Thursday, August 16, 2018
As I Read Through Social Media Comments I Start To Feel Bad
By: Donovan Baldwin
Sometimes as I read through comments on social media sites, I start to feel bad. So many other people are posting comments that offer deep and important thoughts on life, business, politics, religion, the economy... etc.
Here I sit, chatting about climbing trees and swimming in Pensacola Bay as a boy.
I could get a feeling of value if I was an "entertainer", someone who could make people laugh and forget their troubles... or a Will Rogers kind of guy who poked humorous holes in the conceits of the rich, famous, and powerful.
Bothered me for a while.
Then, I came to realize something. Perhaps there was a niche, a need, for someone who thought the simple things were important enough to talk about, think about. Someone who thought that thoughts did not always have to start at the highest levels and tackle the toughest problems... answering the most burning questions... or even the simple little day to day ones.
So, that's who I am... old guy who still enjoys climbing trees (in his mind), walking the shore by the bay, feeling the wind, listening to the birds, and wondering what's for dinner.
I figure THAT'S important too... just being human... being A human.
Plenty of people taking on the tough questions, and plenty of entertainers... BUT, there's only ONE of me!
Sometimes as I read through comments on social media sites, I start to feel bad. So many other people are posting comments that offer deep and important thoughts on life, business, politics, religion, the economy... etc.
Here I sit, chatting about climbing trees and swimming in Pensacola Bay as a boy.
I could get a feeling of value if I was an "entertainer", someone who could make people laugh and forget their troubles... or a Will Rogers kind of guy who poked humorous holes in the conceits of the rich, famous, and powerful.
Bothered me for a while.
Then, I came to realize something. Perhaps there was a niche, a need, for someone who thought the simple things were important enough to talk about, think about. Someone who thought that thoughts did not always have to start at the highest levels and tackle the toughest problems... answering the most burning questions... or even the simple little day to day ones.
So, that's who I am... old guy who still enjoys climbing trees (in his mind), walking the shore by the bay, feeling the wind, listening to the birds, and wondering what's for dinner.
I figure THAT'S important too... just being human... being A human.
Plenty of people taking on the tough questions, and plenty of entertainers... BUT, there's only ONE of me!
Labels: climbing trees, donovan baldwin, Pensacola Bay, simple things, social media, thoughts, Will Rogers
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Boys Riding The Storm
By: Donovan Baldwin
Kids do stupid things.
Okay, maybe not so much stupid, as out of ignorance of consequences.
The recent hurricanes reminded me of some of the dumb things I did in Florida as a boy. Not just hurricanes, but, when other storms blew in, my friend and I would go swimming in Pensacola Bay.
I don't know what the attraction was, unless it was that moment in a storm, or just before, when the water is flat, unmoving, dull gray like lead, not quite shining like mercury, surreal, framed above by storm clouds.
I sensed something when I saw that. An odd feeling of something strangely different from the day to day experiences of water and life. The bay was usually blue or blue-green and moving, constantly moving. Before the storm it got flat and still.
Somehow that spoke to me of some awesome power that could make water, that water, be still, especially from some unknown distance.
My friend and I would climb slender trees, and hang on, riding them in the wind, swinging our weight in rhythm with the wind, at least having sense enough to head for home before that wind got too strong for mortal boys.
We didn't experience the powerful hurricanes you read about recently, but, still, wind and storm enough to strike fear and create havoc.
We were too young and, well, ignorant, to realize the forces we were toying with. Yet, wouldn't trade a moment of it.
Strong forces, plus a hint of danger, a dash of adventure, plus lots of ignorance equals some grand memories. Had a pretty good boyhood.
Don't know how I, or my parents, survived it.
Okay, maybe not so much stupid, as out of ignorance of consequences.
The recent hurricanes reminded me of some of the dumb things I did in Florida as a boy. Not just hurricanes, but, when other storms blew in, my friend and I would go swimming in Pensacola Bay.
I don't know what the attraction was, unless it was that moment in a storm, or just before, when the water is flat, unmoving, dull gray like lead, not quite shining like mercury, surreal, framed above by storm clouds.
I sensed something when I saw that. An odd feeling of something strangely different from the day to day experiences of water and life. The bay was usually blue or blue-green and moving, constantly moving. Before the storm it got flat and still.
Somehow that spoke to me of some awesome power that could make water, that water, be still, especially from some unknown distance.
My friend and I would climb slender trees, and hang on, riding them in the wind, swinging our weight in rhythm with the wind, at least having sense enough to head for home before that wind got too strong for mortal boys.
We didn't experience the powerful hurricanes you read about recently, but, still, wind and storm enough to strike fear and create havoc.
We were too young and, well, ignorant, to realize the forces we were toying with. Yet, wouldn't trade a moment of it.
Strong forces, plus a hint of danger, a dash of adventure, plus lots of ignorance equals some grand memories. Had a pretty good boyhood.
Don't know how I, or my parents, survived it.
Labels: boyhood, climbing trees, donovan baldwin, hurricane, Pensacola Bay, storm, wind
