RETURNING TO AN EARLIER STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT

Great Photo and Just Had to Open With It

 

Son Riding Last Weekend

 He Likes Being Airborne

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A good friend recently posted her awareness of time slipping by and being aware of that on a daily basis. She was also concerned about justifying her existence, some lessons from life. I enjoyed her take and her blog found me asking myself what I am doing to justify my days passing. I fear the answer is "nothing."

I seem to be content with time passing. If your ears were ringing (you the audience) over the past couple of days, I did spend some head time and virtual advice sharing with you. A day at a time as measured, does not impact me. But time passing as measured by seasons, holidays and years do. Getting ready for a winter, summer garden, seasonal projects, wood splitting and stacking, or the quiet and warmth of a late summer day imprint on times gone, current and tomorrow.  

I was telling you that if everything works, that you can remember why you walked into the living room, that you can get a good night's sleep, that your back and most joints do not ache, that you can stand tall and straight when you walk, that a beef burrito does not destroy your afternoon, that you can jump down to a lower level on your path, that all of your body parts are still human (not mechanical) or complete a two-sentence thought, then be sooo thankful. Because my younger friends, getting old is not for the faint of heart.

Know that the next time you witness old folks, in the prime of their age moving about, it is but an eye blink away for you. Advice!! Use it and enjoy it all every day while you have it. What ever it is from eating hot and spicy food, to moving with ease through your work and play days. If the body and mind are working, be aware and enjoy every minute. Time does fly by and measured in days, weeks, years and/or garlic sprouting.

I am reminded here of a poem from Willie Nelson. Do not go to this site if you are easily offended. But it is Willie Nelson!! I first heard this quote in much plainer language and I laughed. I could see Willie Nelson saying this during some old man moment. But within this crude simplicity, so many things slow down and do not work like they use to as we age and thus to my point here.

I would like to have had the opportunity to travel with him (Willie) for a week on his bus tour. Not to partake, but to observe and more than anything, listen to Willie Nelson stories as told by Willie Nelson. I bet this man could have kept me laughing till my eyes were dry and I was exhausted. Or have me saying, “NO S***" time after time. I do not think I would have been man enough to last a week.

Today, I can sit down in an easy chair with a good book in hand and pass hours away. One of the last books I read was “ROHAN NATION.” It is an action adventure and the author hooked me in the first sentence. Move over "Katniss."

I am not a deep thinker and it is next to impossible to get my full attention. I did not try to read between the lines here nor delve deeply into the philosophy. Just read the book and the adventure. This book kept me inside it for just a couple of days because I could not leave the story or the characters. 

Yes, I could spend many a winter hour and day reading w/o worry of time gone or lost. And the feel of a book and good story is better than one on an electronic flat screen.

I can spend a morning hour drinking coffee and watching the fireplace. I can sit outside for hours on end on a warm day and look at a finished wood row, the birds coming and going,  or the cat laying on her back while soaking up the sun. I can zone out in a world of thought to no end. 
 

 I can easily pass away  time without a care or much thought about it going. I do not know if this is good, bad or just a thing.   

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Among the gifts I received this Christmas was an Erector Set from my son. He asked what I wanted and I said, “an Erector Set.”  Sometimes it is a very good idea to ask someone what they really want for a gift.

I am blessed with benign tremors. My hands shake. It is heredity. Dad had them and always told me “he was quick.” He had his tremors as an older man, now so do I. The doctor told me there are meds I can take, but I prefer the tremors. There is still a connected-ness to all things, just “quicker.” Dad always smiled and laughed when his tremors came into daily living. The man had a sense of humor with all things.

Pisses me off though. I cannot put small things together like I use to. I was a designer, builder and maker of things. Today, I cannot eat peas or corn off a fork. Truly a comedy routine. 

I do not find it sad when peas or corn go awry by the time the fork gets to my mouth. I do laugh. I should design some kind of guidepost along which I can slide my hand to my mouth. A large spoon solves the pea/corn problem for now and no problem for foods that can be speared with a fork or smushed like mashed potatoes. No complaints!

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So, the Erector Set.

Testing the hand tremors in the weeks ahead. 

For ages 10 and up so, age appropriate.

Motorized. Good.

Lots of parts and pieces with cubbyholes for storage. Good

Instructions: This is new! All pictures like CAD exploded views. Ok

Gonna build the motorized crane.

I ask myself from time to time, if the little simple things I like to do now resemble my early days. I very much liked sitting at my small, cluttered, office side desk these past couple days, looking at directions, acquiring all the parts for a unit build and then completing that particular assembly.

One of the very best Christmas gifts I received from my folks when I was young, was a skidder crane. It had a mechanical wind up engine and could lift logs onto my toy log truck or “skid” itself across the living room carpet. I spent many an hour “working that heavy equipment.” Lost on the carpet, in a kid's world of make believe and pretending through toys.

So am I returning to an earlier stage of development? Maybe?  But boy, is it fun to build models and be completely lost for a few hours in the process. 

 

The photo above is the first unit assembly completed. I was hoping to have this all up and running with a video for this post. But then the erector set becomes a responsibility instead of my personal side show, so will have to wait for completion in a future post. There is an artistic component to mechanical things, huh? Maybe I can justify all this coming in through the artistic door? Hmmmmmm...

Tremors not too bad. Have dropped some pieces and have had to use patience to hold things in place. But the two tools that come with this erector set are designed (in simplicity) to hold and control small nuts and bolts. I have added a medium set of needle nose pliers that is of great help. Three small simple tools are all that is needed to complete this erector set crane. I added a few little plastic bins with lids. Lose one small part and the whole assembly can stop. The only down side so far but this is common with these DIY build sets. No parts lost yet.

Yep, back in an earlier stage of development this week.

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Enjoy this coming week. 

Historical, hysterical, and fraught with human emotion. Keep your knees bent and heads up. There will be a new sheriff in town next time we visit.