Beware:The T-shirt Logo

For those of us who are a little slow on the get go, I would like to comment concerning the ever popular T-shirt. Apparently suppliers think that the demanders want to wear vague...or blantant...sexual suggestions across our chests. As I searched the shelves at Bluenotes, it was with much glee that I found some rare patriotic and provinciotic (new word!) cotton wears for my Canadian comrads in Bolivia. A bright yellow flashed before my eyes, snagging it with one hand, I was even more gleed (another new word!) to see that it had a reference to Saskatchewan cow farmers..perfect for my friend originating from those parts! Proudly bearing my finds (a two for one deal at that!!) to the counter, I finalized the purchase. A secondary perusal of the product caused me to notice that in the middle of the shirt was a large bull stud, encircled with the words "Master Breeder" since some 1900 date. Well now, that carries certain implications...don't you think?
Maybe it's just me in my naivety, after all I did innocently organize a bridal shower game which involved placing a carrot between one's knees and passing it in a circle as it was sliced shorter and shorter (if you can't imagine it, I happen to have it on tape.) Still, I think the producers of the common cotton T-shirt should show us with our minds OUT of the gutter a little respect, no? Or maybe they really think the amarilla camisa (yellow shirt) was a pure promotion of Saskatchewan beef?

A Loaded Question

I've been telling a lot of lies the past few days. I don't want to, but I get the feeling that the people posing the question don't really want the extended answer. Besides, I'm not even sure if I could return a completely honest response to their inquiry. Instead, I give the obligatory reply and we go on with our lives. In unspoken agreements around the Western world, lightweight answers are given to loaded questions every second of the day.

I appear to be calm and confident. Truthfully, God grants me this unearthly sense of serenity as I slip down His slides and climb His ladders. Moving to Bolivia, I am brimming with anticipation. Pressing on, I strain my neck to see what awaits me. I am the yellow marker, sitting near the fold of the boardgame.

Yellow is the hue of fear and cowards. I do not live by a spirit of fear, but I do live through moments of it. Pain punches my core as I ponder the separation from neices and nephews. Tears terrorize my composure when I wonder too long over the "what if's" of certain relationships. Lingering too long in any of these prickly places, draws my knees to the floor, begging God to restore in me a serene spirit.

No surprise that the reply to "How are you?" is reduced to "Good." and "No complaints." Our real response is normally reserved for a few. Why am I posting my heavyweight answer to a loaded question on a public blog? I suppose I tire of semi-truths. So, tell me, how are you?!

Dog-tired

After travelling all over the kingdom of south western Ontario these past three weeks, my eyes have that dry desire to drown themselves in Visine. Not that visiting friends and family residing in random parts of this province has been unenjoyable, it has been a gift to be able to gab about what's going on in our lives. It's funny how facing a two year absence from people's lives creates a panicked attempt to touch base with as many of them as I possibly can before I fly out for Bolivia this Tuesday.
Really, I should be plastered to my pillow right now, but instead I'm revelling in the newness of Blog. I'm sure the thrill will dwindle once I realize that this type of thing demands attention and maintenance if it's to thrive....kind of like relationships.
I guess that's why I bombed all over in my classy '91 Honda Civic with a hole in the muffler and a leak in the gas tank....I wanted to bottle up the thrill of having incredible people in Canadian spaces before I head south to revel in new individuals and friends yet unmet.

What the hey am I doing?

I'm sitting in a foreign chair at a foreign computer, initiating myself into the world of Blog. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am certain that as I continue to travel into this new territory that it will all become very clear...I hope.