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Lemons and Lemonade, Peaches and Cream

© Thomas James Martin

God grant me the Serenity
to accept the things I cannot change...
Courage to change the things I can
And Wisdom to know the difference.

--The Serenity Prayer

I love the night sky. Give me the brilliance of myriads of stars against the velvety blackness of the night. I should move to the desert where the isolation and paucity of city lights allow me to erect an observatory and revel in the sky every evening.

Of course, there are not many ways to make a living in. . . oh let's say Rachel, Nevada, and, besides, I am a few years a way from retirement, and my spouse and I cannot afford to give up our jobs. Hey, how do I fulfill my dream and contribute to support of my wife, dog, cat, four goldfish and two catfish?

Easy! When life hands you a lemon, just make lemonade.

So, Tom, you cannot move to the desert at this time; you could join the local astronomy club and on the weekends you and Joyce could go on wonderful outings to the local parks with the club. Joyce would learn the names of the constellations and how to find the North Star. You would all take turns viewing the Lesser Magellanic Cloud through the really classy telescopes that the club and its members own. You don't even have to invest any money in fine optical telescopes and binoculars.

Furthermore, you and Joyce would make many new friends. You may even get a great job offer through the contacts you have made through the club. From the new job with the better pay, you may even be able to afford desert vacations or throw up a small A-frame vacation cottage on some of the cheap land available in the Southwest.

Now that is one way to make lemonade when handed a lemon. Sometimes it works as beautifully and clearly as it does in the example above. Sometimes though I wonder if I have squeezed the lemons and spooned in the sugar too many times and settled for lemonade when I should have been holding out for "peaches and cream."

A few years ago there was a book published called, "How to Work for a Jerk," a tome purporting to show us wage slaves how to cope with terrible bosses. The book was a bestseller. Not more than a year later another book appeared on the best seller lists. It was called "How to Be Your Own Boss...and Never Work for a Jerk."

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