My Second Cup Of Coffee

Yesterday I posted on Facebook that I felt the time was here for me to start writing again.  The response was positive and overwhelming.  I knew many people liked what I wrote in the past but it seems I didn’t realize how much.  One friend suggested I discipline myself to write first thing in the morning while I am fresh and before the day demands my attention in other ways.  For example my wife has already told me I need to go outside and spray some weeds with weed killer.  I promised her I would do it just so she will quit bringing it up.  I hate yard work and always have.  Why?  I think it’s because my father was an avid gardener and he loved it.  Unfortunately I was often forced to pull weeds, cut grass and perform other kinds of manual labor when I really wanted to ride my bike all over God’s creation.    

It’s Saturday morning and I am on my second cup of coffee.  I had a rough night so I am moving a little slow this morning.  It’s cloudy, cool, and overcast at the moment.  The good news is that it should be sunny and warmer later in the day.  In the background music from the folk singer Donovan fills the room.  Donovan turned 78 years old yesterday.  My generation is now in their 70′s and 80′s.  I began listening to Donovan as a teenager.  I still love his songs and it makes me happy to listen to them.  

Another one of my friends suggested that I avoid complaining about growing old.  Growing older is a reality for all of us and we just have to deal with it.  The good news is that inside my 73 year old body a young boy still resides.  He moves a little slower and more carefully but he still dreams.  It is my goal to write without complaining.  I hope to focus on the positive, the humorous, and occasionally the absurd.  I am not a novelist.  My writing is mostly stream of consciousness.  Often when I sit down to write I have no idea what I am going to say.  At this moment I feel a little rusty and apprehensive.  I am also feeling a little bit of pressure.  Yesterday’s overwhelmingly positive feedback and hopeful expectations make me wonder “What the hell was I thinking”?

I need another cup of coffee before I go outside and kill the weeds.  The chore is not really difficult.  I have spent more time bitching about it than it will take me to actually do it.  The young boy in me stills hates to be told what to do.  However, I dislike conflict so I will go outside and destroy every living plant that is growing where it shouldn’t.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who are mothers.