2018 CUBA and a roasting pig at 11PM:
The things we worry ourselves with are sometimes out of our control. All the other times, we can control little aspects of it, whatever “it” might be.
Take the roasting pig for example, we can control the taste with the spices we may choose, but we can’t control the size of the porker, unless we pick an entirely new pig.
We can’t always control our environment, but we can choose to leave it behind.
“We are our choices.”― Jean-Paul Sartre
“Have you got a few dollars so I can get something to eat,” he asked. I think he was a bit surprised when I responded with, “Where are you from because you look as if you are African.” I followed my question with a slight laugh as he looked at me and said, “I moved here from the Islands.” With that statement, I think I broke the ice to ask more questions as he had never been asked such.
As we talked, he said that life on the streets of New Orleans was filled with crime. He mentioned that he has witnessed murders, drug deals and more.
The crime rate in New Orleans is 95% higher than the national average. If you sample only violent crimes, the rate is 193% higher in New Orleans than the national average.
During our brief exchange a passerby heard him mention a need for food and invited him to head to a nearby church for lunch.
I read an interesting quote today that stated, “Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.” - Augustine "Og" Mandino II, American author. He wrote the bestselling book The Greatest Salesman in the World (1923-1996).
“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”
On a quiet midnight street.
"I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I wanna reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name"
- U2, 1987