back in customer service, and not settle for the inferior service that we seem to have become used to.

When you can't afford it

I was in a training class for Pella Windows with a gentleman from Idaho, when we were leaving the training session we got to the airport in Des Moines Iowa well ahead of our scheduled flight departure, so we grabbed a bite to eat in one of the airport restaurants, and believe me there are not a lot to choose from in Des Moines. However while the group of us were eating lunch, Greg said something his father had told him once, and that was "If you can't afford it, buy the best" I thought this was kind of a strange statement to make, as if you can't afford it you tend to buy whatever is the cheapest, or least expensive. The conversation then drifted off to business prospects and how we were viewing the building industry in different parts of the country, and sports teams and all the other little mundane things you talk about when you are waiting for a flight in an airport.

On the flight home I thought about that comment a little bit, and then put it out of my mind, but I kept finding it came back to me and I think about it a lot, and the more I think about it the more I realize, that it is absolutely true. When we can't afford things we tend to buy the bargain basement products, because they are cheap, and that is exactly what they are cheap. they don't stand up and they tend to wear out a lot faster than if you had invested some more money and bought a little more expensive of an item. I think about some of my investments in products. My wife and I live in a very old New England Farm House at the Gale Farm. It was moved to where it now stands in 1840 and the construction techniques used in the house seem to show it was built in the early to mid 1700's. When we bought the house it needed a lot of work to say the least, and one of the things it needed was windows. I tried to save the old windows but the frames where rotting and the glazing wouldn't stay put, as well as I may have just as well had a big hole in the wall to let the heat out of the house. We were newly married, and having just got out of the service, I did not have a lot of money to invest, I bought the cheapest windows I could find, because come on, every one knows a window is just a window, right? Well I put the windows in the house, and it did make the house a little more heating friendly, but when I look back at houses I call on that had put in a little more expensive of a window, they are not having to think about replacing the windows again, and they are not having to fuss with storm window units. and they are not having to put plastic up over their windows when the temps drop below freezing to keep the cold from coming into the house. Yes I paid less for my windows, but how much more have I paid for storm windows and heat and labor over the years in order to save a few dollars up front. There are many aspects of this adage. Tools, I have bought the cheapest tools I can find because they will work just as well only to have them snap, batteries wear out well ahead of time, strip out , and a myriad of other complaints.

I see the same things in batteries. As typical kids today my kids have the toys, IPODS, Cameras, and a myriad of other electronic gadgets, and I have seen them buy the bargain basement batteries and have to replace them in only a couple of days because they wear out, when I invested in a rechargeable battery system for them they have cut down on battery usage big time and in the long run the charger and rechargeable batteries end up costing a heck of a lot less money in the long run. SO the next time you go to the store and think about buying the cheapest, is it going to be the cheapest in the long run, or is it going to cost you a lot more money over time than a little larger cost up front.

I was going to wait to unveil this piece, and my plans today was to write a piece to honor Paul Dorian, who's time on this earth was cut short last Thursday evening. I will mis his memorial service today due to work commitments. However the more I thought about it, the more I realized this piece was very appropriate for Paul's life. Please read and celebrate Paul's life and journey on earth.

It is a long piece but from the heart.

212 Degrees

Judges 16:23-30

Have you ever seen the screws also known as the propellers on a large ship? They are immense. I had the opportunity to stand beside a pair for an LPD in a dry dock and they dwarfed me as I stood next to them.. I don’t remember the weight on them but it was a very heavy amount, and the shafts that they attach to aren’t just toothpicks either. While I was in the Navy I was always amazed at the engineering types. They lived most of their lives below decks in the bowels of the ship working their magic that made the ship work. When you did see them above deck they always looked like their eyes were closed in a permanent squint in the foreign sun. I always thought they preferred to emerge from their catacombs in the peaceful serenity of the new moon so the sky was as foreign to them.. They sequestered themselves for hours on end in the nether reaches of the ship in such places as the boiler room, shaft alley, and the machine rooms. When they did emerge they always had this oily dinginess about them that never did quite come out. They were the givers of life to the ship. Without them working their magic in the black hole of the engine spaces, the ship wouldn’t move, the guns couldn’t aim, the radios wouldn’t work once the batteries died. In short without the engineers our glorious Navy would basically be a bunch of big piles of steel rusting away in the ocean. One of the things that the purveyors of Naval life understand is the difference that one extra degree can make. Many people talk of the advantages of going to the Celsius scale where water freezes at zero and boils at 100 degrees. How many of you know the Fahrenheit scale is based on the comfort range of the human body 0 was commonly thought to be the lower end of the comfort range for a moderately dressed man and 100 degrees is the upper range of that scale where the human body is comfortable. Of course we know now that there are other factors such as wind and humidity that play into the equation., as well as length of exposure. But using this premise as a basis, water at 100 degrees is fairly comfortable for the human body for a period of time. I have been told because I am not a coffee drinker that 180 degrees is the ideal temperature for a cup of coffee, so we could safely say 180 degrees is hot. Water at 211 degrees would be very hot, wouldn’t you agree?

But we know from basic chemistry, not one of my better subjects, and basic physics, which I enjoyed more, that water boils at 212 degrees, and boiling water transforms the water from a liquid to a gas we call steam.. Steam under the right circumstances can be used to produce a power that drives the huge propellers that move a ship through the water. Without going into it the steam is heated even higher than 212 degrees under pressure to become superheated steam, but it requires that 212 degrees to become the steam in the first place, and steam is required to turn the massive shafts that drive the propeller that pushes the ship through the water. If there are any naval engineering types out there I apologize for the simplicity of my explanation here, but it is the essence of how the system works that illustrates my point. It is that one degree that takes the water from the very hot, or scalding hot, to the driving force turning not only those massive propellers, but driving many tons of steel though the ocean at very impressive speeds. Aircraft carriers for example The USS RONALD REAGAN displaces 104,000 tons, ONE HUNDRED FOUR THOUSAND TONS. Think about that for a moment how heavy that ship is….ONE HUNDRED FOUR THOUSAND TONS. And it is propelled by steam. The vaporous form of lowly water that we all take for granted. It is nuclear powered but the nuclear power is just a way to heat the water and bring it to steam. Think of the power that one extra degree can produce. Can you imagine one hundred four thousand tons driving though the water at over 30 knots? 30 knots being a nautical mile is the same as driving your car at 34 miles per hour. The actual top speed is more than that but is classified. ONE HUNDRED FOUR THOUSAND TONS OF STEEL, with six thousand give or take men, and almost one hundred aircraft driven by steam. Not only does steam drive that massive ship though the water, it is also used to launch aircraft form a standing start to flying speed in an amazingly short distance. I once was told that the catapult of a carrier could launch a Cadillac up to one half a mile , now that is power. Steams launch those wonders of Naval aviation so they can ply the sky above the seas. One extra degree takes plain water and produces not only power, but mighty power, impressive power, unstoppable power.

I saw a film once while I was in the navy, of a high pressure steam leak. You couldn’t see the steam leaking out of the pipe, but you could hear it hissing it’s deadly warning. The instructor waved a broom handle through the path of the steam leak, and it cut the handle cleanly through as if it had been cut by an invisible saw. Now that is power. It is the power that that extra degree gives you.

In our passage today Samson summoned up that extra degree when he asked God to help him one last time. He summoned that extra degree that God gave him and brought the temple down on the Philistines. Samson could have just given up and let himself be put to death but he summoned that extra degree and went down in a blaze of glory.

Abraham summoned up that extra degree of courage when he put his pride and joy son on the alter to sacrifice. Noah showed the extra degree when even though he was probably subject to tons of ridicule and jeers while he was building the ark in preparation to the flood. Daniel showed the extra degree and tolerated the extra degree when he was cast into the fiery furnace with Meshach, Shadrech and Abednego. They all showed that extra degree of confidence that God would take care of them. Moses wavered but did show the extra degree in trusting God by leading the Israelites out of Egypt. In the sermons John Babson has been preaching Nehemiah turned up the extra degree and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.

