ENCOURAGEMENT

Radiant Sunflower, Jamestown, NC

Sometimes the hardest decision is whether to walk away or try harder.  So, hang in there--Sometimes the most glorious creations thrive in the midst of the biggest pile of manure!

I’ve seen some radiant sunflowers 🌻 in Kansas cattle feedlots!

MY FAVORITE REAR VIEWS

Rearview Gym, High Point, NC

Rearview Hospital, High Point, NC

Rearview Farm Field, NC

The singer songwriter Mac Davis rose on the popular charts in 1980 with the hit song Texas in my Rearview Mirror.  The lyrics reveal the wanderlust of a youth following the impulse of what Joseph Campbell calls following your bliss.  Or to quote Mac in the song, “I thought happiness was Lubbock, Texas in my rearview mirror.”  I too had considered my hometown to be “a great place to be from” where I still return in my mind to recall so many pleasant memories of places, people and events, but I had read enough about the world outside those boundaries that the message in Texas in My Rearview Mirror struck a chord in me that still resonates. 

There’s actually an addiction named Dromomania for people that have an abnormal impulse to travel although wanderlust is strongly embedded in human history.  And studies suggest that these folks tend to be happier, more open minded, and more creative.  A rearview mirror represents the past for many and they wrongly feel hostage to it.  But there’s a good analogy illustrating that the rearview mirrors in all our vehicles are much smaller than our windshields which are designed to look ahead at the opportunity to follow our bliss for the rest of our lives.  I’ve read that we all have a low level of uneasiness about where we are in time because we seem to be wired with the subliminal understanding that our eternal home resides elsewhere in the future.

When I was leaving the gym yesterday and glancing in my rearview mirror, I noticed the reflection of the building in clear focus.  That’s when I got the impulse to circle around and photograph that image because it occurred to me that I always experienced more happiness in leaving that building than entering it!  It’s sort of like the observation that some folks light up a room by entering it and some by leaving it.  If I’ve had a good workout, I will also treat myself to a smoothie which I can rationalize as good for both the body and mind.  So, I purchased a Sunrise Sunset Smoothie and indulged in another happiness of driving to “nowhere in particular” to consume it. 

Although I’ve enjoyed most of the places where my travels have taken me, there are some that are much more enjoyable to leave than enter such as gyms, hospitals and hay fields.  I appreciated all of the people that supported me in those places, but they have always looked better in my rearview mirror!  

And I could have added a few more photos to my rearview series, but the straw in my smoothie cup hit bottom, prompting me to return back to the temporary place where I keep my stuff.

Link to Mac's song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXCm4BXJX40

DNLR--DOES NOT LOOK RIGHT

Bugler Boy, Summerfield, NC

There’s an awesome world out there to be explored and experienced, but I’ve learned over the years while traveling across America, parts of Canada, Europe, Israel, Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras that we also need to be “street smart”.  I’ve met and been privileged to know a multitude of wonderful human beings that have assisted me in growing into the older, somewhat wiser person I am today.  We’ve shared triumphs and some defeats along the way, but every challenge was a learning experience for all of us. 

Yet, we shouldn’t be naïve to the existence of bad people that walk among us.  That means we must be vigilant to our surroundings at all times—not paranoid so much that we’re afraid to leave the house, but alert to anyone that could do us harm.  One past incident I vividly recall involved a night close to the Mexico border where I was walking through a dark parking lot to my rental car.  Just as I entered the car and closed the door, I noticed a hand grab the outside handle and I automatically hit the lock.  The shady looking man shouted that he just needed a ride for one block, but I’m confident he was after something more sinister as I quickly started the car and hit reverse.

I attended a training session one morning a few years ago after the Trustees Committee I served on began reacting to the horrendous school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  The security consultant spoke all morning on the reality of our time and at the closing, he seared one lesson permanently into my brain; “Brand the letters DNLR on your forehead if you learn nothing else this morning.  If you see something or someone that Does Not Look Right, you need to investigate and/or call 911 immediately.”

I was out driving this Saturday morning into the countryside with a cup of coffee and simply enjoying the ride to nowhere in particular while looking for any photo/blog opportunities.  Suddenly I passed a historical marker that I could only read the title of Bugler Boy.  So, I turned around and drove into a short dead-end gravel road to investigate the area and photograph the sign for later review.  As I exited my vehicle, I noticed an older white pickup had quietly pulled over and was backing into the dead-end road.  I quickly snapped the marker and opened my door, reentered, locked the doors and started the engine.  As I hit reverse and glanced at the driver who had a grim look on his face, he placed the truck in drive and drove off.  The entire short episode Did Not Look Right!

When I returned home and zoomed in on the marker, it told the poignant story of a teenage bugler boy with Light Horse Harry Lee who was chased by Tarleton’s British Dragoons, caught and killed by the sword on this site during the Revolutionary War on February 12, 1781.  He is buried nearby and died too young to gain much street smarts.  I couldn’t help but wonder on this day of February 8, 2020, almost exactly 239 years later, if the wiser spirit of young James Gillies hadn’t alerted me to such a fate.