Maybe

Nerf eater?

The ski resorts must be hatin' it right now, but I'm pretty happy.  It's in the 50's right now, here in Salt Lake.  It's not particularly sunny, but I'll take the warmth.

As I scoop dog poop, random thoughts pop in my head:

It's warm! Nice.
It's warm enough that Ben can ride his trike back here.
Ugh, all the dog poop is thawed.
Hmmm, one o these pups seems to have eaten something from the Nerf food group. 
I hope I got it all...I hate cleaning poo off of shoes. 
Hmm, what shoes will Ben wear to school tomorrow? 
Better make sure those are pooless. 
School starts tomorrow!!!

5 minutes later, Ben falls off his trike and gets a bloody nose.  He winds up falling asleep across my lap, so I take advantage of it to write this post.  Sadly, I can't think of much to say, but my random thoughts reminded me of this Zen koan, that we first came across in "Zen Shorts ":

Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

“Maybe,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“Maybe,” said the farmer.

I liked that tale before I ever met Ben.  I like it even more now.  Koans can be interpreted a lot of ways.  This one to me helps me think, 'You're not going to fix autism, not today anyway.  So do what you can to make your family happy, and keep getting up in the morning."