"Don't go near the water until you can swim ! "  Can you swim ? I cannot  --- unless a semi-dogpaddle or a short distance under water qualifies. On those rare occasions that I am in a pool, the shallow end is just fine, thanks.  And the ocean ? well, ankle deep is about the right depth. Was not always like that. As a youth, Sunday fun was going with friends to nearby Pullen Park in Raleigh. And when Mr. Schaub installed a pool at his residence, my brother and I were often invited for a Sunday afternoon swim. I donot have to search very far in the canyons of memories to locate this current (didn't mean to make the pun) aversion . . . I have almost drowned on three occasions, or thought that I might and those traumas were sufficient to keep me on dry land. 

   When I was just 3 or 4 years old, my dad took me with him to the 'municiple beach and swimming' pool in our mill village . . .a spot on the Haw River named the 'Hearn Hole'.  For reasons long forgotten, I  held dad's hand and went under water for just a moment.  And, now 80+ years later I remember opening my eyes and being slightly terrified.

    I have heard that when some folks believe they are dying they have their life flash before their eyes.  When you are just 12 years old, the movie is short. Our Scoutmaster organized a trip to the Raleigh YMCA.  Noting my reluctance to go  into the deep end, he and the Assistant Scoutmaster encouraged me to dive and that they would guarantee my safety.  I jumped and in the brief time before I felt safe, I think I had a 'roll call' of all sins, real and imagined, in my past.    As a college student I somehow passed a PE course in swimming.  In future years, from a short  distance from shore, I joined my children in riding waves on inflatable rafts.  But then . . .                     

    On a family beach trip to celebrate our parents' 50th Anniversary, I had ventured out maybe 50 yards and chest deep with a brother and our daughters. While walking back towards the beach, suddenly I was in water over my head. When I came up, I waved to my other brother for help only to have him wave back to me.  After a few more steps the  realization came that I had stepped into a narrow deep trough. My brother explained that he thought he was returning a friendly gesture.                        The 'Big Scare' occurred when suddenly I was caught in a rip tide. After telling my daughter and her friend not to come near, I asked a stranger for help. After sitting on the sand for a long time, I went briefly back into the surf at a safe depth.  That occurred approximately 40 years ago and since then I am content to sit and watch the sunrise over the Atlantic--- from a safe distance.

   Trying to understand why these thoughts recently came to the forefront, I remembered a scene from a movie we watched last week in which the male lead actor drowned attempting to rescue a person whose sailboat had capsized in a storm at sea. And then a couple of days ago, I was watching a continuing ed video on grief and observed a therapist assisting a father whose 19 year old daughter had drowned.

     The Summer  Olympics have begun and there will be lots of swim events. I will watch with admiration from the safety of my den.

    Perhaps it is fitting that for most of my life, I have been a United Methodist. Rather than total immersion in water, we believe that wetting just the top of the head is adequate.

      Be safe .

         Satchel

       

Paraphrasing Mr. Lincoln in 2024

 

                     

                                  On July 2, 1776, a group of Americans meeting in Philadelphia adopted a document which they subsequently signed two days later.   Benjamin Franklin summarized the danger of their actions: "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately".  Wikipedia succinctly tells why the actions were dangerous: "The Declaration [of Independence] justified the independence  . . . by listing 27 colonial grievance against King George III and by asserting certain natural and legal rights. What they did from the King's perspective was treason and  punishable by death."

   Fast-forward eighty-seven years and the country was deep into a civil war whose outcome remained questionable.  On July 1-3, 1863, the bloodiest battle of that conflict at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, brought a Union victory. On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln's speech dedicating the battlefield cemetery emphasized  in 271 words what was at stake --- then and whenever Democracy is threatened.  

    In light of recent events and claims, I envisioned a paraphrasing of Mr. Lincoln's words for 2024. 

   "Two centuries and forty-eight  years ago, our Fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the Propositions that all people are created equal, that no one is above the Law and that Americans would not tolerate a despotic King and government.

   Now we are engaged in a chaotic legal struggle, testing whethe that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. . . . The brave people who struggled  to build and secure this nation have hallowed this land, far beyond our poor power to add or detract. The world must never forget what they did here.

    It is for us, the living, to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . . that we hereby resolve that those forebearers shall not have lived and died in vain.  That the Nation called the United States of America shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the People, by the People, and for the  People shall nor perish from the earth."

              VOTE !

                             Satchel

               

                     

            

    

   

 

                Pomp and Circumstance, please. 

