Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Springing

You've got to continue to grow, or you're just like last night's corn bread - stale and dry.

Loretta Lynn
****************
"I gave a party and nobody came."

I do not understand why some people really wish to remain stale and dry. So you're physically, mentally and emotionally challenged are you? So what? What's the big deal? What's wrong with searching for the light switch in the dark? Why wait until dawn when everyone else is already "up and at 'em"?

The number of visits to this journal has decreased to an embarrassing level. I'm told that everyone is off twittering and facebooking. I suppose I should be also. After all one has to keep up with the times. Well, I've always been slow at doing things. I'm the tortoise in that famous race. My lack of alacrity has served me well sometimes. It has kept me off bandwagons that got flat tires. It has prevented me from becoming a card carrying member of the Club of Fools. It has held me back from doing shows that folded after two performances. The only thing it hasn't done for me was to barricade me from love affairs that broke my heart. So what? "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" as Lord Tennyson wrote.

In spite of my apparent lack of enthusiasm about the latest fad or gadget, I believe in taking chances. Life is risky business. It's an iffy thing if there ever was one. So is love. You can't put it in a bottle and seal it any more than you con the air you breathe.

My life is strewn with stumbling blocks of obligations, left over bricks from someone's backyard barbecue. I find it difficult to take care of everything, walking to the market for food, cleaning my apartment, doing my taxes, paying my bills, all the detritus that piles up when you grow older and slow down. But I live in a world of ideas. I don't want to live in any other world. Even though my mind works faster than my fingers, Vagabond Journeys is my reality, not chat rooms. Does that make me an anachronism? I suppose so. Aren't old folks supposed to be anachronistic, fossils of a forgotten age, museum pieces, items on an antique shop shelf?

Spring is coming, cleaning time. I have a birthday, a re-birthday, coming up. There's Easter, the regeneration of life; Passover, escape from the old into the new; buds pushing their way out of the ends of branches; birds pecking their way out of their shells; somewhere a child will take his first step. Where will it lead him?

I refuse to get stale and dry, but where do I go now? What's my destiny? What's yours? What is the desperate, immortal craving of humanity and how will it be filled? There are no easy answers. I write to ponder these mysteries. But if I am not getting out into the New World maybe it's time to do something else.

Let me not forget to express my appreciation and gratitude to the few of you who still read my entries and comment. To you goes my love.

Dana - The Vagabond
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Spring is coming !
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.

You have Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
Only 20 responses so far.

DB - The Vagabond

9 comments:

salemslot9 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pacifica62 said...

I do not tweet or facebook, nor do I want to. I do not particularly care if I am considered a fossil or an antique. Some things are more valuable the older they are. Personally I would hate to see you pack up your pen and paper and throw yourself on to the shelf of antiquity, but I guess it is your decision and it is up to you.

salemslot9 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
salemslot9 said...

my step~father used to say
Smartie had a party
and nobody came

Big Mark 243 said...

You know, I once considered not keeping up with a journal. When AOL was shutting down, it was Nebraska who encouraged me to keep it up. She mentioned a reader in particular who took a vested interest in me, so I soldiered on.

I am always interested in what you have to say. I don't drop by as regular as I would like because of my various challenges. I am not at a computer as often as I once was. But I do like what I read and think of the great conversations we would have together, sitting at a table somewhere.

I don't think that I am the only one. When you are as deep and philosophical as you are, I think people can be intimidated by that.

But I am not, and I KNOW I am not the only one. Quit your journal because it is time for YOU to make that decision, not because of readership. I'd miss you.

Happy Birthday. I may get out to get a card, but I have been in the house for the last ten days, and unable to do so. Cheers!!

Arlene (AJ) said...

I'm not into tweetering or facebook and don't have any desire to be...from what I've about the lack of privacy and safety this wouldn't be my cup of tea. Hope you'll continue with your special readings always DB, I'll be here for you. When's your birthday DB, mine is the end of the month. Wish we could get together and celebrate our special days.

Ken Riches said...

I find that the blogosphere goes in spurts. During the winter, when a large portion of the nation is hunkering down and trying to stay warm, blogging is a great outlet and communication tool. As the weather gets nicer, it gets harder and harder to sit behind the keyboard. The key is to write to express yourself for yourself, additional readers is a plus.

Michelle said...

Thinking of you and stopping by to say hello... Yeah, I'm one of those facebooking maniacs. I've enjoyed it for getting back in touch with friends from my childhood and school days and for keeping watch of my children who are kind enough to let me. There are a few journal friends there, but it has an entirely different feel to it. I miss this. I miss you.

Spring is in the air! ;o)

Arlene (AJ) said...

My happy memory today is to wish you a Happy Birthday DB, you're in our thoughts over here.