Starting Point

It begins with, 

• A bang. The pistol has been fired. The runners leave the blocks. The race is on.
• The scraping of metal on dirt. Earth is flung aside revealing a hole. Construction has begun.
• A key is turned (or a button pushed if you’ve got a newer vehicle). The engine turns over and the vacation begins.

Each small action triggers something new. We call them starting points. They are the first thing that turns a goal into reality. They begin a journey that eventually takes us to a finish line, an education, or a new home.

I’ve been getting stuck on that term, lately. More precisely, I’m getting stuck on the timeline for the entire process. 

Understanding that a point-in-time physical action creates momentum to move toward a goal, it seems difficult for me to discard the origin of an idea, the diligent research, and the painstaking preparation that precedes those actions as irrelevant to the phrase ‘starting point’. 

A Simple Faucet

For some reason, I seem to be chastising myself when it comes to “simple things”.  Today, that means washing hands and rinsing dishes.

Fortunate to live in a country where obtaining potable water does not involve a 3-mile walk with a 50-pound container on my head, I have only to pull a shiny, chrome-finished handle.  In the blink of an eye, I am gifted with as much temperature-controlled water as I wish.

Perhaps I am thinking about this more while seeing drought affecting our western states.  I suppose that happens when problems hit closer to home.  Knowing that a billion people in our world are making that 3-mile walk has apparently not made the impact that it should be making.  Shameful.

Pine Moments

If you have read these musings for any time at all, you will have noticed that inspiration (if that is truly what it is) seems frequently to be found in the dialogue between movie or television characters.  

Stop here for a second. 

I think (yes, right here in the middle of writing) that I need to mention how grateful I am for the talented and deep-thinking writers out there creating life-changing transcripts while entertaining us. In addition to the television and movie writers, I must also include authors of everything from children’s books to academic tomes. Thank you!

We are "Back Again". No, that is not the subject movie for today.  I have chosen the 2012 release of  Still Mine instead.

Wikipedia informs us that this movie is a true story based in rural St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada.