While on the topic of new words there’s some others I wanted to document. “Drip” is a word I’ve been hearing since the beginning of the year unsure if it would catch on, then one of the Army Bros. was using it. Drip basically refers to clothing, gear, or merch, everyone is rushing to catch the new drip. A phrase that’s new to me that seems to have been in use for some time is “ipad kid”, referring to the children growing up with a tablet and no parental supervision. I mentioned the damage done by screens yesterday, but ipad kids are on another level. Adults with kids can only compare screen time to TV, the ipad has only been around for 14 years, hopefully none of the kids that grew up with the original have kids of their own yet. Obviously a tablet is different than a TV, most noticeably that it’s a two way street. When learning something new it is best to get as many of the 5 senses involved, the TV and tablet already capture the eyes and ears, only the tablet lets the user touch and speak back making it a more immersive experience. There’s also an internet connect with a camera, for anyone that doesn’t know computers are not safe. All programing boils down to logic, a hacker outsmarts the logic of the program, or more often the user, and is able to get access to equipment that isn’t theirs. This means that any camera or microphone can be accessed by anyone anywhere. There are records of predators turning on children’s cameras. If you don’t want to believe me that this stuff happens, there are websites anyone can access where private cameras can be viewed because the owner never changed the default settings. It’s dangerous in the wild, we have to protect ourselves and common sense is the best start.
2 January 2024
A new phrase I heard was “trad life”, pronounced with a hard “A” sound being short for traditional though. Norm McDonald had a joke that the word “cis” was a way to marginalize an otherwise normal person and it’s the same case here. Asking people randomly if traditional and normal are synonymous, I think most people would agree. I’m interested in new words though there’s something deeper going on. On one hand there is the idea that everyone feels the need now to give themselves a title, like people don’t know who they are without a 30 second elevator pitch to describe their life. The other hand is that traditional life is not how people have been living. How have they been living? Well, they work in confined sunless environments, get entertainment from screens, and eat processed food. Not much of that lifestyle was around 100 years ago, so there’s little traditional about it. Kids are coming of age now seeing the depression, ADHD, and obesity the previously mentioned items lead to and they’re looking for a different path. The traditional road has been around for ages, even millennia, and it’s what got our civilization to the height it’s at now. Along with the idea that everyone wants a title, each generation since the 60’s/70’s has been given a name and are told that everyone in that bucket acts similar. Anyone born in the 60’s is the same as those in the 80’s, 2020’s and even the 1920’s. Trying to rewrite human history and biology every decade has left people more lost and alone than ever, that is why people are returning to trad life. By releasing ourselves from the hamster wheel of pop culture people will come in contact with real life, with the community and environment that surrounds them, that is who we are. The people around us, the activities we do, and if we don’t like it we have the power to change it.
New Year’s Day 2024
New year’s eve is over, back to work. I’m only mostly kidding, the Army boys are leaving today and there will be plenty of work coming in hot. Still, now is a good time for reflection. People were posting about how their year was, this has been one of the wilder years I’ve had in a long time. Since I’ve lived in my current house it seems as if every year gets more complicated. At the beginning of this year I was sick with the vid, dealing with a new born and my wife returned to work, it was a very hard time that provided for me opportunity for growth. After I recovered from my sickness I’d been a new man getting work done on the land while juggling the baby. Most of the Summer was a blur, there was a lot of grass to mow and the baby turned one. We had a patio put in that was finished the day before the baby’s birthday party. During their stay the Army boys pulled at least 25 metal poles out of the ground took away the mess of the chain link fence. Now when I look around the land is completely different from when I moved in and I did that. Nothing happened overnight and very little went according to plan, but we stuck with it and kept working, now we’re moving on to greener pastures. My new land actually isn’t much greener, there’s more woods. The current place is far from perfect, my interest is more in sweeping changes and someone else can put on the finishing touches of their own design. This year I’m looking forward to a fresh start, taking what I’ve learned and applying it for a new outcome. I may never reach the lofty goals I set, but it’s wonderful to watch the story unfold.
