It has been 11 years!

   It has been eleven years since I started talking to myself on this "blog".  Somehow it is satisfying to be able to speak what's on my my and have only the dog to respond to it.  Yet, I don't really speak my mind because there is the chance that someone that I care about might be hurt to read it.  We all have pain and disappointment that is caused by friends and family that hurts deeply but that we cannot speak about because they still are important and mean so much to us.  I like to give the impression that I am a tough guy and that I am OK with letting people go when they hurt me, but that is really not how it is.  John Wayne said, "Forgive you enemy, but remember the bastards name."   That is true but at the same time you try not to loose a person only because they broke your heart.   

  I have been trying to keep busy during the pandemic by making little things out of clay.  It is pleasing to see something nice come from the labor (passion) of your hands.                            

     

                                                                                            

(see Instagram:   10 Saguaro )

Another Year (looking back - looking forward)

                                                Happy Birthday 

    

Grateful! The first word that comes to my mind on this day is Grateful!  Grateful for the gift of life. None it is said are given to know the day or hour of our death, and so just to have lived this long and to have seen the fabulous technical, medical, and intellectual progress this world has made in my lifetime, gives me a feeling of joy in our collective accomplishments.  Grateful to have been given enough time to realize that courage, loyalty, generosity, and love, are the real important things in life.

  I watched my Dad die at the age of 61, my uncles in their 60s and 70s. Almost ALL of my "friends" are dead of Agent Orange or Cancer or just stupid behavior.  I often wondered how old I would get and asked God to give me long life so that I could finally get my life together!  In my late 20s I met my sweet Vera, and it was as if God had said, "Now I set you on the right path".  

  Today I become an octogenarian!  Hah!  I don't even know what that is supposed to mean.  I feel the same as I did in my 20s.  Crazy as it sounds I feel as though I could still play football and ski my pants off.  Of course my body tells me differently, especially when I have to get down on the ground and then get up.  OOF!   I am grateful for Aqua Aerobics and walking to keep me moving.  I am grateful for my hobby/passion, Ceramics.  Making things out of dirt has open the doors to friendships, travel, mental growth, and a general direction for life.  I have my own studio in my home, including a slab roller, a new kiln, and a fine new potters wheel.  I teach seniors how to make pretty things and watch many of them grow with their interests.  

  The future is bright with our children and grandchildren leading the way.  It is wonderful to think how we can be of help to them in the future.  If I was asked to give advice at this time it would be, "If you want to be a leader, get moving" and, "Never slow down, something may just catch up with you", and finally, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got".

A New President - A New Peace?

  Fear, anger hate are all hard wired and sit inside us like ticking time bombs. So why don't we all go running through the streets with flaming torches and pitchforks?  The fuel that feeds these emotions comes from what I call the " empowered leader".  This leader given voice by extreme radio broadcasters and some evangelical preachers, is free to feed the "big lie" to simple needy people who will follow forever if their fears, anger and hate are not addressed.  

I wrote these words before the tragic and disgraceful attempt to overthrow a legally cast and counted election, and the peaceful transfer of power as outlined in the Constitution, and that is so sacred to this country.  Those who were fed lies by their champion and empowered leader sought to take over Congress by violent and life threatening means, including kidnapping and murder.  Some carrying bombs, nooses, and clubs.  

Some of those misled people have been apprehended but those that led and planned the atrocity in Washington, have not and probably will never be held accountable.  Soon we will turn the page that closed one chapter and begins a new one.  What a great opportunity we have for change!

We are not there yet, but some day, the people of this country will begin to remember that We are better than we were.  We must begin to listen to the voices of those to whom we disagree.  We must avoid the flames of discord, we need to  give VOICE to those who feel they have none, and then we must LISTEN.

This is the challenge we must all take up.