What can we do if we apply that extra degree. We work on a daily basis some of you in an office, some in a factory, my wife works in a grocery store, and my 16 year old daughter works in a restaurant. Both of them show that extra degree in their jobs. My daughter is respected and well liked by the people she works with because she puts her all into the job. She doesn’t treat it as a lowly job of bussing tables she looks at as an opportunity to grow in responsibility, and in herself. My wife Janet works at Valuland as a cashier. People I run into all the time tell me how lucky I am to have her as a wife, and I am truly very thankful for that. What makes her special is she smiles and greets people, she makes them feel very special when they are at her register. She makes them feel like they are the most important person in the store when she is dealing with them. She goes the extra mile to remember what they like and how they like their groceries bagged. When she can she helps those who are struggling out with their groceries. I have had people tell me how upset they are when they go into the store and learn that Janet is not working on that day. Janet turns up the heat that extra degree and goes form being hot to being a driving force in what she does. She tries not to drag people down, even on days when I have seen her drag herself out of bed in excruciating pain, and come home in so much pain she was in tears, she still makes her customers the most important feature in the store.

I work on the road in sales, and I meet all kinds of people, form the ones that make you feel like you are an imposition on them for being a salesman to the ones who make you feel like you are their long lost brother. I know how hard it is to keep that smile on you face and work to get the person the right product of their needs, and it is not always what I have to sell. I struggle to find that extra degree, yet I know how important it is.

Jesus shows us examples of turning up the heat that extra degree all over the gospels. From the feeding of the multitudes at the Sermon on the Mount, He could have just packed it in and told the disciples they didn’t have enough food to take care of all those people. No he dug right in and worked his miracles. He raised Lazarus form the dead. He healed the lepers. Where in the Gospels can you not find an example of Christ turning up the heat. Right to the end of his earthly ministry when he was nailed to the cross and sacrificed for our sins. And guess what, he didn’t stop there, he rose again and overcame the bounds of death, he walked with and talked with His disciples and prepared them for the trials and the work ahead so they could in turn, turn up the heat to become a driving force in society. They were the steam that got the mighty juggernaut of Christianity going, and we are the steam that keeps it moving forward instead of becoming a rusting hulk in the ocean of society as many churches have a tendency to do.

God is always asking us to turn up the heat and put out that extra degree. He wants us to be a driving force in society instead of society being a driving force on us.. The First Congregational of Ossipee has gone from being a hot church to being a superheated church. FCCO is more than a force in the confines of Ossipee, it is more than just a driving force in the confines of this lovely valley. The extra degree that God demands of us has taken this church beyond Carroll County, beyond the borders of New Hampshire. That driving force has taken us out of Northern New England, and even out of New England overall. God’s driving power has broken the bounds of the nations borders. FCCO is a driving force in the world. By applying that extra degree that God has demanded of us It has driven FCCO’s reach into Mississippi with Paul Dorian and his group that went down to help rebuild after Katrina. It has manifested itself in the dedication of Rusty Reinhold, and Doug Kimball, and the rest who travel to Haiti to help minister to those in need down their. That extra degree manifests itself in Oscar and Janet while they labor in love in Peru, teaching and spreading God’s word. That extra degree manifested itself in the new Bible they were able to provide to the people they serve. That extra degree drives us to assist missionaries in South Africa, as well as other African countries. It drives our people into the Muslim strongholds of the Middle East. That driving force drives us to support missionaries all over the world.. That driving force drives us to support the missionaries in our own back yard who go into the halls of Kingswood to work with our teens and help them find their own driving force in the world, and to mentor them into that force being a positive rather than negative force.

If that driving force can take a plain quiet, unassuming woman, like my wife and make her a bright spot in many peoples day, how can it change you?

By asking God to apply that one extra degree to your life, could it make you the life change force for that one co-worker, or friend who is looking for something more? By adding that one degree could it make you the shining example that would attract people to FCCO through your example.

By adding that one extra degree could you help even one person break the shackles of a destructive life, of alcohol or drug addiction? By adding that one degree could you bring the pillars of Satan’s temple down that had been built up around someone?

What driving force does God want you to be in today’s society?