                Grand-son Cooper receives his diploma from

                   The International School of Stuttgart, Germany

Grand-son Ian receives his diploma from his mom, a teacher in our 

                             local high school.

  Here comes theHigh School Senior Class of 2024!   Seniors ?   But I remember 18  years ago and a lot in between in the lives of two of this year's graduates.  Both refer to me as their grand-father, though by different names.  Cooper is my daughter and son-in-law's son; Ian's mom claims my wife and me as her "second parents".  This blog is an unabashed and unapologetic "let me tell you about my grand-children " post.

   Both are exceptionally gifted young men with diverse interests and talents. They demonstrated one of their earliest 'talents' by delighting in first birthday cakes:

Cooper above

Ian below

       

      Throughout their school years each has achieved academic excellence and recognition. Eight of Cooper's 18  years have been spent in Germany by virtue of his dad's profession.  Along the way, he has become proficient in the German language and his girl friend insists that most of their conversations are in German. His mom told me that last week he had  corrected her German.  Just this week, the German government granted him a life-long resident visa.
    Living  there has provided travel opportunities to visit many places about which I dream.  Last year he spent two weeks at Oxford University in an introductory medical school "camp".  

    While I face challenges with simple computer functions, Cooper has long been building his own.

This Fall he will enroll in the science program at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Here are a few pictures from his 18 years:

First haircut

Riding hobby horse that had once been mine

The latter was taken on weekend when I baptized him and his sister 

                                   With Nana  

With Cousin Jackson who also graduated this year  

Thanksgiving in NC      

Recent trip to Athens 

    Ian graduated Magna Cum Laude.  Named a North Carolina Scholar, he was among the top 10% of graduates county-wide.  Beyond his academic achievements, he has excelled in other pursuits, including learning to play a banjo, teaching himself to play guitar, learning welding, and most of all being an outstanding baseball player.

    Named his conference's Most Valuable Player in his Junior and Senior Years, this year he made All State first team.  A few months ago, he signed a commitment to play college ball.  Beyond his profession, his dad has a seasonal lawn care service and Ian has long been his valued assistant.

     Here are a few glimpses of his 18 years

                                                   He and Losko are curious about the visitor

                                                               Pitching came early 

      Ian excels as  pitcher, catcher and shortstop as well as maintaining a hefty batting average

  

                       Banjo lessons with former Grand  Ole Opry performer Stan Brown

          Watching a game  with my colleague, Dr. Richard Horn, who pitched in the first ever

                                                 Little League World Series

    "Congratulations" to them and to the graduates whom you know.

     Satchel

Teaching High School ...years ago

                               Helena High School, Timberlake, North Carolina

                                         Grades 1-12 same building

                     I received an invitation to a reunion of the High School Classs of 1967.  Not my own class but one whose members had been my students when  I taught there in 1964-1966.  The email came from Vicki whom I remembered as an outstanding student from US History and French classes.  She has been married for 52 years to Larry, her high school sweetheart. In those times, he was a happy-go-lucky guy who seemed more interested in athletics and 'joking around' than in academics. Both had careers as educators and he was a high school Principal for 16 years and they both retired in 2002 ! In reading her email, I suddenly felt OLD.  How could these 'high school kids' have been married that long and RETIRED ?!  

  For two years at an annual salary of approximately $4000, I taught US History, French I and II and General Math.  Principal G.N. Titus and faculty  provided a solid  academic curriculum.   When I grew a beard, Mr. Titus ignored the Superintendent's 'suggestion' that he tell me to shave. (Remember, this was the 1960's when facial foliage conjured all kinds of reactions)

  Without the aid of my yearbooks that are in storage somewhere in 'the archives',  I have been able to recall lots of names and experiences from those two good years.  I was saddened to learn of the deaths of several.

  While there was an abundance of mischievous high jinks, serious discipline problems didn't occur.  Once when a student seated on the left side of the classroom asked a question and  I moved in her direction to respond, Arthur thinking that I couldn't see him, was poised to deliver a blow to the person in front of him.  What he did not know was that a full length mirror on my supply closet gave me a full view of the pending assault. Without turning my body, I pointed in his direction and said, "Arthur Tillett, sit down !" The look of surprise was priceless.

   Looking back, I am embarrassed about  a prank I sometimes pulled on a student in French I. Asking students to translate phrase that I spoke, I would say to Sam (not his name) what does Je ne sais pas  mean ?" After a long befuddled silence, he would answer "I don't know" to which I responded "Right". I suspect that he never caught on.

