One of the guys in Dave's unit died this week.
He was riding his motorcycle without a helmet. He pulled a wheelie at an intersection and ran into some kid who was crossing the street.
The kid was treated and released from the hospital later than evening. Our guy was pronounced brain-dead shortly thereafter.
I dealt with his death the way I deal with most deaths - I went and thought about it for a while. I thought about it for a long while, actually. I didn't come to any life changing conclusions, I just thought about how the human body can be incredibly fragile but at the same time incredibly strong and tenuous.
There's a wilderness area on this base; the last time Dave and I were there we saw a trail leading back into the woods and decided that we'd like to wander back there some day.
Yesterday was that day. We DEET'd up and drove out there to see what we could find. Within 30 paces of the trail edge we came across a creek and three snakes languishing on its banks. As we walked on we saw tiny, tiny frogs - less than the size of a dime - hopping out of our way into the bushes. There were vines snaking their way around trees and creeping plants everywhere, bugs and birds and critters (possums and racoons and foxes and gawd knows what else) everywhere. An abundance of life, right under our feet and above our heads.
After I got scared almost poopless by a black snake that I stepped on and Dave and one of the boys had picked ticks off themselves, we loaded up in the truck and came home. On the way back I thought some more about the guy that died and about all the people I've helped transition from this reality to the next. Yes, death is ever present, but so is life. Yes, death can take you by surprise, but if you open your eyes and take the time to see what's right in front of you - you'll see that every day, we are surrounding by life and living things. We just don't take the time to see them.
I think that I've found my perfect thinking spot. When the hospice life gets to be too much for me and I can't go fly, I'm going out to wander in the woods and immerse myself in the beauty and hope that mother nature has to offer.
I'm going to take the time to see.