29 December 2023
Glad to be at the end of the week, my wife had a nice surprise thinking today was going to be the last day at her old job only to find out yesterday was her last day, it’s a welcome relief. When it rains it pours accurately describes life, for stretches of time nothing will happen then multiple life changing events can land on the same day even. We’re in the midst of a storm, but it takes pressure to make a diamond. The baby had daycare yesterday and I was hoping to get some needed rest until they called saying she wasn’t feeling well and I picked her up, then had her second night of rough sleep in a rough. I think our normal schedule is off right now and that affects her, there’s also whatever ailments she’s going through. A new tooth has broken through. At this point I’m holding on until the finish line imagining myself relaxing by the pool in Summer time without any of these cares to juggle. My body is doing alright, time is my most finite resource now.
28 December 2023
The Army boys had a fight yesterday, these are guys that can be carelessly disrespectful because the average person would be scared to stand up to them. They also will not stand for a sliver of disrespect so when they lock horns no one is willing to back down. This is when I have to put on my crown and make kingly proclamations, for anyone looking to build their own kingdom this may be useful to learn about. People think being king is the luxurious life of sitting on the throne and why does one person deserve special treatment? The king is the tip of the pyramid yet any piece of the foundation can bring the whole structure down. Someone has to keep the whole together because when there is peace over time people get bored and start acting for themselves. The memory on a person can be worse than a goldfish, they think things are good now, it must have happened on its own and will continue forever. No, if you’re warm and fed it’s because someone provide heat and food, just because the guiding hand is invisible doesn’t mean we are free to act in any way we choose. I’ve banished people from my kingdom in the past and if anyone crosses the line of acceptable behavior I have no problem sending them into the desert to make their own home. To fix an argument first people have to calm down, of course these are men that were paid to be as aggressive as possible and that brings its own challenge, basically I have to be willing to take a punch in the face and not get mad. Then they need to be reminded of the community we serve, without which we would have nothing and to not throw that away. Then it’s only a matter of getting people to talk, not everyone writes a blog and will need help expressing themselves. I can see the situation from an areal view and put each party’s feelings into words to begin the process.
27 December 2023
We went to the neighbors yesterday to see Christmas decorations, show the Army boys come cool stuff and say goodbye to my neighbors. They’re upset that we’re moving since they’ve had nothing but back luck from the previous occupants of my house. They offered to keep me updated on the trees, a sad reality is the next owner could cut them all down. The other day I was pulling up my drip irrigation that’s used to water the trees, years of work pulled up in an afternoon. As I leave I take with me the knowledge and experience gained from working the land, what happens next isn’t my problem. I will have my hands full of my own problems. We didn’t need to borrow the tractor as the Army boys have almost finished pulling up the fence poles. Today we’ll work on moving the heavy furniture downstairs.
26 December 2023
Christmas went well, I don’t know how much writing I’ll be able to get done before New Years with the Army boys visiting. They’re on a night schedule and I’m used to early morning rising so we end up staying up later than I’m used to. This week we’ll also have a lot going on as I’ll make good use of the extra pair of hands, they’ll even be able to take some of the stuff I’d rather not move to the new place. It’s been a month since the guys visited for Thanksgiving, there’s a strange feeling old friends have like you’re never away from them. There were years, maybe close to a decade where some of us didn’t see or speak to each other, but when we come together it’s we never left. Being around people from a younger age tends to make people act like their younger self, it’s good for us as our younger selves were training and doing manual labor all the time. I can see in them that we’re getting older though, it’s hard to see ourselves age, but with the gaps between seeing them I can notice more subtle changes. Yesterday was the first time I noticed one of them having a little stomach, it’s normal and expected for someone pushing 40, but my whole life these guys have been PT studs. PT means physical training, it’s the word the Army uses for exercise and it just mean they’ve always been physically fit. They can still out compete 99% of people, there’s more to the story of what makes a life. Watching all three of us with the baby is a little confusing because the circumstance we met were so different. This time will be good to explore who we are.
