Wrap your troubles in dreams (and dream your troubles away)

I don't live without fear or worry. I seem to keep them both at bay however. I don't look for things to worry about or to be afraid of.

I don't have time for conspiracy theories. They mostly seem to contain a germ of the idea that our lives may be more interesting than they really are.

I don't have time for UFOs although I wouldn't mind riding on one. Some people claim multiple sightings and/or abductions. To this day I've neither seen nor ridden on one, willfully or otherwise. Some are called upon to believe in UFOs and others, like me, simply aren't.

I don't believe in Bigfoot although I lived in Eugene, Oregon back in the late 1960s. If there was ever a time or a place for the missing link to have visited me, it would have been then. The 1967 Patterson-Gimlin filmed encounter with Bigfoot was quite the rage and plaster casts of footprints brought back from the mountains were ubiquitous. But never having seen Bigfoot, I must count myself among those not put upon to believe he/she/it is real.

I'll stop myself before filling up several paragraphs about the Loch Ness Monster, leprechauns, JFK's assassination, fluoride, 9/11 and a certain would-be messiah rising from the dead.

I don't know what it means to believe in something for which there is no proof. I know some would call it faith but that's merely semantics.

I tend to believe in things that are real. I believe the sun will rise in the morning and set at night. I believe there are stars in the skies. Angels not so much. I believe pollution is real and that humanity is capable of great stupidity and great compassion. I believe green tea is good and having cats and dogs around the house is a good thing too. I think smoking is bad for your health and mine but the occasional cigarette is not. Marijuana should be legalized although I don't smoke pot.

I think love and compassion are holy truths and that leading a life that isn't entirely self-serving is a good thing. I think that leading a life that is entirely not self-serving is impossible so I won't even try.

I believe tonight's dinner will probably utilize a box of penne and a can of cream of mushroom soup among other ingredients. I will use the internet to get some good ideas for how to proceed. Good dinner or not, I'm not gonna worry about it.