I can see him standing there in the sunlight. He is my creator.
He is the one who helped bring me into this world. He is my first hero. He is my introduction to manhood and mentor, leader, teacher and Father.
I can see him standing in the sunlight and looking out from the shoreline.
The sun is beaming down on him. He has salt and pepper hair that is being swept by the wind.
It is summertime. I am young in this vision; however, as I look at him through my youthful memory, I look at him through the eyes of the man I am today.
I want to go back.
I want to tell him.

I said goodbye to organized religions a few years back.
Then again, I never said goodbye to my beliefs nor have I forgotten the traditions I was raised with. I have not forgotten the customs of my background or my heritage either.
In fact, I go through different holidays in my own way. I have my own regard for the spirit of the seasons.

For example, there is something called the Days of Awe, which are the days before the New Year and the Day of Atonement. This was something I was brought up with.
I go through this every year; however, my days of awe are not the same as the ones that take place during the High Holy Days.

It is warm for this time of year. December, I mean.
Perhaps this side of purgatory is expecting a mild winter. But who knows?
The idols we cherish have all but sworn off their poisons and to this day, I still can’t understand the how’s or why’s of life as it stands before me. However, I am fully aware that it has taken me 18,723 days to get to where I am. Nothing is so accidental anymore, at least not really.

Today is Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24, 2023.
I say this and I also understand this might be obvious to you or to someone else out there in the universe who might choose to read this entry.
At the same time, I want to recognize the date.
I want to recognize the time and the weather, which is currently gray and, for now, the streets are mainly quiet. My little side of suburbia is modest and the streets are mainly uneventful at the moment.

There are so many variables that we deal with in life. There are the daily things that happen. There’s work. There’s the people we interact with. Then there are the unexpected casualties and the unforeseen tragedies. There’s love or the lack thereof. There’s friends and then there are the friends we have who weren’t really friends at all. There is a bit of everything under the rainbow down here on Project Earth.
There’s life happening. All day and every day. 

It is the time of year where all around us is dressed in holiday lights. It’s Christmas time. While this is a time for hope and a time for giving, there are people who do not share the same sentiment or find the same enjoyment for this time of year.
And I get it. . .
I really do.

It’s true. The world is a crazy place. Everyone is crazy. Then again, maybe this is a good thing, to be crazy, I mean.
Maybe crazy is only a relative term. That could be true.
I say crazy but when I do, I do not mean crazy in a derogatory sense or to demean or degrade us as certifiable.
I do not mean this as if to say that any of us are out of sorts, or worthy of a straightjacket, or in need of some quiet time in a rubber room.
Well . . . maybe sometimes.

This one here . . .
This one is from the heart.
So, by now, we have talked about finding the little things which make us happy.
We’ve talked about the greatest finds in our life, such as unexpected money in our pockets and other things like that. We talked about the unexpected pleasures of being reminded of happy times. We talked about love.
We talked about navigation and how to maneuver through this crazy life of ours.
Wild, isn’t it?

Ah, the Mother. There she is.
The Great Almighty, Mother Earth, The Universe, The Powers that be. Or, to whomever this may concern.
These are the hands of fate which sew the world, like eyelets to a shoe and bring us together. All of this is done through a vehicle which we call fate and destiny.
It’s all out there.