Daily writing prompt

Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.

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Of the three choices named in the prompt, the one I remember best is my first day of first grade. My first day of work was when I was maybe 16, working on a farm, but I don’t remember much else about what I did that first day. My first day as a parent was, of course, a day like no other, and the significance of that moment when our first child was born wouldn’t really settle in until sometime later.

My first day of school, on the other hand, sticks in my head as a sunny morning in early September, 1960. I remember waiting for the bus at the bottom of our dirt driveway, on the opposite side of the street, near a power pole and a banking, beyond which spread nothing but woods, since it was still years before the housing development would appear. My Mom was with me, though I can’t remember if any of my brothers or sisters were there, too. Dad was already off to work. I was the oldest, so this was the beginning of a next chapter that I got to kick off.

I remember the old Dodge bus rounding the bend and slowing down. The door opened and I got my first glimpse of Mr. Lemanski, a weathered, older gentleman with a gruff exterior but a good heart, who smoked cigars (this was 1960…) and gave me the impression he was always a bit put out by something.

I don’t remember my first day in the classroom, just bits and pieces along the way. But I’ll never forget that first day waiting for the bus. That has stayed with me, for some reason.

Daily writing prompt

Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?

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I was Bob Cratchit in a middle school performance of A Christmas Carol, but never got to deliver all of my lines because a couple pages of dialogue somehow got skipped. It was a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.

I was a pastor for 26 years, so most Sundays, Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Eve, Lenten mid-weeks, Holy Week, and at weddings and funerals I stood before groups of people and offered words that hopefully fit the occasion. They weren’t speeches, in the typical sense, but to a skeptic or a neutral observer they may have seemed that way.

Daily writing prompt

What are your favorite physical activities or exercises?

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I try to get to the Y on a regular basis, where I warm up with a brisk half mile on the elliptical, then move on to several weight machines. I’m not against walking, but it’s nice to have a destination or at least different routes. And even though we use a cart, golf is quality outdoor time, with friends, and a fair amount of walking is still involved.

Come Spring, I might be working with my son, helping him in his landscaping business. I also enjoy mowing our yard and doing other yard work.

Daily writing prompt

What is something others do that sparks your admiration?

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They volunteer, give of their time, find ways to stay connected, keep their heads about them. They aren’t in a hurry, they practice their religious faith in ways that make sense to me, that seem genuine and well-informed. I find a certain humility admirable.

I gravitate toward people who are low-key in their approach to conversation and general behavior, who are capable of engaging in give and take– capable of listening as well as speaking. I tend to tune out when people are loud and in your face and argumentative, none of which sparks admiration or joy.

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite cartoon?

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It’s still The Roadrunner, though I must say that South Park and Family Guy can be downright hilarious sometimes. Especially lately.

And even though it’s had a great run, The Simpsons have never really caught on with me.

Daily writing prompt

What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

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The first thing that comes to mind is more of a silver lining variety. My brother died in May, which was a shock to everyone, but the time family and friends got to spend together afterward, as we gathered in Minnesota for the funeral, was a true gift. And our trip out there included a reminder that there are still many kind, helpful people in the world, as we had car trouble and made an emergency stop in a town in north central Ohio, where, it seems, everyone we met steered us in the right direction and offered much appreciated help.

I guess the overarching common thread was the family visits. There were a lot of them, including the time in MN and WI, along with a trip to Connecticut for a family wedding, but mostly it was folks coming to us for stays of varying lengths.

There were a few day trips, several golf outings, some nice meals at a local favorite eating establishment, we gave our carport a bit of a facelift, finally tore down and replaced a storage shed in our back yard, and we survived five days of babysitting our four local grandchildren while their parents were off for a well-deserved vacation and anniversary celebration.

Daily writing prompt

Do you ever see wild animals?

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Nothing out of the ordinary. Birds and squirrels are common. There’s plenty of wildlife around, but they do a pretty good job of concealing their whereabouts most days. We do have a couple of local bald eagle pairs, which we catch glimpses of every now and then, and if we’re driving to or from our son’s place, we’ll see some white-tailed deer in one field or another. Our son saw a fisher when he was out hunting the other day, and my wife has had a couple of black bear sightings over the years.

