I was at a beach park in Bellevue the other day walking back up to the car when a bald eagle flew right above me, across the parking lot and landed in a tree.  A few moments later two more flew above me.  They were screeching, not really sure how you describe the noise they make, but they were making a lot of it.  One of them landed on the very top of a pine.  The top couple feet of the tree was dead so it provided the perfect framing for the bird.  It was the first time I've seed bald eagles in the wild.  To have them fly right above me and the perch in a tree not far away was amazing.  I just stood in the parking lot and watched the one for awhile.  It really made my month!  What a fantastic bird!

I was reflecting on this saying with with a friend of mine today and thought it was worth refreshing in people's minds.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, But rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming....Whoa! What a ride!!

Thanks to good friends no matter where they are in the world, who keep us on track and remind us to focus on the important things in life.  It's all about the journey!

I had the wonderful opportunity last week to carry our my civic responsibility/torture and become a cog in the the judicial branch of government.  Anyone who knows me and my penchant for efficiency and continuous improvement doesn't need to wonder how torturous an experience jury duty was for me.  Overall it is very similar to being trapped in an airport at the gate and unable to leave because they might announce an update, or in this case drag your ass into a courtroom.  I'll describe the experience in case any friends end up "getting the call".   You can at least be prepared and know when you are about to get stuck in a courtroom.

DAY 1:  The day started with somewhere on the order of 130 potential jurors showing up and only 1 out of 3 court representatives to check us all in.  I waited in line for about 30 minutes while others had to wait much longer.  The line wrapped around the jury waiting room our the door and down the hall.  Once checked in you have the pleasure of hanging out in a giant room which resembles the gate area of an airport.  You are not allowed to leave since they might need you on a moments notice.  That's a moments notice in government time which in the real world equates to sometime in the next 4-5 hours.

Several hours after signing in I was assigned to a Judge/Court/Trial.  This is when you cease to be a name and instead become the number you are assigned.  I was 57.  You are also given a questionnaire.  If you are not feeling civically minded this is your first opportunity to get out of the responsibility so pay attention to your answers.  I later learned that having a higher number at this point is also better.  Well it is better if you are not civically minded. 

Since our Judge/Court was running behind (given the efficiency of government I found this shocking!!) we were excused for lunch.  Off to find some food and blow the $10 I was to receive for every day of jury duty.  Wooo Hoooo, living high on the hog with that!

After lunch my fellow jurors and I entered the courtroom lined up in numerical order and proceeded to fill the jury box and the first 3 rows of the courtroom.  Then the jury questioning began.  The Judge would ask a question such as "have any of you been a victim of crime?" or "do any of you suffer from mental illness?" You hold up your number if your answer is yes to any of the questions.  During this process you are also subjected to numerous clarifying questions by potential jurors.  After that process was completed the prosecuting attorney and defense attorney began questioning potential jurors.  All of their time was spent on the individuals in the jury box and the first 2 rows of the courtroom.  I was so bored I stared reading email on my smart phone which is a complete violation, but helped maintain my sanity.  Now you understand why a high number is better!  Much less probability of actually being selected for the jury.  If you have a low number OR are in the actual jury box, this is your last chance because you are headed toward the trial full speed ahead.  Should you not be civic minded, you better become unfriendly and get tossed.  We were unable to complete the selection process the first day and were dismissed at 4PM to continue the next day.

DAY 2:  We continued the selection process wrapping up after an hour.  After being dismissed, that #57 really paid off, it was back down to the jury waiting room.  You are required to wait just in case you are needed for some other trial.  Just before noon a huge group of jurors were released, but I didn't draw a lucky card on that one.  We were released for our 1 1/2 hour lunch and then required to report back to the pen.  The afternoon was so boring, and I was so tired of being stuck in the damn room that I laid down on the floor and took a nap for an hour.  The rest of us were ultimately released from prison sometime around 2:30PM.