I wake up in the morning early. Sunbeams are already flooding through my bedroom window brightening up the entire environment and chasing away my night time dreams.
I arise and mobilize my old bones toward my usual bathroom, kitchen and coffee making daily routines. Then I take a look outside to greet the bright new day.
And, sure enough, it’s a lovely morning so bright, fresh and new with a sky of baby blue.
The sun’s already heating up the world as it slowly climbs above the eastern horizon.
There’s a small bird sitting atop a nearby pine tree singing his little heart out. He sings out his morning song for all the world to hear and enjoy. It’s not a little 1 2 3 type of chirp. It’s more of a long varied set of verses of pretty bird melody - Beautiful music.
A dove coos in the distance and every once in a while I can hear a dog bark further off.
My day has begun.
So these ever continuing “days of our lives’’, as an old TV show terms them, can be looked at, I suppose, as similar to the pages of a book. Each page would represent a unit of time in our physical existence recorded in detail.
It would be a thick volume for most people and have an upper corner of each leaf marked indicating the many thousands of pages (days) past in this, our book of life.
But it’s none of that for me. Each day and especially this day is not just new, it’s here and now and it’s all mine to do with whatever I wish to my heart’s content.
It’s a thrilling new burst of creation.
Sure, you could say, it’s the same old, same old, or just another day in the pits, same as it ever was. And, sadly, that is exactly how it would be for you.
But our precious time is not meant to be documented, recorded and filed away like old court records.
We are not automated machines going through monotonous and meaningless routines. We are living, breathing sentient beings molding, creating, actively experiencing and participating in this, our game of life. And life is to be Lived!
Sorry, dear reader, this might be too much thinking for this early in the morning. I’m not completely awake yet.
But the morning wears on, the coffee takes its effect and the physical world around me becomes clearer and more in focus as its forms regain their solidity.
Should I turn on my electronic gadgets and be bombarded with something they call “morning news”? Roe versus Wade, hostility, anxiety and all the reasons why we should fight, argue and oppose each other? - I don’t think so.
Soothing music would be nice. A phone conversation with a friend would connect me with the outside world. “Hi, it’s me. How are you? What’s new?”
I know what’s new. I don’t have to get up early and run off to slay dragons anymore. They’ve all been vanquished. That part of my life and all of its adventures is off in the past now. I’m retired.
That’s a term with many different connotations when you come to think of it. Retirement - Senior citizen - No longer an active member of functioning society - Former team member - Someone with fixed ideas, old, grey and set in his ways - Old soldier - Someone whose time has been and gone - A fellow to greet and be kind to but not take too seriously, etc. etc. I’m sure you could find many other descriptions to add to this category.
And I admit it. I’m guilty. I’m one of them. I fit many of the characteristics. I’ve lived long, fought many dragons, survived it all and I’m still here to tell my story.
So are my friends, although more than a few have checked out and gone on their ways over the past few years. And I sure do miss them.
I identify and get along well with old folks, probably because I am one.
I can see in their eyes wisdom, experience and the satisfaction of having built and shaped a world for our present generation to take over and continue.
And to conclude my rambling, I’m sure, dear reader, you must remember that old Beatles song “When I’m 64”.
The lads were humorously looking off into their distant futures and picturing themselves bent and used up old codgers with walking canes just “wasting away”.
Well today, with modern medicine and a comfortable lifestyle, the surviving band members could change that title to “When I’m 74, 84 and more”.
I would say those characters did their bit and surely accomplished greatness. Like so many other old troopers. they passed their legacy on into the future to help brighten the lives of others.
And what a legacy it is - Beautiful music.
Dan is at danhughoconnor@gmail.com
