Well, I'm somewhat in shock. I figured,
dollars to doughnuts, that my daylog from
yesterday would get downvoted into
oblivion, and potentially send my
XP to the depths of the ocean. I took the time to
bitch and moan about something that bothered me in E2 (specifically,
soft linking as
criticism, and criticism that I found unfounded), and if I've picked up one thing so far about the E2 community it is that this meta-community is very proud of their collective creation. This pride (much deserved,
IMHO) breeds as sense of
protection for the site, which in turn results in a fire storm of
protest when someone criticizes E2. This is particularly the case when it's a
newbie doing the critiquing, as they often (and I include myself in this statement) don't quite understand the complex
chimera that is E2.
However, much to my surprise, I got a number of + votes for my write up, and not "You suck!" messages in my inbox. Well, perhaps it's because I actually hit upon something True (that's True with a capital T) in my thinking. Or, perhaps people just liked my anecdote defending St. Valentine's day, and looked past the lunatic ravings I posted first.
Anyway, to all who's fingers hovered lustily above that little "-" button but refrained out of some sense of charity, I thank you.
Now, on to more interesting things, at least for me. This coming Tuesday, I am leaving for
Calgary to visit my father and step-mother which is an exciting enough prospect in-and-of itself. I haven't seen my father in two months, and I haven't seen my step-mother in six. What has got me so
wired that I can barely sit still is the fact that Wednesday the 21
st is my father's 60
th birthday, and our entire family is coming in to surprise him. I cannot wait to see him stand there in stunned silence as the slightest moisture gathers at the corner of his eye. In fact, I'm tearing up just thinking about it now.
What is going to make this so special for me and my family is the fact that I am bringing my 1 year old son to visit with me, and my aunts and uncles will have their first chance to see him. We are going to spend a whole week visiting, and the chance to sit and relax and hike in the mountains and go shopping and just spend butt-loads of time together is going to be so important for me, for my son and my family.
Thinking about all of this makes me reflect on the dynamics of long distance relationships. I haven't lived in the same city as my mother or father for almost ten years, and now the distance between us is measured in the thousands of kilometers. When I was younger, in university and wrapped up in my own world, this was so much easier. I guess that when you're eighteen or twenty, you can more easily delude yourself into thinking that the world is all about you. However, at least for me, as we age I believe that we become acutely aware of how our lives intersect and interact with the lives of others.
For me, I guess I always missed my parents, even when I wasn't thinking about them or my family. But with the birth of my son, I think I'm confronted with the reality that they are so far away. Each time I look into my son's eyes and see his love and apprectiation of me or my fiancée, it makes me realize that my parents looked (and still look) at me like that, and I am aware of how hard it must be for them to go so long without the chance to do what I take for granted.