    On the other end  of the academic spectrum, only John Timberlake and Kenneth Wolfe accepted my challenge that if anyone would read and pass a test on William L. Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, they would not  have to take the final exam.

  Then  there was Pierre (again, not his name). One morning, Mr.Titus asked that   I stay after school to meet with Pierre's father concerning his failing History. Dad greeted me with "These kids say that you are a hard teacher."    "But none can truthfully say that I am not fair", I replied.

With  Pierre sitting to the side with a smirk that threatened, "My daddy is going to clean your clock !", I proceeded to explain my grading system and his son's performance on each. Even now I remember  his final exam grade: 47. The man looked at the record then said, "He just didn't do what he was supposed to, did he !"  "Well, Mr. X, he is your son, but you said it".  Pierre's smirk disappeared when his father stood, shook my hand and sternly said, "Come on, boy !"

   After two years, I enrolled in graduate   school but was happy when I was asked to return as speaker at the next year's Junior-Senior Banquet (younger folks---think "Prom").  

   The high school closed in 1969 and  an elementary school continued for a few more years.  The  building now stands empty.  

   Two great years with many happy memories.

    Satchel

  

  

 

"IF I HAD KNOWN'

           Richard Cory   by Edwin Arlington Robinson

 This poem was in one of my high school literature books.  I think we  had to memorize it. It's an   ironic poem that makes the point  that we should not judge people based on appearances, especially with the unexpected last line .

    "Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

       We people on the pavement looked at him

       He was a gentleman from sole to crown,    

       Clean favored , and imperially slim.

       And he was always quietly arrayed,

       And he was always human when he talked;

      But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

      'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.

     And he was rich--yes, richer than a king--

     And admirably schooled in every grace;

    In fine, we thought he was everything

    To make us wish that we were in his place.

   So on we worked, and waited for the light,

   And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

   And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, 

   Went home and put a bullet through his head.

They didn't see that coming !  Unfortunately, we often do not see the 'signs' and know  how to respond. There is no 100% guaranteed way to recognize and intervene for the 'Richard Cory's' we meet in life.  Even so, there are ways to be more adept and 'comfortable' in interventions.  Simply asking someone if they are suicidal will not 'cause' them to do so. As a Mental Health Counselor, after asking someone if they were suicidal, I have more than once had them reply,"Thank God. Someone finally asked."   Contrary to common assumptions, suicides spike not around Christmas but in Spring.  So here we are in late April ---full Springtime. If you encounter someone you sense is suicidal ---what do you do? Put your search engine on QPR which stands for Question, Persuade and Refer --"the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide." (I make the recommendation  with no ties with QPR. Several years ago, I completed their training.)  Also, 988 is a Suicide Hotline operating 24/7. 

   Again, despite our best efforts, suicides sometimes occur. Still, we can be alert. Larry Pickard has given me permission to include the full text of his poem "Silent Call" :

                   Satchel

  

  

    

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY ?"

 

Well, sometimes Twain's  humor could be a tad "over the top" as  could his choice of words. He could  swear a blue streak to the chagrin of his good Christian wife. Eventually, she decided to put an end to his cussin'. Then one day he nicked himself while shaving and let out a stream of profanity that probably turned the room purple.She promptly repeated to him every word.  Stunned for a moment by her pluck, he recovered, smiled and said,"My dear! You got all the words right, but you don't know the tune !"

   When  I first heard that story, I didn't laugh aloud but I did think it 'funny'. Maybe because of the incongruity of it all.  Humor implies  the comical and absurdity in life. 

   What makes something 'funny' or 'humorous' for you? Or, to use a colloqualism, 'what tickles you?'  For me, it ranges from the slapstick, the 'dad jokes' (ok, well some of them) to the delightful puns. Despite that some nay-sayers deem puns 'the lowest form of humor', I think that they can be either delightfully subtle or blatantly obvious witticisms . There is one making the rounds in anticipation of tomorrow's solar eclipse: " Dad, can you explain a solar eclipse?"  "No sun". (speak it, don't just read it)

   The purposes or functions  of humor are numerous. It often serves as a kind of 'leveling the playing field' with a 'punching up' by those further down the socio-economic or power spectrum. 'Punching down', on the other hand, is cruel and demonstrates baser facets of character.  An example of the former occurred during my high school baseball practice when the coach's car parked on an incline in deep center field began rolling  down the hill. The coach (the authority figure) standing at home plate incredulously exclaimed, "Yonder goes my car !" Norman White (the student playing catcher) began rolling in hysterics. Coach's retort of "Not funny, White !" added to the  laughter.

