Fixed Points Of Reference Guide A Conservative Like Myself—Everyday Life Offers Both Clear Facts And Hopeful Imagination

Above is a picture I took last week while on a walk in Houston’s great Tony Marron Park.

It is hard to get lost in a flat city like Houston because Downtown is visible from so many vantage points.

This is a fine metaphoric example for a conservative like myself to say that we need fixed points of reference to find our way in life.

Hard work, reading, civic involvement, my marriage, longtime relationships of many kinds, and my core beliefs serve as some of my fixed reference points in life.

You will have your own points of reference that help you move ahead in life.

At the same time, imagination and metaphor are also essential to a complete life.

As Sojourner Truth said—It is the shadow that sells the substance.

As for today’s so-called political conservatives who have beliefs rooted in denial of the clear facts of climate change and who see America symbolically as a white Christian nation—These are people rooted neither in facts or in hopeful imagination.

A complete life requires both the seen and unseen.

A complete life requires both the clear facts of the matter and imagination.

Look around you each day and you will see all these things in everyday life.

Demolition Is As Natural As A Stroll In The Park

I took a walk this afternoon in Houston’s great Antonio Marron Park.

There is a trail in this park that runs along Buffalo Bayou.

Walking on this portion of the park, I saw across the bayou the demolition yard you see in the picture above.

In a big industrial city like Houston, demolition is as natural as a stroll in the park.

In the whole of existence, stuff is created and destroyed. There is no contradiction to be found in this fact.

How could we have a walk in the park if there was not a recycling of the elements?

If the elements were not recycled, how could anything exist?

Every part of life and death—and of beginning and ending— serves a purpose.

While Circumstance Matters, It Is Best Not To Allow Others To Construct Your Reality

Fort Adams State Park, Newport, Rhode Island

Galveston Seawall

Downtown Houston

Alki Beach area of Seattle

Galveston Seawall

Tony Marron Park in Houston  

Serpentine Wall leading to the Ohio River in Cincinnati   

(All photos copyright Neil Aquino.)

Just because there is a staircase does not mean we’ve been offered a chance to move on up, or that there is a way out of a place we don’t want to be.

I suppose in some cases you could see these staircases as offering a way out. At least if you can swim through strong currents to reach the staircases.

While context matters and sometimes we are in a circumstance not of our own making, it is best—with help from others since we need not be alone—to make a world of our own construction instead of allowing someone else to define our world and our options.

The good thing is that we can strive for a society where people work together to find a way out of places that may seem to have no exit, or that appear to lead no place at all.

Please Stop Littering In Tony Marron Park In Houston—How About Some Self-Respect For Ourselves As Everyday People?

May I please ask people to stop littering Tony Marron Park in Houston.

It is a nice park. Why would anybody litter in a nice park that is for all the people?

What is wrong with people?

How we conduct ourselves in a park that belongs to all the people is a measure of self-respect.

We’ve got to respect ourselves as everyday people using the common resources.

Each Day That Boats Come To Call At The Port Of Existence Is A Good Day

A City of Houston park I have come to enjoy is Tony Marron Park.

A portion of this park is along a section of Buffalo Bayou that at one point saw a great deal of boat traffic between Downtown Houston and the Houston Ship Channel.

Boat traffic has long since stopped at this section of the bayou.

As you can see from the two pictures above, there is still evidence of where the boats once stopped.

There are just no boats.

While my father was dying last month, I wondered about all the people he must have known over his 80 years.

They were all dead or otherwise gone. I was not aware of many people who dad was still in touch with in life.

When I walk along the trail at Marron Park and see where there was once life and activity, I think how we should value each day that traffic comes to call at the port of life and existence.

This traffic can be people, things we learn, ways that others communicate with us, opportunities to do constructive things, or—to be literal-minded–even a real boat.

Even the most routinely scheduled service is at some point rerouted or ended.

Take advantage of each day that you are on the path of some channel or route of existence.

Your Ship May Never Arrive—Yet You May Find Another Way To Get Where You Are Going

Above you see a picture I took last week at Tony Marron Park here in Houston. Tony Marron Park is a great place to take your kids, to take a walk or to play soccer

Tony Marron Park is located along the shores of Buffalo Bayou.

You see in the picture above that there is a place in the park and along the bayou where you can moor your boat. There was once commercial traffic on the Bayou that extended all the way to Downtown Houston—Yet this is no longer the case.

It has been many years since there was regular boat traffic on this segment of Buffalo Bayou.

Sometimes you wait for your ship to arrive, but it never does.

The good news is that I drove to this park in my car, and I was able to drive away to get back home. I did not require a ship.

You ship may never arrive, yet you may find another way to get where you are going.

Or, knowing your ship will not arrive, you have the option of picking another destination.

There are many paths and many options to the goals you seek in life.

Here is a post where I say that life is like a harbor where ships come and go.