The other day I ran across this quote by Mark Twain that tickled
my comfort bone:
“At fifty a man can be an ass without being an optimist but
not an optimist without being as ass.”
This got me thinking about my naturally optimistic core
where I walk out some very pessimistic considerations in action and deed.
Is the light at the end of the tunnel an oncoming train? I
often think it is. That is, until I’m confident I can see daylight and not hear
the distinctive hum of a diesel electric motor or hear the high pitch of steel
wheels grinding on track. I need proof in the darkness of uncertainty. 