A while back, we had a close encounter with a skunk. That was fun.

Daily writing prompt

Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it?

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Domestically, we have options. Two of our three children live far from Pennsylvania, so we have taken road trips to Maine and Colorado, both of which have provided the experience of different regions and landscapes.

We made a trip to England and Scotland about 20 years ago, and that was a memorable venture. For me, though, the trip of a lifetime was one I made to Israel in 2013. A small group of us spent two weeks driving around the country, starting in Jerusalem, heading south into the Negev, then back north to Tiberias, Nazareth, Cana, and on to the Lebanese border and the Golan Heights, ending with a stay at a hostel above the Sea of Galilee before heading back to Jerusalem again.

In between, we visited Beersheba, Mitzpe Ramon and the makhtesh, and Sde Boker, where David Ben Gurion chose to retire; climbed the Snake Path to the top of Masada, hiked into En Gedi, swam in the Dead Sea, experienced several checkpoints in the West Bank, stayed in a hostel on the shore of Lake Kinneret, a.k.a. the Sea of Galilee, and swam there, stayed along the Mediterranean Sea in Acco, ventured further north beyond Qiryat Shemona, stayed at Tel Hai, a hostel with a view of Mt. Hermon, lingered at the headwaters of the Jordan River, took a side tour of an old Israeli army bunker from the 1973 war with Syria, which was close enough to the Syrian border that we might have been able to walk there.

There was so much more, including all of our time in Jerusalem itself. We got to know our way around the Old City pretty well, ventured out into the new city a couple of times, and put a lot of miles on our footwear.

It was a remarkable trip, likely a bit different than most guided tours, and one I was glad to have experienced before the flare-ups and old animosities reared their ugly heads yet again.

Daily writing prompt

What is one thing you would change about yourself?

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I need to be able to adjust to circumstances better than I sometimes do. I’m a creature of habit and don’t always respond well to changes in routine or what I consider to be impingements on how I prefer the day to unfold. In my mind, I’m often playing the retirement card, using it as an excuse, i.e. my days of being on call are over.

I’m not a fan of having my day planned for me. I suppose a certain selfishness is in play, and flexibility is sometimes in short supply, something I need to work at. I need to find a way to be more at peace with going with the flow, and at this point in my life this sometimes feels like a bit of a Titanic turn– feasible, but slow in developing.

Daily writing prompt

What are your feelings about eating meat?

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I know we can derive our protein from plants and fish and such. And large scale cattle production is a proven environmental hazard. But…

I tire quickly of contrived grievance and outsized passion, i.e. certain animal rights folks who need to tone things down a bit. Species who can’t speak for themselves may need advocates, but let’s take a closer look.

The beef, pork, and poultry lobbies will argue that they’re just responding to demand for their products, perhaps as an attempt to redirect the blame and the conversation. But they’re not wrong, as far as the demand piece goes.

I guess what I’m getting at is that, personally speaking, I might be willing to evolve in my understanding of protein consumption if someone can present an argument that reconciles the myriad small-scale meat processors– i.e. hunters– who are basically engaged in the same endeavor of killing for food (and sport) but don’t carry all the extra baggage of methane production and possibly inhumane living conditions and treatment.

Humans are at the top of the food chain. We’re omnivores. Maybe there is no other argument that needs to be made, except for a focus on the stewardship of resources. Meat has been a means of survival and part of our diet for a long time, albeit not as long as foraging for twigs and berries. I see no reason for looking askance at someone simply because they enjoy a nice medium porterhouse.

What would become of the huge numbers of cattle and hogs and turkeys and chickens if they weren’t slaughtered? They’d still need to be fed and housed. Do they then become someone’s pets, or just released to fend for themselves?

And what of local deer populations, or the numbers of other wild animals who aren’t on any endangered species list? It seems hunting seasons make sense for at least two reasons: population control and food on families’ tables.

Going meatless is a tough sell, for various reasons.