When I was a child in the third grade we studied the clouds, the rain and air pollution, among other subjects. That's when I learned that the public buses that discharged black smoke were actually spewing toxins into the atmosphere. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Before school commenced that year, I had a great summer because I had the room to myself for a spell when my brother went away and I let my imagination run wild. One morning as I opened my little eyes I observed a cloud coming straight towards my window. I immediately thought of God and the wonderful things I was experiencing.

That morning I lay in bed watching the clouds for hours hoping the one that was approaching my window would come back. It didn't. And I soon forgot about that experience until something in school sparked the memory.

When school commenced that September 9th, 1974, we got straight down to business. I admired my teacher Mr. Vasquez, because I learned everything that was required simply by watching him write on the board and by listening to his lectures. He was a great teacher. I learned to read Spanish that year and I still know how to read the language.  

Not long after we got into the groove of going to class and doing homework, Mr. Vasquez began teaching us about the environment. That's when I learned about the buses and combustible engine pollution.

I also learned about the clouds and that God really did not live there. It was a disappointment to learn God didn't live in the clouds like everyone suggested, so I quickly surmised he must live close by and the angles used the clouds to move between heaven and earth.

Today, the word 'cloud' holds a very different meaning for me and I no longer think of God living there when I hear that word.  Today it is upload and download as well as cloud storage and public or private cloud.

We live in amazing times.  I'm glad I was able to witness the changing of the millennium and the changing of humanity as the cloud has brought us just a little bit closer to each-other.

I am human, but just like a lion in the African bush, I am an animal.  No more.  No less.

When I become hungry I kill to satisfy the hunger pangs.  I don't kill other animals myself any longer.  I simply pay someone else to perform the deed, and I call it a hamburger.

Like other animals I feel an overwhelming urge to procreate.  I feel pain when I am injured and I try my best to stay alive. 

There isn't a lot of difference between humans and animals.  We're just smarter and we've become civilized.