Afterliving

   In my last blog, I offered the suggestion that Heaven might, in fact, simply be a place where you end up doing all your favourite things.
   It didn't really occur to me at the time but then I started to think about, given that definition, what Heaven would look like for ME.
   Here's what I came up with, in no particular order.

   Walking, hand in hand, with my wife, Doralyn, strikes me as a little slice of heaven. It has, from day one.

   Making an incredible save in ball hockey is hard to beat. To throw out a little of the miraculous, in the truest sense of the word, for a bunch of guys to see and then remember is an incredible feeling.

   Blogging is wonderful. To have that instant audience and get more or less instant feedback is an altering experience, if you are inclined to be any kind of writer.
   Sex, of course. And it is even better with a like-minded partner. I remember thinking as I was writing the last blog that perhaps a good definition of heaven would simply be one eternal orgasm. Except that we would likely get bored with it after awhile!
   A good morning coffee and the paper.
   Solitude. It can come in a variety of ways, times and places and occasionally is invaluable. There can also occasionally be two of you there.

   Music. Playing it or listening to it. Hundreds of different types of musical instruments around the world from cultures that have no common familiarity and they can all be tuned together. This tells you something about the nature of music.

   Coming home and seeing my wife's car in the driveway.
   Golf. A long, straight drive. A high, arching second shot. And a short right-to-lefter, for birdie.

   Driving through the Rockies. Something about this was ingrained in me when I was just a young boy. It may go back even further than that as, generations ago, my ancestors were true pioneers in the Rockies. Hard to beat.

   Blowing raspberries on my kids' bare bellies. They're in their 20's and 30's now, so it doesn't happen very often anymore...

   Gibsons, B.C. Where we usually ended up after our trip through the mountains. It has a magical quality to it which seems to infest all who visit with any regularity, especially children (but adults are not immune!)

   So these are some of the things you might find in my Heaven. I know there are many others, life is full of wonderful things that often we run into on a daily basis. And there is enough variety in them that you never seem to get bored or tired.
   As I've said before, I am in no hurry to discover what Heaven actually is or whether it even exists. I can grasp little bits of it here on earth and that is fine with me. I also believe that if there is no Heaven then the worst thing that can happen to you when you pass is to enter the state of not having been born.
   When I think of all the millenia that passed before I came into this world, the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, continents shifting, ice ages, dark ages, wars, explorations and discoveries, suffering and magnificent achievements and the fact that I sailed through all of them in blissful ignorance makes me think there really is no fear in returning to that state.
   My best guess, though, is that Heaven will find me safe in the warmth of all the things above, sharing them with the people I have loved and those who have loved me.