Results of Ruminations

Moments of mortality strike in ways that we rarely anticipate. While terminal diseases or the advancement of age can give a person the opportunity to prepare for the final departure, too often it happens abruptly and shockingly. A coworker of mine came close to losing his life in March when he was struck by a truck whilst riding his motorcycle. As he's said since then, one gains a new perspective on the priorities of life when that happens, and things that supposedly mattered turned out to not matter nearly so much. On Facebook yesterday, the sad new came to my attention that one of my high school friends, Dylan Thornton was killed in an accident on I-15, the interstate that connects the state from its Idaho border down to its southern extremes. I was never particularly close to Dylan, but he was definitely within my broader circle of friends. Back in the late nineties, we spent a number of evenings together. We made jokes in class. We were part of each other's dance groups...

This last week, my family and I went to Anaheim in order to worship at the Altar of the Great Mouse. We had a lovely time, visiting both Disney Parks for a couple of days each. My youngest is four years old and hadn't been to Disneyland yet, so it was enjoyable to see how excited he was to see the parks. We managed to squeeze in a viewing of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2  before the trip, so he was particularly happy at the frequent banners showing off Baby Groot. My seven-year-old was only disappointed when we went on "slow rides" (which, I guess, would be like Pinocchio or Snow White?) because he is--and I didn't know this--a roller-coaster fiend. Big thrills are big for him, apparently. Additionally, he lost a tooth while there, which not many people can claim. Lastly, my oldest (he's 10 now), simply loved the whole thing--except for leaving and when we got after him for breaking his friend's wheelchair (my son has half a heart, so we put him in a wheelch...