View From Here

Another month is gone from 2024. Well almost ; today and tomorrow, then it will be September 1 and Labor Day is September 2. That means most schools are back in sessio n and college students will return very soon.   Remember early fall? School resumes and part of you dreads it while another part loves it. The latter is a restoration of daily routines absent during summer vacation. That and the absence of purpose. Being out of school seemed terrific at first, then you re alize how much time it takes to determine what you will do with the time! I know. It’s backward, right? However , the resumption of classes gave me direction, purpose and something interesting to think about, work with and learn. That pattern continues to this very day. Yes, Labor Day I re-feel the lack of the classroom. Still do, all these decades later. In my day, however, Labor Day wa s the marker for return to school. None of this August stuff!   With September comes the soft days, the balmy temperatures...

Without Rocky, I am vulnerable to technology problems. He would simply sit down at my computer and fix whatever was bothering me. I did not know what to do, be sides I was emotionally frustrated by the stoppage. I would just as soon as throw it out the 4 th floor window than try to fix it.   Today, I do not have that option . I fume over the issue, think how it could be set right, then try several actions. Most of the time these do not work. Eventually I sleep on it overnight . Sometimes it takes several nights! Eventually I think of some simple, logical move and it works in the fresh light of morning.   This routine is tiring. It is often not productive. And the older I get the more often tech stoppages occur.   After two weeks, if I cannot ‘fix’ the damn thing, I call on my granddaughters. They usually know just what to do and in a very few minutes .  I am grateful for their help but am embarrassed at my tying them up with these problems.   I think I ha...

Often, I start a blog draft with a title. Just a title with no preconception of content. Magically, the content appears. The logic of the thoughts pushes on to the end of the draft and suddenly there is a finished product. All I have to do is edit, polish for the day it is published. On that day it is edited again and possibly changed, often not.   Getting started can apply to almost any situation. Last Sunday, I gave a message in place of the sermon. The pastor was on vacation and two of us covered those Sundays. Lay people providing the morning’s message. Our church does this a few times during the year.    Once done, I am free to go back to my routine. In a sense I am getting a fresh start. The church message took that much out of me.  Always does. The start is somehow a fresh view to what I have normally done. A ride in the country somehow fresher and more beautiful. Same for reading a book or watching TV. For some reason the experience is richer.   G...

The older we get the more real we understand the pace of time. It goes quicker and quicker. Seemingly the other day I was 52, then 62, and now 81. It doesn’t seem possible. So much has happened in the passage of those years. I know you understand this. I mention it because it is very true and my own experience continues to amaze me of its reality, its truth. There is something else related to this. With the passage of time comes a better understanding of things and concepts that were mysteries to us in the past. We truly do gather more understanding. It is logical. Things make more sense. Another point to be made, with more understanding we wonder why things are the way they are, and how to change results. Wisdom comes from this work, this pondering. It is not automatic. It is not all logical because the combinations and permutations of facts and events are always variable and have multiple possible outcomes. Wisdom ferrets out the important differences and still attempts to make sense...

Well, it went OK. The sermon, or message, was delivered Sunday, August 18 th . Short and to the point. I wrote two sermons of similar cast. Spoke many more in my mind! Constantly word smithed phrases that I later used in asides to the main document when delivered. It lasted about 10 minutes. A lifetime! There were several friends who said it would go well, but they did not know what I knew. It is far easier to write than to speak a formal message. Writing provides the time and ample opportunities to rephrase, correct vocabulary and grammar endlessly. In writing a message the timing and voice are automatic for the writer. The reader supplies their own timing and voice. In giving a prepared talk, all of that has to be crafted as well. Being intentional is not as off the cuff as people may realize. No, there is a sense of advanced theater to the spoken word. Unless, that is, the presentation is totally adlibbed. Those are driven by passions of content. It is possible to drum up thos...

OK. I get it. Technology is terrific. It is gobs of fun. Very worthwhile. Creative even. And yes, I have been using it diligently for many decades. In fact, I was an early adopter in the 1970’s and 80’s. Brought some Texas Instruments game software home from Radio Shack to teach the kids a little about computers. They took to it instantly. Me? I was a lot slower. Eventually we got one of those cheap keyboards and hooked it to some box thingy that also linked to an unused portable TV. Voila! We had a home computer. Of sorts. Very little sorts. But that gave me courage to buy a PC for the office. The Dean said OK to the expense, and soon my office was learning Word Perfect and a few data base applications. Slowly we acquired more computing power. I ended up writing a lot of my own memos and reports rather than dictating them. Much faster. Plus, I learned how to do more in shorter time intervals. Our office surged in productivity. And creativity. Fast forward several years and I’m i...

OK. I get it. Technology is terrific. It is gobs of fun. Very worthwhile. Creative even. And yes, I have been using it diligently for many decades. In fact, I was an early adopter in the 1970’s and 80’s. Brought some Texas Instruments game software home from Radio Shack to teach the kids a little about computers. They took to it instantly. Me? I was a lot slower. Eventually we got one of those cheap keyboards and hooked it to some box thingy that also linked to an unused portable TV. Voila! We had a home computer. Of sorts. Very little sorts. But that gave me courage to buy a PC for the office. The Dean said OK to the expense, and soon my office was learning Word Perfect and a few data base applications. Slowly we acquired more computing power. I ended up writing a lot of my own memos and reports rather than dictating them. Much faster. Plus, I learned how to do more in less time. Our office surged in productivity. And creativity. Fast forward several years and I’m in the field c...