When I wander around the park walking the dogs as I usually do we sometimes walk out in the dark but then there is nothing much to view for half the fun in walking the dogs is observing things going on around as others go about their lives each with a purpose so profound most campers are the friendly kind with a nod and a smile as they say hello some even make the time to talk a while before they go about what it is that interests them others pet the dogs for show in the hope of making friends waving goodbye as they go we all move on to do our thing for us to stroll around the park listening to the birds that sing walking until it turns dark then back inside for the night food all around and wine for me the dogs sleep as is their right while I sit and watch TV and this we do most everyday as we like to walk around the park listening to what others say as the day is turning dark and tomorrow we will do it again just the same as we usually do for our routines never change as those for us are very few we do the same with little fuss as learning new is not for us creatures of habit are we three Mikey and Sandy and me.
We had a heavy storm last night with thunder loud and lightning bright one flash of lightning was so close that I was sure we were the host but the storm it is true to say was at least fifty miles away although the thunder sounded near and shook the RV to as though in fear as the pressure waves hit his side and we all thought we were going to fly probably that’s what I thought but the dogs they really cared not as they were sitting on my lap safe and sound as my arms did wrap around each one to hold them tight even through the very bright light when the storm passed by and the wind slowed and I thought to myself that it goes to show that Man with all his smarts and his brains as Nature goes, he shows no gains as she still does her thing and we cower as her voices sing as she puts on her wonderful display having everything her own way it turns out she was not done as a day later she had more fun in rolled the clouds dark and grey and she spoke to us in her own way and opened up the skies so dark and without warning the whole of the park was drenched in a downpour so very severe as water covered the ground and anything near including me and the dogs who are my life and protect them I do from any strife as we rushed to find shelter back to our home totally soaked but not alone as others were caught out just the same not caring just glad to see the rain.
I sat and watched the world go by fascinated by what I saw as campers walked around the park or drove slowly which is the law all with things on their mind that only they could be aware some had maybe a dog or two taking them out their time to share for exercise that they both accrue is better spent with much less care when walking out with your best friend spending time just anywhere others who were by themselves were deep in thought as they passed by with problems that required their time which only they can reason why sometimes a truck or car would pass on their way to who knows where maybe going into town to visit friend’s or have business there I can only sit and watch and guess at what their lives may be I only know I am content watching them is amusing to me Human Nature is a funny old thing of the billions of people in the world we all have a different song to sing and we only have our lives to unfurl it matters not what others may do as we lead our separate lives we cannot walk in another’s shoes only in our own to survive.
Yesterday was cold and grey and today it still has not gone away the sun is hidden behind the clouds dull and gloomy and covered in shroud we could really use the rain as without it, things don’t grow the same and turn to brown instead of green not the prettiest color seen Spring has arrived and in full bloom and we all know that very soon here in Texas, it gets really hot making us all sweat a lot and the plants and the flowers turn brown and die and we all know the reason why it’s because we did not get the rain without which life cannot sustain nor the color to maintain when I lived in England it rained all the time and seeing the sun was indeed sublime and very appreciated for it was rare although living there we did not care as we knew no other way to survive as rain for us was a way of life in Texas the sun shines all the time which in the Spring is very sublime but in the Summer it get very hot and the temperatures know not when to stop and 100 degrees for days on end make an air conditioner your very best friend although in truth it has to be said that Texans always cover their heads and when someone remarks it is hot today A Texan replies, It’s the Texas way.
I watched my neighbor working hard raking dirt to plant some seed when I stopped to ask her why she said that she had the need instead of dirt she wanted grass to grow there beneath the trees although I have my doubts that she will succeed for grass does not grow very well without a lot of sun and underneath those shady trees there is probably none but anything that does grow is better than before and with lots of loving care her wishes she restore at least if the grass does grow caretaking she won’t do as Danel with his mower is the cutting crew there are lots of barren spots that could use her skills and I’m sure the Management will bare her no ill will for using water from my hose to make the grass grow green to make her site the prettiest spot the park has ever seen.
I drove into town today and stopped at Starbucks along the way a latte I had the urge to drink kidding myself it helps me to think that is just not really true as in fact like the taste although with what it costs to me it really is an expensive waste knowing this did not deter as I bought one anyway sipping my drink in a pleasurable way as I drove along the road today I stopped at the grocery shop a place I have been many times before with a list of things, I needed to buy which I always get at this store I walked around in a measured way looking at the items that were on sale do I need this, or do I need that and all of these things to no avail? I stuck to the list that I had carefully made ignoring the others I could see not allowing myself to be phased by all of the goodies in front of me I checked out and paid my bill and walked back to my car loaded the groceries in the back and drove back home not very far to two little dogs who greeted me and helped to put the groceries away knowing that when we were through, we would all go out to play walking the park as we usually do checking the smells as we walk along saying hello to people we meet or barking at dogs for way too long doing what we usually do every time we go out for a walk returning back to our RV after walking around the block.
