[Rhodes22-list] A Pirate Looks at 50

[Wally Buck]

Cheers! - Wally

>From: Jim White <jdwhite at utpa.edu>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] A Pirate Looks at 50
>Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 08:56:48 -0500
>
>I woke up this morning staring 50 full in the face. I know it's a monument 
>birthday, a milestone, but somehow it doesn't seem a whole lot different 
>than turning over 50 miles on the odometer of my bike after I turn it back 
>to zero....only this time I can't turn it back to zero. So, I think it's 
>more like 50 miles an hour, just a gentle cruise with the wind in your 
>face.... Or maybe like sailing my boat single handed, an inevitable 
>slipping along to new or familiar places. Now it's simply the journey that 
>matters.
>
>  When I was young(er) I always had in the back of my mind the notion that 
>"when I'm young again.....", but in the past couple of years this notion 
>has faded, replaced by a sense of just traveling along on the water, trying 
>to avoid the shallows and sandbars, but learning nonetheless if you get 
>hung on one.
>
>There was no revelation following the tolling of the bells of my birth 
>hour, or enhancement of insight, I don't even think any of my hair went 
>grey(er), or I acquired any new wrinkles.
>
>No, today I don't feel maudlin or especially reflective, just thankful to 
>be here. All the cliches, like, "if I'd have known I was gonna live this 
>long, I would've taken better care of myself", just go out the window, and 
>I keep riding down the path. Although I'm certainly not going to score 
>highly on the list of "he who dies with the most toys wins" mentality, I do 
>have friends and family who've made this trip more than worthwhile, so the 
>material things take a distant back seat. And living here is like living in 
>the pages of a Steinbeck novel. I think that's the way it is with most 
>coastal communities, and I guess I'm just another character.
>
>So what's next? Well, just because I turned fifty doesn't mean any dreams 
>went out the window too. I still want to circumnavigate the Gulf and near 
>Caribbean, I want to take a monumental road trip or two, maybe visit some 
>places I've never been. But for right now, I plan on continuing sailing, 
>surfing, riding, diving, fishing,  taking care of business, exploring the 
>islands in my life, eating at D' Pizza Joint, drinking a little beer (maybe 
>a little rum too...), enjoying days like today, when the air smells like 
>the sea, and you can hear the waves crashing on the shoreline and all of 
>the other things that make up this crazy patchwork collage that I call my 
>life. Mostly I plan on enjoying the journey with my family and friends....
>
>Although I have never spoken to any of you personally, after having 
>interacted with many of you via this list, you all have been included, by 
>proxy in that collage.... .
>
>Cheers to you my fellow waterpeople
>jw
>
>
>Jim White
>Le Menagerie
>www.lemenagerie.blogspot.com
>
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