Month: June 2022

Categories
short stories

Monsoons are blowing in Arizona

      Anyone, that hasn’t lived in Arizona through monsoon season, has no idea of the heavy rains we encounter this time each year. The only thing that is thought of when mentioning Arizona is hot and dry desert. Although we do have extreme heat in the middle to southern parts of the state, we also have snow up north, lots of mountains all over, and yes, heavy rains!

Monsoon cloud builds up in Arizona, looks like smoke from volcano
These are monsoon clouds building up. Looks almost like smoke from a volcano photo by “Brett Scaggs”
Lightning strikes during late night storm
Great lightning shows this time of year. Photo by “Brett Scaggs“

     The monsoons add another layer to our weather that is interesting, to say the least. 110 °F with super high humidity and flash flooding is what we look forward to each year around July. These rains come in fast, hard and heavy. Afterwards, in a short period of time when the rain stops, water disappears as fast as it showed up. The sand sucks it into the ground as though a great mouth had opened up and took a big drink of it. The only way you can see that the water had been running like a river down your street, is by the debris that is left behind. Things such as branches from trees, sand, gravel, rocks, cacti and palm leaves can be seen wherever the water ran.

Multiple views of Dripping Springs Wash running like a river after monsoon rain photos by “Brett Scaggs“

      Most people would think, we had a man-made river running, where nothing but sand had been a few minutes before. We have what we call washes here, that are like creeks, only with few rocks (mostly sand and shrubs) and no water to be found for most of the year. When the monsoons hit, these washes become full-blown rivers for a short period of time.

Video of flooded wash after monsoon in Arizona. Presented by Brett Scaggs

      It happens every year that some people get their cars and trucks stuck, (if not taken down the wash) because they don’t realize or believe the water could be that deep and run that hard in such a short span of time. These are usually people who are spending their first year here during the monsoon season, although, there’s always that one idiot, with no common sense, that thinks this time they can make it across. This is in the middle of the desert and yet, you would think we were down by the Atlantic coast for a little while. Even though these rains can do a lot of damage, by the time the monsoon season is upon us, we are ready for some water. Not necessarily that much that quick, but anything to break up the heat and bring the desert back into full bloom. The cacti spring to life and creatures, big and small, breathe a sigh of relief from the hot sands beneath their feet. The underground water tables are once again filled, and we can look towards the thing we all want to see come soon, …. Winter!

Dark monsoon clouds breaking up at dusk
Monsoon clouds that are breaking up after a big rain photo by “Brett Scaggs”

     We have a lot of people that like to spend their winters here to get away from the harsh winters in their own state. We call these “Snow birds“. Once the heat starts to rise, they pack up and head back to their home states. Quite a few will love it here so much, they will decide to make Arizona home. We have people from all over the map move here and after their first year, the same question always comes up, “What happened to Spring and Fall?” Those of us who know, will smile and simply say, “Other than about three weeks a year, we are either in Summer or Winter”. Do we have Spring and Fall? According to the seasons on the calendar, yes we do, according to temperatures, no, we really don’t feel that to be true. We like to believe so, but when we walk outside, Mother Nature just laughs and laughs.

Sunset after storm in Arizona. Clouds look almost on fire
Arizona sky at sunset after the storm    Photo by “William Glen Snelgrove”

      So if you want to know a little more about Arizona, watch the Weather Channel for the next two months. Who knows, you might get a glimpse of me floating by on your television screen. I’m just kidding, I know better than to cross a flooded wash, and I don’t own a boat. Take care my friends, stay safe wherever you are, and I will try to stay dry in the Grand Canyon State!

     If you enjoyed this post, you need to listen or read this one from July of last year Press here

Categories
short stories

Quit trying to be someone else!

Sun peaks through the bottom of clouds. "Be the leader that shines for others to follow" by Brett Scaggs

      We all have our heroes, but you need to be you. Quit imitating others, you are the only you there has ever been or will ever be. You are special and need to figure that out today.

      Do you have any idea what makes a leader? A leader is their own person and has ultimately figured this little piece of the world out about themselves. Followers are those that are still trying to figure out who they are and where they belong. Once a follower decides to be who they are, they are no longer followers. They have now become leaders and the followers will come, mark my words.

Twin women standing on opposite sides of wall. Both are individuals, but one is trying to be more like the other.

      There is nothing wrong with looking up to someone, but don’t go as far as wanting to be them. (The only people that can pull this off and not look ridiculous are twins, even though, they too are individuals who should follow their own path.) If you try to be them, you are a follower who is just an imitation and have yet to find yourself. Everyone has something special about them, the trick is to find out what is special about you. Once you have figured that out, you can step out of the shadow of someone else and lead a fuller life.

