Oh, the Places We’ll Want to Go

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

I can drive with a little help from my friends.

I had a wild idea, or two, earlier this week.

Tuesday morning during my prayer time, I felt impressed to pray for and then reach out to a friend from college.

Without sharing too much about what he does. He has a ministry and business in Central America. He also fights chronic pain and the doctors have so far not been able to help him. I messaged him and told him he was in my prayers.

He responded that it was a good day to hear that. We agreed to talk soon.

That’s when the wild idea hit me.

I went to Priceline and got a quote for an airline ticket to said Central American country.

It may just happen post retirement. It also may not.

But, let’s not stop there.

Mug Shots

I’ve mentioned that I still need to visit eleven states. A friend I met through the blogs and a love for theater, and who visited Richmond a couple of years ago, lives in Iowa. I told him I still wanted to make the road trip.

So, I mapped it out. I can hit Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas and knock four more states off of my list.

It may or may not happen next summer. But I like thinking about it.

It made me wonder. Maybe my ministry, if I really have one, is in keeping up with and encouraging old friends. And if that means travel, I’m good with that.

Maybe I’m just dreaming. Maybe I’m just spending too much time counting down the days until retirement.

Still, I’ve always said I wanted to travel. Last year’s Old Man Bucket List Road Trip (™) made me want to keep doing that.

It’s an idea. It’s early. It’s going to take a lot of thought and a lot of planning.

But I may or may not have printed out the Google map version of the trip.

And I may or may not be doing the math on the cost of a ticket to Central America.

Maybe it’s a dream. But dreams can be good things.

Just in case, I’m going to go take care of my Spanish lesson.

IN OTHER NEWS

Was The Biden Administration Prepared To Kill Trump And His Secret Service Agents To Seize Documents At Mar-a-Lago?
Kerry: Unemployed and Unedited
Not only did the FBI go into Donald Trump’s residence unannounced, but they were authorized to use deadly force against the former president of the United States and the Secret Service.

I was inside the court when the judge closed the Trump trial, and what I saw shocked me
Alan Derschowitz in The New York Post
The judge in Donald Trump’s trial was an absolute tyrant, though he appeared to the jury to be a benevolent despot. He seemed automatically to be ruling against the defendant at every turn.

Weird: Soros-Funded D.A. Declines To Prosecute Soros-Funded Campus Protesters
The Babylon Bee
The surprising development came unexpectedly following college campus protests in various places across the country, with district attorneys strangely choosing to not prosecute lawbreakers who had been financed by the same person who had put the district attorneys themselves in office.

Available on Amazon.

We Don’t Need No Stinking Rules

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

W. Somerset Maugham

That’s a nice, and accurate quote. But the truth is, I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything by W. Somerset Maugham.

If you have, and if you care to share, post some suggestions of his work in the comments below.

But about those rules. I get it.

There are dozens, if not hundreds of people out there that will tell you they have the formula to help you write your book in 48 hours, or a week, or 30 days or…fill in the blank…you can find them all.

Of course to do that, you have to buy their fail-safe program for the low, low price of $595, only available today.

We won’t even talk about the offers that say “sign up today for $500 off the price.”

If you’re a long time reader (and you certainly should be), you know that’s a pet peeve of mine.

I’m not saying that all of these “teachers” or “experts” are bad at what they do. It’s just that most of them are just gaining their success by selling their programs.

I’m not buying. I’m just not.

I will admit that a few months back I bought a course in voiceover acting. I’m still working my way through

Mug Shots

the course. The more I learn, the more I wonder if that’s something I really want to do because the next step is an investment in equipment.

Having said all of that, the course is legitimate. It doesn’t promise overnight success. But, at the end, it does promise that I’ll know how to purse a career in voice acting. It should also help me decide whether or not voice acting is something I want to pursue.

And no, you may not go back to yesterday’s comments about eliminating things from my life.

The thing about writing my novel(s) is that I have all of the tools I need. I have the writing tools and programs that will help me outline the book.

I have all the research I need right at my fingertips.

Speaking of which, if I should pass unexpectedly, please come and clear my cache.

I don’t know that there really are rules for writing a novel. Every writer is different. Every writer approaches the keyboard differently.

Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee, for example, each had one major work. Sure, Lee followed up with a sequel many years later, but she’ll always be known for To Kill a Mockingbird.

Other writers, like Stephen King and John Grisham, crank out new books like crazy and seem to have figured out what the public wants.

I’m not there yet. Nor am I a full-time novelist. I’m a bit of a weekend warrior when it comes to writing. I’m trying to change that.

My novel(s) may never make a bestseller list, or be made in to a TV mini series.

What it(they) will be is finished.

Just as soon as I figure out the rules for making that happen.

IN OTHER NEWS

American singer and actress, Rosemary Clooney, was born on this day in 1928 (died 2002)


 

Red Lobster seeks bankruptcy protection days after closing dozens of restaurants
Associated Press
Red Lobster, the casual dining chain that brought seafood to the masses with inventions like popcorn shrimp and “endless” seafood deals, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Catholic Church Distances Self From Pope Francis
The Babylon Bee
“Honestly, we’re not sure how this guy got in here to begin with,” said a spokesperson for the Vatican. “We think there was some kind of mistake with the vote counting or something. It’s weird. It’s possible we accidentally elected some guy off the street who never read a Bible and he’s been kissing babies and determining our theology for years. Boy, wouldn’t that be embarrassing!”

‘We reject it with disgust’ – Israeli Knesset condemns ICC warrants with large majority
All Israel News
Israeli Members of Knesset from across the political spectrum, including most of the opposition, sharply condemned the request for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders the International Criminal Court issued on Monday.

 

Available on Amazon.