Pappa Hardy's Musings on Life.

I thought yesterday was New Years. Today I wake up to the rose parade and now there are college football games all over the airwaves. It sure doesn’t look like a New Years day. We are in the middle of a winter drought and there is no snow on the ground and I feel like I should be out working in the good weather.

That brings up my current situation. I am still recovering from me total knee surgery. While I intellectually knew what was coming, that never prepares you for the actuality of being dependent on others. You don’t sleep well, you are in constant pain, and my personal nursing support team (Bonnie and Julie) are afraid of letting me do much of anything. I have so much that I need to do that they won’t let me get too. They don’t seem to want to let me do much of anything that is fun. I mean really, I want to go skiing. What seems to be the problem?

I sat in Kohl’s today, waiting for my wife and my daughter to finish casing the store for some sort of special deal. Sitting there I had the time of my life watching people walk in to the store.

Some of them didn’t know how to react to me. I was sitting with my IPOD connected to me through a set of head phones that allowed me to hear my concert without involving the rest of the world. They would give me stares wondering what I was doing. I could have told them if they would have asked. I was in St. George and it was 105 outside, and I wanted to stay cool while the females did the shopping. The stares at me were really interesting. Many seemed uncomfortable to have me sit there. They didn’t like me looking at them. Others didn’t really care as much.

What was interesting for me was seeing the range of people. There were young, there were old. There were well dressed in the latest fashions, and others like me who didn’t look like they cared as much. There were old men, walking lovingly arm in arm with their old companions, and they were comfortable in their relationships. There were others that didn’t look so good. Some like me were carrying a few more pounds than they should be. Some had odd body shapes. Some were obviously pregnant, carrying a new life.

Some people like me found it difficult to bring the “family”, then there were young moms who brought all 7-8 kids with them. How in the heck where they going to go in and gather the fruits to be found in that store? It was an interesting experience. As always, the historian in me made me wonder, what is the story of that life I see in front of me? What has brought them to this moment in time, and where are they going? Never judge a book by its cover was the lesson I learned and what was reinforced.

There seems to be places where if something can go wrong for you, it will. Put Rawlins, Wyoming on my list. I have had car break downs here. I have had almost fatal auto accidents here, and today, we are kept from our family in Cheyenne by closed roads. The frustrating thing is that Rawlins is dry, sunny, and actually quite warm. What seems to be wrong with the rest of the way.

If I stay someplace overnight in a hotel that I hadn’t planned on staying on, it is Rawlins. If I have had to make unplanned auto repairs, it is Rawlins. Rawlins, why do you hate me?

What a glorious Christmas Day we have. We have a white Christmas, family all around, and the sun is shining outside. It is also different. It is 1pm and we haven’t even opened presents. I love to have it as a relaxed day, but the compulsion to work and keep on top of things is also with me. I have so much to do. This is a family day, not a work day. I must remember what is the most important.

As a mathematician, I always thought that the law of averages would indicate somehow (silly me) that things would happen randomly of course (chaos theory) but that on average, every x number of minutes something would probably happen. Of course, life is full of surprises. For instance, if you are lucky enough to subscribe to cable TV movie channels, the Law of Real Life (my life anyway) states that if you turn on that movie channel, no matter what day, or time, you are not only going to turn it on to the same movie, but that movie is always going to be at about the same place you turned it on to last time.

Likewise, if you go on a cruise, you are going to see the same people, at the same places, over and over again. Of course, that is probably due to the fact that people have routines they get themselves into, but still, nothing seems to be random anymore. I call that the Law of Real Life.

I must be a natural for the Geriatric Crowd. Of course, my kids would tell you that and say, Gee dad, duh, that is sure obvious. However, going on a cruise makes you compare yourself with the people on the boat and you know what, I am feeling like I fit in just fine. These are old guys about 50, 60, 70, or even 80. We had dinner a lot of nights with these characters.

This is in stark contrast to walking down a street in Payson, or any other town in most of the United States. When I walk down the street, I am usually the oldest guy on the street. I haven’t had people start to offer me wheel chair rides (except of course at my hospital visits which seem to have become more and more extensive as of late), but I expect that will come soon.

Yeah, I guess if I am not already there, I will soon be a member in full and complete standing of the geriatric crowd, silver hair and all.

You know, somehow or someway, or maybe even someday, I must be famous. I get to sit next to “important” people when I am in meetings or dinners. For example, I have sat next to two of three of the Congressman from the State of Utah. I have met both of her Senators and the Governor. I have sat next to the Lt. Governor of the State of Utah in a banquet. I have met two or three Senators from the State of Wyoming and talked to them face to face. One of them even knew me when I would write letters about this or that item. I know all of the City Councilman in Payson as well as the Mayor on a first name basis. I have a son, Christofer, who actually has shaken the hands of former President Bill Clinton when he was running for President in 1992. Another son was a friend of the daughter of the Governor of Wyoming.

You would think with all of the associations I have had with other famous people like my wife, or my kids, or my parents, or my friends, or just my neighbors, that somehow I would be famous. Alas, I am just good old Mike, the guy who lives down the street in the house next to the two story house not too far from Rocky Ridge.

I haven’t yet figured out why I am not on the evening news, widely quoted in the paper or on the local TV networks, or why everyone I meet doesn’t already know who I am. Instead, I am just me, and despite all of my association with the famous, no one knows me. Well, my family and friends know me and that should be enough, don’t you think?

In the Star Wars universe, you had Jedi Masters who had learned the discipline of the Jedi and who understood the Jedi universe and all that was part of that. When you go on a cruise, you sometimes meet someone who has been in 50, 60, or even a 100 cruises. To those of us who have only been on 2 or 3, they are a Cruise Master. The first thing one does is ask which cruise line they like the best. You next ask which was their most favorite cruise, and deep inside, you vow to become a cruise master yourself. After all, you want to become a Cruise Master like them, sailing the seven seas and becoming a master of all the water that you can see.

We pulled out of the harbor at St. Thomas today. What a beautiful island. The amazing thing was sitting for over an hour watching the scenery glide by and noticing all of the islands that appear to be deserted or not inhabited. Not being the bashful kind, I turned to Bonnie and indicated that perhaps we should buy one of those islands for ourselves, build a huge house on it with our own private dock, and call the island St. Hardy. I don’t think she thought that was as good an idea as I thought. Perhaps if it also had a helicopter pad….

I love the smell of rain. There is nothing that is more a sensual experience for me than to have had a long stretch of dry weather in the west and then have a rain storm come upon us. Because it is so dry, you can smell the water, smell the rain when the weather changes. I am so grateful that the good Lord has blessed us with these small experiences in life that allow us to appreciate nature and the great beauty that exists in this world.