   'Punching down', on the other hand, implies an attitude of  superiority whether in social status, wealth, race, gender, speech handicaps or physical blemishes.  Those are mockery.

    Recently I heard Garrison Keillor confess that as people get older, they get funnier. Once in my 20's, when   I had three times complimented 90+ year old Mrs. Caviness on her dress, she quipped, "Don't  strain your conscience, young man  ."

   This afternoon when I  told my daughter of my blog idea, she mentioned a Harvard research study on laughter.  Use your search engine to find 'Harvard research studies on laughter' and you will find several good explanations as to why laughter is good for the soul . . .   and for the body also.

     Satchel

Remembering the Kingston Trio

    Maybe it's a generational 'thing'.  A few days ago, a client and  I were talking  about his favorite musical genre and  groups.  When he asked about the groups  that  were popular  when I was his age, I mentioned The Kingston Trio.  I may as well have named something like 'The Neanderthal Nine' or 'The Medieval Hit Parade'.

   What were some of their 'hits', he asked. When I named the Immortal (to my generation) titles of Tom Dooley, The MTA, and Worried Man,  no recognition registered.

   I remembered that conversation this afternoon  when  I was mindlessly scrolling  YouTube and came across  a video of a reunion concert recorded in 1982.  For the next hour or so, I was transported to an earlier time in my life.

   Wikipedia indicates that the original KT "helped launch the folk revival of the late 1960's." There have been various iterations of the group throughout the intervening years.  All the original members ---Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane ---are deceased but until last year  (and maybe still) a  group has bought the rights to the name and continue to tour.

   I first attended a live concert in Greensboro in the Spring of 1959 when the Trio had become popular.  A fraternity brother and I double-dated (do college  folks still do that?)to attend their tour stop and UNC-Greensboro. Forty years later, Reynolds and Shane and George Grove, returned to Greensboro.  Before the concert, a stage hand brought out a single chair.  In a moment, Reynolds came on using a walker (apparently having had surgery). Before sitting , he surveyed the audience  and quipped, "Damn, you've gotten old!"

  In the intervening years, I attended at least two other concerts. The first  occurred in  Winston-Salem but the more memorable was their gig in the small North Carolina  city of Sanford. My brother and his family and I sat in the second row, perhaps twenty yards from the performers.  This performance came thirty + years since their beginning. In those years, one of the group had added girth to his frame. My brother in the colloquial jargon whispered to me, "Shane is totin' a load". 

    If your generational cohort is similar to mine and you enjoyed the KT or  if you are like the aforementioned  person who had no acquaintance, many YouTube videos await you and  you likely will be able to understand the words. And for  us 'old timers', enjoy  Bob Shane's  version of  Try to Remember.

    Satchel

       

QUIT BEING UGLY !!

 

      

Did you see the news video ...the gathering of politicians which was met by a group of reporters?  Soon  Representative  Virginia Foxx  was shouting "Shut up ! Shut up!"  to one questioning reporter.  The Charlotte  Observer opinion columnist  Isaac Bailey wrote that she "behaved like an 8-year-old on the national stage." He continued, "If Foxx had any political integrity, or integrity of any kind, she would not have shouted 'Shut up !. . . Instead, she joined in with fellow Republicans hissing, booing and unleashing childlike taunts."

  Some would say that she was being "ugly" and  that would not refer to her lack of physical beauty.  Ugly according to my dictionary means things like: disagreable, unpleasant, nasty, offensive, rude and quarrelsome.  Telling someone to "shut up" is generally considered  rude and impolite. Rather like the opposite of being civil or courteous/polite.

Edwin Newman, the late NBC reporter, observed that "the state of the language is a direct reflection of the country".   While his two books, A Civil Tongue and Strictly Speaking, addressed the deterioration of correct usage of speech, evidence abounds for the deterioration of civil discourse --- particularly among politicians and some purported Christians. Inflammatory words and images are tossed around with so much frequency that such coarseness has become the norm. Add to that recipe ad hominem or personal attacks against the character and integrity of those of differing opinions, and the result likely will be today's headline.UGLY !

Perhaps I am being a Pollyanna  to long for discourse , public and private, marked by sentiments and behaviors conveying qualities such as decency, honesty, truth, goodness, respect, integrity, kindness, civility. . . Did a former United States President keep his promise of "I will never lie to you."? Then there was a former Press Secretary who famously told reporters "I will never lie to you. You have my word on that." and immediately violated her promise.  There is often a wide space between  FACT and  OPINION.t

 There exists a strong temptation to disengage, to turn away  when the rhetoric becomes too coarse. In the face of that, I want to resist UGLY and speak with a civil tongue .

