The Green Light Ramble And Riff

Remember To Remember Again It occurs to me again (this is always occurring to me) that there are a million daily annoyances that I experience, which are easily forgotten (they are so tiny and trivial); yet, soon enough I experience them all over again, and the whole thing refreshes in the annoyance region of my mind. (oh, no, I'm sounding a bit like an intoxicated Andy Rooney!) Well, what am I getting at? Should I just put forth a metaphor to encapsulate this whole idea? Okay, I will....it's the light that stays green for two seconds. And, I'm not, I don't think, exaggerating here....this light really stays green for two seconds. You can be approaching the intersection....you may be about forty feet from the light....you're driving.... you're forty feet away, and you see the light go from red to green, and, you can bet it'll turn red by the time you reach it. Friends, granted this is tiny, but, granted it is also ridiculous, and another example of things being done incorrectly. Sometimes I wonder if they're ever done any other way... and, when there's a line of traffic waiting at a red light, when the light turns green, folks don't step on the gas.... there's a significant lull, and I really don't understand it.... you know how there's public service announcements? I'd like for their to be a public service announcement commercial where Samuel Jackson or Tom Cruise says repeatedly, "Green means go," while a video plays of a traffic light turning green and a driver stepping on the gas........lol........... is this my world? and, while I'm at it..... so many people don't use their traffic signals, and this is truly reckless.... I'd like to see that law more rigorously enforced. Public Service Announcement: Driving Is Not A Game.... okay, that having been said, today I did stop in the road when I saw what I thought was a big dog. The Deer That Initially Looked Like A Big Dog I was on one of these back country roads right by the house, and I was at the stop sign, and I was just turning right. Believe me, there's really not much traffic on these back roads...so, I'm turning right, and I glance to my left, to the road that continues from the road I was turning off of...well, that continuing road rolls downhill, with a thick forrest on both sides, and it has that mysterious quality to it which attracts....looking at it, I feel tempted to go down it... it has that intangible quality to it which promises something rewarding or salubrious....well, from my eye's corner I see a big brown creature. In that instant, I say to myself, "Damn, that's a big dog." Then, next instant, I realize it's a deer, and she's taking her sweet time in crossing that little country road, and, I think to myself what I generally think to myself whenever I see a deer: "That has got to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." And, she was, and there was no traffic coming, so I sat there and watched her, and, she was sure taking her sweet time in doing whatever she was doing, and, I thought to myself, "This is indeed a divine universe," and, then I thought to myself, as I so often do, "It's a shame people seem so reluctant to make statements like that ." Folks, I'm telling you, you've got to start, purposefully, putting some holes in your armor. I Am Putting Some Holes In My Armor Lately, it occurs to me again, something I've given a lot of thought to over the years. You know, it's so easy to be cynical. That's the easiest, safest, most cowardly thing you can do. I've been against that for years, and, I think, since I became a father a year and a half ago, I'm just becoming even more and more against it. I think there's a correlation. I really do. This is just the type of thing I find myself thinking about while I'm driving. I do some enjoyable thinking while driving on these back country roads. I mean... you know, I'm really enjoying life while rolling along and looking at the deer and pondering the insanity. Insanity = Fireworks Stands On The Roadsides Okay, correct me if I'm wrong... I mean, if I'm crazy and wrong, send me an email and tell me so; but, a lot of kids, every year, wake up with a few less fingers and eyes and things because of fireworks. You can argue with my general reasoning concerning any number of things, but this is a matter of fact. You can read about it in newspapers and various books of statistics (who writes those things?) In fact, as a young lad, one of my pals actually accidentally killed himself by playing with fireworks. He was putting them into a bottle, and, you know, the bottles would explode, and, on that terrible day...the fireworks didn't go off, so, he went to inspect, and, sadly, it then went off, and he ended up with glass shards in his neck, and his name was on a tombstone soon after, and he was about ten years old. You know, this is reality. Yet, driving home tonight, I saw quite a few fireworks stands on the roadside, and, folks, I'm not in Tenessee. This is Pennsylvania. And, I must admit, these fireworks stands are beautiful. They are colorful, with their orange and red and yellow banners, and the actual boxes of fireworks look brilliant, bright, and exotic. I mean...when I see one, it's like I'm suddenly an iron filing and it's a big colorful magnet.... I don't deny the attraction, but that's really a big part of the problem! And, you know, I've spoken elsewhere recently about totally f-ed up things that are acceptable, which in my view shouldn't be, and this is another thing to add to the list. Sometimes it occurs to me that we could solve some of the unemployment problem by creating a league of jobs known as the common sense squad. All Hail The Common Sense Squad You know, the Common Sense Squad's job would be to impose a bit of common sense upon society, ie. If they see a traffic light that stays green for two seconds, they see to it that this is corrected. If they see a fireworks stand in a residential area, they may point out that, as I said, fireworks are responsible for missing eyes and things, so, perhaps we should give this some more consideration. If they see cars not moving when the light turns green, they jump out of the sidelines and blow their whistles and scream, "Go! Drive for crying out loud! It's green!" If they see a car stopped in the middle of the road, because the driver's looking at a deer, they, well, they'll leave him alone. So, if you found this ramble interesting, chances are you'll love my Art Poem Painting Photo Forum.