our pasts

CO’sMileHighRider says—Many of us have heard opportunity knocking at our door, but by the time we unhooked the chain, pushed back the bolt, turned two locks and shut off the burglar alarm, it was gone! We were at the Littleton’s farmers market last Saturday morning and I saw this super senior lady wearing Spandex shorts walking with a walker.  She had her hair dyed pitch black, had on long dangling earrings and wore a t-shirt that read—I’m too old for this shit! I wonder what her past was!  I would have liked to talk to that lady. I now can only imagine.

Our pasts are just that our pasts!  We all remember our pasts even if others don’t all know our pasts.  They are what they are.  Some of our pasts are ugly and some are incredibly memorable; some folks know our pasts and other folks don’t or some are maybe part of our pasts.  But probably our pasts have something to do who we are today. Some of us would like to forget our pasts and others can’t get enough of our pasts as they were soooo great.  Some folks have moved away from their pasts soooo folks don’t know their pasts (i.e. it has given many folks a clean slate; a new start; a much better life).

A friend from Roseland MN, who is now a senior recently told me—erv, I can’t believe I can write a check out for a new car; growing up (i.e. his past) I would have never thought that would have been possible.  Yes, maybe our pasts weren’t all in affluent homes and some were.  Another friend told me that she never would have believed she would get a college degree and have the opportunities she has. Another friend told me that he had terrible luck in life and his past is also very terrible (i.e. he said, I had no control over some events). 

Maybe many dreamed of having a perfect family only to not have it.  I was told that now the traditional family is a blended family and not a original father, mother and kids. Holy smokes.  The speaker went on to say, the blended family brings on many more challenges; usually very complicated; when you throw more cobs in the fire it gets hotter for sure.

RickyRick says—"Stress comes from trying to be somebody you’re not—when you fear you’ll accidentally drop your façade and people will discover who you really are.” I just don’t care much for phony folks; I like real folks.  A friend who has passed on use to say—erv, when you need help just act dumb; in your case you don’t even have to act!

At breakfast recently I told a friend/golf buddy that I was not going to complain about my golf game anymore.  He started to laugh and laughed soooo hard that he almost fell out of the booth (i.e. he laughed his head off).  I don’t think he believed me! He has heard a lot of my complaining through the years; he has heard it all! There used to be a guy who played with us that said to me—erv, you complain on every shot! That is not really true; I only complain on shots that I don’t hit perfect which is most shots soooo it pretty much right! And as I get older even my good shots aren’t that good soooo I have a lot to complain about.  Actually, my complaining is the best part of my game; I’m good at it!

CoachB says—“You can not change where you came from; you cannot change what you have been through a.k.a. the past; you can only change the right now which will change your future.” Now that is exciting to me folks.  And guess who gets to make the decision what the future will be! Uno is the answer! Saturday question—Do you like to be in charge of your future? Do you like to be responsible of your future? Or do you like someone else to be in charge of your life? My Mom, Anna, would say to me—erv, just because everyone else jumps off the cliff that doesn’t mean that you have tooooo! 

I stopped for a burger at Fort Morgan on the way to Morrison, CO.  On the street was this pu.  I had to laugh.  I wonder what the owner’s past is.  What do you think?  That is what I thought!

Fellows, this ain’t nuttin new but many folks don’t do it.  CrazyMarvin says--That ain’t nuttin new; many folks don’t seem to want to make their lives better; they talk a lot but don’t really do much about it (i.e. keep hitting their head against the wall even if it hurts all the time). Ouchy ouchy!  Onewiseperson says—You rarely will run into trouble, or you rarely will get into trouble when you take advice from a multitude of wise folks (i.e. listen to them and follow their advice…you gotta do it; that is if you want to get wiser).  You guys are many of my wise folks that I ask questions, listen toooo and try to follow.  And some folks I elect not to be around, listen tooooo or follow.  Why you ask; you figure that out. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.  Bingo!

This is a motivation! A friend who is a distant related Mellema sent this to me thinking I would like it; she is a wise gal alright. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) - A Missouri native is reaching new heights by climbing the world’s mountains. She became the first female bilateral amputee to climb Mount Kilimanjaro last month…“Whether you believe you can or think you can or not, you’re probably right,” Horvath said. “I have a lot of people to prove wrong.” Horvath lost her legs in 2014 after getting hit by a train. Her desire to climb came while recovering, seeing others like herself conquer great feats…Horvath plans to rest for a while after her Kilimanjaro climb but will take on more challenges once she’s fully healed. She describes her mindset moving forward: “Take things a little slower… Be a little kinder.”

