Lights Out.

It happens when I'm driving at night or walking through a lit parking lot. A street light will go out. I don't know why. It just does. Just the other night, three street lights shorted out in my presence: Once at an intersection, and the others times in the parking lot of the recreation center and then on the drive home.

Zap. Poof.

The lights come back on eventually, but I don't know why they go dark in the first place. It's a common occurrence that happens about six to ten times a year. Three times in one night is a record. Truth be told, my dimming "skills" don't go unnoticed because my wife and son have witnessed these incidents.

When it happens. I look to the sky and say hello to my father who passed away some 13 years ago. I've adopted it as a sign that my he is checking on me. Street lights have no particular significance with my father. They were not a part of his life. He didn't pass away because he crashed in to one. I've simply chosen to associate these occurrences with him. It triggers me to remember that he was important part of my life; to take a second out of the day and just say hi. At first "lights out" was odd, now they are comforting.

It's a big world, after all.

Nothing like starting a blog post with the obvious:

It's a big world out there.

Unfortunately, many of us limit ourselves to our own little sliver or to places that we have been before. Mind you, there is comfort in the familiar but experiencing new places stimulates the mind and feeds the soul. And the clock is ticking.

Most of our lives are spent going to places familiar: To work. The neighborhood grocery store. The mall. The gym. And it doesn't take long before it all looks the same (because it is) and you feel nothing. So, when the opportunity arises because you have the money and / or the time, explore. Find your inner adventurer. Discover the joy that lies in the unknown.

I do find it surprising that at many people go to the same place on vacation year after year: a house at a lake, Disney world for the gazillionth time, etc. But hold your horses, these travelers are quick to point out that each experience at that place is different. OK, I will give them that much. However, I am of the opinion you need to "double-size it" as often as you can. The experience should be new, AND the place should be new.

Admittedly, most of us don't have the time or the money to jet our way across the pond and wander among the hamlets of rural England or explore the lagoons of the Caribbean. That's fine. Then, seek out the "new" closer to home. Cross places off your list and move on to the next one. Some experiences will be better than others. But you will never know if you continue to go to the same places.