A Touch of Fatigue and Cautiously Optimistic News

A wonderful thing happened this morning.  I woke up and was granted another sunrise.

Anacostia River Morning with the USS Barry

I also finally received the news that Mr. C is out of surgery and as far as anyone knows things have gone as well as can be expected.  This experience has convinced me that announcing major medical procedures on Facebook is not something that I'll be pursuing for myself.  It does have the advantage of speed in getting the word disseminated quickly, but I would be lying if I didn't admit to a little anxiety associated with the waiting leading up to the latest report.  Not for me, but I understand why people might want to do things this way.

I am tired.  The half marathon average days are taking their toll.  Fortunately, I'm not really dealing with any muscle or joint fatigue, but more of an overall sense of energy expended and want to take about a five hour nap tomorrow morning after I wake up for first breakfast kind of tired.

Being tired is not a bad feeling.  Actually, it imparts a sense of accomplishment, but I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open right now.  I'll take that as a sign from the universe to get some rest.  Once again, I'm looking forward to the hope of another day tomorrow to be given the opportunity of putting some more miles under my feet.

Contemplating Mortality and the Role of Prayer

Today, the sun rose on the Anacostia River just as it has from the beginnings of the sun and the river occupying the same general area of space and time.

Sunrise on the Anacostia

Like every other sunrise before it, observed from this spot in space and time, this one was a unique gift that I had the privilege of witnessing.  If I am granted the gift of living to be one hundred and twenty years old, I will have been gifted the opportunity to witness an sunrise that is similar to this one, but totally unique 43.380 times.  That is really not that many sunrises, and I've expended over a quarter of them already.

I'm thinking about mortality because today I worked my way through most of the TED Talks that have been categorized as being related to death, and I received a request for prayer for a friend of mine's father who will be facing multiple bypass surgery tomorrow.

As for my choice to listen to educated people speak on the topic of death, I really have no real explanation other than I'm beginning at the front of the alphabetical index of TED Talks and listening to all of the talks that have an audio only recording in a given area that strikes my curiosity.  I've worked my way up to the letter 'D' so far and this is the next topic to draw my attention. The talks, like all TED Talks I've listened to so far are mostly interesting and always thought provoking. The general theme is one of finding a better way of accepting the normal process of mortality and a number of arguments about why and how this can be approached.

The prayer request, given the potential seriousness of the procedure that my friend's father is facing tomorrow seemed to mesh with the overall theme.  Honestly, I don't know how to respond to these calls for supernatural intervention when they come across social media like Facebook. I can't bring myself to push the "like" radio button, but I do feel compelled to reach out to my friend or acquaintance in response to their request that I entreat a higher power in support of their request for help. It's at this point, the point of wanting to respond, but not quite knowing what to say that I become a bit stuck.

Today, the request said, "Friend, my daddy will have multiple bypass a 6 tomorrow morning. Please pray for him and my mom!"  This request as of this writing has gotten 63 "likes" and 60 "comments."  One of the comments is mine, and I certainly didn't hit the "like" radio button, so I don't quite know what to make of those numbers. I ended up replying with "Done" although that leaves me a little cold and distant.

Part of my problem is that I have come to believe that prayer (and meditation) really represents an effort to grow closer to a higher power whose will is shaping the broad trends of our lives. I believe that the journey we are all called to in one fashion or the other is bringing our own will into alignment with the will of the greater power that surrounds us and having the strength and knowledge to glimpse and carry out the purpose that is laid before us by doing the next right thing moment by moment. I believe that seeking to understand the will of the greater power and having the strength and fortitude to play my small role in in the creation of that purpose is about the only thing that I should ask of that power. Anything more is probably an attempt to manifest my own will on a situation that far exceeds my ability to shape. This belief that prayer for knowledge and strength only is in conflict with my own will to shelter my friend for the pain of possible unwanted outcomes.  That's why I don't know how to respond. I don't know how to say that surrender is the only way I've found effective a coping with the fear and anxiety that this sort of situation can generate.

My friend, their daddy, and their mom are in my thoughts tonight. I want very fervently for things to work out successfully tomorrow in that operating room, and Mr. C to be granted some more sunrises to witness. I hope that I'm granted a sunrise or two in order to bear witness to the outcome. I hope that whatever may come finds my friend surrounded by love because that will make whatever comes better.

Standard Sunday

I used the walk this morning to head out to the mother-in-law's house and see how she was faring.  She'd gotten new glasses, modified a kitchen cabinet that I did not notice, and had me help her walk the dogs.  I also participated in the troubleshooting of an electrical switch and narrowed the problem down to the the time function of the switch and suggested what I hope is a safe way to continue to use the fixture until she can get the timer portion of the switch replaced.  In other words, a pretty standard Sunday.

This afternoon, I headed out for a shorter walk around my usual haunts, and I was able to capture some pretty nifty photos of the sky and shoreline being reflected in the still water of a local creek.

College Creek on a very still day

Today was the coldest day that we've had up to this point this winter.  It was certainly colder earlier in February, but for this round, the clear sky coupled with an arctic advance and dropped the temperature this morning to around 22 degrees Fahrenheit. The air stayed pretty chilly all day, but thankfully there was little wind as the glass calm water demonstrates.

College Creek Sunset

Though not the most spectacular sunset I've seen, I was struck by the number of contrails that appeared in this photo.  I count at least ten, and it's possible that I missed one or two of these aviation ghosts.  Lot's of folks headed out on travel to kick off the holiday season, I suppose.

Overall another great day with new and wonderful things to experience.