“Life is divided into three terms- that which was, which is, and which will be.  Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future.”  William Wordsworth

I came upon this quote today and it has stuck with me all day.  “Let us learn from the past……”  Wow.  I gave\it deep thought and it hit me.  From the present I learned that the past was quite remarkable.

My trip down memory lane took me back to a time that was quite different than the present.  We didn’t have a colored TV.  Our telephone was on a party line.  You could go to the butcher shop and get cracklings for free.  Saw mills gave away their sawdust.  You got popcorn balls on Halloween   and you didn’t have to worry about finding razor blades in your candy.  We would fill a glass jar with lightning bugs and watch them light up the darkness of our rooms at night.  In high school Don Mraz and I were country when country wasn’t cool.  David Tripp, Glenn Land and I were always competing against each other in art contests.  David went on to become an extraordinary artist and teacher.  We didn’t have the internet.  Really.  We had to look things up in books.  McDonalds was a treat, not an every day deal.  We went camping on the weekends AND slept in a tent.  The list goes on.  Sorry if I bored you.

I look at the present and compare it to the past and I tell myself, modern day inventions have made a lot of things easier however, those same things that made life easier also made it more complicated.  They say not to dwell in the past.  I think there is an exception to that.  If it makes you happy then by all means indulge.  Go back there and feel like a youngster again.  Remember how great the simple life really was.  How you had to use your imagination to figure out the missing colors of the black and white TV.  Smell the aroma of an apple pie your grandma placed in the window to cool.

When I think of the future I become sad thinking about how much my grandsons and their generation are going to miss out on.  I doubt that they will ever get a chance to milk a cow.  Taste fresh churned butter.  Experience the slow paced laid back days like we enjoyed in the 60s.  Personally I think they are going to have a rough row to hoe.  I pray for them and this nation.

I hope I didn’t bore y’all to bad with my ramblings.  Your mission, should you decide to accept it is to go out and make young folks laugh by telling them about some of the silly things you did growing up.  Explain to them what it is like to live the simple life.  Tell them about how you recited the Pledge of Allegiance every morning.

Thanks for reading.  Go hug somebody that doesn’t want to be hugged.  Call your mom, dad or child and tell them you love them.  Spread the love and God Bless you one and all.

I live to fish.  I fish to calm my soul and rejuvenate my spirit.