Yesterday I received in the mail a letter I mailed 6 years ago. I could be upset, but better late than never. After all it is not as if my words could save the word… if was only my hope that it might. But that is just ego…. I like to think it is better to go “oh… well” than think dark thoughts. The world might even be a better place if more took time to move forward…. I wrote a new letter and it could be… a great reply will be on it’s way before 2030.
1934 Underwood
It’s a new year… I feel that it would be great to think positive thoughts at the start and strive to keep along that path throughout the year and on for infinity.
I sat down at my 110 year old typewriter and put down my thoughts. When I finished I felt I had created a “fine mess” of thoughts and was about tear up the paper when it occurred to me that I “was not running for office” I was not charging for my thoughts… I just wanted to express my views.
We all are products of the time and place we were born in. Ways of expression and the meaning behind them shift over time and what was benign for one age group becomes offensive to another.
Still there is a hope we can find a common ground and express ourselves without fear of fists or hammers or hate by just trying to point out our thoughts. Fear has a way of preventing words from being expressed and that is a sad thing.
I have felt that way with all the division out there today… but I still hope so I kept my fine mess of words…
Over five decades I have written to Presidents. I felt it was important to express my view and believed it was worth as much as money, input to a poll… and it did not matter if the person I voted for won or lost. Whoever held the office was safeguarding the entire nation and not just those who voted for or against. Perhaps it is silly to think such things matter but old habits have a way of sticking withyou.
On a bicycle I get to see things I would have missed had I been driving a car.
Mother’s day is like seeing a rainbow… it is just something to look on and enjoy.
I have allowed myself to get caught up in the troubles of the world around me and overlooking all the good that is around me. My internet went down… I called in the problem and the next day a repairman showed up on time and found that in the past 6 years my dish had shifted out of alignment and caused intermediate disconnects. Instead of needing a new dish he adjusted and things are the way they should be. It will not bring world peace but it allowed me to remember that sometimes things do work out.
When I look back on the films of Sidney Poitier I view a positive possibility of what America is. The high road toward the future with hope and steadfastness and a big heart for others.
In 1941 my father was still a teenager and he joined the army. He spent 4 years overseas and came back full of goodwill, hope and love for America. The reality of discrimination and the limits it placed on one’s ability to be all one could be was a fact but not one to complain about just something to work thru; in his view a 40% chance of success meant success was not just in reach but a done deal.
I keep recalling this open hearted view of what could be and the approach to life that defined for me what was called “the greatest generation” and as time removes more and more of this generation I take time to reflect and thank all who stood up for their belief’s and did good because they could.
The last time I looked at bicycles knew of road bikes, hybrid, city, adventure, dirt bikes as well as mountain bikes. Today I find “gravel” and even “CGR” (cross, gravel, road) and then I recall “touring” bikes. I also ran across cruiser, endurance and the list went on. All I wanted was something to ride without much thought. The more I looked the more I wondered about speed, weight limits, gears, brakes, and comfort. Seems that comfort for some is second to speed…. and it seemed that while everything changes by name… you still pedal to get where you wish to go… so what’s most important remains the same.
