As I walked out on my porch this morning, coffee in hand, I looked around to see the forest in full bloom. Most of the tree leaves were light green and they were back grounded by leaves which have turned dark green. It is a new season. I was reminded of a song made popular by the Byrds. Their lyrics come from the King James Bible book of Ecclesiates Chapter 3. To begin with I really enjoy the song and then in the later years when I really enjoyed the message. There are some minor differences between the song’s lyrics and the Bibles versus. But the message to me is that there are times in your life that you must accept what is happened and move on to what can happen.
As I look back in my life there was a lot of turning. I started out in the small town of Speedway Indiana and ended up in the northeast section of Texas. Along the journey I found that I kept reinventing myself as life presented me with the opportunity to change. After graduating from high school I thought I was going to be a draftsman and work in a company that was representative of the postwar era. I did work for while in a shop were 15 small drafting desk faced a larger drafting desk. This was so much like a union shop. At 10:30 in the morning there was a break (in those days it was called a smoking break). Then exactly at noon there was a lunch break and you dare not go back to your desk before one o’clock. Then at about 2:30 in the afternoon there was another break (smoking break). And then a horn sounded at 5 PM which meant, put down your pencils and stop work for the day. As I headed off to college, Indiana University, my country was involved in the Vietnam War. During my sophomore year I joined the Army, to be a map maker. But somehow during my training I ended up going to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning Georgia. It wasn’t long after being commissioned as a lieutenant in the infantry that I was sent off to war. That was one of the first turns of significance in my life. I left behind the memories of a small Midwest town and found myself in the middle of hell and in charge of a platoon. Unfortunately this was a time for war. And somehow I accepted that as a part of the bigger picture and as in the song for everything there purpose under heaven.
Upon returning to the United States, to the calls that I was a baby killer and a warmonger, I found myself in Los Angeles California. I became the police man with the LAPD (in those days they were called police man and policewoman), somewhat as it appeared on the TV programs, Dragnet and Adam 12, I was exposed to many different cultures and experiences. This is a turn that took me from black and white, good versus bad, to the life of many colors. I soon found that the letter of the law was many times redefined by a judge or a jury. As stated Chapter 3 verse 11 “And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there”.
For several decades I endured and enjoyed the challenges of my job. I also found (as stated in the Bible and the song verses three and four) I watched as it was a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. I watched the city of LA experience a riot and a larger earthquake. To my regret I found the time to marry and a time to divorce.
But then it was a time to turn my life again and retire. It was time to start a new and I did so by moving to Texas. It was time to reinvent myself again. But I found myself back in law enforcement and worked as a detective for the Montgomery County Sheriff Department. I found the style of law enforcement to be both similar and completely different. In a large city there are many police officers who, in a short order of time, can be there to help you. In the country your backup maybe over 45 min. away and that may only be one person. As I turn 60 it was time to turn again. After working for a government agency that experienced a change in leadership, I found myself unwanted and uninvolved. It was also during that time that I found out that I had prostate cancer, in that same year that my brother and mother died. It was time to turn again. I did so by moving up in the north part of Texas and turning my property into a Texas tree farm. And now at 66 years old is time to turn again. Not as much as to where I live and not as to my wife and family. I have for many years maintain the same opinions and the same outlook on life. Maybe it’s because of all those years of being a policeman, but I’ve had a very skeptical view on life and the people around me.
I watched CBS Sunday Morning again; I like the show and watched a section on Pharrell Williams. He currently has a hit song called “happy”. I like the song and I like the message in the song. It’s almost like the song,” don’t worry be happy”. During the interview Mr. Williams pointed out that in his success he realized it wasn’t all about him. He used the example of a kite. It’s not just the kite that you look up at; it takes the wind to make the kite work. And in my case it is not all about me; it is the people around me. I hope to show more appreciation to those people in my life. And so I look at another turn in my life. Sometimes I fight that turn and want everything to remain the same. I think it’s because I have felt comfortable without change. I was interested in one of the stories about a 98-year-old barber named Joe Brown. One of his statements was that he had watched many people retire and within four or five years they passed away. So the barber keeps on working. Words I also heard from Frank of Sacramento.
My thought for the day follows along the lyrics of the song and the verses in the Bible. For everything thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. My purposes have been many; that of a soldier fighting for his country, to a policeman who try to protect and serve, to retired disabled veteran. I am ready for a new purpose. I do not just want to sit at some home and watch television. I do not want to sit in some old bar and complain about everything on earth. I, like many other people my age, need to make a turn that will keep life fresh and exciting. We are living longer than any generation before us.
One thought is for people to not be afraid of turning their life. That is to say do not be afraid of change. I will go back to another statement from Mr. Williams. Something to the effect that, he did not want to live in a planned world but rather to enjoy the world around him, great thoughts from a man just 41 years old. The world is always changing, so should we.
For everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven; a time to be born and a time to die. In between those two times there are many turns. I hope to experience many more turns.
Pops
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