So one morning this week I had to stop for gas before getting on the freeway.  As I was finished and getting ready to pull out, an elderly lady pulled up next to me and motioned that she wanted to talk to me.  I put my truck back in park and rolled the window down.  She got out of her car and asked if I could help her because she had never pumped gas before. 

In my mind I was rolling my eyes at her, but I sighed and said ok and I got out to help.  After apologizing for bothering me, she nearly broke down crying and informed me that she didn’t know how to do this because she never had to… her husband of 56 years had always done it, and he passed only a few days before.

After I helped her she thanked me several times. Although I had only done her a small favor, I walked away thinking of what she had done for me.  It was a humbling experience… life walked up and kicked me to let me know that my problems weren’t so bad, and that I should spend more time being thankful for all that I have.  Now I wish I had asked her if she needed help with anything else.  I assumed that she would have family taking care of her; but she might be alone with no one. I just hope that I can learn from this lesson to take time and be thankful for everything I have, and go the little extra way to help others if I can. 

You never know when you may be helping someone, if only a little, to get through a tragedy.  And you never know when tragedy will knock on your door, and you will need the kindness of others.

“Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something.”
  ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Pax,

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Meet Romulus Siberius (aka Apollo), originally uploaded by Christopher [cbpix.com].

So yesterday on our way home from shopping, we stopped at the place we get our pet fish to say hello to a young African Gray parrot with which my wife has had many conversations. Next thing I knew this little guy was in our living room.

Normally I can resist either the puppy, or my wife’s cajoling, and we leave sans puppy. In this case though, I was overcome.

Heather tends toward yippy little dogs that our cats would eat, so I was thrilled that she took interest in what will be a fairly large dog.

The name Romulus Siberius came about from a combination of some things. We got him on a Friday in March. Romulus was the son of Mars, the God of War, after whom the month of March is named, and who was the lover of Venus, after whom the day Friday was named. Siberius is a combination of Siberian and Tiberius (thanks to ShutterBugGeek for the suggestion!). Siberian is self explanatory, and Tiberius was named after the Tiber river, where Romulus and Remus were set adrift as infants before being raised by a wolf. It is also, of course, the middle name of Captain James T. Kirk.

While I think Romulus Siberius is a bad ass name, it’s a bit of a mouthful; so his call name is Apollo. Well, it’s really because my wife didn’t like Romulus, so we compromised…

And now, if you’re still reading, you know more than you ever wanted to know about the etymology of our new puppy’s name!

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Hover your mouse over the slideshow for the controls and the link to the gallery.  These are some of my favorite photographs; thanks for viewing them, I hope you enjoy.

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Peace,

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