Mark239's Journal

There is a breeze today.  A cool breeze from the West coming in off the water.  A comforting breeze skipping across the water and making a slight whistle through the screen before it hits your cheek.  The coffee is hot.  Hotter than usual this morning, it compliments the breeze nicely.  Today is a day for sips, not gulps...... slow, reflective, comforting, sips.  The dogs face the breeze and relax.  They seem different today, perhaps they are reflective too.  Thirty days.  Thirty days now.  Thirty days of reflective sips of coffee, followed by thirty nights.  Different nights now.  Shorter, ...... more quiet ...... just different.

Butch keeps looking back over his shoulder to make sure I'm still there.  "I'm here boy, it's ok", he pauses and then faces the breeze again.  As if to say "just checkin"...... , "just checkin".  "Don't worry, your safe", I tell him.  He worries.  Funny how I can tell.  Sundance, the ever watchful guardian, just keeps his post, he will never fail in his mission to protect.... Underdog, yep, that's him, providing everyone else the ability to just "sip".

Perhaps life is like a chain made of links.  The links represent different times in our lives when we were busy doing the things we do.  But, often the links close, we move on, a new link forms.  Later we hear a song on the radio that was a big hit during a previous link.  It reminds us of where we were, who we were with, and how much has changed.  Perhaps we lived in a different place, different people around us, different direction, different goals.  The song reminds us of how we felt during that link and how far from that link we are today.  But, we are not so far, for they are all connected.  The connections makes up the total of our life.  I doubt that we ever actually notice when one link closes and the other begins.  It is good not to notice, because that means you are growing.  After all, the chain cannot get longer if we do not close the links sometime.  But today I realized that for the first time in my life of links,.... I saw one close right before my eyes.  That was a strong link.  It will never break under any amount of stress or pressure.  It's strength has made the chain that much stronger.  This next link will be a good one, I can tell.  The new link is a better quality of metal, and is being made more purposefully and with greater inspection and quality control.

In every chain of links there is the section that connects them all and leads from one to the next.  The part that touches the front and the back of each link.  That is where we are all connected now.  You have been connected to the chain of my life and provide me strength.

I love you.

Mark