Anvil Graphics Blog

Throughout our lives there are waypoints along the path, things which occur that mark special occasions as well as the passage of time. This past week has included a major milestone for myself and our family. My son Brandon has gone off to join the new freshman class at Colorado State University. We went to Fort Collins to help him move into the dorms, and saw all the other parents there; some tearful, some full of advice, some concerned, but all hopeful. A milestone is set along the highway, it measures the miles behind, when we watched our children take their very first steps or learn to ride a bike. Those miles in the midst when we walked our child to the first day of kindergarten, hand in hand and hopeful. Those memories of painful orchestra concerts or dropped balls on the field, those times when others hurt them and we could not do anything but comfort and encourage them, and know that time would heal this wound too. Today that marker along the edge of the road is like a starting line, chalked on the pavement for 4000 freshman students to line up and wait for the starters pistol to fire. Bang! Go! It is your turn to mark the milestones along the journey of life, to create memories, to be hopeful. We are always there for you, watching from a distance now, but keenly interested in the life you make for yourself, and still hopeful that you make the most of this and every opportunity.

Yesterday our family purchased new cell phones, which is really pretty exciting for us. For the first time ever we have text messaging and the ability to send photographs to one another. We have teenagers who will now be able to actually communicate with others in the teen text vernacular. Cathy and I also actually bought decent phones for the first time ever. We had considered the iPhone, but in the end the could not justify the additional cost of the phones and the monthly data fees which accompany their usage. So, in the evening after picking up our phones we went to play a relaxing round of miniature golf. Sure enough, a mom in a group near ours spent considerable time checking her phone, and texting people. She was there with what I assume are the most important people in her life, yet mentally disconnected from her family and the fun game at hand. I would like to think that her attachment to the phone was necessary, perhaps she was waiting for her doctor to contact her with a test result, or maybe she had a young daughter on a date an she was waiting for confirmation that she had returned home safely. That is what I hope, because she was distancing herself from those nearest to her. Be in the moment, enjoy the company of those around you, give into their lives. You can check messages later, it will wait.

I worry very much about people driving cars and texting or talking on the phone, it is foolish and dangerous. Most of us can barely be dialing a number without hitting something or driving off the road. So now there is a new menace behind the wheel: People trying to operate and follow their GPS mapping system. I am the first too admit that GPS systems are way cool and can serve a great purpose to drivers. The problem is that people are driving and trying to fool around with this thing. Recently I was in north Denver in an area I was unfamiliar. I had a good folded map, but that still required a quick stop to fold it into a small package and to study the turns ahead. I submit that a GPS unit would best be operated with the same quick stop. People just don’t multitask as well as they think, and driving is getting more and more dangerous because people are doing all these different activities while trying to drive. Lets face it: It is hard to tune the radio, drink a coffee, text a friend, put an address into GPS, eat a sandwich, slap the kid in the backseat, apply make-up, sort coupons, check out the hotty in the next car over, read online headlines and still maintain any control over a moving 2500 lb battering ram. We all are just not that talented (yea I know, you are different – probably the same guy texting while tailgating me at 78 mph). Relax, take it easy, arrive alive, it is more fun that way.