In the refrigerator is a bouquet of flowers for my friend. And me, I am comfortably listening to Willie Nelson with my cat Sophia cuddled on my feet.

It is cold outside, but inside, Sophia and I are relaxed and thinking about things we normally don’t think. I have started drinking one quart of commercial pasteurized lemon aid that is "all natural", that is it has 11% lemon juice, not that 100% stuff my neighbor Sally makes from lemons picked from my back yard tree. :)

When in the history of mankind has man owned devices, plows, chairs, axes, hammers, wagons, cars of which he uses less than 10% of their offerings? It is right now. Many of us have a device that we use less than 10% while the rest of it is not used and is often never even known. This device is sophisticated, and sometimes capable beyond our understanding. So what do we call a thing that we use less than 10% of its ability to allow the other 90% to go fallow? A toy, a play thing. It has its use, but the engineering, the design, the fabrication and the support systems around it are so far beyond our use that it is 90% waste and 10% use. Our device-toy is our cell phone whose menu items has more information trees than the Sequoia National Forest. And what does such ownership say of us? It says, Hello. "Toys Are Us."

Earth is one planet of a billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion and double that and tipple, and quadruple and raised to the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 power and more in the universe. And in all of these, I know you, and you know me. By chance? Not likely. Have some lemon drink.

You know, there are days and sometimes nights when the phone calls come like rain drops in a storm. Then there are days and sometimes nights when not a drop falls, no phone calls come. When it pours, we wish for sunshine. When there is drought, we wish for clouds. What is it with our wants? Know how to break the cyclic syndrome? Meet someone else’s needs.

What is it that we are looking for ? (For what is it that we are looking?) We all are looking for something. Most assuredly, we are. What?

What won’t a Marine do for another fox-hole Marine? What won’t a dad do for his son? What won’t our heavenly Father/Mother, God, do for us all? Semper Fi.

Can we survive without faith? Be not deceived.

Drank the whole quart.

Happy Valentine’s Day 2009