Beautiful Summer Days

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My beautiful wife turned to me the other day and said:

"Do you know that you're very opinionated?"

"Is that a revelation?" I asked. "After however the hell many years, you're just learning that?"

"No, I've always known it," she said as she laughed. "I just want you to know that you aren't always right."

"That, right there, is bullshit!" I said.

My most recent opinion, however, is that life is better when the sun is shining. Perhaps it is becoming closer to the time when I will get the hell out of Buffalo when the cold winds start blowing. It's a tired cliche that old birds fly to the south for the winter, but I definitely know why.

Last night I was driving back from North Collins. My brother John and I had spent a couple of hours mowing Mom's lawn and just sitting and chatting with Mom. It had been a great visit that left me thinking that 'nothing feels better than blood on blood.'

The sun was sinking low and they sky was flashing streaks of orange as I traveled back. A dynamic, hypnotic picture. David Gray on the I-pod...life seemingly calm for a few moments.

One of those passing feelings that, 'It ain't all bad.'

But I'd found an empty can of Copenhagen snuff in Dad's barn. I had been with Jeff when he tossed it up towards the rafters and missed. He'd been telling me a story about his kids.

The can laid there, undiscovered until I picked it up last night. The date on the back of the can is July of 2008. I will carry it with me now for some reason.

The summer sky was awesome last night.

I tried to hold onto the moment. I've been missing a lot of people in my family lately.

Holding moments is all we can do sometimes.

That's just my opinion.

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