I Used To Ride Horses

I used to ride horses. I used to fly airplanes. I used to make music in the mountains. I used to do a lot of things I don’t do much anymore. And that’s OK. Time and distance…responsibility and age have opened other roads that I’ve chosen to take. Do I miss the things I used to do? Sure. Am I happy I followed those other roads? Absolutely. I used to be a young man with a young man’s dreams…and energy. I used to take in the pleasure, take in the adventure and take in the excitement. My yesterdays were full of taking. Little did I know at the time, the taking was filling my life up for the giving I can do today. Giving back whatever wisdom I have taken in. Sharing lessons learned and experience gained. Providing answers for a question or two. Maybe opening other roads for today’s young folks. Once I was a sail moving fast and free…now I hope I’ve become an anchor…strong and steady. I used to ride horses. I used to fly airplanes. I used to make music in the mountains. Other roads led me to other places. These days the music I make is with my grandkids…in the den. They dance…and how sweet the sound still is.

The Promise

I saw them today. Just barely there, but I saw them. They’re kind of like a promise aren’t they? Those tender, new green shoots poking their heads up through the frozen February ground. They're the promise that it’ll be over soon. This grey, shivering shroud of winter will soon be lifting. Giving way to bluer skies and the feel of warm sunshine on bare skin. Soon the earth will be green again and those dirty, grey mounds of snow ice will be just a melted memory. The promise of Spring. The promise of renewal. A world coming to life again after a cold Winter’s coma. They are a promise aren’t they? Those tender, new green shoots struggling up through the frozen February ground. They are a promise...or maybe they’re just really stupid plants that are about to freeze their buds off.

Miscellaneous

Excuse me while I kind of run all over the place for a minute. Not sure what this means, but the very same week I saw the garden store nursery sign that said...”Get your grave blanket now”...I found out I could win a free cremation just by filling out a form for more information. Is someone not telling me something here? Watching the evening news the other night it struck me that every ad was for something to fix something that is starting to fall apart on us baby boomers. If your erectile is dysfunctioning, your dentures don’t fit quite right, your catheter is getting a little irritating, there’s less M in your BM and/or your stair climbing talent is fading, just watch the evening news. Fix you right up! Did you know that drowsiness is a side effect of a very well known sleeping aid? Says so right in the advertisement. With all the talk about not texting while driving, I’m really beginning to see the effects. I see people every day now going down the road texting and not driving at all. My mother told me about a woman in her senior living facility that was having a tough time with this whole daylight savings time thing. Mom was reminding her to put her clock ahead one hour that night. The woman gave a big sigh and told Mom how hard it was for her to stay up until two in the morning to do that. Mom smiled and said, “You can set your clock ahead when you go to bed at your usual time Sweetie.” The woman patted my Mom’s hand knowingly and said, “Oh no Dear, I don’t think it works like that”.

Something From Nothing

Consider this if you would. I think I might be on to something. I’m thinking that nothing...might really be something. Really. It has a name right? And you just don’t go around naming things that aren’t...do you? So why would someone name something like nothing if it wasn’t anything. And here’s more proof. When you ask someone “Hey what are you doing” and they answer, “Nothing...just watching TV”...well?? I’m just sayin’. And now that I’m thinking about it, when someone does something really nice for you and you say, “Thanks” and they say, “Oh, it was nothing”...Wow. Nothing may not only be something, it may be something pretty special. And how many times have you heard someone say, “There’s nothing there” and sure enough, there it is right in front of them...nothing. It has been used in literature throughout the ages. In the written word it’s called a space. Nothing...sitting there between every word. There’s even a number for nothing. It’s called a zero. And it’s used all the time by whiz kid smart guys who obviously think nothing is something and have even given it its own number. So, I’m pretty sure nothing might really be something. And I think I need say nothing more.

I'll Bet They Had a Party...

I had the chance to go down that old country road again the other day. It's where I first saw what was left of the old barn I wrote about a few years ago. It's finally gone now. From the road no trace can be seen anymore. So, here's to an old barn...one last time.------You can hardly see it from the road. The old barn. Or rather what’s left of the old barn. A crumbling skeleton fading away in some forgotten field of someone’s long ago dreams. A year or two from now I’ll walk down this road again and it’ll be gone. I’ll bet they had a party when they raised her though. A lifetime or two or three ago it was some farmer’s pride and joy. Built by the hands of family, friends and neighbors. It was shelter from the storms of summer and the snows of winter. It was storage for the harvest. It knew the sound of a fiddle and the laughter of Saturday night barn dances. And it was probably a big, old playhouse for more than a few generations of children. I wonder how many guilty young boys waited in it for a dreaded appointment with Father’s hickory switch? I wonder how many young lovers secretly met behind it for a moonlight smooch? I wonder how many stories it could tell? Well, only a few beams and part of a sunken roof remain today. And it won’t be long before the old barn’s not even a memory. I’ll bet they had a party when they raised her though.

Christmas Past

A oldie, but I think still a goodie. Well…Christmas time is over this year. All the outside decorations are looking a little windblown and tattered. The bows along the fence are all a little crooked and the garland is sagging a bit. And a few of the twinkling lights don't seem to have any twinks left this year. As I walk past the tree I can hear the sound of dry needles tinkling as they dance on decorations while heading to the floor. It's time to once again wrap baby Jesus up in tissue paper along with Mary, Joseph, three sheep, two camels, a donkey and two of the three wise men we have left in this old nativity scene and put them in the box marked living room. All the Santas and Snowmen come off the mantle and the last of the pistachios is gone. I'll vacuum up the fallen needles and fill the house one last time the smell of Christmas tree. It's time to move into this New Year and see what it holds. It's time to put the magic away for a while…but only for a while. See, it's only 11 1/2 months until Christmas.

The Chances

Here they come. The chances. The chances every New Year brings. Those moments in time when we are given a choice to make…a chance to take. The chance to do something different or in some cases the chance to just do something. The chance to try…or try again. The chance to learn. The chance to love or to allow ourselves to be loved. The chance to say yes…the chance to say no. The chance to step in a new direction or just take a step…in any direction. The chance to try to mend some of the damage that we’ve done or forgive the damage done to us. The chance to believe in something or the chance to play it safe and take no chances. Every chance we are given comes with a price. We will all have to decide just how much we are willing to pay. So, here they come. The chances. The opportunities we will be given this New Year to take a chance, make a choice…make a difference. What are you going to do with yours? I guess that’s the chance you take.