Sailing from Plymouth

Tidbits From Tom

A Few Random Thoughts
on the Crossing of the Bar Into the Next Half-Century
(intended for the Writer as much as for anyone else)



Life is good. A screwed-up world is not a sign that God does not exist, but rather that humans have Screwed Up.
The following words were written on a cellar wall by someone who was hiding from the Nazis:
I believe in the sun even when it is not shining
I believe in love where feeling is not
I believe in God even if he is silent

Read more, write more (handwriting, not typing), listen more,
and talk less. These make life good for me.

3. Do we have to keep looking into so many SCREENS ? (Yes, I’m doing it again
now…) Computer, TV, phone… I thought screens were designed to
block or hide (remember The Man Behind the Screen in Wizard of Oz ?) or to
keep out things like mosquitos.
I need to re-read # 2, and take action.

I like apostrophes, semi-colons, colons, and their relatives, like the hyphen in #1 ;
I’ll miss them when they’re gone.

I never met a charity worker I didn’t like.

6. If someone asks you to recommend a holiday destination, why not
suggest Haiti? Or, if they’re feeling adventurous, Darfur?
I would be very surprised if they were not changed by the experience.

7. After all that’s happened, do we really need a President? The job seems too big and too important for one just person. Maybe the Executive could be handed over to a capable group, like the cast of Saturday Night Live, or the Boston Celtics, and all that campaign money could be sent to Haiti and Darfur…

Here’s a foolproof plan for a better life: Eat Less and Exercise More

We could do worse that to live like the Pilgrims: working together in community; leading simple, pious, and joyful lives; cooperating with the neighbors (even though they’re portrayed by others as “savages”.) Despite that savage first winter, the 1620s were pretty good years for America.

Sorry, but I can’t make it up to 10 ; I’m too busy thinking about these 9, and how to practice what I preach.

Fortunately, I have great family and friends who help make this challenge enjoyable !