I was recently back in North Dakota. Yes, I know, we all make fun of that state. Even those who have roots there! But we drove by this slough, an ugly word for a surprisingly pretty place. It was more of a small lake, really. There were strange, misshapen, oblong buoys on the the water. One of them swung around slowly in the light wind and I realized that it was a pelican. Suddenly, I could see dozens of them, dotted across the water, way back to the reeds and cattails on the shore. Goofy, ungainly looking things, floating on the surface. Then, one reached out with angled wings and began to beat, moving across the water, the orangey head and beak with it's wattle of skin hanging down. Within moments, it changed from ungainly to oddly graceful. It flew just above the gray water, wrinkled by the moving air, and below the gray sky. I wondered if the fish were afraid.

Why me?

Rhetorical questions abound. I don't know why me, I just know that much of the last 1 1/2 years defies the most stable among us to question, why me? Maybe the question really should be, why NOT me. After all, no one goes through the journey untouched. How boring. I'm big on quotes and movie lines and books. So much from "reality" can be reduced to a one liner from somewhere. Madeliene L'Engle wrote that scar tissue is the strongest in the body. And someone else wise once said that "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." Well, I'm not dead yet, but there are some days that some of those around me, may not make it through the day! I'm KIDDING. Sort of. No, really.

You may see poetry, ramblings, photos, or primal screams on here. Good luck to you if you can make sense of me!