August 14, 2011
Good Morning,
August… there is just no getting around it… I’m in the August of my life. Maybe it was turning the “Big 65” that triggered it, the SSI check in the mail each month and then there is scanning the menu for the “Senior” section and compensatory discount. Whatever it was, it has been on my mind.
How do I know it is August? I’ll be generous with the years and like “Five for Fighting” and their song “When you only have 100 years to live” will use that number. Say we divide the 100 by 12, one for each month of the year. We get 8.33 years per month. Take that times 8 for August and you end up with 66+ years. So…if I do live to be 100, the next eight years will be my August. Simple?
So now what do I do with August, for it will surely glide away into tomorrow as quickly as the months preceding and I will be staring at September wondering where it went as well.
I am starting to feel a slight urgency to put some things in order. To evaluate what is needed at this stage and what has passed. Will I ever really need a particular item? What are the real reasons for holding on to some things well past their usefulness in my lifestyle today?
My life was different in Oregon where I had a workshop (Man Cave) and I was surrounded by the things relevant. Maybe it is a need I have to hold on to the past a bit longer, thinking some of those times will come again. I know that when we are looking behind we cannot see ahead and ahead is where our life will be tomorrow. Thinking about the past also keeps us from today and being in the moment. I’m pretty sure that was a quote from someone, just have no idea who. To quote Willy Nelson, “Ain’t nothing I can do about it now”.
There are things I want to do in my August and I know I will have to move some debris in my life to make room for them:
- I want to do stained glass again, as it was an expression of my inner-self to a medium that will live beyond my 100 years. Something in a Prairie Pattern sort of Frank Lloyd Wright style. This I have started, but need to devote more time.
- I want to learn reloading so I can enjoy the accuracy it will provide when I target shoot. The satisfaction of being the best I can be with my 22-250. This may require a room added in the garage. No small task.
- I want and need to organize the large amount of family genealogy information I have collected over the years so that others can benefit and easily pick up where I leave off. This just requires me to dig in and do it. Maybe even post it on the web as before. Sometimes that can be the hardest.
- I want to have a “Trike” motorcycle. Either build one or buy one. That requires money which I’m not quite sure where it will come from.
- I want to get rid of some stuff that is in the way. This will require resolve and somewhat of a paradigm shift in my mental state concerning possessions. Again no small task.
- Last, but far for least, I want to lose some weight so I will see September.
My August, while I still have my health to do these things, is the time. The clock is running and I’m not getting any younger.
I better get at it.
Love, Dad