Not even Stonehenge

Most nights, I watch the news. Tonight, as with every night, there was a plethora of stories. Some more significant than others. This evening on the local news, one blurb mentioned the City of Dayton was installing permanent parking blocks on certain streets in a troubled neighborhood.

Nothing remarkable about the story. Except. They said permanent parking blocks. Albeit, I know all about semi-permanent writing blocks. But I wanted to remind the news writers that nothing is permanent.

At least for us humans. There is not a permanent thing in our world.

When I was in high school, I had longer hair. During the course of my sophomore year, I got a permanent. As in permanent wave. It barely lasted six weeks. Not so permanent.

They say diamonds are forever. But even those can go away. All you really have to do is heat it to over 1455 degrees in the presence of oxygen. That process will break down those diamond molecules into little carbon bonds. Change-o Presto.

The permanent marker eventually fades away.

There are plenty of things that we wish could last forever. Warm chocolate chip cookies, standing ovations, the way the morning sun peaks up over the edge of the ocean, baby anythings, melting butter and hot maple syrup sliding down the sides of pancakes, the ozone layer, the people we love… and cherish….

I guess if we quantify it, energy can neither be created no destroyed, so the the net amount of energy in the Universe is permanent. Except… we are not even sure about that.

As the age-old saying goes… … …. and this too shall pass.
Which is true, for both the delightful and the agonizing.

But when it is good, it is very, very good. For those moments, in my life, I am very grateful.

I guess the best we can do is to breathe in each moment. The apple strudel, the perfect tee shot, the heart-pounding song, and the smiles of our children.

Take the time to truly see, hear, taste, smell, and feel it. Take the moment…. to really know the moment.

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“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

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“Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

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“Do anything, but let it produce joy.”
― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

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