The View From Here

          

         

My friend at Preservation Jazz Hall  in New Orleans

Maybe it’s the rainy day; maybe it’s a desire to write; or maybe it’s neither of those things in particular, but this is my attempt to do another blog posting which I have not done in quite a while. Or perhaps it’s just because this is my birthday month and the fact that I always get pensive around my birthday each year.

          This will be my 77^th birthday. Nothing sad about that or depressing in any way. As a matter of fact I feel very fortunate to have made it thus far in my allotted years, however many they may be, and I am feeling pretty healthy for the most part. Oh, I have a few issues like glaucoma and atrial fibrillation, but both are well under control. Other than that and in spite of that, life is good.

          I still play the guitar and sing, mostly for my own entertainment.  I go for regular, almost daily walks on the tow path along the canal here in Lambertville. I love going out to eat (one of my favorite things to do) and travel to places I am fond of—places like Colonial Williamsburg and the coast of New England for a couple of examples. I enjoy our home and where we live. I love reading, doing crossword puzzles, sitting by the fire, having company visit, listening to music (classical, spiritual, and New Age in the morning, classic folk and light rock in the afternoon, and jazz in the late afternoon and evening.) And it’s really nice to be retired after 44 years as a church professional, aka clergy.

          So, life is good.

          The things that are upsetting to me in addition to the political environment in our country at the moment, are: what’s happening within the United Methodist Church these days, the many things that are effecting the relationships within the human family around the world, the sad disregard for our environment, and the potential political threats to our National Parks. There are a few other things, but that’s enough for now.

          So 77 years will have gone by for me on the day of my birthday. As a kid, I never wanted to ever move away from my hometown of Medford. When my parents would talk of doing that, I let them know that they didn’t have my approval. I don’t think that that was the reason we never moved, but maybe it was of some influence. Of course, as an adult, I moved to many places, including Fort Dix during the Vietnam War at the request of Uncle Sam. 

          I will have to say that not all of my dreams have come true, not all of my ambitions have been fulfilled, and not all of my plans have come into fruition. On the one hand, you could say that that’s too bad, but it really isn’t—far from it. It’s not too bad because I have a very happy and contented life. Not all things are meant to be and for good reason I suppose. God’s will?  I don’t know. Most certainly it’s in part due to decisions I made along the way because, after all, we are free to make choices along our life’s journey. But I will say this:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair…

                       [from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost]