Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
Snow makes a flashlight irrelevant. Even without a moon to shine, and of clouds to mask the twinkling stars, somehow the pure whiteness allows for visual acuity. At dawn, the footprints betray the activity that once was; and the current inactivity shadowed by the early morning yawn makes one wonder: who noticed, and what if I were standing quietly under the elm tree, making myself a part of the stiff objects in the wintry twilight? […]
There was an interesting article the other day, where certain public schools were attempting to banish the use of the term “best friend” from the ordinary and daily usage by students. Now, the immediate reaction by some would be: Uh-oh, here comes another “politically correct” movement that is based upon the foolish idea that social engineering can be attained merely by manipulating language’s daily discourse by simply expunging the vocabulary we engage. […]
At what point does a “good” turn transform into a negative? Can one help so much so that dependency becomes the habit and negates the “goodness” that was once always a part of the deed? Isn’t “going to work” a “good” thing? When does it turn bad? Is there ever a point where the quality of X becomes diluted so much so by the quantitative increase of the primary identifying ingredient of X to where the essence of X becomes negative-X because of too much X within X? […]
Metaphors and analogies are how we communicate; without them, it is the mere drone of sounds emitted, and even if without the directness of a simile where we place the comparison of two or more differing entities and connect with the word “like”, it is the only means of striving to reach a greater understanding of the world around. The death of the metaphor is a certainty. Modern technology has eviscerated the capacity of human beings to remain curious; and curiosity is not what killed the cat, […]
Second chances are hard to come by; they rarely release the powers constrained and tentatively restrained for future redemptive actions taking those steps back, words erased from regrettable and thoughtless splices of life; and even when the opportunity is provided, it is precisely for the same reason that the One who visited and descended within the historicity of this world refused to restate that which had already been taught once; for, no matter how many times it is stated, reiterated and disseminated, the power of forgetfulness and deliberate self-justification to not do something is so ingrained […]
We like to think in linear prose; that is why, when E. E. Cummings showered the literary world with typographical disarray, a collective groan of discomfort visibly shook the foundations of the art form. In daily life, it is the capacity of seeing a beginning, continuum and conclusion to a segment of a bifurcated visual horizon, which makes for sanity. Closure and a sense of termination allows for satisfaction of an accomplished deed. […]
There is clearly a distinction to be made between the general fatigue which life blows upon us all; like the child left to play outside in days of yore, and comes back with the grime of healthy dirtiness, the imperceptible layers of life’s hardships cover everyone, like the light dusting of snow overnight revealed in the morning dawn of a winter’s day. But the profound fatigue which overtakes one from the daily battle against an incapacitating medical condition, is a difference which cannot always be adequately described, if ever. […]