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Who the heck is this clown?

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

Specialization is for insects."

~Robert A. Heinlein ~

The easy answer, of course, is that I'm just some ol' scooter tramp who's managed to string a few words together at times.

True enough.

But, like most folks, I'm a lot more. When I was a young man I read the above quote by Heinlein.It resonated so strongly that I set out to be that human being. Learning, experiencing, doing. Years later it dawned upon me that the reason it made such an impression was that it basically expressed what my dad always told me -- go out and do; go out and be. Never, ever, let an opportunity to learn and do something new pass by.

Along the way, I've done everything in that quote (except the last, but, hey, that one's automatic -- I've just got to try for the gallant part) and more. I've ridden the country on motorcycles, cooked, been a young soldier, been an old soldier, gone to war (sadly more than once), loved, been a father, am a grandfather, gone to sea, flown airplanes professionally, been Master of a Masonic Lodge, helped others, been helped by others -- and on and on.

Here's what I've learned: what one did means something, but not near as much as what one is about to do. Especially as one gets older. Too many of us stop living long before it's time. So I hope to open some discussion, maybe give some ideas -- and hopefully get some -- about how we want this "old" thing to look.

I want it to look like fun -- how 'bout you?

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