This was the life of Paul Dorian. He turned up the heat in everything he did. He was a moving force, and got things done, whether it was raking the beach at Loon Lake, organizing a work party at church, or organizing a mission trip to the storm ravaged Gulf Coast after Katrina. I respected and liked Paul deeply, when he greeted me he always did so with a smile and pat on the back and a cheerful Paulie.

Paul I will miss you, but I know through your trust in God and love in Christ, you are in a better place. I do know I am a much better person for having known you.

Slow Down

I am including a piece I wrote about twenty three years ago, but it is as meaningful today as it was back then.

The Mountains Will Always Be There

It was one of those days that you dread seeing, the pressure of the job was getting to me. The head office had started putting more and more pressure on me to get more and more done and I didn’t have the personnel to get it done. I started the day jumping down one of the shippers throats to get more done. He looked up at me, smiled and said, “Calm down sir, the mountains will always be there.”

The statement flew over my head, as I hustled about trying to get all my jobs done. The pressure just kept piling up, and I kept running around and getting more and more frustrated. The burden on my shoulders kept feeling heavier and heavier. When I finally got home and started reviewing the day’s activities, and planning the next day, I remembered that quote, “Calm down sir, the mountains will always be there.” I looked out over the fields behind my house, and saw those majestic peaks in the distance. The snow covers them all winter in a cloak of white splendor. In the spring the chilling wind whistles between the peaks. In the summer the baking sun basks those peaks in warmth and glory. In the fall they put on their coat of many colors for all to enjoy.

I realize then that no matter what is thrown at them, the freezing snow, the boiling sun, the beating wind, or even the blazing glory, they stay almost virtually unchanged. Yes it was then that I realized, “Calm down sir, the mountains will always be there.”

We live in a time where we seem to always be in a rush. Kids to friends, wife running on this errand or that, and ourselves running off in this direction for one reason and that direction for something else. Meetings, practice, school, events all seem to fill up our lives on a daily basis. We don't take time to smell the roses anymore.

I live in one of the most beautiful areas and people come here all the time for vacations and weekends away, yet even then they seem to always be in a rush, I'll be driving down the road and an out of state car will fly by me at what appears to be the speed of sound. We don't take the time to slow down and really see the beauty around us. When was the last time you noticed a real beautiful sunset, or even sunrise. After a snow storm, have you really taken the time to notice the snow clinging to the firs and pines, and the golden glow of the sunlight on them as it starts to break through the storm clouds? Life is a journey, for some of us it is a long journey, for others it is tragically short, but what we do with that journey is up to us. We have to make the most of it.

One thing our family does is try to have dinner together every night, some nights, yes, it is a hectic time filled with bickering kids, but at others it is a time that we talk and learn. We even say grace and be thankful for that which we are blessed to have, as you should.

So my wish for you today is to slow down smell the roses, and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you each and every day.

My Children

I wrote the following poem after my oldest Anya was born. It is exactly how I feel about all three f my kids. As we grow older we realize our importance in our children's lives slips away a little bit at a time, until they are independent adults themselves, and then you start being a little more important in their lives again.

To My Child

You came into this world,

at a whirlwind pace.

Even though I resist,

You will grow the same.

Today I hold you in my arms,

And dream of the future.

Tomorrow you take,

the first steps of independence.

Shortly you are on your way to school,

while I watch with a proud heart.

Then you ask,

to borrow the car,

and go on your first real date.

Next you are off,

to college and to make a life of your own.

Then I am holding my grandchild,

remembering holding you,

the same way.

Let us just take,

your life

one day at a time,

and make it last.

It is interesting to see, as I have three daughters all in different stages of their lives. The ldest Anya is going to be 21 in March, is away at college at Eastern Nazarene in Quincy Mass, studying Religion, with hopes f going into youth work. She is getting ready to make her mark on the world. It is comforting to know she still needs her parents every now and then to help her make decisions.

In contrast there is Khrys, the 16 year old high school junior. She is growing more and more independent each day of her life. She seems to be a natural at everything she does from playing clarinet, to skiing, and driving. She works two jobs and takes them both very seriously, and they have become a priority in her life, as she strives to become independent from us. She too, is striving to make her mark on life, and puts her all into everything she does. In some ways she is the biggest mystery at this age, because one minute she acts so mature and set n her path, and then in the next she is playing the little girl who needs her parents to lean on and help her out.

