There are trade-offs with everything. This world has some pretty miraculous and wondrous things, places, people. But nothing of this world is perfect. Not one.
You may be sipping a very delightful hot cup of coffee this morning, out of your very favorite mug, in your cuddly soft jammy pants, with your cat on your lap. And while this is an incredible and amazing thing, there are the trade-offs. Take the coffee, for instance. A new study says that it is bad for you. Or is it now good for you? Or. Okay, forget the coffee. Grab the cat. The beautiful cat lying there with that confident smile, and that slightly sinister look in her eyes. Unbeknownst to you, she just hacked a huge hairball behind the couch. You are going to step on that thing in about five minutes. In your bare feet. Trade-off.
All of this came to mind, as I was thinking about the beautiful warm weather we have been enjoying hear in southern Ohio. As I sit here, barely keeping my eyes open. This tiredness I am experiencing is the direct result of our warmer temperatures. The storms.
Last night we had major rain, accompanied by crashing thunder, and flashing lightning. For a good portion of the night. Our dog-girl Ollie is deathly afraid of the storms. As such, she cries, shakes, quivers, and cowers. And all of this, in the humans’ bed. On the perpendicular. Stretched out. And kicking.
Oh. There are other trade-offs with the warmer weather. The bugs. You know how the FBI had the Ten-Most-Wanted? Well, I have my Ten-Most-Hated-Insects list. At the top of the list are ticks. If they stay outside, in their little tick homes, having their little tick cocktail parties, and tiny tick cookouts, I do not mind. Not one nary bit. But they are not welcome in my abode. Not now. Not ever. They barge in regardless of my wishes.
Now I don’t know how many of you keep up with the news of the news. But the past couple of days, there has been the story of the woman who had to have a cockroach surgically removed from her ear. It was a pretty horrific story. About 15 years ago, I had a tick in my ear. I relive the sheer terror of the experience every Spring. Watching, waiting, hoping there will not be another encounter such as the last. It haunts me.
I will not complain about the heat. I love the heat, and the sun, and the hot-baked pavement. While we have had warmth, I can stand it at least 20 degrees more, and then some. Truth be told, I have yet to shed my sweatshirt. Yet, we see that the warmth brings its trade-offs. And we take them as they are.
The good with the bad. The up and the down. High and Low. Ice-cream. Kale.
So it goes everywhere. That is just the way of the world. In any moment, we can find the glorious and the miraculous. We can also find the dastardly and the diabolical. And most of the time, it is all a matter of which way we are looking.
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“Somehow, we’ll find it. The balance between whom we wish to be and whom we need to be. But for now, we simply have to be satisfied with who we are.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Hero of Ages
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“To light a candle is to cast a shadow…”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea
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