Feeling alive.

I'm enjoying being alive. Today. That's what I'm supposed to do. That's why I was put on Earth. To feel alive. And consider it a blessing. Even if I do nothing else. That's all I need. Feeling alive. Conscious. With it. I look around me. On my desk. There's a vase full of tulips. Orange tulips. Someone gave 'em to me yesterday. A welcome-back-from-Italy gift. Tulips make me feel alive. I'm looking out the window and the slidng glass doors. I see a flag. Made stiff. By a strong west wind. It's cloudy. And cold. Snow covers the ground. Hardened drifts. The lake ice is covered by a blanket of snow, too. And Loverboy, my cat, has jumped up on my desk. To lick a plate. Filled with crumbs from apple strudel. And I have a book on my desk. Titled 'An Anthropologist on Mars.' It's about psychology and literature. The author, Oliver Sacks, calls it seven paradoxical tales. I'm reading one now. About a man who was blind for 45 years. And had his sight restored. And he's learning to see again. It ain't easy. But still, difficulty makes life interesting. Makes one more aware. Of being alive. I'm going for a bike ride soon. Yesterday, I bicycled 30 miles. And walked 5 miles. I lost weight. And I ate good. Broiled salmon marinated in honey mustard sauce. American fries. Green beans. Toasted sourdough bread. A spinach salad. With Greek vinagerette dressing. And a vanilla milkshake, too. Everything so tasty. Made me feel even more alive. --Jim Broede