Lets go breath hunting

Its been really windy for weeks

Blowing hard every day

Sometimes gusting over 25mph

A real challenge for cyclists

Kite surfers love windy days

So do sailors who fly in the wind

But today the wind has gone

Somebody must have stolen it in the night

Packaged it into a huge wind bag

Moved it far away and released it

To cause chaos somewhere else

Leaving us totally windless here

The kite surfers will stay at home today

Becalmed sailors will drift on the still waters

Cyclists are beaming with joy

Pedaling in all directions to test out the lack of headwinds

I wonder when the wind will be returned

Its probably just on loan to somebody

As soon as they tire of it

They will call up the wind bagger

He will ship it back here

Released under the cover of darkness

To bring us all a breath of fresh air

But wait, how fresh is that air?

Its already been used by others

More like recycled air

Air thats already been inhaled by billions of our ancesters

The next breath you take

Could have come from somebody famous

Perhaps it will change your life forever

A whiff of Shakespeare used air can turn you into a great writer

A few breaths of used John Lennon air will improve your songwriting skills

Perhaps its time to start hunting for the used air of great leaders like Winston Churchill

Bag up all the great leader air and release it into the faces of today’s politicians

Maybe that will breath some humility and dignity into those who lack it today

Lets go breath hunting

My morning tea

My morning tea
Sipped with glee
On my balcony
Overlooking the sea
Can you see
What I see
As I drink
My morning tea

Boats still sleeping

Morning commuters creeping

Impatient horns beeping

Morning maids housekeeping

Waking babies weeping

Hungry food seeking

Party goers oversleeping

Tea drinkers peeping

Peace, love and chaos

It was early morning

Low clouds blocked the sunrise

A slight chill in the air

Biscayne bay was calm

Too early for late sleeping Miami boaters

A mourning dove flew onto my balcony

He hopped onto the dining table

Cooing a proud message

A symbol of peace, hope resilience and love

I felt a strange connection to him

I needed to let him know I understood his message

To thank him for bringing calm to all the chaos around us right now

I stepped closer to the window and smiled at him

He saw me and stood still for a brief moment

We bonded over a few milliseconds of eye contact

Then he took off in a flash

Swooping over the balcony couch

Pooping all over the cushions

With the military precision of a fighter jet releasing laser guided missiles

Peace was short lived

Back to chaos

Give me the money

long line at the bank

guy shuffles along

gets to the front

pushes a bag on the counter

hands a note to teller

give me all the money

she hesitates but sees his gun

she fills it while pressing a silent alarm button

guy takes bag and calmly walks out

gets into a waiting car

they speed off into the suburbs

police sirens wailing

switch cars and ditch the stolen vehicle

no more sirens

they are safe now

drive to a lockup and park inside

high fives all round

we did it!

they look inside the bag

money is wrapped in plastic

ripping it open frantically

a dye bomb explodes

everything turns red

they open the lockup door

cops are waiting outside

money in bag had a tracking device

guy shuffles along

waiting in line

for prison food

bank teller did her job

cops did their job

robber is doing time

money is doing its job

life goes on

who’s side are you on?

How wide is the culture divide?

I mostly live “off the grid” in terms of the news

Social media bubbles along without my participation

I have also chosen not to consult the news media

My self imposed news exile lowers my stress level

I believe that people will tell me if something important happens

I am blessed with the means to travel frequently

To view the world from a different perspective

Sample other cultures away from home

See how others live their lives

Break bread at the table of others

Get their opinion of my own homeland

I recently came back refreshed from a long voyage

Attending a Super Bowl party on my first day back

It was strange to see commercial TV

I normally only stream non-commercial programs 

The commercials were less entertaining than I expected

What really struck me was the content

Almost exclusively for fast food and boozy alcoholic drinks

Perhaps not surprising for a nation that worships consumption

But something was different this year

In addition to the “lets all eat and drink ourselves stupid” mantra

Commercials appeared for weight loss by injecting drugs

Corporate America is tapping into the overweight guilt

Its OK to eat pizza and guzzle endless amounts of beer

Now you can buy expensive drugs to curb your appetite

Its a big fork in the road for many Americans

Stay addicted to fast food and booze

Or switch your addiction to GLP-1 injections

I suspect the more wealthy individuals will get a lot thinner

While those of lesser means will become more rounded

In both cases the drug companies will earn huge profits

Overweight folks with have more health issues and require medication

Slimmed down folks will keep paying for the “keep me thin” drugs

I observed that people in Europe simply eat much less

They appreciate the flavors more than the portion size

The culture divide is wider than the Atlantic Ocean

Eat well and eat responsibly like a good cheeky monkey

Word fight

As soon as the dictionary closed

A huge word fight broke out

The adjectives were being hunted down for being politically incorrect

Adverbs refused to be connected exclusively with verbs and were demanding total independence

Pronouns were running around creating mayhem and beating up random words who dared to connect them to the wrong gender

Subjects were making violent attacks on objects while the nouns made futile attempts to keep the peace

Prepositions went on strike so nobody knew where anybody was at or where they were going to

Clouds partying

The clouds have been aloof lately

Staying high in the sky

Not giving any shade

Refusing to rain on the dry ground

Last night that all changed

After a long meeting between the ground and the clouds

The clouds agreed to come down early this morning

So we could all wake up to a cloudy sky

Making sunrise a bit more entertaining

Some light party rain sprinkled on the dry ground

Damp patches of evidence

Cooler air swept in

Ideal weather for a run or a bike ride

Nice to wake up to a cloud party

Caribbean cruisers

Berthing maneuvers

Luggage movers

Embarking cruisers

Vacationing users

Nutrition abusers

Exercise refusers

Overweight bruisers

Mixologist infusers

Alcohol misusers

Tipsy boozers

Sleeping snoozers

Gambling confusers

Casino losers

Losing accusers

Shopping perusers

Selling schmoozers

Massaging soothers

Happiness oozes

Berthing maneuvers

Disembarking cruisers

Luggage movers

Homebound cruisers

When a raging fire of hate words comes your way, extinguish the flames with words of kindness and love#

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words spewed out like regurgitated food

offensive, unpleasant, insulting, hateful, rude

angry politicians swear and shout to be heard

erupting volcanoes of red hot angry hissing words

words from a platform perched much higher

raining down on you like artillery fire

words fly on missiles, laser guided

aimed to keep the world one sided

exploding word bombs of hate and venom abound

no escape from this ear shattering sound

words beamed through space by satellite

enticing distant angry people to take up arms and fight

words are the weapons that start today’s wars

its ironic that history has seen it all before

but gone are the days of mob rallies and war inciting speeches

today’s words of hate are cowardly facebooked and tweeted 

don’t be afraid to respond to all this hate

just give them what they don’t expect, graciously delivered on a plate

re-bait the hater’s hook with a tasty worm of kindness dipped in love

throw out your love worm bait with a cast from high above

the haters will bite at anything thrown their way

but once they taste kindness it will be their change day

go into battle armed with your love and kindness war cry

haters will be thrown off guard by your unexpected reply

they will eventually surrender their weapons of hate

no winners or losers in the ceasefire love-hate stalemate

embrace your former haters as newly found friends

As you all jump into the love and kindness river of words that flows but never ends