Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom (And Whimsy)

Posted on November 6, 2024 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet

Fall colors

If not now, when?

I was chatting with a dear friend lately. We have known each other all our lives. We grew up on the same street. She’s a bit older (and wiser!) so we were never in the same class. She played in a legendary street hockey game with the boys when she was a small girl and managed to send me home in tears with a bloody nose. Hell hath no fury. Like so many childhood friendships, they wax and wane. Most of these friendships eventually fade away but a few have staying power. I am happy to report that this is one of them.

We had been making plans to get together for dinner, but you know how incredibly busy seniors can be! While trying to set a time and date, our conversation drifted off on to other topics. I casually mentioned that I was planning to travel to Spain next spring to tackle a different Camino. The Camino del Norte skirts the northern coastline of Spain along the Bay of Biscay and clocks in at about 850 kilomteters. My plan is to do the walk, spend a few days in Porto, Portugal to unwind and then visit Camino friends in Italy, Germany and England. In the words of the late Tommy Hunter…” the good Lord willin’”.

And why, you ask, would a seemingly sane 73-year-old man (?) spend nigh on 5 weeks traipsing across Spain?

Why not.

If not now, when?

The reality is that the clock is ticking. A second is still a second. A minute is still a minute. An hour is still an hour, and a day is still a day but, oh my, it doesn’t seem that way. It feels like time is drinking way too much Red Bull and is hurtling along like a runaway horse.

After my friend questioned my sanity (not for the first time!), I sent her this note: “You know, B., I’m trying my best not to let opportunities pass. Whether it is travel, new relationships, or musical endeavors (to name a few), I’m throwing caution to the wind. I don’t ever want to say…”I wish I had done…”. I want to get the most out of the time that I have left.”

I still believe that laughter is the best medicine.

I have been doing a lot of substitute teaching lately. It keeps me connected and engaged. The school is like a big extended family to me. I know all of the staff and most of the students now recognize me as a bit of a fixture. A new student who arrived in grade 7 from a feeder school stopped me in the hallway one day and asked me if I was the janitor. I have filled just about every conceivable position in the school and would happily do janitorial work. We have the best janitors at our school.

Last week, my assignment was a bit different. On a rotating basis, I covered for teachers who were having important planning meetings with school staff and parents. Every 15 minutes or so, I would head to a classroom and relieve the teacher. At the beginning of the school day a week ago, I walked into a classroom and made my way to the back of the room as the teacher explained that day’s lesson. He looked at me inquisitively. I took a seat and waited for him to take his leave. After a few minutes, it was apparent that there was a misfire. He finally asked me why I was there and then he realized that he was supposed to be in a meeting. He hadn’t received notice of the meeting. No harm done. He left, I took over the class and all was well.

During lunch hour, a group of us were sitting around the table and the teacher in question told his colleagues about the exchange that morning. His initial reaction when he had seen me as I wandered into his classroom was that I was possibly showing signs of early onset dementia. He had no idea why I was sitting at the back of his classroom. We all had a great laugh.

I had the most magnificent walk last week. It was the first really cold morning of the fall with the temperature just slightly below zero. There was a thick frost and the sky was cloudless. Walking through the woods I felt the crunch of the leaves underfoot. I’m not sure why this happens but when it’s this cold, the leaves fall in greater numbers. It felt as if I was walking in a storm except it was leaves falling rather than snow. Mercifully.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep.

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

Stopping by woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost

And miles (kilometers!) to go before I sleep.

Have a great weekend.