Nuts

We had some stale peanuts sitting around the house that I threw out in the yard figuring the critters could use them on a cold winter's day. Why waste food?

This picture makes my backyard look big. It isn't. The Mrs. and I own, or rather are able to make monthly mortgage payments on a small chunk of New York City dirt with mid-twentieth century 2 bedroom ranch with a fully finished basement planted on it. It isn't big. It isn't impressive. It is enough.

We had lunch with my oldest sister today. She was lamenting the fact that our aunt who passed away on Election Day at the age of 70 opted for cremation. She said "there's no marker to let anyone know she was ever on the planet, and isn't that a shame." I said it wasn't, that a marker doesn't matter, blah blah you know the usual philosophical BS.

Then we talked about how the decoration of our parents' and grandmothers' graves were going this fine Christian/Pagan celebratory time of year. The Mrs. and I handle most of the seasonal decorations of those plots with flower planting etcetera because you see, I believe the marker doesn't matter. Nothing like consistency in one's beliefs, eh?

Andy Breckman once said, and I'm paraphrasing, "Follow me around and I'll give you a quarter for every inconsistency you find in what I say." I suspect someone would make a ton of money if they followed me around. Oh how I envy those who are intellectually pure, consistent and morally sound. I bet one of you are reading this right now. I salute you because you've obviously got it figured out, buttoned up, and squared away. You know that if you behave in the proper fashion, good things will happen to you. Hard work pays off. A penny saved is a penny earned. God watches out for all his creatures. Any bad thing that happens to you is part of The Master Plan. Any windfall that you experience is deserved, for you have worked hard and acted justly.

If you are a human and achieve success, it is because you deserve it for whatever reason. It is not, repeat not because you were lucky enough to be born with some kind of marketable talent or because you were in the right place at the right time or because your family has the right kind of friends. And if you are one of God's little creatures, you survive because you have been made properly by your creator and you have behaved properly for your species. It is not, repeat not, just dumb luck because you happen to live near a creature that had some stale food to throw out.

Not at all.