When I was just a very young lad after my final day at school my very first job was for a man who said I will teach you something cool I will teach all the arts of how to build and lay a few bricks and in return you work for me learning all the construction tricks that was seventy years ago and to his workplace I did show learned the trade and worked hard and knowing what I needed to know and watched as other did other trades different that laying brick learning as I watched them saw and hammer and all of their other tricks absorbing all that knowledge knowing that the time would come wanting to be skilled in many things so I could complete the sum with all that knowledge I had learned and good at leading men as the years rolled by, I changed my work no longer one of them instead, the leader of the crew who told them what they needed to know and they went about their tasks confident with what they could show as the years rolled by I changed again and this time in an office went at a University to apply my skills as one of the Management for twenty-two years I worked there happy in my destiny thinking back to that time when that first man came to me and said you are a bright young lad why not come and learn a trade which started off my life and it has never been the same I have been retired for twenty-four years and now live in my RV travelling when I want, and other times am stationary but one of the things that I still have and will never lose is how to work with my hands and my love of tools which are all boxed up and travel with me taking space and adding weight and most of which will never get used but for old times’ sake I keep them with me to remind me of the boy I used to be starting out at my first job now just a memory but one I keep along with the tools to remind me of my life when I was just a little kid before my worldly strife seventy years have passed, and I have grown so old when that man said come work for me my future he had told and though my days of using tools have all but now long gone I have them all with me still so my memories carry on.
I love to write especially in verse although some of my stuff cannot get worse a bunch of drivel and words do not rhyme wondering why I waste my time on writing stuff that no one will read just to satisfy my need to write the words all bottled up inside to get them down in some sort of rhyme not caring if anyone reads the stuff just writing it down for me is enough and so dear reader you have taken the time to read these words that do make a rhyme although the meanings do not make much sense all jumbled together in the wrong tense in order to get the rhythm that I need the words must rhyme for me to proceed and having done that one more time it is time to end this silly rhyme.
I decided in my bossy way that today should be a laundry day something always fun to do that even a person that hasn’t a clue can throw the clothes into the machine and then can hope they come out clean adding detergent and turning the dials choosing the time to make it worth while wait an hour and then walk over and transfer the clothes into the dryer add a sheet to make it small nice something we do without thinking twice and after another hour has passed the journey over will be the last and folding the clothes so clean and neat and back in the bag and hit the street to make the walk back to Mr. George put clothes away just like before nice and clean and smelling fresh hoping that we passed the test except the only ones who care are two little dogs whose life I share who sleep on the bed one on each side clean covers smell nice our own scents to hide.
I sat here with time on my hands wondering just what I could do I had no task that would demand that I pay attention to instead, I sat and wrote this poem not one of my better works but you could say I have chosen to write these words with all their quirks fifty-five years ago, today we landed on these shores embarking from a mighty ship along with many more the Queen Mary was her name a famous ship of war time but alas this was the last trip that she sailed the line as her long life had come to an end and to dry dock she was sent to be parked in a permanent place to be a monument for her it was the end but for us a new beginning as we started a life in the USA one that we were willing to give it a try to make it work not knowing of the future hoping that this new life would make us all the richer now fifty-five years later a lot has come and gone alas I am sad to say no happy ending to this song those of us that are alive are all still living here my wife has gone to the promised land for her there is no fear along with one of the daughters who chose to take her life rather than lose her husband who wanted a different wife I have two sons in England who carry the family name and they are left to carry on the only ones to remain and one of them has daughters with them the name will end from our side of the family no one to help it extend all the others of my family have long since passed away I am the only one that remains to have the family say my time is short as I grow old the last to sing this song and the name will die on my side of the line when my sons pass on. do I regret making the move leaving a land so green a part of me wish I had stayed but the future was unforeseen the land that I remember the one that I loved then is changed and gone forever as time marches to the end and I will die in a foreign land to end this wistful song. and people will grieve not be deceived nor rejoice when I am gone some I hope will remember me well for the good that I have done maybe others not so much for my friends I am an abstraction travelling around never in one place it’s hard to keep in touch and years have passed but friendships last and still mean just as much maybe we’ll meet on the other side of wherever we will end if this is so then I want you to know that everyone is my friend.
