snow, snow everywhere

well, my wife's finally back and i'm very happy!! finally ready for the season, i truly enjoy the thanksgiving/christmas/holidays portion of the year, really believe that it is the time where we appreciate those who really matter to us. despite the road conditions, i hope it continues to snow in seattle, it is beautiful, makes everything so serene and slightly fantastical.

while riding the bus to the airport to meet her, many people were on their ways to the airport as well, but the buses were terribly late today and made me ruminate on those heading home for the holidays. i hope that everyone's able to get to their families without many hitches, as although this part of the year sometimes is the more relaxed part, it's a big rush often and stressful as we enjoy so few holidays here in the US.

i hope that all those heading home for the holidays, or driving in such weather, reach their destinations not only safely but have a wonderful holiday full of cheer and love.

abraços,

happiness...

another thing that i was pondering: happiness. although many governments portray to have the best interests of people at their heart, i truly believe that the best that can be done for people is to provide them with the means to discover happiness. i wholeheartedly agree with our forefathers here in the US that "life, liberty and the persuit of happiness" are the basic rights.

i think many demand that everything be done for them, that the only thing that we have to do in life is to take the packaging off what we're given. but as trite as it sounds, i believe that the only way that we find happiness is by looking for it in the first place. there's not some vast checklist, containing items such as "buy a house", "travel once per year", "eat out once a week", "meet up with the family", etc. that can be prescibed to those wishing to be happy.

happiness is something that may change over time, maturing, or fluctuating. and it's something not to be left for the end, as there's no way to make up for lost time.

i was going to be apolitical for this time around, but this made me think of prop 8 in california, and while searching for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" i stumbled across the following post which is far more eloquent than i could possibly be on this subject.

abraços,

rest in peace grandma

well, yesterday my grandmother passed away after a long, pretty healthy life. she had huntington's disease, which is a degenerative neurological disease but as she made it to her mid-80s, she passed the general time where the disease strikes. i'm lucky that i was able to see her one of the last times that she had her eyes open and was conscious. i pray for her and was blessed to have her as an influence in my life.