      Being a leader does have its downside. As a leader, you start to see others imitating you, so you have to try very hard not to put a step wrong. As a follower, nobody pays attention to you, you are just another face in the crowd. You have no significance as far as others see you. This may work for you, but for most of us, it’s better to have a little pressure put on us to be known as someone and not a nobody.

      Are you ready to step up and step into who you are, or will you continue to be someone else’s shadow? Nobody can answer that question but you. I can tell you, in this day and age, we could use some more leaders. Followers are readily available, but leaders are getting harder and harder to find. I think everyone truly wants to be their own person, but they are afraid of failure. It is true that you will see failures along the way, but a true leader can weather the storm and come out better for going through the struggle.

      Let’s attack this another way and see if this helps with your decision. If you are a follower and the one who leads you fails, what happens next? If they crash and burn, you will also crash and burn with them because you are just following without making a decision for yourself. Wouldn’t it be better if you held the reins and made the decision for your own life? You may find yourself making a bad decision once in a while, but at least it was your decision, and you can learn from it. As a follower, you have no decision capabilities, along with no way of learning from the failure that you were just dragged into.

Sun sets beneath the clouds. "Be the leader that shines for others to follow" Photo by Brett Scaggs

      I personally choose to make my own decisions of who I am and in turn, have others that follow in my footsteps. I also encourage these followers to step out on their own and learn who they are. Furthermore, I have been a follower and I have been a leader, both have their ups and downs. The main reason I choose to be a leader now is because I no longer wish to follow others when they fail.

       I have no idea why I felt the need to write this post. Maybe there are a few of you that needed to hear it, or maybe it is something that I needed to hear for myself. I do know I had an overwhelming need to write this. If this is something that you needed to hear, please let me know. If you don’t want to comment for others to see, you can always email me at [joinme@readcsi.com] Thank you for reading and may all your wants and needs be met. Take care, my friends. Until next week, remember, we are all in this together.

Father’s vs Daddy’s

     I believe we need to change the name from Father’s Day to Daddy’s Day. This is something that I have always believed. I think if you read on, you may understand where I’m coming from.

      What is a father? According to the dictionary, it is: a man in relation to his child or children. This is a pretty vague and open description. Daddy is an informal way of saying father, however in a child’s eyes, there is a big difference.  Any male figure can become a father, but not all fathers can or choose to be a daddy. There are many men who have created children, including very bad men. This includes abusive men, rapists or even murderers of their children. Why are we allowing these men to be celebrated? This is the first part of why I believe the name change is in order.

Daddy reading to his daughter while they sit in tent

      To all fathers that are taking care of their children, whether being in the same household or not, I salute you. The men that have stepped up for their children can be considered father and daddy. Remember, just because you helped create a child, does not make you a daddy.

        What about a man that steps up to raise a child that they did not create? Those that are stepdads and those that adopt children and become dads can possibly be considered daddy, but not always. If the men in these cases raise these children with love, compassion and respect, they may and possibly will become a daddy. However, in the stepdad position, this may or may not be the case. If the father is still in the child’s life and also shows the child love, compassion and respect, then this will trump the stepdad’s claim on the term daddy. As long as the stepdad shows love, compassion and respect for the child, then these are still great men to be respected.

Daddy sleeping with his child on his chest

       It takes a special man to be a daddy, It only takes sex to become a father. There is a huge difference in these two terms. Why are we celebrating all fathers when so many don’t deserve to be celebrated? Why are we leaving out the daddys that deserves to be celebrated? Some families do celebrate daddys on Fathers Day as well they should, but the name in the holiday doesn’t fit.

       I never knew my father and have not seen him since I was a baby. Do I believe this man deserves to be celebrated on Father’s Day? Without ever meeting this man, I would have to say no for now. I am now in my fifties and this man has never tried to contact me in any way. The man that became my stepdad at the age of four earned the role of daddy through the years. This man showed me love, compassion and respect until the day he died. I never called him daddy because I was raised in the time when that was only a term said out loud by the girls in the family. Dads and sons in my day didn’t hug or show much emotion. Shaking hands was the highest respect that was used to show love. I called him dad,  but in my mind’s eye, I was always saying daddy.

Picture of my Daddy

       I will spend another Father’s Day this year without my daddy, and I miss him so much. If you have a daddy, make sure you show this great man love. Even though some of us old men are still stuck in the handshake mode, we still love our hugs.

       I hope I have made my case for the name change of this holiday. Some people never realize how special a daddy can be until they are gone. Have a  Happy Daddy’s Day!

How to find truth on the internet

       Trust those that seek the truth, but doubt those that say they have found it.

