I love reading Heather's blog. She has some interesting thoughts about parents perceptions when seeing other people's children. Reminds me of the times when I traveled for work and would see kids and thought about my kids at home without me. And even now when I see children and their parents I think about all the joys and sorrows that they have experienced and will experience.

I try to imagine what couples who don't have children react to these experiences. Among my siblings I am the only one that has childen.

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Originally uploaded by rkrato.

Golf with the wide angle.

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IMGP0114.JPG Originally uploaded by rkrato.

I had a dream this morning.

I was at some kind of high school event. I don't remember there being any details of the event in my dream and the location is only vaguely clear to me now. Actually I don't remember many of the details at all. What I do remember is Cindy and her friend S. were in the dream. Nothing too exciting is happening just regular daily life. At some point something happens that reminds me of something in the past. I mention it to Cindy and I am trying to remember if she was there when it happened. At that point my mind starts to flip flop between the past and present, dream and reality. In the dream I can't seem to figure out if Cindy was there when this thing happened in the past. Then while still in the dream I am trying to figure out if it happened before or after she died. It seems to me in the dream that is was after she died.

At this point my dreams usually take a turn and I start to realize how amazing it is that Cindy is there talking to us, afte having been dead for all these years, and I wake up.

This time the dream is different. S. is sitting next to me on some bleachers and I turn to her and say "I wonder what will make us realize she is dead this time". The dream continues on for a little while and I start to wake up before anyone in the dream realizes that Cindy is dead and really isn't there talking to us.

I found this interesting exercise over at Kottke.org.

"Go here and look through random quotes until you find five that you think reflect who you are or what you believe."

It took a while but I came up with these:

• Hold no man responsible for what he says in his grief. (The Talmud)
• If you can't do what you want, do what you can. (Lois McMaster Bujold)
• Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
• Every once in a while, take the scenic route. (H. Jackson Brown Jr.)
• It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. (Agnes Repplier)