Of Snakes and Earthquakes...Helping Haiti

How we deal with the challenges in this world helps to determine what kind of person we are. When everything is going along as expected, life is easy. We can breeze through our days without so much as a second thought. For a while, most of us can get away with that. The universe, though, has a way of setting everything into balance.

When I was young, we didn't have indoor plumbing. One of the realities of this was that I would have to help my parents pack water from a little stream around the hill from our house. I would walk through the woods on a little path that ran from our house to the stream.

Now, I knew that path really well because we packed a LOT of water. I would just wander through the woods, hopping on rocks and kicking leaves, because I had done it several times before. I didn't really think about any hidden dangers.

Well, one day, we were walking around to get some water, and I was doing my usual "I'm playing in the woods and not paying attention" dance. All of a sudden the biggest snake I had ever seen in my life darted out from between some rocks that I was standing on. It may have been the shock of seeing that snake unexpectedly or it may have been that I was just a kid...but that snake looked like it was big enough to swallow me whole! This was years before that Anaconda movie!

So what happened? Did I give up and run crying back home? Did I just freeze on that rock and not move? Well...yeah, I froze for a second or two. And then, I realized that the woods weren't that safe to just be mindlessly wandering around in. There are hidden dangers! Now truth be told, that snake was probably more afraid of me than I was of it. But, it did make me more aware of the dangers in the woods. I was more aware of my surroundings.

But...I knew that we had to get water. I couldn't just quit. I had to keep going. So, I did. I was just more careful. Now did this mean that I was never careless anymore? Of course not! Human nature is weird that way. We get careless. It is almost like we need that "snake in the woods" to come into our lives every now and then to scare us back on the right path....doesn't it?

Right now, there is a major catastrophe going on in Haiti. The earthquake that happened on January 12th has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and even more injured. People are homeless. People do not have the basic necessities of life such as food, water, clothing, or medical care. This is a true tragedy...a world tragedy.

Now some people might say that we shouldn't even bother helping Haiti. Their government is corrupt and the money that is flowing over there will probably end up in the pockets of government officials. Other people might ask the question, "What did Haiti ever do for us?" It is true that Haiti seems like a small, insignificant country that we can choose to ignore if we wish. It doesn't have power and influence in the world economy.

Other people might point out that we shouldn't be bothering with Haiti right now because we have problems of our own right here in America. Don't we have poverty? Don't we have homelessness? Don't we have people who can't afford medical care? If we have all of these things here in America, why bother with Haiti? Let's take care of our own.

But...let's think again. These are people....people (whether some in our world want to acknowledge it or not) who are just like us. They are people who had lives. They are people who had families. They are people who had plans for the future.

A child crying over her lost parents doesn't care about race. She doesn't care about politics. She sure doesn't care about the world economy. But if a warm blanket and some clean water can help in some small way, shouldn't we try to get her that? In comparison, I'm sure that she would rather have her parents back and not have to rely on world charity...but the reality of things makes that an impossibility. The world happens. We can choose to react...or we can remain frozen in place.

I would hope that we, as a human race, can overlook country borders....can overlook race.....can overlook politics. These things seem to just muddy the waters of common sense and common decency. When people are hurting, we should do what we can to help. Does this mean that we are forgetting our own problems at home? No....it does not. What it does mean is that we are broadening our view of humanity. What makes us different from the beasts of the field is our ability to have compassion for our fellow man. We need to do what we can...however small it may be...to help in any way that we can.

Just like that snake in the woods that made me stop and think, this earthquake has brought (once again) a sense of chaos to the world. Things aren't always going to go as expected. Yes...sometimes there are monsters underneath the bed! But we can work together to help bring a little order to the world. We can do what we just know....deep down inside...is the right thing to do. And we don't need celebrities on television to tell us this. We don't need anyone telling us what to do in this situation. We already know what to do. And hopefully we are doing it.

Until next week...class dismissed!

Holiday Travels

Hey everyone! Sorry that I haven't had an article in a few weeks. Time is a slippery substance that has a way of flowing away if you don't keep careful track of it! If we aren't careful, we can just hop into our little boats that we've built for ourselves and just flow right on through life without really noticing! How scary is that?

It has been a wild couple of months for the wife and I. Not ones to let moss grow under our feet, we have been busy traveling to different places in the world. Over Thanksgiving, we took a Carnival Cruise down to Key West, FL and to the Bahamas. If you have been reading this little article of mine in years past, you know that Lisa and I love to travel during Thanksgiving. It is a great time to travel because we are off from school and travel is surprisingly cheap during this time. This year, we didn't fly anywhere because airfare prices suddenly went sky high...pardon the pun! A cruise was an affordable alternative. Plus...we had never gone on a cruise, so it was a new experience for us.

