Daily writing prompt

Which is the best thing to do in your city?

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The nearest cities are 25 minutes east of here and less than an hour’s drive north of us, where a person can shop and eat, buy a car or truck or other vehicle, get decent healthcare, check out a book, worship, play 18 holes of golf, dive into the local history that’s tied up in coal mining, take a walk or a bike ride along a major river, and then head into the hills that surround these urban areas to get away from it all. The landscape has character.

I actually live in a township, bordering a borough (they don’t call them towns in PA, except for Bloomsburg) that historically was a major outpost for tank and ammunition production during WWII, along with manufacturing of certain clothing items. And cigars. The local high school football team had a reputation not long ago for being one of the best in the country. They’ve since come back to earth a bit.

This area is also nestled into the ridges one sees on some maps of Pennsylvania, along the same major river, making for some dramatic landscapes. It’s growing on me, as we’ve lived here off and on for over 30 years. Rolling hills, hollows, scenic vistas up and down the river, farmland, fishing, golf, a few good places to eat, active youth athletics, and a group of leaders and civic-minded individuals who want the area to thrive.

Daily writing prompt

What super power do you wish you had and why?

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Since I can only have one, it might be elemental manipulation. A region needs rain? Coming right up. Another needs a break from sub-zero cold or endless high temperatures? Break out your shorts and margaritas or bundle up. Of course, such drastic reversals would probably generate their own adverse effects, but maybe the power is so complete that I can maintain a healthy balance.

Daily writing prompt

What’s a mystery from your own life that you’ve never solved?

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Great question, but the only thing coming to mind is always wishing for clarity when it came to what I should do with my life. I still feel like I missed some hints, missed out on a moment when things crystallized, and revelation provided a path forward with regard to the work I should occupy myself with in order to make a living.

I did end up as an ordained Lutheran pastor for 26 years, but never really felt comfortable in that position, like this was my “destiny,” even though others gave me affirmation along the way and told me this was where I needed to be. Instead, I often found myself wishing some other direction was taken, some other door had opened, because most days I felt like a fish out of water.

I wish I could have been like the folks who somehow “know” from early on that they will be a doctor, or an athlete, or a musician. I never had that clarity, or a sense of assurance that I was where I was supposed to be. But maybe that’s more rare than it’s made out to be. Maybe that’s not how it works, anyway.

Maybe it’s more about following a dream and putting in the work.

Now that I’ve been writing for a while, I realize that life itself is often a mystery to me. Why are we here? Since we have the wherewithal to ask that question, it’d be nice to have an answer that satisfies, that stops in its tracks this endless inquiry.

Daily writing prompt

List the people you admire and look to for advice…

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My wife, my siblings and most of their spouses, our children and their spouses, our neighbor next door, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Colbert, Albert Einstein, Paula Poundstone, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Paul McCartney and all the Beatles– and George Martin; Alanis Morissette, Jon Stewart, Desi Lydic, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Pete Buttigieg, Barack Obama, Winston Churchill, Alexei Navalny, Jon Leavitt, PoliticsGirl, JoJofromJerz, Pope Leo, Rachel Maddow, Brian Tyler Cohen, Leonardo DaVinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Jim Lovell, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, Gene Kranz, Harper Lee, Jonas Salk, most any ER doctor, RNs who take their job seriously, our GP, a good mechanic, a good carpenter or plumber or electrician, and a couple of local farmers who work as hard as anyone I’ve ever known and are the personification of what people must mean when they use the phrase “salt of the earth.”

I’m sure I’ll think of others after submitting this.

Daily writing prompt

Do you vote in political elections?

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More often than ever, even the local ones. By mail, like our dear President.

Daily writing prompt

What gives you direction in life?

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A morning routine, our marriage, home improvements, involvement in the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Vocationally, there is nothing of which to be mindful anymore. Now I have to be more self-motivated, have a to-do list. When I was a pastor, there was always something to be mindful of, something to work on, another visit to make. But in retirement, the onus falls on me to generate movement and activity and any sense of direction.

I guess I’m not nearly as concerned with a sense of direction now, though a sense of purpose and meaning still looms large.

Daily writing prompt

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

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I must, but it’s not coming to me yet…

Or maybe I don’t. But I do occasionally come across quotes that resonate, that get my attention, make me think, make me laugh, inspire me. Albert Einstein quotes leave a mark. The MLK quote about the moral arc of the universe bending toward justice has stuck with me.

I listed a few last year. I’ll add a few more this time around:

“Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.”– Anne Frank

“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”– Mother Teresa

“Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.”– Oscar Wilde

“A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good, just because it’s accepted by a majority.”– Rick Warren

“Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.”– Leonardo Da Vinci

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”– Martin Luther King, Jr.

2500

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

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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.

Daily writing prompt

Have you ever been camping?

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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.

Daily writing prompt

When do you feel most productive?

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Early in the day, after breakfast, and after I’ve spent time applying myself to some task. It feels good to move, and to contribute and be of help.

The longer into a day I go, the more tired I get, especially if I’m working with my son on a landscaping job. I find myself marveling over the fact that he does what he does for a living, day after day.