The we have Grace all 10 years old of her. She too is striving fr that independence. One of my greatest thrills in my daily routine is the fact that Janet has to be at work by 8 o'clock in th morning most mornings, and my job being a little more flexible, is waiting for the bis with Grace in the morning. Her inquisitiveness in the world around her is fun to see. Again on a lesser scale she acts like a little girl totally dependent on us one minute, and the next she is trying to spread her wings and act so adult. Last Saturday night she went to first dance, she had to get all dressed up, and act like a lady. Dances at that age are fun from a parents point of view, the boys on one side of the gym , and the girls on the other trying to look all grown up.

We have to remember that we have t take each day as it comes and enjoy the opportunities they produce, because you never know how short they can be. It is so easy to say we can do that tomorrow, but tomorrow may never come. It seems like the days fly by so quickly, one day they are there, and the next you wake up and there is an empty bed in the house, and your contact is through the mail and over the phone, until they come home on vacation and bring their dirty laundry for mom to do.

When Did I Get Old?

Several things happened to me recently that made me ask myself this question. When did I get old? When did life speed by and leave me in the past? My daughter asked me to volunteer and help the Kingswood Ski Team setting up the race courses the other day. In a previous time I would have been to busy to be bothered with such mundane stuff, but in recent times I have realized how important it is to be able to do the small things with your family and friends. So I told her to tell the coach I would help. We got to the ski area and I rushed to get my equipment on, and proceeded up the mountain and with a special “wrench” in hand I proceeded to screw down the gates for the slalom course. It didn’t take to long for me to realize I am not as young as I used to be, my legs ached from standing on skis on such a steep incline, my shoulders ached from turning the wrench to force the screw on the bottom of the gate into the frozen snow. I wondered when the task would ever end as I looked down the mountain at the long snaking line of gates running to the finish line. I realize I am not as young as many with children my age as I was in my early thirties when Khrys was born. Later that day I was skiing down a black diamond with my daughter, I was at the top of the trail and Khrys started down the hill, I followed behind her watching her carve a line down the mountain. I believe I blinked once, and when I looked down the mountain she was gone.

I realized how that is with our children. We raise them and think they will always be there, but when we blink, and our eyes reopen they are grown and gone starting a life of their own independent of us. All we can hope is that we raised them properly and equipped them to live a life that would make us proud as parents. I remembered this little girl at my side when I was first teaching her how to ski. She held my hand and looked up at me with trusting eyes, as we waited for the chair lift to come around and take us up the mountain. Like most protective fathers, when the chair came around and hit me in the back of the calf, and forced us to sit in the seat, I reached in front of her to make sure she didn’t slip from the chair, as I brought the safety bar down. I took her down the mountain prodding her to remember her turns instead of barreling straight down the mountain. She was the headstrong one, and she tried my patience as we worked our way down the mountain. I then realized that I should put her in lessons. She was little more advanced than a straight beginner, but not yet up to the next level, so I sprung for private lessons for her, but being the protective Dad I hung back behind the lesson and watched her listen to the instructor and do as she was told. When her lesson was over I talked to the instructor, and he told me that this little girl with wide blue eyes had a natural talent when it came to putting skis on her feet. I remembered that as I looked down the trail and saw the graceful curves of her trail going down the snow. She is a natural at life, she takes things in stride, and moves on with pride and determination that she is going to make her mark on life in her own way. She is no longer that little girl that holds my hand and trusts I will make everything okay and safe for her. I realized then that I had grown older, and was no longer the required leader I her life, but in many ways a bystander, standing back watching her meet life head on. In many ways I realize she still does need me, but I also realize that I have to stand back and let her make her way in life.

I then look at my own fallibility and frailness as I reflect back on slipping on the ice and giving myself a concussion, with the headache that accompanies it. Then I was told by my wife that a friend of the family had passed away form a heart attack in his garage. I realize how short life really is. Earlier in December the music director from the high school’s life ebbed out after a battle with cancer. Time is short and we grow old and deteriorate, so take life one day at a time, and enjoy each and every moment as if it could be your last.