Daily writing prompt

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

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I have to go with the bus trip from MA to NM in 1968, when I was 14, with a group of fellow Boy Scouts and adult leaders, to Philmont Scout Ranch.

We were gone for almost a month. Along the way, we stayed at military facilities– Carlisle Barracks, Air Force bases in Ohio, Texas, and South Dakota, maybe a couple more; YMCAs in St. Louis, MO, Cheyenne, WY and Chicago, IL, and a hotel on the Canadian side at Niagara Falls, with supper overlooking the Falls in one of those high rise restaurants.

I look back on this every now and then and think how amazing it was, that we got to see so much of the country while probably not fully appreciating the opportunity or giving it sufficient thought at the time.

It included my first visit to Gettysburg, a place a quarter century later where we’d be living for four years. It included visits to the top of the Gateway Arch, the Truman Library, a ride on the cog railway to the summit of PIkes Peak; Mt. Rushmore, Wall Drug, various other places and landmarks along the way, and lots of hours on a Wilson Bus Lines bus traveling through various topographies and locales and getting a sense for how big and varied the American landscape was.

And of course the hiking in the southern Rockies for eight or ten days– can’t remember exactly how long we were on the trail, anymore.

Daily writing prompt

What snack would you eat right now?

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I usually don’t eat anything this early, around 5:30am, though I always have my cold brew close at hand. But I can see myself enjoying cold pizza, an Oatmeal Raisin Cliff Bar, maybe a few apple slices, some pomegranate seeds– or whatever they’re called. Certainly a nice helping of white cheddar popcorn, or even the leftover unadorned popcorn from last night.

If it was later in the day, I might give in and enjoy a couple dark chocolate covered wafers we can only find at Aldi. Maybe a coffee protein shake, another marginally healthy portion of white cheddar popcorn, a couple slices of toasted cardamom bread with butter, a mixed berry vanilla yogurt with almonds and pumpkin seeds mixed in, a banana with almond butter, a few crackers with almond butter, maybe a slice of homemade wheat bread with almond butter, and a packet of Bel Vita orange cranberry breakfast thins… cookies… biscuits… whatever they’re called.

Daily writing prompt

Come up with a crazy business idea.

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Selling grilled New England style rolls stuffed with fresh crabmeat, with a generous side of Utz Ripple Chips, out of the trunk of my Camry, in the parking lot of the de-commissioned K-Mart.

Daily writing prompt

Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

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I’ve been scouring the bushes trying to remember something that fits here. There was no blanky or stuffed animal. I did save things as souvenirs when we’d go somewhere on vacation– a pine cone, a rock, a shell– and put them in a drawer or a small box.

The one thing that comes to mind, besides the yearly Christmas gift that I often asked for and received (nothing extravagant), would have to be my first baseball glove, received from my Uncle Freddie. I used it throughout Little League, in the back yard, and maybe even up until I tried out for the high school team, though by then I might have had to get something a bit bigger.

For some reason, that gift looms large in my memory. I oiled it and used it and held onto it long after it ceased being useful. I don’t recall what ended up happening to it– whether it was eventually put in the trash or ended up in a bag for Salvation Army. Probably the former.

Daily writing prompt

What is your mission?

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Don’t have one, which isn’t to say I don’t have a list of things I’d like to get to. I realize it’s only a writing prompt, but in terms of some higher order purpose in life, I can feel my blood pressure rise when a question like this is posed.

Short answer is, I don’t know. A longer response might entail an enumeration of what I’ve aready done during my working years, set alongside my current desire to call my own shots and do what I want to do. For a while, at least.

A mission is currently low on the priority list. The word itself strikes me as cliche, and it exhausts me.

This question implies some sort of obligation on my part– an obligation to be useful, to make this world a better place… and all that. I guess what I’m saying is that my plate is full enough tending to my marriage, our growing family, yardwork, and an occasional project or two. Anything beyond these I gladly relinquish to someone with more energy and a better attitude.

Daily writing prompt

What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?

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A friend’s father used to say that he was going to live to be 100. An honorable goal, I guess. I don’t know his reasoning for setting it, or if he made it that far. And I’m not sure to what extent sheer will plays a role in length of days.

Living a very long life so as to postpone death is one thing. Living a very long life that still means something to somebody is another. The usual conversation on this topic goes something like, “I’d have to still enjoy a quality of life. I’d still want a certain autonomy, the capacity to function and interact, and not be a burden on anyone…”

A cold take on things might get one thinking that if we stick around long enough, we do become burdens. We take up space and deplete resources that could be used by someone younger and more vital. Of course, vitality is already no longer the sole possession of the young.

If my longevity came at the cost of burdening or outliving friends and family, then I’d have to say no to this. If we as a species are at a point where we could support longevity across generations, then maybe.

It seems that a long life is still something of a happy accident or a curse, a combination of lifestyle choices, dietary habits, genes, and the motivation that comes from a fear of death as an unknown. It makes sense that we hold onto what we know for as long as we can.