Who would of thunk? (June 2008)

A week ago I was driving down a Wisconsin county road with 8 chickens, a 2 year old singing "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and my gorgeous wife of 13 years while watching a lightning storm in the distance with a Brewer's game on the radio.

I can not believe I just wrote that. I am 36 years old and never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the person driving that car would be me.

I am reading David James Duncan's "My Life as Told by Water." It is filled with essays about the environment, rivers and living. What strikes me is the theme, or current, of humility. Who am I in this giant, beautiful world? Two hundred years from now my existence will be forgotten. The creek, once the size of the Clackamas River, will still flow, giant oaks will continue to grow and drop their acorns and the bald eagles will still teach their young how to catch trout and turtles.

This does not make me sad or depressed but grateful and humble. I am thankful for this wonder and amazement. To have a loving wife, a healthy, smart and funny son, a home filled with projects, ideas and challenge is a pure blessing I never dreamed. Would I have become the man driving the car described above with prescribed plans and control for what is right? I do not think so. Am I now losing my humility?

Yet, why do I still have a hard time stopping, but rather I run around like a chicken with my head cut-off (no offense to the hens in the back seat)? How do I keep the humility and wonder so many more great things can happen? Experiences, ideas and events that I would never imagine being.

Jay