To blog or not to blog,
that is the question. It has actually
been suggested to me that I analyze the force that is behind the words. Sometimes I get inspired and the words flow
from my brain to the keyboard to the computer screen in a matter of minutes.
Sometimes one piece takes weeks to write. In either case, blogging has become as
essential to me as a workout to a health conscious man, the icing on a baker’s
cake, or even the message from the clergyman’s sermon - it makes PERFECT SENSE.
Blogging is a way to
write about my fascination with words.
When I write, I get the chance to explore synonyms, multi-meaning words,
adjectives, homonyms, and a whole slew of word possibilities. For example, this month I learned a new word
– ramps. Oh, I knew the word before. They were inclined alternatives to a set of
stairs or an escalator. Now, thanks to the
expertise of my sister Lisa, I can eat cooked ramps. They are bitter leek-like onions. This accesses my prior knowledge of the word leek,
and how I knew that in both my distant and recent past, it was spelled leak
and was associated with a troublesome trickle.
In the present, however, the ea has become ee, and it is a ramp-like
onion. In short, I can be thankful that there
are no leaks or leeks on the ramp, for that would be
dangerously slippery, or I can be thankful that there are leeks and ramps, but not leaks and ramps, in my salad or on my
pizza! And don't even ask me about capers! Someone's been hiding capers from me for the last 56 years. Sounds like a caper caper! What a disturbing yet fascinating
language full of NONSENSE English is……….
Blogging is a way to
poke fun at and survive life’s little aggravations. For example, last Saturday I went to our car
dealer to get some routine maintenance done on the car, and I figured I’d be in
the waiting room for less than an hour. Alas, a multi-point inspection revealed some
necessary brake work and the replacement of all four tires. With the added work, my stay in the comfort
room would be extended! I began my
sentence by perusing the small selection of magazines available. I was not in the market for, and certainly
could not afford a new car, so the fact that car magazines were there was a moot
point; I knew I’d never be a male version of a fashionista, so why bother with
the manly stuff; and my children have been raised, and it’s too late to see if
I did it right, so I declined reading the Parenting periodicals. With the paper resources having been
exhausted, it was time to turn to electronics.
Praise the Lord for WIFI and cable television! I had my netbook computer with me, so for the
first couple of hours, I was occupied. I
must say, though, that the Internet gets boring after a while. Words
With Friends, though fun and educational, wears out its welcome
quickly. And how many new emails does
one as popular as me get on a Saturday morning, and how many times can I do a
send/receive without feeling like I’m wasting my time? And let’s face it…God and Facebook friends
forgive me…an overdose of Facebook is excruciating! It was time to put the computer away and gaze
at the television in the waiting room, which was perpetually set to on the Food
Network. Hours of my time were spent
watching Garth Brooks’s wife teach me to cook, a new Grandmother making an
outdoor Italian feast on a terrace decorated with lights, and Paula Deen telling
me how to prepare a dish that she couldn’t eat anymore due to her
diabetes. It was torture. To add to the 'fun' of the day, the dealer only had three of the four tires in stock and would put them on
for me, but I would need to return the following Tuesday to have the fourth tire
put on. The shop was understaffed and overworked on
that Saturday, and four hours after I entered confinement, I was set free, but
not without the knowledge that I would have to return. So on Tuesday, yet another hour was spent in
the cell, and the Food Network was still on and the same episodes of the same
shows were airing. It doesn't make sense to me, but I guess in the world of automobile dealers and mechanics, it's CAR SENSE.....
And of course, blogging
is a way to acknowledge a milestone. The
milestone I am remembering right now is Jackie’s and my 30th wedding
anniversary. We have been at the Jersey
shore enjoying the Cape May beach, a trolley tour of the Victorian architecture
of the city, and some of the best lunches and dinners we’ve had at restaurants
in years, all while being treated like royalty at a bed and breakfast complete
with afternoon tea and treats, and my personal favorite part of the trip, a
whale and dolphin watching cruise. We
came to the shore at the perfect time:
before the Memorial Day rush and before the stifling hot weather. We’re no strangers to excursions to the
Jersey shore. For as long as I can
remember, I have been there nearly every year.
I have been a little tiny sand castle builder and wave jumper, a teenage
boardwalk walker, a young married romance seeker, and a parent hand holder to little
wave jumpers and boardwalk walkers. This
year, at all the attractions, at the Inn, and particularly on the boat, I noticed
the number of older looking folks enjoying the ambiance of Cape May. Many had trouble walking or getting up, many
had gray hair and had some extra pounds, and many talked about their children,
who were not with them. Some were grandparents. Some announced
that they were also celebrating their anniversaries. Some had been married 26 years, some 30
like us, and some a little longer.
 |
| May 21st, 2013 - 30th Anniversary |
 |
| Fitting in sporting my classic car tee shirt and my Greatest Grandpa hat |
In further examining the whole scenario, I glanced at my shirt, a tee with a collection of 1950’s classic cars, including my favorite ’59 Chevy, and then remembered the hat I was wearing boasting the phrase ‘Greatest Grandpa’, and I realized I was with my peers, my fellow empty nesters, grandparents - folks on the far side of middle age who had earned a getaway and who had seized the opportunity, and are enjoying it. To me, it makes PERFECT SENSE!
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