      Who should we believe when searching for the truth? Think about going on the internet and searching for an answer to a question you may have. The answer may be, and probably is there, but what about all the false information that is also there? How are you to decide who is giving you the true answer to your question? That is something that is very hard to do, isn’t it? Anybody can put anything on the internet, whether it is true or not. So where is the correct answer you seek?

        Let me give an example here, I can write down everything that I know about nuclear fusion and fill in what I don’t know with a bunch of untruths. I can make it sound very good and reasonable to someone who doesn’t know about it. I can even put in some big words that I find in the dictionary and make it sound even better. Furthermore,  I can go as far as to make up different educational studies and certificates that I have acquired in nuclear fusion. In all actuality, I can lie in so many ways that it would be almost impossible to find out that I am a fake. Why is it that I can accomplish this task? If you learn the answer to that question, you are already halfway to finding the truth.

Lady looking for answers on laptop computer

       The internet is full of great information. It is also full of a bunch of lies and nonsense. We must be careful what we believe when surfing the net. It can be a good thing, but also a very dangerous place to be. If you are not very careful, you can end up with a brain full of nothing more than fiction. The problem is that most people today don’t take the time to find the true answers to their questions. Instead, they just look at the first thing that pops up and go with what is written there. Are you one of those people, or someone who takes the time to do research before making a decision?

        Some people would say it takes common sense, (something that I write a lot about) to choose the correct answer. This could be true if we were discussing how to make a cat purr, but we are talking about nuclear fusion. This would take more than common sense to figure out, wouldn’t it? Common sense can be used here, but it would tell us to do our research before coming to a conclusion. This is where the problem lies. People today want the quick answers, they don’t want to go old school (another term I write about) and have to do any work.

      So, what is the problem with going with the highest ranked resource on the internet and not looking anywhere else? I’m going to tell you a little secret here, with enough work an author can rank number one with a bunch of lies. This is a talent that authors learn to get on that front page of your search. That by no means makes it true! That just means the author worked harder than the others below him/her on the front page. Anybody that writes for a living and is reading this, knows exactly what I am talking about. To those that don’t understand, look up, “What is (S.E.O)” in your search engine and this will explain it for you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a writer trying to get on the front page, because this is how we make better money. I do have a problem with writer’s writing untruths and getting there.

Woman texting on phone, laptop open in front of her

       The internet is a great tool if used with common sense. This means, find your answers, but don’t believe everything you read. Even though, in this day and age, it is easier to find the answers, it is also easier to be led astray! As a closing thought, I must add that I know very little about nuclear fusion, and I’m not going to write about it either. What I write is to help you in a society that is no longer stable within itself. This is my main purpose in talking common sense. When I say we need to bring back old school thought, this is to bring us back when we used our brains more than computers. Computers are a great invention and I truly enjoy my smartphone, but I don’t depend on it to tell me how to live. Remember, computers were created by humans, not the other way around. Always keep in mind, if you want the answer to a hard question, research is the way to go. Take care my friends. Remember, we are all in this together.

Categories
short stories

Faith Quote By Brene Brown: “Faith is a…”

I received this from “Elena” and had to share. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Click link below to see more from Short Wisdom.

Short Wisdom

Don’t let the quotes you love the most go into the forgotten corners of your mind! Use the notebooks I created and published on Amazon to keep your quotes together! PS: If you enjoy my content, I will think of you while drinking my coffee. – BuyMeACoffee And if you are interested in reading some […]

Faith Quote By Brene Brown: “Faith is a…”

We can’t overcome size

        Have you ever thought that our minds cannot truly grasp size? Strange question, isn’t it? Let’s take a deeper look into size and see if you come to the same conclusion that I have. This will be a post that is going to blow your mind, and you are going to want to share this with your friends.

Lady holds a fishbowl with goldfish in it

       I think the best way to start is to think of a goldfish swimming in a fishbowl on top of your counter. The fish’s whole world is within glass walls. To this fish, his glass bowl is his world and everything outside it is his universe. The fish can look outside the bowl and see your living room. To him, your lamp might as well be his sun or the north star. When you show up to feed him, you are an alien from another world taking care of him.

       Now we are not fish, this is just to show a point to you in the simplest term that I know how. We live on earth and, unlike the fish, we cannot see our whole world. Here is my next example of size.  I live in a house, on a piece of property, in a county of a state (Arizona), located in the United States, in North America on the earth. If we break it down like that, we start to get an idea of size.

     Let’s take our examples and expand them even farther. Our home planet is located in our universe. Scientists know now that there are multiple universes. However, they have no idea how many universes there are.