We were talking about drones on the third tee box the other day.  One of our foursome has one and seems to enjoy playing with it.  He was telling us about it.  Another guy in our foursome said he bought one and was learning how to use it in the back yard. It took off over the neighbor’s house out of control, he got excited and turned the power off and it disappeared.  He ran over there but never did find it.  He thinks it dropped in a pickup that was going by!!!  His drone is history; the past!

Here is a feel-good story that a golf buddy told me going down the fairway in his golf cart.  There was a young man who asked a very large farmer for a job.  He hired him but made him put part of his wages into a savings program.  He helped him invest in the stock market.  The large farmer told him if he worked for him for 40 years, he would give him a $100,000 bonus.  Recently this employee told my friend he things he will retire next year.  His investment fund is now $900,000 and with the $100,000 boons he will have a $1,000,000. He told my friend that he complained about the investing but now he is happy. Da!

When in CO, I had the opportunity to hike one of my favorite hikes which is on Mt. Falcon.  It is a hike of 3.2 miles, part of it is hard and part isn’t sooo hard.  ANYWAY, I met a couple coming down who were going up.  They were about 75 I guess, looked like they enjoyed hiking, and were in good shape (i.e. trim and physically fit).  I said to them—great day—they said in unison, great day, all days are great; the gal then said, but this morning is an exceptional great day (i.e. they seemed to be very happy folks).  Soooooo why did they make those comments to me do you think?  A friend tells me that particularly seniors can not hike if they are overweight; they just can’t (i.e. they are at Wal-Mart buying ice cream in their electric carts). In fact, there aren’t very many hikers who are overweight. There has to be some kind of a lesson here maybe.

CO is one of the top states to have the least number of obese folks.  Why is that do you think? CO folks do a lot outdoors and many folks like that lifestyle it appears.  TheCO-SpandexQueen say—There is no bad weather, just bad gear.  I saw a sticker on an CO SUV--Bad weather is for wimps! They just do it and all the time.  TheIAPerson says--Sooooo then it’s basically an attitude I guess.  They seem to throw those chips away and get their butts off the couch.

Talk about chips!  We had a late lunch (i.e. about 3 at Bud’s Bar in Sedalia, CO on our way back from a family hike up ‘er in ‘em mountains.  What a hoot; an incredible experience all probably because I had on my Iowa t-shirt; maybe. We entered the place, and it was packed. There were two guys sitting at a round table and one of them pointed to my t-shirt and gave me a thumbs up.  He came over and asked if we wanted to sit with them.  He was the owner and his friend were both from IA. Incredible great time we had.  Bud (i.e. not his real name) only serves hamburgers, cheeseburgers (i.e. with pickles and onions on the side) and a bag of chips; nothing else.  It was the best cheeseburger I ever had (i.e. they buy the hamburger in bulk and make their own patties each day).  This place is a hit! They treated us soooooo great; real folks with good hearts; my kind of folks. They created a memory that our family will never forget.  Side story—Bud was a dentist but got in a wreck and lost use of an arm—he said—There isn’t much demand for a one-arm dentist soooo he went to IA Law School and became a lawyer. I have never met a dentist/lawyer selling burgers! haha Hey, if you get to Sedalia, look Bud up. You will enjoy him and his place.  Tell him I sent you. He’s one great guy. Go Hawks!

Sooooo when I went to bed Sunday night in CO, Erin a.k.a. Buggy asked me what time I was going to leave in the morning—up at 4:30 and leave at 5—I will get up and see you off—oh Buggy, that is sooo nice but it isn’t necessary; that is very early—I want toooo and I will go back to bed—don’t feel obligated and if you change your mind, I understand; that is very early for a 13-year old.  The next morning, she was up to see me off. We said our goodbyes, hugged, and told each other how much we loved each other. I told her that she is a very nice girl; it is very special when folks do nice things for others but it very special when folks take special effort and just do things.  You just did that.  You are a special girl.  We hugged and I went out the door.  ~  After we did our family hike, I said to Jimmer and Erin—It is soooo neat that I didn’t hear any complaining from either of you—Jimmer said—Grandpa, I complained one time when I said it was tooooo hot!  I guess honesty is a virtue tooooo!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean said—Free will is a gift. Love is a choice. Hate leaves you no choice at all.

The tip of the day is from a Denver Banker. He called himself Kyle but I really don't know for sure if that is his right name! haha. He said it when he was in the back seat of my vehicle as I was transporting him and some of his buddies (i.e. other bankers and on PA) with names that God only knows if they are correct, for RAGBRAI—Temporary assets are not near as important as long term skills. Bankers always worry that I might call them for a loan sooooo they always don't use their right names around me!!!!