Thinkin...

I like the Movie Forrest Gump, and not just cause I know people in it... wink wink. lol
One of the things that I find Delightful about the movie is the way it throws everything on its head and puts it all into perspective.
Here is a guy who we would all consider to be well challenged. but he has lived a life some could only dream of.
He met, what, three presidents; lived during the 60's, saw Desegregation, met John Lennon, He was a celebrity, he is rich, he served in Vietnam, and so on. o.k. o.k. I know he was a fictional character, but think about the example anyway.
When he starts telling "Jenny" about his experiences it was the creation of God's that he remembered.

He waxed nostalgic about the beauty, the way the moon would shine when he was in Vietnam and the clouds would open, or the sun setting at sea, or a reflection of a mountain in a clear Colorado lake.

I think we all could benefit from things like that.
last night as I was sitting in the van I use at work I watched the lightning of a distant storm. I saw another storm do the same thing the night before. and it was beautiful. There are no words to describe it.

I got to thinking about Forrest and what he might think. then I started thinking about the things I have been through, and you know it was easy, once I tried, to think of many beautiful things I have seen.

I remember...
in Boot I saw an Amazing thunderstorm one night when I was on fire watch.
I saw a comet early in the morning blazing in the sky as we stood at attention waiting for our Drill seargent to start us doing calisthenics.
I saw the sky turn green when a storm cell came in.
and I felt the cool drizzle of a soft rain on my face the day we had to go through the gas chamber. (and believe me I appreciated it!)

I might actually be hard pressed to remember the tough things, but those came easily to my mind when I tried.

Or how about when I was a boy watching the Dust storms in AZ coming in the awe of the forces involved there. the time I was on the Country Club overpass and saw the edge of a hail/rain storm not 6 feet away never getting wet, I was actually standing in total sunlight, watching the hail viciously pound the roadway beside me and the rain soak it.
I remember the quiet peace of a balmy night as I tried to help my Aunt Cathy (who is ten years older than me) find bugs for her high school project, and listening to the soft sounds of the crickets chirping. (that sound still brings me peace today)

Or the time Bob, my mom and I all went on a vacation in Colorado and we were driving along early in the morning. I saw the sun start lighting up the landscape and the wonder I felt at watching the dark melt to grey then the colors came blazing out.

I remember the way the sky turned red when I was on fire runs and the smoke would billow up and block the light, and I remember standing on the side of a hill in the middle of the night watching the glow of a forest fire as it approached my bus (while we were trying to get it unstuck)It was beautiful to see though it could have been deadly.
Other thoughts that came were the way the moon would light the Grand canyon when it was full, the Aspen trees north of Flagstaff turning yellow, going out cutting firewood with my wife and brother in law, midnight snow falls(especially when sitting in an outdoor hot tub), and the bright sunny days of my youth when the grass would be greener than the brightest Emerald and the sky was so blue it hurt to look at it.

Those are the things to think about I think.