Man walking up steps to the stars

      A science teacher ask his star pupil, “What is beyond our universe?” The student replies, “Another universe. ” The teacher agrees, but pushes the student farther by asking, “And what is beyond that universe?” The student once again responds, “Another universe. ” The teacher agrees with that statement as well and then ask, “That is what top scientists now know to be true, but what is beyond that universe?” The student thinks of all the studies he has done and simply says, “Nobody knows. ” Even though I have used fictional characters to make a point, this shows how size overcomes us.

       With all the technology today, we still have places on this earth that we have yet to discover. Think of the amount of people on this earth, and yet there are places we have yet to be. The earth gives us a small indication of what size means. Telescopes and unmanned spacecraft have shown us the far reaches of space, yet we have no idea how far it goes. We haven’t found where space ends or if it ends. So size is the one thing that humans have yet to overcome.

       I know this post is quite different from my normal writing, but I want to give you a picture of just how great out there is. Next time you are looking to the stars, remember this post and feel special about yourself. You were given a chance to live in such a wonderful place that has no boundaries. And as you look at the stars so far away, just think how special you are to be given such a great gift.

        One last thing I will bring up, I made this post relatively short on purpose. Do you believe it would have made a difference if I were to make it longer? Maybe I should use the word “bigger” instead of “longer” or would that just emphasize the size of the meaning to this post? Think about it friends and share this with your friends. I am excited to see what kind of responses I draw up with this thought of mine. Do you believe we can overcome size, or do I have you thinking about it? Until next time, take care.

Eye for an eye can cut both ways

      We have all heard the expression “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” If you haven’t then let me explain what I believe this means. In very simple terms, you will be treated as you treat others or treat others as you wish to be treated. Either way you look at it, it should be very personal to you. If you hurt others, except hurt to come your way. This may not be from the one you hurt, but it will show up. If you treat others with respect, respect you shall have.

Man pointing and yelling

     I don’t understand how some people can be so hateful to others and expect good things to come their way. They seem to take the expression, that I mentioned above, differently. They feel that if someone hurts them, they must in turn hurt that person. The problem with this is you have just set yourself up to be hurt again. It is better to forgive and let that person be delt with by someone else. This allows you to be rid of the situation. Of course, I didn’t say to forget, I said to forgive them. It is wise to remember those that hurt you and what they did, so you won’t be hurt by them again.

      I realize this can be a very hard lesson to learn, but the quicker you learn it, the faster you will find the peace we all seek. Most people will take sayings like this one and distort the words to fit what they wish to believe and not what the meaning truly was meant to be. This form of distortion has been going on ever since the first words were formed. One person will read what is written and take from it what they want, while a different person can read the same words and come up with a completely different meaning.  This is usually from using feeling instead of wisdom while reading. That sounds awful, but if you think about it, isn’t this true? There is one exception that seems to always show up,  and that is whether it is truth or fiction. Why can we all read a fiction book that someone has written and come to the same conclusion, but read something that is factual and let the war of words begin.

Church in the countryside

     It may seem that I have gotten off subject, however I don’t believe so. This all comes down to what you wish to believe and what you are willing to fight for. The title I have picked for this post fits very well because it all comes down to what we see to begin with. Why do you think there are so many denominations of churches that fall under the same umbrella of what the followers believe? Why do certain churches believe a verse and others omit it? Yes, I did just turn this into a spiritual post. I never said one way or the other of how each of you believe. (I will state here that I intentionally left out part of what I believe our saying is about, just to get you to read on. This being said. I will add, “Be careful how you treat God and his children.” I will leave it at that for now). Furthermore, I’m just giving you a starting point for questioning why there are so many religions out there today. Every religious sector believes they are correct and everyone else is wrong. And yet, don’t we all seek basically the same thing after life?

       We teach our children to believe the way we believe. And when your child reads something like, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, are we not making them see the way we see? What happens when they see this different from what we do? Maybe they are looking at the words before and after, learning what the writer meant and not just how Mom and Dad feel about it? Maybe they have learned there is more to the story than just one sentence.

Girl holding knife in one hand a d doll in other hand
How do you view, “An eye for an eye?”

      It is a good thing to feel what you believe, but you must also use wisdom while reading something that has been written for fact, not fiction. How do you view the phrase, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?” There are many ways to view this, which one will you choose? Just as a precaution, keep this in mind. An eye for an eye can cut both ways! Be careful that you read the words before and after before making your decision. Sayings like these were written with a purpose and not meant just to be used as cliff notes.

      I look forward to your views, and I am here to discuss this with you. Make sure to leave your comments below, so others will also understand the different views on this subject. I will leave it at that for now. Take care and God bless.