Thunderstorms

It's that time again for Texas thunderstorms-my favorite time of year. And as the rain falls I think of a song that states you are the Mother Earth..the mother of your baby child...the one to whom you gave life. When I was younger, and now still, I love to watch thunderstorms. I sit outside and stare in amazement as lightning pierces the darkened sky. The wind and mist from the falling rain kiss my face. But most of all, I love to watch, because I feel at peace.
There is something special about thunderstorms. The awesomeness of it all reminds me of someone greater than myself. Lightning has the opportunity to create raw energy or destroy. It represents a delicate balance from which I have become aware.

In my line of work, I am reminded on a daily basis the preciousness of life--the extreme delicate balance between life and death--the thin line people walk on everyday, and often times don't even realize it. In an instant, your life can be taken without foresight or forewarning. In all honesty, it scares me, but I take it as an opportunity to appreciate life and the time given to me with that life.

The lightning strikes fast and with a flash of light. This light reminds me of the light to which I was born into and the light to which I will leave this Earth.

It's that time again for Texas thunderstorms-my favorite time of year. And as the rain falls I think of a psalm: Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

Turkey Meat Mix Up

I pack my lunch everyday. I place my carefully chosen snacks, in carefully zipped baggies, inside a carefully chosen walmart bag.

I was running late to work (and by late I mean 5 minutes after my projected "leave time" which is usually an hour before work-- which, in reality is plenty of time). But that is neither here nor there... I was running late in my perception of time.

I grabbed my self made walmart lunch pail and hurried out the door.

I went to work and worked up an appetite. My tummy began to rumble, so I went to the break room and grabbed my lunch. I found a nice place to sit down and enjoy my meal. I could almost taste my perfectly layered sandwich, fresh fruit, veggies and Greek yogurt dip, and my delicious, ice-cold Dr. Pepper.

I opened the bag and to my surprise there was no perfectly layered sandwich, no fresh fruit or veggies, and certainly no Dr.Pepper. Sadly, the only thing staring back at me was 2 lbs of raw ground turkey. In all honesty, I thought about eating it, because I was so damn hungry, but there wasn't much I could do considering it was raw. People eat raw meat all the time, I thought to myself. People eat steak "rare" which is basically raw.. right? Sushi! Yes, sushi is raw AND delicious. NO, no sushi is prepared by extremely trained individuals. They don't just slap a spoon in some raw ground turkey meat and call it a day!

My turkey meat mix up never hurt so much. My tummy had to pay the price. I thought of all the possible GI upsets I would/could endure by letting millions of microbes in. Benefit vs Risk? A good 5 minutes passed before I put the raw meat back into the fridge.

I headed back to work with my head held a little lower than before.