Just a little more than usual
I guess it would still be Christmas. Apart from the rampant commercialism that begins in September or maybe before, I still appreciate the music and a few of the holiday movies, the get-togethers, and the overall atmosphere.
It lost its childhood magic a long time ago, but some of the mystery remains. Those formative early years cast a long shadow, and I still try to get my head around a virgin birth and a Savior come to earth.
Yes, many times. We started with my parents and grandparents, heading to places in New Hampshire, Vermont, Cape Cod, the Berkshires. It was pretty rustic, as I recall– a big old canvas tent, Coleman stove. Nothing fancy.
We did quite a bit of camping when I was in Boy Scouts, and I got to go to Philmont Scout Ranch, in Cimmaron, New Mexico, in 1968. On occasion, we’d head to the White Mountains and stay at different camp sites, which usually included a climb of one mountain or another.
And we did a bit of camping with our own kids, most often at places in New York state–Watkins Glen State Park became our favorite. And there was one multiple-night stay at a KOA in Canada, near Niagara Falls. No wild treks, but enough to create a few memories.
Variations on the happy face, a heart, a coffee cup, and thumbs up. Sometimes I’ll list a whole mess of different ones just because, in an attempt to be intentionally over-the-top, I guess. I’ve never used the poop emoji, but I can imagine certain topics where it might capture how somebody is feeling.
Politically speaking, I enjoy venting with like-minded people. When it comes to what folks think of Donald Trump, etc., I don’t feel like arguing, since both sides have long been entrenched in their understandings and beliefs and all that happens is that everyone’s blood pressure rises to unhealthy levels.
I enjoy shooting the breeze about sports, especially golf. I like talking about music, woodworking, astronomy, what NASA is up to, what the grandkids have been up to, and maybe a book my wife or I have been reading.
I keep returning to the decision to pull up roots and move the family to Gettysburg, in order to go to seminary. That’ll always be the risk-taking standard for me. Pastoring is a challenging line of work, but it worked out.
Otherwise, I don’t necessarily see risk taking as something great. I’ve never been inspired or moved by the value of “stretching myself” just for the sake of something to do. And adventure is a relative term. The “best version of myself” will always remain elusive and unattainable, which doesn’t mean I haven’t acknowledged my growing edges and tried to be a better person.
I once had to return to college in the middle of a major snowstorm, but that was unavoidable, since I was a passenger in a car driven by the person who just needed to get back to campus that night. If I didn’t get in, I would have been stranded in the Twin Cities without a way to get back to school. It was a risky venture, in my estimation, and a nail biter of a trip, but we made it.
The state of things political. As a species, it seems someone somewhere is always trying to keep the wolves from breaking down the door. Evolution can’t move quickly enough– if peaceful co-existence is where we might be heading. It’s often exasperating to think that there are still so many self-anointed “visionaries” who enjoy imposing their will, spreading misery, always aching for a fight.
If it has involved exertion of any intensity, like helping our son with his landscaping work, I’ll shower, get some comfortable clothes on, then sit in my favorite chair and look at the iPad for a bit, or sit outside with a glass of ginger ale on ice, or cold brew, and revel in a day well spent– being useful, getting something done. And I’ll probably fall asleep for a bit.
Anymore, a “demanding day” means something different than it used to when I was still pastoring a congregation, but I guess the things I do at the end of such a day haven’t changed all that much. It basically involves winding down, maybe a bit of review, and doing something relatively mindless.
As little as possible. I text and email people when I need to, I don’t have Instagram or TikTok or anything of that nature. I do occasionally look at videos on YouTube, mostly music but a couple of politics-related ones.
By and large, I refuse to go down the social media rabbit hole– partly because I’m of a particular age and it doesn’t interest me, but mostly because it can be such a huge waste of time and energy. I prefer to frustrate the algorithms, or just ignore them. They’re probably not meant for me, anyway.
There’s such freedom in simply putting the phone down. It can be an act of rebellion or sheer will, or at least a bit of respite from the noise.
It’s nice, for the most part, to be back in Massachusetts, staying at the house my brother and his wife used to own back in the day, and next door to where I grew up.
A close second was coffee.
3 Cents' 