  Satchel

  

  

WHAT'S NEW ?

  this font is Rock Salt.  Seems appropriate when evening newscasters show pictures of road crews spreading Salt brine on roadways in anticipation of inclement weather.. has happened only a couple of times this month here in North Carolina. My brother in New Hampshire already has had a couple of "snow events".   January with its cold is almost half over  ; So, a question: how are you doing with your new year's resolutions ?

  I noticed that "Quitting  Day" occurred a few days ago. That  is the presumed date by which new Year's resolutions become discards.

So far, I am sticking with mine:  "make no new Year's resolutions". How are You doing with yours ?

   Just for fun, i did an internet search for the topic.  The most common one (not surprisingly ) pertains to improving  fitness (48%), followed by Improving finances and improving mental health. If i were making one, i 

like "Read more books". Having completed just two, glad i did not commit to that one. The thought of snuggling by the fireside with a good book  on a snowy day does sound alluring .

   Given the 'Fall off the wagon'  outcome for sticking to well-intended January 1st goals,  it's a fair question as to whether  any change can occur.  As a therapist, I am often asked if someone (usually the person asking  the question) can "change".  The quick answer  is that I have witnessed Change and that if i didn't think it possible, at my age, i would not be a therapist. HOWEVER . . . and it's a big  'however' . . . it usually is not quick nor effortless.

   'Transformation'  differs greatly from 'change'. According  to an internet source :"Change is usually a response to something and happens gradually, while transformation  is a deliberate and significant shift".  Don't hear  a  lot about New Year's transformations.

  I have noticed that this font does not make for easy  reading ,  so I am making  a significant  shift:  Never again will i use Rock Salt as a font for the blog .

    HAPPY NEW YEAR !

       Satchel

OUT OF THE DARK

 

                                

                                                          December 24, 2023

 The ocean expanse, the sunlight dramatically breaking out of clouds . . .My initial thought: "it looks like electricity overcoming the profound darkness". Seems to me it has the elements of a metaphor. A metaphor has to do with meaning, surplus meaning and not factuality. The fact here is a sunrise over the Atlantic.

   Isaiah, a Jewish prophet, spoke of  "a people who sit in darkness seeing a great light".  We have an abundance of "darkness" surrounding us in many manifestations ---wars, atrocities, hunger, climate crises, political, economic, fears ad nauseum

    Noting the Lukean narrative of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem, the long-ago Episcopal rector, Phillips Brooks wrote that "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight". This year that city is devoid of traditional Christmas celebrations and "the hopes and fears" run rampant.

   With Isaiah's vision in mind, dare we hope  that the above picture can be a metaphor for LIGHT'S ultimately overcoming the Dark.

    Satchel

Are You Hungry ?

 

Well, Thanksgiving Day has come and gone.

Did you eat well ? And, in the next few weeks as Christmas comes near, there will be more feasting. At least for most of us who read and write this post.  Then there are the others.  You know, the folks for whom there will be no abundant food; rather meager fare will be their lot.

   While  it suits many of us well-fed ones to dismiss 'the others' as either lazy, 'sorry', substance abusers, and similar criticisms, the Deeper Reasons for Poverty and its sibling, Hunger, are not so simple. Sure, there are some whom others might call 'Freeloaders', I doubt many willingly seek hunger either for themselves or their children. Proposals  for the total elimination of hunger exceed my capacities  or purposes for this post. Rather, what can you and I do to alleviate hunger  (not just at 'charitable times') as an ongoing concern . 

    After all, there are compelling reasons--humanitarian, justice, religious, political--for involvement, at various levels.

    I collected an array of quotes expressing the importance, no, the Imperative to "feed the hungry".

  ."If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one."  Unknown

  ."There's enough on this planet for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed."   Gandhi

  ."Extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human  society everywhere."    Kafi Annan, UN Sec General

  ."If I am hungry, that is a material problem, if someone else is  hungry, that is a spiritual  problem."

   Paul Farmer

 ."You pray for the  hungry. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works."   Pope Francis

  ."When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor  has no  food, they call me   a communist."  Dom H. Camara

  ."When people were hungry, Jesus didn't  say, 'Now is that political or social?' He said, 'I feed you.' Because the Good News to a  hungry person is bread.                       Archbishop Desmond Tutu

  ."Hunger is not an issue of charity. It is an issue of Justice."                                                                       Jacques Dival

   The Bible contains over 2100 references to giving to and feeding the 'poor'.  In the Christian tradition, the lectionary reading for last Sunday was Jesus's parable about doing benevolent kindnesses even to those of  lowest  circumstance was the same as extending those to himself.