Christmas 2023
Today marks the birth of our savior; 2023 years ago. Have humans come far enough in that time? I like to say we’re preparing the Earth for the second coming of Jesus. 2023 years later we’re still celebrating his birth, the second coming is looking to the future. The world should look a certain way and people should behave themselves in preparation, a way to let out the red carpet. Gold, frankincense and myrrh, what does that mean? Today is a good day to read the Bible. As we lead up to today I felt like this was the first holiday since the pandemic shut things down. I know there’s technically been others, but there was a spirit in the air I haven’t felt for a couple years. People even seemed to have a renewed energy, that we’re moving on towards a brighter future, one where everyone is a little less divisive. I plant trees to provide food where there otherwise is nothing, it’s useful to think we are on spaceship Earth. Switching perspective from the open outdoors to a closed capsule helps to see the Earth and all it’s woes as our problem. There’s no where else and only humans to do the job. I guess it’s unclear what that job is as it’s unclear how to live a good life, providing those answers I think it’s the point of the Bible. The specifics are nuanced, complex, and different for everyone, it’s something to be discovered rather than told but I’ll do my best for a short time. Humans can have faith, we are conscious of our present and that there will be a future. We take the knowledge of a future and faith that things can get better and each day work towards the goal that reveals itself.
22 December 2023
We’ve finally made it to the last weekday before Christmas. All I want for Christmas is sleep, it will be exciting to take in Christmas through my baby’s eyes. She bursts out laughing in the car and dinner table, so Christmas should get some reaction. Some of the presents I got are big foam shapes, we have some already, and a large gym mat for tumbling. My plan is on Christmas eve to pack up all the baby toys and turned the play area into a soft jungle gym, she loves to climb and roll. Then my Army buddies will be visiting which will be a tornado on it’s own. They might be helping a lot with cleaning up my house which would be good, even if we lay around playing video games that would be good rest. At some point I promised the neighbor I’d bring the baby over to see Christmas lights, he also has an M1 Garand I wouldn’t mind seeing again before I leave. People make strange connections with weapons of the past, history in general is an interesting relationship since at the end of the day history is just a story. The separation between history and fiction would be as much evidence as can be gathered, even then I see it as a story unless the events happened to that person in which case it’s not history but their life events. The present won’t know what events will be labeled historic in the future and in my lifetime I’ve witness historic events removed like Columbus day only to then realize judging the past with modern standards makes no sense. Maybe Columbus day will come back someday, I reject any policy that gives people less holidays in a year, to most people holidays are a day without work and that is worth celebrating.
21 December 2023
Freud said everything is connected to everything. It’s a simple phrase that offers continued insight. The same is true for humans, no man is a mountain, we depend on the support of those around us and our decisions have consequences that can echo for generations. I am trying to build something that my support system can be proud of, that can also support them. Straying from that plan will alter the trajectory of my daughter’s life. My best friend in grade school came from a broken home. When I look back on it now, it was a very troubled house. There were burn marks on the carpet, the common areas filled with trash that never went out to the curb and everyone lived in their own room. Each person put their individual desires over the needs of the community and the surrounding environment crumbled. My friend would sleep over so often eventually my parents let him live at our house. I never thought much of it, he needed a place to stay and we helped him. Fast forward to the recent past, when my Army friend was kicked out of the Army with nothing and no where to go, he lived with me and my wife until he got back on his feet. After that my mother in law got sick, we took her in like everyone else. I’d cook her eggs every morning, take her to physical therapy, and she got better. All of those people are now living good lives, my childhood friend is clean from heroine and happy with a job managing a restaurant. My mother in law is healthier than I’ve ever seen her, and my Army friend has even taken in his nephew who comes from a broken family. There’s a teenage boy being cared for today because my parents cared for a teenage boy 20 years ago, it couldn’t have been planned but happens because we are all connected.
Chris' Morning Pages 