Blog draft April 17 26

Rolling Along

Took a day trip Monday. Near the Quad Cities on the Mississippi. Visited a sick friend who is in assisted living for now. She may return home but that is not a certainty. The visit alone was worth the trip and dear. Something deep registered within me. I suspect it is life’s march toward a timeline not in our control. As I’ve said before, the 80’s is a decade of loss. So many friends and family leave us then, my 8th decade, not necessarily theirs.

The trip itself was another dimension of the day’s activity. Rolling along the interstate at 73 miles an hour, landscapes unfold continuously. Often much the same, rolling farmland and distant trees, grey clouds with undulating stages of distant storms moving across the horizon. Being passed by other cars and trucks as well, even at 73 mph! When did our world become so fast?

And yet just the rolling along succored thought and pondering. So much to whittle into meaning. A little here, and a little there. Gaining insight and meaning just by passing time through the brain.

I have driven much in my life. Field consulting required that of me in three states. And then my own consulting firm boosted that to six states and a national stage by phone and computer. Drive time was not a burden for me. I loved most every minute. Freedom was part of that. Just free time to guide a car down a long road while getting to a needed destination to continue my work. Meanwhile, the time was mine to use in thought.

Music helps in the background, but not necessary.

As we age we are treated as wise. I’m not so sure this is earned, but others take it as wisdom. Actually, we just have time to put things together and observe fresh meanings. This is assembled experiences, not wisdom. Still, meaning is earned from the practice.

So age – actually survival – becomes what others call wisdom. Funny that. It does not register as that to me. It is just a jumble of life experiences mixing in and bumping into each other as the brain sorts through it all.

Occasionally there is an ‘a ha’ moment, maybe even a series of them. But hardly is this worthy of the wisdom label. No, it is just ponderings. Interesting. Even refreshing. But not true wisdom.

Wisdom requires much more to become itself. I’m not certain I know its components. It is recognizable when encountered. I just know it when I feel it. Gosh. I wonder if that alone is wisdom?

I doubt it very much.

April 17, 2026

Remember the Epstein Files

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