Arriving at the port, we were so excited to see our ship, the Carnival Fascination. I was surprised at the amount of security that we had to go through to get onboard the ship. It was almost as tight as the security at the airports! After about an hour in line, we got our Sign and Sail cards and boarded the ship. In case you have never cruised before, the ship is a totally cash free environment. Almost everything (meals, most drinks, entertainment, room, etc.) is included in the cost of the cruise. However, if you want to purchase anything extra (massages, specialty drinks, bingo tickets, etc.) then you don't use cash. Instead, you use your Sign and Sail card which is tied electronically to a credit or debit card. This same card is also the key to your room and can also be used to open and lock the safe that is in your room. It is a truly amazing thing. I never had to worry about packing any cash on me while I was on the ship.

Our room on the ship was very nice. I was picturing a small, cramped space. However, our room was a lot larger than I expected. It was an outside room, meaning we had a window that looked out onto the ocean while we were cruising. That was very nice. It had a king sized bed, flat panel television, small table, chair, dresser with large mirror, lots of closet and drawer space, and a small bathroom with shower. I was very impressed with the large size of the room. I read somewhere that the rooms on the Carnival ships were a little larger than on other ships. I haven't sailed on any other ships, so I can't personally make a judgment on that. However, I can say the rooms on the ship were nice.

Speaking of size, the Carnival Fascination was HUGE! This 12-story ship had just about everything that one could imagine. It was like a floating resort. In addition to rooms for over 2,0000 guests, it had several amenities such as a mini-golf park, walking track, two swimming pools, three hot tubs, water slide, casino, dance clubs, lounges, piano bar, coffee shops, sushi bar, theater for live shows, two dining rooms, pool grill, and informal buffet. The grand atrium in the middle of the ship was breathtaking! Several stories of open space was filled with twinkling lights and glass elevators that whisked you to different floors on the ship. Piano music filled the air with joyous sounds as Lisa and I marveled at the true beauty and splendor of this space.

If you have ever heard people talk about cruising before, you have probably heard them talk about the food! And I have to say...the food was simply amazing! An overeater's dream, the ship featured food that was available 24 hours a day. There was the informal buffet that was open from morning to night, a 24 hour pizzeria, 24 hour ice cream machine, 24 hour deli, sushi bar, coffee shops, and a pool grill that served food all day long. There were also two formal dining rooms were you could be waited on hand and foot. They would bring you anything on the menu...and as much of it as you wanted. For example, one night I ordered the lobster and prime rib. It was so good that I ordered another one. I know....I know....I shouldn't have. But it was vacation. Of course, I'm paying for all that now! Back to the old diet! LOL! I can't leave this little talk about food though without mentioning that there was also 24 hour room service available. They would literally bring the food to you if you didn't want to go to the food. I'm surprised that they didn't offer to chew it for you!

We were never bored on the ship. There were so many things to do. We played bingo, exercised in the gym, watched great live shows, went to comedy clubs and discos, and just lounged by the pool. It was a great way to spend the days on the ship. On one day, we stopped off at Key West, Florida and spent the day in the shops there. The next day was spent in the hot sunshine of the Bahamas. Like all travel, this trip was a truly educational experience. I love to experience different cultures and just exist in the moment. It was great.

Of course, we weren't done with our holiday travels. Over Christmas break, we traveled back to Florida with our friends, Rod and Corrinna Middleton who live in Morehead, KY. Now, we love their 5 year old daughter Hailey just like she was our own. With that said, sometimes it is nice to get away and have a nice "adults only" vacation.

We traveled further south on this trip...all the way to the Fort Lauderdale/ Hollywood Beach area of Florida. We were just 20 minutes north of Miami. The weather was a little chilly a couple of mornings, but nothing like the cold snap that we are experiencing now! One day, it was a nice, hot 87 degrees! That was a great day to lay in the sand on the beach and listen to the ocean waves.

One event that I will never forget during this trip was an airboat ride into the Everglades. I had only seen airboats on television before, so I had visions of fat, sweaty men swirling us around in a gator-filled swamp while swarms of mosquitoes sucked the life from my body. However, it wasn't anything like that...except for the gators. And they were actually quite passive. The captain of our little excursion pulled us up right alongside a sleeping gator and let us get "up close and personal" with the creature. It was so cool to be able to almost reach out and touch the scaly skin of this amazing reptile. Of course, I may be dumb...but momma didn't raise any fools! LOL!

Now that we are back at home, it is nice to enjoy the comforts of domestic life once again. There is nothing like traveling around the world to make you appreciate just what you already have. I always say that we live in the best place on earth right here in Eastern Kentucky...and I am right! I have seen many places in this world, and I have seen where a lot of people call home! Believe me...home is where you make it!!! And I will always be happy to call Breathitt County, Kentucky my home.

Until next week, class dismissed!