Howdy! Happy Monday ya’ll! 

Well…It’s only the third Happy Monday and it’s already turning out to be a bit more difficult than I imagined. 

Its not that I don’t have plenty to post, but more that I am a bit unsure as to what direction to take happy Monday this week. 

Jake knew how to do this better than I do. 

I think I will just tell you about swimming with the manatees on Saturday. 

It was a cool Florida morning, watching the sun come up over Crystal River, a freshwater, spring fed river that empties into the Gulf. A great bald eagle perched in the top of riverside trees as we slid quietly into the water, gasping as the 72 degree water seeped into wetsuits. Telltale ripples broke the smooth water surface which meant the big behemoths were expecting the boatloads of curious visitors. 

To be honest they actually seem to enjoy the attention. 

I was ready for something metaphysical to happen, primed I guess, by having visited the Salvadore Dali museum the day before (boy was that guy crazy…). 

I looked into those small gray eyes, buried in faces that make it hard to understand how they may have been mistaken for mermaids by sailors, and well nope..my mind didn’t meld with theirs. I think they just wanted me to scratch their armpits. 

Back here in Houston, listening to the rain this late night and knowing that cold arctic air is pushing south to turn it into ice, my mind remembers the beauty of sons and friends of sons, who suffered goosepimpled flesh in cold spring pools as they matured into swimmers whose young arms muscled up to command the water around them. 

Tonight,  I am thankful for moments that don’t have to be about passionate and emotional responses, but for soft, gentle, easy-riding memories old and newly made ones, that make us appreciate the world we live in and those we live with.. I hope and pray you will all be safe this week…and you will be surprised how many of you I will remember in my prayers.