Our driving times to and from the beach were roughly four hours each way. We didn’t rush, but we didn’t waste time.
On the way down we stopped for lunch at The Virginia Diner in Wakefield. Just because we could.
Both ways we listened to audio books…I started to write books on tape…The Bone Farm by Dean Koontz on the way down and The House on the Water by Margo Hunt on the way back…
Even with the books, drive time still gives you time to think. It was the second book about long time friends that brought me around to this rabbit hole.
It was English class in 8th or 9th grade. I have no idea what the actual story was (if you know it, pass it along). But the protagonist and his best friend made a pact. No matter where they were or what they were doing, the would meet on a specific date, at a specific time, in a specific location exactly twenty-five years into the future.
My best friend and I thought it quite the novel idea and we set a date of our own.
We never made it.
Oh for several months, maybe even a couple of years we would remind each other of the deal. But by the time we reached graduation, we’d both lost track and more or less forgotten about it.
I think somewhere in some box of memorabilia I actually have the date written down.
Sadly, remembering it wouldn’t have helped. My friend, also named Mike, passed before we reached the twenty-five year mark. With a life of substance abuse and self-destruction, he was gone far too soon.
We lost touch after graduation and he didn’t make it back to reunions while he was still living. I think the last time I talked to him was some ten years after graduation when he called to see if I could help with a problem he was having with the government. I couldn’t.
A few years later, I learned that he was gone.
We had some good times, really from middle school on. I’m sorry we didn’t get to make that 25-year appointment.
Mike is gone, as are so many other friends from my youth.
I’m not writing this to sound morbid. It’s a reminder that we need to cherish the people in our lives.
Perhaps a reminder to reach out to those we’ve not heard from in a few years.
You know, do something more than like their Facebook posts.
It also makes you think about the promises you made to yourself or to others when you were younger.
Just out of college I took a short-term missions trip with World Gospel Mission. We worked at the Southwest Indian School in Phoenix and taught Vacation Bible School on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.
One weekend we took at trip to the Grand Canyon. I made myself a promise to come back one day and hike the canyon. I even bought the t-shirt.
It’s almost 45 years later and I’m finally going back. My best friend from college and I are taking an Old Man Bucket List Road Trip (OMBLRT ™ ) in August.
No we’re not doing the full hike. We’re going to drive our electric scooters up to the edge.
Seriously, we’ll be camping and doing some day hikes, and I’m good with that.
You’ll be able to follow those adventures on Facebook and Instagram…assuming we have wifi.
Youthful promises are important. Maybe sometimes they need to be rethought. Maybe not all of them need to become reality.
I just want to be careful to not miss any more appointments.
THINGS TO READ
Firebrand Big Read: The Difficulty with Being ‘True to Yourself’
Dr. Kevin Brown, President, Asbury University
But while the aphorism “be true to yourself”—or its corollary “be authentic”—is frequently used and ubiquitously advertised, the advice is problematic.
Slocomb, Alabama Sean Dietrich, Sean of the South
I’ve had a chance to regroup and think about what it is I truly want to say. It’s nothing fancy, but I hope you know I mean it.
WHAT I’M READING
WHAT I’M WORKING ON
Now that it’s officially on the website, I can tell you that I’ve signed on for another theatre project. This summer, I’ll be appearing in Sound of the Guns with Firehouse Theatre.
From Firehouse: Based on writer/composer/performer Jim O’Ferrell’s personal experiences, SOUND OF THE GUNS takes place over two long days in a soldier’s life — one in 2006 as an active duty U.S. Army Sergeant in the Iraq War, and ten years later in 2016 as a veteran back in the U.S.
I mentioned yesterday that I did some drawing at the beach. One of the projects was my Stations of the Cross series. I created a set of digital images a long time ago and have actually sold several sets. You can purchase that version on Zazzle.
I’ve wanted for along time to convert then to a new medium, but figure that out was a chore. It wasn’t stained glass because I don’t work with glass. It wasn’t painting because the brushes weren’t doing what I wanted them to. Finally, after two years (okay a year and a half so far) of doing The 100 Day Project and publishing three books (available on Amazon), I realized that my medium all along was marker. After all years of pep rally signs and campaign posters can’t be all wrong.
At the beach, I completed two of the drawings. Here is Jesus Prays Alone.
Left. Original concept. Right. New medium.
More to come..
BORN ON THIS DAY
American Christian musician and an early leader of “Jesus music,” Nancy (Henigbaum) “Honeytree” was born on this day in 1952. Honeytree came to faith during the Jesus Revolution.
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Our driving times to and from the beach were roughly four hours each way. We didn’t rush, but we didn’t waste time.
Now that it’s officially on the website, I can tell you that I’ve signed on for another theatre project. This summer, I’ll be appearing in Sound of the Guns with Firehouse Theatre.
