July 9, 2014

g-NAts

Ex-Celsius
     I was curious as to the meaning of 'excelsis' from the hymn "Angels We Have Heard on High." I made the mistake of asking my son and daughter, who both took Latin.
     "It means Fahrenheit," my son said. I looked to my daughter, who just shrugged.
     "It does not mean Fahrenheit," I said.
     "'Ex' means something isn't what it used to be, right? An ex-football player is someone who no longer plays football. Ex-Celsius is something no longer measured in Celsius, so it has to be Fahrenheit."
      "Could be Kelvin," my daughter said.
      "I don't think they had Kelvin back then," my son answered.
      "I'm going to look it up online," I said.

 Today I will do a little research, I will look a little harder for the truth.

 

Smart Bears, Angry Rats

A little faith  75 years from now
          As they were pulling into the garage at Sammy's lab, Olsen's phone chirped. "I can't wait any longer," Gretchen said.  "I have the rings.  You have to decide today if you'll accept them, or if we go our separate ways. "
         Olsen didn't know what to say. The silence lengthened.
        "Please Olsen, we've been together so long, it's not such a big step.  Have a little faith."
         His father had taken a leap of faith.  He had stopped drinking.  Booze had been the most important thing in his life, but he had just stopped.  He had stopped because a stranger at an AA meeting promised him life would get better. 
       Because his father stopped drinking, his mother stopped cheating on him.  No more men leaving by the fire escape. 
      Their marriage was beyond repair.  Olsen had known they were both disappointed, but in the end they became much happier apart than they had been together.  
       And yet, deep down, Olsen wondered if he was doomed to recreate his parents' marriage with Gretchen.  He felt flawed, scarred, and unfit, despite all he had accomplished. 
     Ubutu, who had been sitting next to Olsen in the front seat, whispered, "I have literally put my life in your hands.  I have that much faith in you. Isn't it time you had a little faith in yourself?  You are not your father, and you need not repeat history." 
      "Okay," was all Olsen could manage to say to Gretchen.

Today I will have a little faith in myself, and my ability to break free from the past.

Freebies

I've added a second freebie this week, the Kindle version of Meditations for the First Thirty Days: How not to become roadkill on the highway to recovery.  The Kindle version is available at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

To read Kindle books on a PC or Mac, you can download a free app at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311

Coming Soon

Past postings from g-NAts and Smart Bears, Angry Rats!