I sat and watched the people in the park at least those few that I could see every one of them leaving their mark especially those visible to me almost all are aging in years living their lives that pleases them gone are all their youthful fears to make that dollar that they spend financially secure to enjoy this life no worries on how to pay the bills retired from work and all its strife family grown with the pride it instills that is what I imagine is their life as we have only met to say hello maybe with a wave and a smile but some things are very apropos the camping life makes it all worthwhile and we all have a very mutual bond old, retired and living with a smile every day and singing the same song if I have but one regret it is finding the camping life so late I missed a lot of time and so it has turned out to be my fate as I live the life the nomads do happy that life can be so great.
I just bought a new RV at least it is new to me. not new off the production line but it will suit me just fine five thousand miles it has on the clock which is barely enough to make it rock and just one other previous owner who looked after it like a lover Miss Daisy was my previous ride and had very little room inside no space around the kitchen sink hardly enough for me to blink and even though our time was short she served me more than just transport and it was with heavy heart the two of us decided to part and now I have a used Class A very much bigger in every way with much more room for us to roam and a kitchen area just like home this one we have named Mr. George a masculine name unlike before for this RV has a manly touch unlike Miss Daisy who we liked so much I have spent the last few days arranging things just the way I want them to be in Mr. George like in the RV’s before although the truth can be told my storing skills are not so bold although I know what it is I need finding it is hard indeed as I haven’t a clue where it may be and locating it is a mystery it really doesn’t matter though for I will search both high and low until I find what it is I need when I do relief indeed not everything is stored away and will not see the light of day just the stuff that never gets used why I keep it I haven’t a clue memories of a previous life maybe when I had a wife or two or three take you pick living with me they could not stick and so, to this life that I have chose driving around on the open road and now I have a new RV well at least it is new to me.
Gone are the days of long ago when life was simple and oh so slow and we ran and jumped when we were kid not a care in the world just endless bliss climbing trees and miles of walks out in the country as Nature talks telling us to go this way here is a better place to play down by the stream to catch a fish and putting it back deaths not our wish as life is precious in every way and we did not eat that fish today spending all day out in the woods amusing ourselves as kids should life was simple without many cares no TV or cell phone just us and fresh air coming home tired at the end of the day to parents who asked if we enjoyed our play knowing we were out in the woods playing our games just as kids should not stuck indoors unless it had rained although to us kids it was all the same
I feel sorry for the modern-day kid not knowing the joys that we all did as we played our games without a care and for each other we would always be there long gone are those days never to return for life has changed those years we have burned the world is different and now it’s not safe for kids in the woods or down by the lake no longer climb trees and nature in place instead, stuck at home with a screen in their face and where they go so does that phone as people walk, they are never alone they are so glued to that bloody screen that life passes by to them unseen. the modern kids of today know not the joys as we did in play but life was so much simpler then and I feel sorry for you my friend raised in a world with a phone in your face the beginning of the end of the human race for Nature’s world will pass you by and will die before your very eyes and you will see it on your phone and realize you are alone. no birds or animals’ grass or trees all gone all extinct just to please those of you of the human race that needed that phone stuck in your face. for the phone has replaced the wonders around all of which can only be found by looking up and glancing about and thinking then there is no doubt that the wonders of Nature can only be seen by eyes no longer on that screen.
I wonder where the time goes everyday for it is flying by as if to say you need to do the things you want to do for tomorrow is only a few hours away time waits for no one as the saying goes there is no way to stop the clock which shows as we rush through this life no time to spare and we can’t slow it down even though we care each day that comes is quickly gone away twenty-four hours is the length of every day and when we were all so very young each took forever to pass and then some now much older time flies on by and all that we can do is try to make each day last as long as we can before we head off to that promised land or maybe to that other place for those whose lives have been a disgrace not lived according to the word from our parents and others whose wisdom was assured now I am old for me time rushes by each day much shorter although I try to fit in as much as my old body allows each hour becomes two no matter how I try to make each one last longer still instead, they fly on by and I have not the will to change my ways and get up earlier not wasting the hours but getting lazier sleeping away my thoughts chasing the truth as I dream away reliving the days of my youth what time is it did I sleep late again I need to change my lazy ways dear friend and not waste my life sleeping it away as tomorrow is a brand-new day who am I kidding I am too old to change and sleeping late I purposely arranged I have no reason to rise at the crack of dawn I have lived my life and working chores performed now I am old and have no need to work and any chores I have I quickly shirk and put them off to do another day as we grow old such is our lazy way the only thing that I really care whatever the time tomorrow I will be there ready to face yet another day living it in the same old way.
