The Candle Burns With Without Pause

 

   Shine, shine as brightly as you can

                                      Time seems to crawl when you're in your prime

               But that's only due to you aching for a future that has yet to happen

                               Each and everyday you grow closer to the end

                                               An end that happens whenever it chooses to

   You have no say in the matter

                           It happens when it happens

                                              You can waste the time you're allotted 

                       Complaining, worrying, whining, regretting, knotted

                                       Or you can live like you mean it

   Unafraid, joyful and in the moment

                                          For the moment is all you really have

 

A Specific And Well Defined Though Notoriously Difficult To Comprehend Statement

 

Delicious Irony Found On A Sunday Morning Stroll Through The Neighborhood

   Picked up a copy of "The Seven Principles For Making Marriage Work" by John M. Gottman (PhD) at a divorce sale this weekend. 

   Not because I'm in a struggling marriage (I'm not married) or am planning to get married (I'm not planning to get married), but because I'm curious as to what a twice-divorced (three-times married - third time must be the charm) psychologist (and professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington) has to write about keeping the magic in a marriage.

   Plus, I couldn't resist the irony of purchasing such a book at a divorce sale. 

Sculptures Seen At Fickel Park In Berthoud, Colorado

   Stopped in the small (but growing - the population has doubled in the last 10 years or so) town of Berthoud, Colorado and noticed that there was a sculpture park located between Mountain Ave and Massachusetts Ave, between 6th and 7th streets.

   Except it's not designated a sculpture park as such, it's Fickel park, and it has a few sculptures placed in it (on the Mountain Ave side of the park).

   I took pictures of all the sculptures and they are posted here:

Colorful Glass Mosaic Piece on Pedestal, No Attribution Found 

                                          Harley's Dream, Cast Bronze Sculpture by Helen Violet

                                       Walrus & Calf, Cast Bronze Sculpture by Dellores Shelledy

                                  Old Gold Tooth, Cast Bronze Sculpture by R.B. "Doc" Fickel

                                    Mt Mariah, Cast Bronze Sculpture by R.B. "Doc" Fickel

                                           Panzon, Cast Bronze Sculpture by Dan Ostermiller

                                              Carved Tree Stump, No Attribution Found

There's Getting Dumped & Then There's Getting Erased

    Ah, Valentine's Day, the one day a year that florists, chocolatiers, and greeting card manufacturers (not to mention restaurants, independent high-class and so-so class chain joints alike) all rejoice in the sudden swelling of their coffers.

   Not to put too much of a cynical spin on it.

   There are millions and millions of people all over the world (something like a hundred countries celebrate some version of Valentine's Day - in Latin America, it's known as Dia del Amor y la Amistad) expressing their affections towards someone on Valentine's Day. 

   With so much participation around the globe, one is somewhat forced to lend it some credence as a bonafide celebration of romantic love, eh?

   However, there are those who disdain the blatant commercialization and abhor the societal pressure that is placed upon individuals to flamboyantly display/express their affections towards their mate/significant other/sorta serious friend/frequent but casual hook-up. 

   And then there are those who are not involved with another on any interpersonal level whatsoever, romantic, casual, or pay-as-you-go. Those people really have it rough (that is, according to the small sample of my circle of friends and acquaintances who fit into that demographic they do - heck, according to most of them it's the worst day of the year, period). 

   Those people are fairly vociferous about how much they despise the holiday.

    The ones who have it even worse than them though? Gotta be those who have recently gone through a break-up, amiable, amicable, or otherwise. Even if the break-up was a long time coming, the first Valentine's Day afterward has got to be just a little more than irksome.

    Especially if the end of the relationship was so bad one or the other parties involved had to take a chisel to the initial that was preserved with their partners in cement, encircled by a heart as a statement of their eternal devotion.

   Sometimes even being etched in stone isn't a guarantee.

Warm Winter Afternoon Hike

    Unusually Warm Winter for the Denver area this year. No complaints from me though, makes taking an afternoon hike much more pleasant.

The Texan Who Relocated To Colorado But Still Misses Home

 

   Cannot decide which is funnier, the steer horns mounted on the hood or the placard hanging from the rearview mirror.

   I suppose it doesn't matter, because whoever is driving this car is definitely winning.