A Long Blog Sabbatical

Well, this is a bit awkward. It's been....quite a few months since I've done this. I feel like I'm trying to relearn how to use a badminton racquet after years of inactivity. It just feels and looks awkward.

But as I attempt to shake off the rust, I felt that today's observation warranted a comment or two. And the observation was this: two gentlemen emerging from the forrest from a hunting trip. I happened to be driving down the road at the exact moment that these two young men walked out from the woods and into the open. And I was able to check out what these two gentlemen were wearing.

From top to bottom they were covered in camouflage. This seems appropriate. The dark greens and browns of their apparel blended them into their environment with ease, making unsuspecting animals unaware of their position. And yet, over the top of this camouflage was a bright, neon orange vest, sort of like the types that crossing guards would wear. And this seemed appropriate too. Hunters don't want other hunters to shoot them; so they make their position obvious.

And herein lies the problem. Hunters - do you want to be seen or not? Neon orange vests over camouflage is sending mixed messages. See, the hunter is really in a predicament, I realized. He has to be inconspicuous so as not to scare off his pray. And yet, he has to be completely visible so as not to become another hunter's prey. He is caught in this perpetual tension of needing to be both visible and invisible at the same time.

And so what is his solution? Wearing neon orange over camouflage. He goes for visibility and invisibility. And cancels out both. (But how would that work? (How can you be both visible and invisible at the same time??))

All I know is - Dick Cheney capped someone who was hunting. That guy probably wasn't rocking out the orange vest.