Sweet Sweat

Normally I don't like being sticky, hot and dripping. (Wow! That sounds like a gloriously sticky sweet roll right out of the oven...) However, my first thought was that typical humid Michigan summers have their downsides. Doing any kind of outdoor work in mid-summer results in a clothes-soaking, dust-and-dirt-sticking, disheveled appearance.

I recently found myself in this state just as a storm hit and took out the electricity for seven hours. That meant that for the rest of the day I was waiting, hoping, trusting that the power would return so that I could shower and relieve myself of the grime and itchy film of filth all over my body. It was not to be. The power stayed off and the time approached when I was really going to have to do something to get cleaned up. I had a dinner engagement that I didn't want to miss. Fortune was on my side. A unexpected visit from a friend on the other side of town, the side with electricity, provided me with the answer. I packed up a change of clothes and went to her house and was cleaned up with time to spare.

One of the greatest pleasures in life is warm, clean water flowing over a tired, muddy body. You can be exhausted, sure that you have no strength left for anything. But the refreshment of that water rejuvenates and energizes and relaxes. You come out of that bath feeling like a human being again. I'm tempted to get distracted with all the baptismal symbols here, but I don't want to go there just now. The main thing I want to say is that hard work--getting sweaty, dirty and worn out--has rewards. You can see the product of your labors and look forward to the blissful shower to come. That is the sweetness of getting sweaty.

Roaming Home

Travel is stimulating. We anticipate it with enthusiasm and reminisce our wanderings with longing to return. While roaming the country or traveling abroad, we admire what we may never see again and indulge in pleasures because they are distant from home and attractive because unfamiliar.

When roughing it, what would be a major nuisance at home becomes a rustic adventure. When taking in the city high life, the deafening hustle-bustle and stench of transportation fumes becomes the life pulse of sophistication and culture.

I heard a lecture in college about vacations. It was a natural resources class intended to help students understand how to design and enhance a national park for maximum vacation satisfaction. I've never forgotten several points. They explained how emotions impact vacation. Anticipation rises as the departure time nears. Pleasure has an early peak right after beginning a trip and then settles into a contented plateau. When nearing the destination excitement begins to rise again. The point of the lecture was learning how to design a facility or park to keep the excitement level at high enough peaks and plateaus that the visitor leaves feeling successful about the experience.

What I don't remember about it is when the allure of home kicks in. When does that desire peak and plateau? Can you quantify the longing and relief when home comes in sight?

I love vacations. I anticipate them, get immersed in them, and hope for them to last. But once I'm packed to leave, heading for the turf I know best, I'm also glad to be roaming home.

Can't Take It

Wider and wider,

sipping hard cider,

My eyes begin to pop.

Warmer and warmer,

My cheeks are the warner--

It's time for me to stop.

Scrambling for a Win?

My top ten tips for being a good Scrabble player:

1. Always look to see which colored tiles are reachable.

2. Always check every word on the board to see if one letter can be added to the front or end of it.

3. Always check before you finish your play to see what you are opening up for your opponent.

4. Make plays parallel to words as much as possible so you get scores going in several directions.

5. Don't assume your opponent can spell, won't try to fake a word, or won't challenge you.*

6. Try to play people that are better than you as much as possible.

7. Don't complain about your tiles unless your opponent complains first. Let him/her start the whining. If you have poor tiles, either swap or shut up. A good player can tell when his/her opponent is working with crap.

8. Between games read a lot, and have a dictionary on hand to look up words. You can never have a good enough stock pile of words.

9. Big is not always better. Short words with big scores are just fine. Impress me with the bottom line--unless you use all your tiles and get a BINGO.

10. It doesn't hurt, especially at the end of the game, to keep track of which tiles have been played and what letters are left. In a close game, it can make the difference between a win or loss.

11. (A bonus tip!) Never assume in the first two-thirds of the game that you are too far ahead to be beaten. Cockiness leads to less aggressive playing. Next thing you know, you'll be scrambling to stay on top.

*Does not apply to the facebook version of Scrabble, which is why I really hate it. I also hate it because it accepts lots of phony words like XI, QI, and ZA to make people who are lousy players feel better, and to make good players lazy. Did that push anyone's buttons? (Hope so.)

Breaking up (a habit) is hard to do...

What is the difference between a good and bad habit?

1. A good one is hard to start, and a bad one is hard to stop.

2. A good one is undermined by good intentions, while a bad one is what is doing the undermining.

3. A good one may have few immediate rewards, while a bad one usually punishes us somehow.

4. A good one doesn't come naturally, while a bad one takes little effort to maintain because it is a habit...

Springtime Tanager

With vermilion plumage and jet-black wings,

You make my art-starved spirit sing:

A canvas splashed with brilliant hues

Of scarlet, chartreuse, and azure blues.

Perched among the fuschia flowers,

A redbud refuge is your bower

Against a clear and cloudless expanse

Of the bluest blue. I stand entranced.

All afternoon you come and go

Keeping me company as I work below

To dig and weed and cultivate

A beauteous Eden I long to create.

Suspended License

I know how it feels

when you lose your wheels,

'cause I'll be the one who provides

all your needed rides.