A journey of 1000 miles begins with one step

For many years my first wife Kathy refused to go and visit places abroad, that included England."We should not give our money to foreign governments." I tried to persuade her that we needed to go because one day we might not be able. So I would read to her from Georges Simenon -Maigret. He painted a rough picture of Paris but he also like a good writer, spun a web that sparked curiosity. Not to do wrong things, but to see what places were like. In Simenon you could smell the cheese shops ,the flower sellers,the fruit shops and the boulangerie. Hear the musicians and the hum of conversation .The patron with the inevitable Gauloise hanging from his lips, and the Quai des Orfevres where Maigret had his office.It worked ,we went and she was enchanted with Paris,she became animated .We went to different places for five years abroad .Then WHAM she was too sick to go.We went to York then and Durham (I recommend both of these) then she was too sick to go anywhere but her family.
Folks you only have ONE life, this is it. Heaven is wonderful but the Lord expects you to be thankful for this life.This is not a rehearsal to polish up your act . You do not know what a day will bring .When we see one of these beautiful yachts  sliding off into the sunset ,Steph and I realize that we were born gypsies.Remember Lee Marvin ,"I was born under a wandering star..."
Folks do what you can now, do not sit at home as old men and women with a dream in your heart and the empty echo of "I wish I had done that .....now it's too late." We can be cautious but being too cautious can take all the joy of living .Next thing you will be leaving a pile of 'risk assessment forms on your bedside cabinet and filling one in before you get up in the morning . One day one of Kathy's tomorrows did not come, what about you ?

Je pense que......

Do you have a thinking place? The good thing about thinking places is that you do not have to actually be there -just think you are there.It is a place of peace -is it a sign of age that peace becomes more appealing.
Peace not in the sense of not doing anything,but inner peace when you can take time to walk with Jesus. This is my thinking place,the place to which I return even though I do not actually have to go there. The house is beautiful and the island is welcoming and soothing.There I can walk with the Lord, but the wonderful thing and big difference between my thinking place and walking with Jesus is that I do not have to imagine He is there ,I know He is. So in the midst of trouble there is peace, and He pushes fear and panic out. "Lo " He says "I am with you always,even unto the end of the age." My Island gives me peace when there is no pressure .My Jesus gives me peace in the midst of pressure.The difference between the two is stellar.

The Scent of Rome

There is something about Rome that cannot be put into words. It is like trying to describe all the things I love about my wife, yet were I to write them they would fall short of what I feel.
Rome is like A Siren calling .....when you stop what you are doing,you think of her.The famous buildings but the real Rome is like this street .It is a city where people live and love.Laugh and cry and make her what she is. The espresso, the bakeries .The smiling faces and the excited hand waving, the big heart and the beautiful people. Trying to describe Rome is like trying to say what your favorite color is in a mosaic.
One day I am back at the Colosseum, then the bridges and the senate square and ....and ... and.
It is the place,not where you can get lost ,but where you can lose yourself. Imagine Christmas in Rome,
I even sigh over street maps, and look at postcards and tourist books. If I had a wish that The Scent of Time and The Scent of Home could be translated into one language it would be Italian. Black Rose Writing my publisher does not do Italian yet . Yet I still cannot put it into words but often when I close my eyes and take a deep breath and smell coffee and perfume and the Scent of flowers it is the Scent of Rome. Arrive'derci