From Aqua Java, on Water Street in Corpus Chriti, Texas

I'm doing the coffee shop thing this morning so I can use my laptop, check my moli site, and get my morning fix of coffee.  I'm not a fancy coffee guy, unless you're talking Costa Rican, and then I like that.  My daughter works here, a fill-in job while she waits on renewing her credentials so she can go back into teaching.  Her choice, since she got sick of the restaurant and bar business.  I'm glad . . . at least that's she quitting that business.  I'm not a fan of the teaching profession, though, since I spent 35 years of my life doing that.  Wish I had done something else, but I didn't, and that's life, right?  And that's what this blog is about - life.

First off, if you've got one, be grateful for it . . . even when it turns shitty on you.  If there's anything you learn early from life, it's that all of it ain't just fun and games.  It gets hard sometimes, and even on those days I try to measure up to it.  "OK," I tell myself.  "You're in a world of shit right now, but you're still alive, and you can deal with it."  Good deal, this talking to yourself, and it's always your practical side that speaks up first.  But if you're a sassy ass like me, your complaining side talks back.  "Yeah?  Well, if you think it's fixable, then get your ass out there and fix it.  I'm staying in bed."

Life's a bitch, and then you die, right?  I hate that old saying, but it's sure true sometimes because life can be a bitch.  It's like dealing with nature, the great outdoors, Mother Earth.  Yeah, she's a wonder mother who nurtures us all, takes good care of us . . . but sometimes she turns into a fickle bitch.  Plan a family outing, and you find that out sometimes.  Get caught in a tornado or hurricane, and you really know what a bitch she can be.  But that's not a most of the time deal because she's plenty generous with us a big percentage of the time.  And so is life, if you give it a chance.

Sometimes we forget what life looks like, since it presents so many different views.  That's why I need to come to places like Aqua Java.  Corpus Christi is coming waking up this morning, stretching and yawning and trying to cough up its congestion.  Like ants working a new mound, this place is alive as people scurry around to get to work.  I'm surrounded by business people, those who work in the tall buildings around here . . . and by folks just come in off the street for a morning java.  It must've been a rough night for some of them.  They look like they need a boost, but don't we all?  My boost is getting into the mix, being a part of the mass of humanity trying to deal with life . . . each in his or her own way.

I took my granddaughter Kenzie to school, watched all the scurrying around there as kids piled out of cars and went to class.  I drove across the bay from Portland in bumper to bumper traffic caused by folks trying to get to jobs in Corpus.  Yeah, the city's coming awake, and it's all about people living lives much different from the one I live.  I don't have a steady job these days, retired from that seven years ago.  So why do I need this?  Maybe just because I need a boost, a reminder that I'm still alive . . . and I still have things to do, and some of them are important enough to keep living.

And I don't think about the time when this city will be exactly the same as it is right now . . . still busy and alive with people trying to deal with their personal lives . . . but minus me.  It it won't matter much except to a few people who's lives the ending of mine will impact.  And they too will deal with it, and then go on with their lives.
I'm OK with that, even find comfort in it.  I went down to the valley last night to see grandson Colton play football.  He did well, had a good game, and his papaw was there to see it.  He's just a freshman, and maybe I'll get to see him play as a senior.  He's got big plans.  The stadium was full of people who also had big plans.  Being there reminded me of how important single days are, that I shouldn't waste them.

And . . . I won't.

D. Paz, 10/26?07