Little Books of Savannah

“It’s been Another Wonderful Day in Paradise. . . .”

Hope everyone had a Happy Fourth of July. Now that it has passed, we’ll be settling into the rest of our Savannah Summer. Our little piece of Heaven here on Earth certainly has its days of extreme heat and humidity,and those days are often swarming with plenty of those pesky gnats, mosquitoes, and other bugs. Add to these gifts of nature the frequent afternoon warnings of severe thunderstorms with possible high winds, hail, and torrential rain, and you have our fairly steady Southeast and Coastal Georgia summer environment and weather pattern.

On the Fourth, the fireworks and outdoor festivities kind of hung in the air until the last minute due to the weather. In the end, the fireworks show went ahead as scheduled and festivities went on indoors and outdoors and all points in between. Everyone enjoyed the holiday despite having to navigate between thundershowers and heavy traffic.

Playing with the cards we’ve been dealt is pretty much what we do here as we go on about our daily routines and our plethora of leisure activities. We keep on keeping on. We Love Life. And with our ever present military population (which includes many on active duty, many veterans, and a good number of recovering wounded), we remain grateful for our Freedom and our way of life. This gratitude reminds us to help others along the way.

Being appreciative of this wonderful life helps when it comes to rolling with the punches. It is in this spirit we consider the implications of Forrest Gump’s most famous platitude. Gump says, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get,” expressing in a simplified way that life comes to us moment to moment without an absolute knowledge of what is going to happen along the way. Yet the real pearl in this Gumpism is the idea that life in general comes to us like a box of chocolates–mostly sweet and delicious, but sometimes gooey, semisweet, and even nutty. So enjoy the pieces which taste good to you, and make the most of those you don’t like by giving them to someone who will savor them.

Going with the flow and doing what you have to do when you have to do it can be essential to a happy, balanced life. When it is all said and done, most of us don’t really have a whole lot to legitimately complain about. Truly, our lives are a heck of a lot better than a lot of people’s. And that is what I’ll try to remember the next time it is too hot and gnats are buzzing in my ears and a thunderstorm pops up and the lights go out. I’ll thank Heavens I at least have electricity most of the time.

As for today, I’m alive and well and living in Savannah, Georgia. What more could I ask of the Universe than that?

Peace Y’all.

Always,

Don