Today is a miserable day it’s raining hard too wet to play outside where I want to be rather than here not feeling free there is something about the sun which makes our lives feel like fun to feel the warmth of its embrace and the heat upon our face makes our lives feel worthwhile and the warmth makes us smile we could not live if the sun did not shine no crops would grow, and the earth would decline into a lifeless planet floating around just like others that are found out in the universe in which we live but we have our sun the heat it gives is life to our planet as things do grow as Nature puts on her beautiful show.
What shall I do today either in the form of play or work around my RV which goes by the name of Miss Daisy several things come to mind mostly of the playful kind for I really do not want to go outside in the wet and snow instead, indoors prefer to be warm and cozy in my RV my two little dogs snoozing sound no worries or fears for them around they are as safe as they can be keeping our company in Miss Daisy we really have nothing planned today take a walk where they can play outside on the trails or in the lane where we walk the paths always the same as other dogs who walked before taking their humans to explore the smells and sights that Nature brings when only the nose of a dog finds things interesting to them enough to smell causing them to pause and dwell in one place longer than the rest until it passes their final test and on to the next making progress slow as only the dogs really know just who or what created the smell which made them stop feeling compelled before moving on along the lane dragging me with them our paths the same returning back home to Miss Daisy cozy and warm inside the RV looking out at the mist and the rain knowing our life is not the same as it ever was before no idea what lies in store just as we live this RV life only knowing it has little strife and me and dogs are having fun in this phase of our life that has just begun.
I got to thinking about the world and the way our lives unfurl as we live from day to day usually in the same old way with habits long established ways as we spend each passing day doing what we did before hoping for just a little more of the things that please us the most for in our brain, we are the host of all the things that happen each day and each in its very own way either pleases us in our wildest dreams or into darkness plunges where it seems that there is no way out then with an almighty shout we rise again on top of the world with trumpets sounding and flags unfurled ready to face another day even if it’s the same old way for life for us doesn’t change a lot which is good for us less we forgot that our time here is not very long we need to enjoy it with a smile and a song and live each day to our very best hoping that we pass the test although in the end it is my belief that the spiritual end that we seek will return us to Nature where we began to be a part of her promised land.
The old way to travel. You didn’t need a license for one of those.
At long last the time had come six years after it had begun to make the trip a distance far in my trusty little car forty miles to a place well known a place my friend has her home Bastrop is the name of the town and in that place can be found a DPS office where I could renew my driver’s license and some could argue that at the age of eighty-five why on earth would I want to drive and the simple truth that I live alone dependent on no one as I have shown for the past thirty-six years not by choice and with many tears my only company in all of that time were the pets who I could always find close by when I needed a friend keeping me company to their end giving me love and raising me up if they felt I was down in the dumps so, I made the trip and made good time arriving there just to find a small wait and fill out a form answer questions that I had to brainstorm take a picture and fingerprints too acting dumb like I haven’t a clue and before very long I was on my way with a new license with which I could play at living my life as I want it to be travelling the highways in my RV.
Two thousand and twenty two is here marking the start of another new year who knows what this one will bring probably a bit of everything and just like the others that passed before unknown to us is what lies in store I’m not sure if I want to know or whether it might soften the blow if bad things are coming would I be prepared or being ignorant would I be less scared but the truth of the matter really is that we won’t know and ignorance is bliss we have no control of the future of our life the chances we take or any of the strife from others the weather or whatever life brings we take in our stride hope eternal springs whatever comes and whatever we face we are the people of the human race and challenges we deal with day by day going through life and having our say and the only thing that we cannot change is the lenth of our lifespan which is all prearranged and when we have reached the end of our time others will come to continue the line and the years will pass as they always do with or without us as life starts anew.
Yet another year has gone as our lives keep moving on towards that final day on earth in the hope of a rebirth something new and a different way and I hope that I have my say as given the choice that I want to be and if I can’t come back as me then maybe a dog would be my choice as I can think of nothing as nice as belonging to a family whose love of dogs is legendry treating each one as a family pet replacing the last but not forgetting the life that each and every one lived especially those we had as kids that ran and jumped and played our way just living for the day when we could go out and have fun me and my dog playing as one if a dog should have a fault it is because their lives are so short but in that time the love it gives to the family with whom it lives it’s life just for the day when outside it can go out and play catching a ball and playing chase running fast to win the race happy to belong to a family not just a dog as the world can see but a special member with four little legs and a cold wet nose and a heart that begs for attention and time to be one of us a part of the family who gets all of the fuss and if there is nothing better than a dog then two or three will help lift the fog of knowing what it is to love something different a true gift from above.
