Random Thoughts

In the course of daily human events, there are times when questions arise that typically have no answer. They are more like random thoughts that flash into your brain for no apparent reason and then bore to your inner core with a burning quest for more knowledge. These basic uncertainties of life seemingly present themselves over and over, validating their very existence and thus, become a force to be reckoned with.

For example, and I know I am not the only one who has questioned this. Why do dogs and their owners look alike? There seems to be a cosmic draw for folks to choose canines that mirror their own image. Noting that there seems to be at least a visual connection between myself and my own Dachshund, the fact that we are both built “solid” and close to the ground (i.e. short) has not gone unnoticed – it is the long forehead, and slightly protruding belly that are the clinchers. You would never catch a supermodel carrying around a wiener dog, no sirree, they gravitate towards the bony, emaciated looking, long legged Chihuahua – and I would not, could not, go there.

Another burning question is why does food taste better when someone else makes it? I have begged, borrowed and will steal a favorite recipe, and I know I can cook (necessity in the fact that I like to eat, which may be one reason the profile of myself and beloved pet are similar). My scruples are lost when it comes to achieving a culinary delight. I have steadfastly followed the recipes to the letter, the outcome will look correct, but the taste is somehow different. Not bad, just not the same as my little choppers remember and desire. Basic sandwiches will expel an enhanced appeal when hands other than my own build it. As yet another unanswered inquiry in the depths of my mind, constantly being challenged and proven correct, my one hope is that my food items will taste better to others as theirs do to me.

Each time I turn on the TV or read a news item, the fact that humans can’t seem to fully get along is bothersome. What is the deal? Ever since I was a kid, I could see that people had pretty much the same equipment. Give or take a few degrees of skin color or a lilt in a voice, I noticed the fact that even if we all have arms, legs, head, etc. it didn’t seem to give way to a peaceful coexistence. It is all rather simplistic in a child’s mind on how to get every one to play nicely with one another, it is when the adults get involved that the answer to why can’t we all get along gets bungled. This is one of the random questions that elude an answer to me. Probably will for a while, too.

As I wander into the sunset waddling with my dog, pondering the other great queries of life (Exactly why is there no wearing white after Labor Day? How can kids grow up before our eyes, when we see them every day? What is the magic formula to make a person laugh, cry or cheer at the movies, when reading a book or glancing at a greeting card? Why do some species mate for life and other do not?), and re-confirming the ones I have a handle on, I look forward to widening my horizons, finding even more random thoughts and perhaps even concocting the perfect replica of the torte I once had in Germany.

Cynthia A. McClelland, curious observer of the obvious with interpretations of the oddities of daily life.  Mother, wife and lover of the furry, resides in the north Lake Tahoe area.

Cynthia A. McClelland © 2003-