We live in a world of opposites. We all experience this take on life now and then. Maybe even daily especially if you're use to watching or listening to politics. You've got the Right and the Left, the Conservatives and the Liberals, the Republicans and the Democrats all saying pretty much the opposite of each other with each group feeling, knowing, that they are right and aggravated with the opposite viewpoint because they are soooo wrong.
How does this happen? Brainwashing by ones parents? Brainwashing by the dominant environment you live in? A gene that makes us believe one thing or the other? I don't know. What I do know is that for me it's easier just to accept this difference and then focus on what we have in common. Every Democrat and Republican loves their sons and daughters and they want the best for them.
Having moved to San Diego 4 and 1/2 years ago has been a living reminder of the physical and social differences between here and New England. For example I'll be putting on SPF 45 sunscreen later today before I go to work outside in the my short sleeve shirt while all my family and friends back east dress in multiple layers of thermal and down clothing protecting themselves from frostbite. It's 66 degrees and sunny in San Diego while back in Bethel, Maine it's 15 degrees and snowing hard. Just to rub it in tomorrow will be 75 degrees. This time of year these differences are really pronounced. I remember recently listening to the local San Diego news anchor complain because she was freezing at 50 degrees. That was the same day I spoke to my mom who lives in Lubec, Maine and was appreciating the day because it had warmed up to 38 degrees. They were both serious.
Here in San Diego people make a big deal about drizzle and rain. I can see why. It's because it never ever seems to rain here. Well it does rain, sort of, sometimes. San Diego only gets a total annual average of 10 inches of rain. Some years they don't receive that much. Here they measure rain in hundredths of an inch. The other night the weather person said it rained .09 hundredths of an inch. That means it would have to rain more then 10 times that amount just to reach an inch of rain. We call that drizzle back in New England and it's pretty much a non event.
But odd things happen in San Diego when it rains. You can bet on multiple car accidents and fender benders. I've heard reports of up to an accident every 2 minutes during some of these times. San Diegans definitively don't know how to drive in rain. Coming down a ramp towards a stop light at 60 miles per hour in the rain will be different. "Hey dude, whys my car not stopping? Oh crap...I hit the car in front of me. Stupid rain." Then other things can happen, like houses collapse into the ground or go sliding down a hill in a mudslide.
So what's the point of my story? Well I think in order to really appreciate a sunny day you need more rainy days. On the other hand when I have so many sunny days here I really appreciate a rainy day as long as I don't have any one driving too closely behind me.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Page One
Hi! My name is Peter Gailitis. I credit this new blog endeavor of mine to the spirit and enthusiam I get when I read the blogs of my daughter Amber and her boyfriend Tommie. They're great because they're thoughtful, insightful, hopeful, creative and funny. Let's see how this blog evolves.
I have to say I have/had some trepidation about putting thoughts and events about me on the web available for public view. I'm social by nature but I really like my privacy. So why would I want to put my thoughts and private experiences "out there?" I'm not 100 percent sure. I think it will be cathartic. I think it will be fun. My large family can check in on me now and then to see if I've gone crazy.
So Androscoggin Bloggin....how did you come up with that name Pete? Well first of all let's face it...it's poetic. The Androscoggin River is a long and windy river that begins it's life at the outlet of Lake Umbagog in Errol, New Hampshire in the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge and then travelling through the western mountains of Maine meanders generally south and east before joining the Kennebec River at Merrymeeting Bay and finally finding its terminus into the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Maine near Bath. Don't worry, I don't usually use big words like terminus. For those who like facts, the river is 178 miles long.
My wife Lauren and I love rivers and we especially love the Androscoggin which we've kayaked along a few times around Bethel, Maine. By the way Bethel is our all time favorite New England village. It's our favorite because it's beautiful. Nature smacks you square in the face with her elements. Lush green mountains and open fields in the summertime. Big puffy white clouds hanging in a sky so blue it almost hurts to look at it. Bald eagles and big moose. Good people and good pubs, and of course, the river.
The river is like life and it is life. It has many twists and turns. You can't always see what's up ahead of you...around the next bend...but you keep flowing along. Sometimes you meet a challenge, maybe white water rapids making the journey a little choppy or a dam where all you can do is try to find a way around it. The river goes up and the river goes down. Most of the time the river is just plain beautiful. Welcome to Androscoggin Bloggin.
I have to say I have/had some trepidation about putting thoughts and events about me on the web available for public view. I'm social by nature but I really like my privacy. So why would I want to put my thoughts and private experiences "out there?" I'm not 100 percent sure. I think it will be cathartic. I think it will be fun. My large family can check in on me now and then to see if I've gone crazy.
So Androscoggin Bloggin....how did you come up with that name Pete? Well first of all let's face it...it's poetic. The Androscoggin River is a long and windy river that begins it's life at the outlet of Lake Umbagog in Errol, New Hampshire in the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge and then travelling through the western mountains of Maine meanders generally south and east before joining the Kennebec River at Merrymeeting Bay and finally finding its terminus into the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Maine near Bath. Don't worry, I don't usually use big words like terminus. For those who like facts, the river is 178 miles long.
My wife Lauren and I love rivers and we especially love the Androscoggin which we've kayaked along a few times around Bethel, Maine. By the way Bethel is our all time favorite New England village. It's our favorite because it's beautiful. Nature smacks you square in the face with her elements. Lush green mountains and open fields in the summertime. Big puffy white clouds hanging in a sky so blue it almost hurts to look at it. Bald eagles and big moose. Good people and good pubs, and of course, the river.
The river is like life and it is life. It has many twists and turns. You can't always see what's up ahead of you...around the next bend...but you keep flowing along. Sometimes you meet a challenge, maybe white water rapids making the journey a little choppy or a dam where all you can do is try to find a way around it. The river goes up and the river goes down. Most of the time the river is just plain beautiful. Welcome to Androscoggin Bloggin.
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