Be Careful What You Wish For

Far away in the tropical waters of the Caribbean, two prawns were swimming around in the sea. One was called Justin and the other was called Christian. Life was good, except that the prawns were constantly being chased and threatened by sharks. Finally one day, Justin said to Christian, "I'm tired of being a prawn. I wish I was a shark, then I wouldn't have to worry about being eaten." Just then a mysterious cod appeared and said, "Your wish is granted," and lo and behold, Justin turned into a shark. Horrified, Christian swam off, afraid of being eaten up by his old friend. Time went by and Justin found himself bored and lonely as a shark. All his old pals were afraid of him and swam away whenever he came near. Then one day he was out swimming and saw the mysterious cod. "I want to be a prawn again," said Justin. "Please change me back!" And lo and behold, the cod changed him back to a prawn. With tears of joy in his little eyes, Justin swam to Christian's house and knocked on the door, "It's me, Justin, your old friend! Come out and see me!" he shouted. "No," said Christian. "I'll not be tricked. You're a shark and you will eat me'" Justin cried back, ' "No, I'm not. That was the old me. I've changed. I've found Cod. I'm a prawn again, Christian!"

I don't remember who sent this to me, but I love it and could probably come up with all kinds of wonderful meanings and thoughts about it. However, it's still early and the brain cogs haven't meshed fully into gear yet. For now, I'll just say that its been very cold here in Coffeyville, Kansas lately and I keep wishing to be magically transported back to this beach in Oceanside, California where I lived in January.

Yesterday I attended the winter vocal concert at the Coffeyville Community College and listened to a variety of songs done by some very talented students. Although there were few of them, their enthusiasm and sense of fun warmed up a cold day. On my quick drive back to the park, I remembered all the traffic in Southern California and decided to be content here for another couple of weeks. There's still time enough to savor this place with all its differences from California.

Enjoy your day, whatever it might bring.

Chris