Here in our county, the outreach of the Food Bank has been joined by an organization called the Chatham Alliance (www.Chathamalliance.org).  Volunteers at its affiliate, The Chatham Chuckwagon,  weekly prepare, freeze and give  nutritious meals to members of the community free of charge.  You can see other aspects of their work on the website. 

    Chef Sera Cuni of Cafe Root Cellar used her $10,000 first place prize from a nationally televised    cooking competition to launch 'Feed Well Fridges'. She and Susan White and their volunteers salvage perfectly good foods that grocery stores would be required to discard.  They create nutritious miracles to address local food insecurity.  I strongly urge you to visit their website  www.feedwellfridges.org .  

   Are there similar outreach programs where you live to which you can offer assistance ?

    Bon appétit !

        Satchel

   

 

     

  

  .

   

"HANDLE WITH CARE" caught on camera

 

                 It was clearly marked "Fragile"!

                                   

   The package was "delivered" via "air" a few months ago. The company logo was clearly marked on his vehicle (visible on another photo).  Efforts to register a complaint with their 'customer service' resulted in numerous runarounds.

   With Christmas just a month away, shipping of gift packages is about to shift into overdrive. With the proliferation of security cameras, many 'porch pirates' have regretted their attempted thievery.

YouTube features videos of several interrupted episodes. Yet, many 'shoppers' have not been deterred.  A few years ago, we shipped Christmas goodies to family in a nearby urban center.  Sometime in January, hearing no acknowledgment, we inquired and were told the sad story of theft. 

  The fellow above was either unaware of the camera that caught his misconduct or just did not care. Fortunately, the package contents escaped breakage.

His apparent indifference contrasts markedly from the care the UPS driver exercised yesterday:

May all your packages be delivered with care and beyond the depravity of porch pirates.                   

Satchel

           

   

  

                                                         Old Man in the Sun

                                 

                                 Original art by Dominique Metreaud.  Used by permission.

 "To  be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring."                   George Santayana

    Some blog posts come quickly; others take a long time to 'marinate'. This one comes in the latter group.

I have the  sense that the time has come to see what emerges. The impetus to proceed came from reading a column that my 75 year old 'little brother'  recently wrote for the local weekly. A graduate of the Journalism School of the University of North Carolina as well as being a seminary graduate, he sometimes writes pretty profound ideas in his weekly column.. His  thoughts and mine  have to do with the 'Seasons of Life'.

    October's ushering Autumn onto the calendar has further stimulated my interest in life's transitions . . . and my place therein. This has long been my favorite month and it never lasts long enough. When, then, does Winter begin ? In one of his poems, Shel Silverstein lamented "must we always have Winter? Can't Springtime just stay? ...and some hair turn gray ...".  I would modify that to "Can't October just stay?" I've never heard anyone sing In The Good Old Wintertime.

   The later Bernard Baruch wrote of being in the 'Winter' of his life when in his 90's.  Earlier he had keenly noted that "to me old age is always fifteen years  older than  I am".  From  the vantage point of accumulated birthdays, some review of  'the past'  can  be helpful, as long as nostalgia  for the good old days does not distort perspective. The Brothers Four sang "Deep in December it's nice to remember although you know the snow will follow".  

    The calendar tells me that  I have had 85 birthdays with a 86th following soon (I hope). But I do not  'feel' old (except for an arthritic hip). An  article on PMCPubMedCentral cited research indicating  "older adults across many disparate countries, both Western and Eastern, share a surprisingly universal view that they feel younger than their chronological age. and this tendency is more pronounced with increasing age." I like these observations taken from that fount of knowledge, Wikipedia : "Old age is the range of ages for persons nearing and surpassing life expectancy . . . Old age is not a definite biological  stage: the chronological age denote as 'old age' varies culturally and historically". 

    I have good memories from the Seasons of my life ...important people, formative experiences of opportunities seized as well as disappointments, places travelled, etc. "Of all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these 'It might have been'".

Who said that? I don't remember.  I think it more important to live with integrity and purpose and grace in whatever 'season' we find ourselves, as per Santayana 's quote  above.

    How 'old' are you or as the original Satchel asked, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"

  

        Satchel