Hey Kids,
It’s not always someone else’s fault.
Things happen.
Learn from it.
Move along.
Post 3-022
Magical.
Hey Kids,
Snow came to the valley today.
It’s like the same snow that falls every now and then. White flakes, sometimes big, sometimes small.
It covered the sidewalks and the grass and of course the roads.
It’s magical, the snow. It makes dull gray days white. It brightens the otherwise drab and dormant flora. It gives a feeling of purification, a cleansing, or a reset.
It’s also magical as in it casts a spell on drivers and makes every one of them forget how to drive.
Post 3-021
Once.
Hey Kids,
The presidential inauguration of Donald Trump was today. I hate to admit it but I didn’t listen to it. It’s not that I don’t like Trump, I just wasn’t interested enough to suspend my day and listen in.
In fact, I have only listened in to one inauguration address, the 2009 speech by Barack Obama. 
It was historic. I was interested. I hadn’t voted for him, but I was hopeful and he was the new president.
I listened and afterwards I had hope. I liked his address. I told others that I did. The concern that I did have was my belief that my definition of the ideas he had shared would be greatly different that his.
They were.
I didn’t tune into his second inauguration speech.
Post 3-020
That Kid
Hey Kids,
I have an employee who struggles to meet what is required of him on a daily basis.
At times he soars; he surprises me how he responds. And just when I think he’s arrived, he disappoints me.
When I think he’s at the point of no repair, he again amazes me with his production.
He’s young. He lacks experience. He struggles with judgment.
He’s young. He can push himself. He is unencumbered with his own history.
He reminds me at times of another kid.
Someone still wet with the dew of childhood, lacking experience of the world, and yet believing he knew it all. That guy luckily had people who didn’t hold it against him, taught him the world through example, and let him have his youthful failures and taught him how to succeed.
I think that kid, me, turned out just fine.
I think that other kid just needs the chance to do the same.
Post 3-019
One Way
Hey Kids,
Knock, knock. Who’s there, you didn’t say.
What’s up? I ask. But no answer today.
My phone shows texts and well wishes cast.
But only one way are these messages passed.
Left with this sole method to show that I care,
I find the return silence is a little much to bear.
For now, I miss you more with each passing year.
But should I stop missing, that’s my greatest fear.
Post 3-018
Spoken Word
Hey Kids,
I have a book given to me titled “Speeches that changed the world”.
From time to time, I pull it out and meander through the pages, reading the quotations highlighted on some of the pages. Some I know and some I don’t.
Some of the speeches I take a little more time, read the included context explanation in which the speeches were given, and then the speech in its entirety.
It’s obvious that the words are crafted to give the listener a sense of having heard something. Thoughts drawn out in description that they become illustrations in the mind, moving beyond words.
I am amazed the way the speeches are alive, powerful, and heartfelt. They are given in a way that appears to be impromptu and without premeditation. It can also be intimidating; causing the student of the words to doubt their own ability to do the same.
Not to take anything away from the speeches, but they aren’t off the cuff. They were written and re-written, thought about and mulled over. The words were selected, arranged, and weighed for their impact. The delivery was deliberate and practiced.
I’m not saying that everyone can or should be Churchill or Lincoln, but anyone can express the deepest thoughts, the tenderest feelings, and inspire the greatest of works. But such speeches do not come from 5 minutes of scribbling notes on the back of your hand. They are not born in flashes of brilliance. They are worked, dug out, cleaned, and polished.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that great speeches are just that. They inspire people to great feats. They leave the listener edified.
You also can be inspirational and edifying. Even if made in simple responses to questions of a friend in need or a child in search of wisdom. And that might be world enough to merit a change.
Post 3-017
A Little Cheese with that Whine?
Hey Kids,
Money.
I hate to obsess about it, but sometimes I still do. But mostly when I don’t have any.
I’ve read that the love of money is the root of all evil. But the lack thereof will make you think of bad things too.
I don’t need a pile of it, just enough to get the things I need.
Why does it need to be so tough?
Post 3-016
Day 1 of 2017
Hey Kids,
It took 15 days but it arrived.
The first day of 2017 to get on the bike and ride.
The temps were down around 30°F. A little below to begin, a little above on the ride back.
From a past ill attempt to tempt fate and the weather.
It’s not so much temperature as it is the possibility of ice on the road.
The last few days have given way to warmer temps, no new moisture, and a chance for the roads and gutters to be clear and dry.
It felt good. It felt free. It felt like it should.
The new heated gloves were kind of nice too.
.
Post 3-015
Will the Future Pay?
Hey Kids,
Interesting thought:
What will you do when what you do for a living no longer pays or no longer exists?
Do you have a plan?
I think that is the challenge of the future.
I heard this thought from Jewel, a well-established singer who doesn’t think people will pay for music in the future. She’s preparing herself for that reality so she can continue to create music and make a living doing it.
I’m a writer. Will people always pay for books, for literature? I don’t know. But if I want to write in the future, I better figure it out.
The future holds no guarantees for anyone; no matter who’s the president.
Post 3-014
Friday The 13th
Hey Kids,
Today was Friday the 13th.
Yet no one gave a warning.
No black cat crossed my way. (Excepting my own)
No ladder cross over my pass and forced me to pass underneath.
No serial killer stalked my path.
No bus came late.
No diner burned.
No ill whatsoever fell my way.
Has this day run out of luck?
Post 3-013
Mike M Jensen 