Leaving Charlotte. On a plane. The rush of the engines at takeoff. The flight of the stomach as the plane becomes airborne. The jockeying for elbow space. The smell of strangers. The wide-hipped, high-heeled flight attendant brushing against my shoulder each time she passes. The arrogance of first class. The looking down at the little cars and patchwork farmland. The pillow clouds. The no sleeping or even relaxing. The sweat running down my back. The leap of faith in people…
If the Internet has done one thing, it’s made us more aware of the world around us. No longer are we insulated by ignorance. And frankly, it’s not easy being happy in a world where so much is wrong and so many suffer. But we have to try. We have to take time out and walk in a different direction every now and then to clear our minds and escape reality. Or at least, I do. My greatest reality is…
Vacation. In America, most of us get a couple of weeks a year to unwind, see new sights and recharge. We’re an industrious lot. Two weeks is all we need to be highly productive workers for the other fifty. Europeans, however, get something like six months off a year. They’re not American though, and so they don’t get it. To make a mark in this world means keeping your nose to the grindstone. Ben Franklin said so. Recharging is for…
We’re at the beach. Vilano Beach in North Florida – on the Atlantic, near where I was born and raised. Before I met my wife, who is from NJ, she’d only been to Florida once on a college road trip. But after the Blizzard of 96 when we received 3′ of snow in 24 hours in North Jersey, I told her that I had to leave. I was done with winter. So we migrated from the Garden State to the…
