Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Appreciation
The other day Juvat, resident F-15 Guy over at The Chant, commented that I have a great life.
Bang! Nailed it.
Yesterday Sarge suffered his second Monday of the week. I'd been kinda feeling sorry for myself yesterday because I had to spend an hour dealing with county gubment bureaucrats. I have a sneaking suspicion that Sarge would have traded me straight up and thrown in a case of lawn mowin' beer.
I'm ashamed to admit that most of the time I take my great good fortune for granted. I like to think I work hard and do a good job and make a contribution, but the fact is that I'm on easy street because I'm standing on the shoulders of Giants.
Hard work? Pfui. The sum total of my physical and intellectual output to date would just about add up to a season or two of modest effort for my forbears. Contribution? Pfui. My service to the nation amounts to a pleasure cruise when compared to the Sailors who came before me. I wouldn't make a pimple on the @$$ of a real Sailor.
I have the most profound reverence and deepest sense of gratitude for those who made my life possible. Because of them, stuff like this falls in my plate every day:
I hope that when the final totting up is done, my little contributions will have at least maintained the gift and not diminished it.
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Are you kidding? These are not little contributions
ReplyDeleteAh, good point Juvat and I appreciate it. Could have written that better I guess. I was talking to a friend today -- Korean War vet and someone I plan to post about, and his experiences put mine into perspective.
DeleteA year ago November, the wife and I went on a cruise. We were sitting in the lounge on formal night when a couple walks in and She's in Army Dress Blues. There was no place to sit, so I invited them to sit with us. Exchanged the usual pleasantries and I asked her which branch she was. She said Nurses Corps. I asked her when she'd last been to Trashcanistan. She said "Last week". I asked what she did as a Nurse. She said Trauma Center. I asked how the tour had gone. She said something that almost knocked me to the floor. "OK, I guess. Everybody who came in to our surgery alive, left alive." I damn near lost it. How much more of an impact can a person have than to save the life of another? You've done that.
DeleteYou have more than earned your place.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brighid. Guess I just discovered that I need to be a bit more rigorous in assessing perspective.
DeleteWhat an awesome post Shaun.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, you can hold your head high. You did your duty and the old time sailors would recognize you as one of their own.
Remember the line in Saving Private Ryan "Earn this..."?
You have my friend. In spades.
Thanks Sarge.
DeleteOK, to change the subject a little, In the middle video, is that an actual "hill" I see on the left there? That's pretty rare around your part of the world isn't it?
ReplyDeleteAnd in the bottom video, what's the grayish white thing on the horizon?
Was getting a little deep, wasn't it? These blogs are sneaky.
DeleteMore hills than you might imagine. I'll put together a post on topography. Elevations (GPS) on the ranch range from 2,316 feet to 5,199 feet. At one location you can hike a straight mile with a lo-hi-low-hi profile for a total elevation change of nearly 10,000 feet. feet. The bulk of the ranch is on high ground just north of the Colorado line -- the "south divide." That high ground is broken by a deep erosion channel, Sidney Draw, which has n-s running erosion channels and small canyons branching off. We're anything but flat, but 2d images don't represent the topography well.
Oh yeah. The thing on the horizon is the Clean Harbors hazardous waste incinerator. Good neighbors.
Deletehttp://www.cleanharbors.com/locations/index.asp?id=39