The sun sets on another day…
Just plain wow. Lots of cloudy days really make you appreciate the sun! Isn’t it awesome! As the sun set, clouds rolled in again, but it was a fun time!
I wanted to share something else that is a little older. I found several handwritten stories, poems, and starts of books. I never finished a book until 2015 and instead had long tomes of different sizes with beginnings, endings, ands a lot in between. Sometimes I wrote about people, a lot I wrote of passion, and sometimes about events. It is funny, I found a concert program where I had annotated how everyone played, and how each piece was compared to the original composer. I am slowly discarding these and either digitizing them (As I did yesterday) or setting them aside.
I thought I would share the following as I still have this watch and still remember how I felt when I bought it, and the feelings inside in that part of my life.
Shifting Time (Collated and revised slightly from handwritten notes, Fall 1979 (I think)) I made a change today. I have been working hard and trying to help at home. Things have been incredibly difficult as we have gone through change after change, and in the process, I have had little to call truly mine. For the most part it is me, my camera, and my car and a few trinkets I have saved from years before. Each day I have walked by a jewelry store where I work, and each day I have been struck by two things. The first is a young lady who is always perfect. Not the kind of perfect you see in magazines but a kind of perfect that you imagine. The second is a Seiko watch that seems to call to me, and my internal wants, not needs. Perfection in a person is a difficult series of thoughts. Since we have moved here, I have had no real girlfriends, and a few girl friends. I find I make friends easier and am the easy one to talk to, and the rules in this state are much different than Indiana or Michigan. I find myself considering the loneliness I feel daily as a quiet punishment for all I have been through, but overcome that daily, knowing there will be more. The few people in High School I am interested in are coupled up, or far beyond my reach in one way or another. (Note: Can you believe I thought this way once?) The woman at the jewelry store (I left the name out of this store but could tell you if you were interested, it is no longer in existence) is unlike anyone. Hey eyes sparkle when I walk by and she is always in heels, crisp slacks, and a blouse, shirt, or garments that speak to class, if not royalty. When I have interest in someone, this is a template I should use. To top it off she will speak to me and is not the arrogant overlord so many seem to be (Ouch to the world eh) and instead is patient and kind. Her smile is infectious and I often wonder if her life is as awesome as she seems to be. I am unsure why time means so much to me. Perhaps years from now I will know. (I am not sure I do yet, so there) The watch is one I saw on TV and has so many new features. I started writing two books when I saw it on TV, and later the woman showed it to me. IT was expensive. I didn’t think I could have anything that nice. (Authors Note: at the time much of my paycheck was supporting my family and I worked full time in high school). I started writing a book that no one will read about this watch before I saw it in person, and now it just calls to me. Well today, I went to this perfect person, and I bought this perfect watch. I had been saving a little at a time and skipping the hotdogs and arcade games so I could do it. No more pizza subs for a while. Instead I have waited and gotten something that will last forever, or at least a long while. The transaction was perfect, and it felt good to have something that was mine. Now it is me, my car, my camera, and time. I hope I can do well, and someday be mindful of this and my time. Maybe I can’t have the perfect girl, but at least now I have the perfect watch and with it, time to find that girl. (Authors other note: it is funny when I think about this story from a variety of levels. Given I had very little I still remember how important this was to me. before moving to Lexington two things were stolen in a robbery from my house. A tape recorder that my father got me, a nice Magnavox and my coin collection. My stepfather collected the insurance money, and I got another tape recorder that was similar but given I never saw my father this particular item was very important to me and the new one always felt hollow. My coin collection was never replaced and some of the coins were irreplaceable as they were silver commemorative ingots and uncirculated bills. When we moved to Lexington my stepfather was in a hurry and most of my belongings were discarded. As I arrived, I had what I had with me and the clothing they packed for me and very little else. As I read this months ago and looked at the faded writing, I was both elated and sad. I remember the young woman and she is only a few years older than me, but I always considered her spectacular and out of my league. I also still have the watch and the picture that you see is a picture of that watch right now. I even replaced the battery this week. 42 years or so later, it still works. I also have a Seiko Pyramid clock that talks on my desk I bought from her later, and it too was and is a prized possession. Funny how sometimes things call to you and maybe the call was to time, and not the things. The watch went on to introduce me to a superstar, or an eventual superstar, when a woman picked the watch up from where I was working and upon confronting her denied she had taken it. I had an overactive sense of justice and took her to court for theft and her boyfriend came to the store and threatened me in person. Her boyfriend was on the local wrestling circuit and later would become famous, both in wrestling and on television and in movies. He is dead now, but I will not sully his name except to say that it was really awesome being threatened by somebody like him and I do still tell the story to people who are close to me. The watch has been great over the years and a reminder that time is still a mystery. And the woman, I hope she found the happiness she deserved because to me she was that person that everyone should strive to be.)
Fun huh? Isn’t it interesting where life takes us, and time becomes more important each day.
So as the sun sets on another day, I hope you find those things that were important to you, and realize it may have been something else all along. As you do, find a path to excitement and success each day, no matter what. Me, I will keep trying, and enjoying the time I can enjoy.
Sleep sweet, love with all your heart, and don’t let time run out…