I have a friend whose husband’s name is Earl. Really. I saw my friend this week and said, “please pass onto your husband how incredibly jealous I am of him that he has a hurricane named after him!” She was a bit startled by this, being the good, sensible liberal that she is (and I love her for it!:) ), thinking this wasn’t something that had occurred to her to ever wish for anyone.

After the shocked look on her face, I simply stated that I had always wanted to have a hurricane named after me. Really. How much more narcissistic can a person be than to wish mayhem and destruction being broadcast on all the international airwaves being referred to as “Hurricane Alowetta!”

Doesn’t sound that intimidating now that I think about it. But it wouldn’t be any worse than some of the other names they use for hurricanes. Apparently, these things get named well in advance. One search I did found the list going through 2014, and each year has ALL the alphabet (except Q, U, and Z for some reason). When was the last time you heard of Hurricane Walter or Hurricane Valerie? Really - they are on the list.

I guess some of these storms get names that we may never hear about since they billow up, get a name and promptly poop out before making any real strides toward scariness and panic.  I’m not trying to make light of the hurricane season - obviously, hurricanes can be devastating both in economic and life damage.

But honestly - how afraid are you going to be of a hurricane they name - Lisa? or Hermine? or Virginie (not Virginia) for crying out loud!!  Yes, these are all names on the 2010 list!

So, my suggestion is, if they aren’t going to name a hurricane after me, then we should change the entire way they are named. Instead of sissy names, I think WWE names would be more appropriate — wouldn’t you think twice before saying you are going to “ride this one out” if the hurricane were named, “Spike,” “Triple H,”  or “Hacksaw?” How about “The Hurricane!”

Yes, these are real WWE names, and I think they bring the all important “Run for your lives, the sky is falling!” fear with them that hurricanes deserve. Get people to really set up and take notice of what is happening around them!

Of course, I guess there is the part where some of my friends and family are now reading this and saying (hopefully to themselves only) - “what’s she talking about? She is a hurricane, every time she leaves a place there is a wake of destruction in her path!”

Guess I got my wish after all~

What is it with guys leaving their jobs to “spend more time with their family?”  The other day a local government administrator announced he was leaving his six-figure job to “tend to family matters.” General McCrystal, Tiger Woods, some guy from the Walmart corporate office…and the list goes on.

I’m not knocking legitimate issues for some, and maybe most, of these people. Family illness, kid problems - these are legitimate reasons I think for not working full-time. And if you find out your life expectancy just got shortened before your bucket list was complete - by all means, spend your last days with the people you love.

But really - leaving a job that pays more than the GDP of some third-world countries without one of those reasons?  Tiger Woods salary could pay down the national debt in about 3 years - he’s giving that up to spend more time with family? A little advice Tiger - the last thing your wife wants to do with you after learning of your filandering escapades is to spend ANY TIME with you. I guess she let you know that when she took you for 850M.

What ever happened to integrity in your own self-evaluation? If you as a general or a CEO or public servant know you are a total screw-up and didn’t fulfill your contractual obligations, if you sank the international company into the financial toilet, if you opened your big mouth and let the whole world know you are an intellectual moron sometimes — why don’t you just man-up and say it?

We are a fairly forgiving society for most events - example, that umpire who publicly admitted he really messed up the baseball history books by making a bad call. We all sighed in unison and held out our collective arms to give him the “we’ve-all-made-stupid-mistakes-in-our-lives-too” hug.

Stop hiding behind the commonly-used-today excuse of becoming a “victim” of your circumstances. Give us a chance to believe that MOST people do have integrity, and restore our faith in the “I made a mistake, and I’m sorry” explanation. So that we, too, can recognize the value of admitting mistakes and making it right in our own personal worlds.

Man-up, or woman-up as the case may be, and let’s bring back the integrity of personal ownership and responsibility for our actions.

PS -If you are leaving a position because you were just pronounced with a date-to-meet-your-Maker, my prayers are with you. Go hug your family a lot.

The view from Grand Mesa

I took a drive up on Grand Mesa yesterday. It’s been a while since I ventured up on the big flat-topped mountain that we used to spend just about every weekend camping, fishing and just getting away from the heat of GJ.

Normally, we would have been going up in a pickup with either a tent, a camper or a trailer behind. But my little red sports car took me up the Delta side very well. (Well, okay it isn’t REALLY a sports car, but it cornered just fine at 70 mph on the mountain roads )

As is usual this time of year, the top of Grand Mesa is green, green, green and the lakes are the clearest blue you can imagine. As I topped the switchback and drove up to Ward Lake, I remembered all those times of making the trip with kids — in the back of a camper, in the back of a pickup (yes, back in the old days it wasn’t a big deal!), or just in the back seat.  Most of my nephews and nieces have made that trip at least once in their lifetime, and some are still making the trip as adults.

Some new generations of fishermen/persons

All the boys made the trip too many times to count -  for camping, fishing and even skiing during the winter. Kaiser creek, Weir and Johnson, Eggleston Lake…all have memories of kids and fishing poles, and cooking hot dogs on an open fire, and smores, and ….rain, and mosquitos and skunks. Boy, have we had some adventures!

Makes you wish you were there!

One time the pickup broke something on the way up, and we literally pitched a tent on the side of the dirt road; another time the mosquitos were SOOOOO bad we actually had to pack up the tent and go home, we couldn’t even be outside for 5 minutes!

Most of the trips were uneventful, from the serious side, and tremendously eventful-ly full of memories - at least from our side. Kids remember things so differently, I’m not sure they could tell you much about it.  We have a picture of Alex camping at Vega Lake at about 3 months old, which is probably why the mountains are his favorite place to be.

Of course, kids grow up and other priorities in life take over - baseball, band, FFA, etc. and little by little camping on a regular basis went away. But driving up there yesterday by myself gave me time to ponder about life’s joys - and Grand Mesa certainly is one of those great joys! So thanks to all our kids, nephews and nieces for making it so much a part of our lives!

Ward Lake on the biggest flat-topped mountain in the world