2 good eyes, but you still don't see--
The last half of '66, just out of high school, time to set out in the world, to seek my fortune. I ended up working the railroad by day, teaching guitar by night.
It wasn't to last long, Vietnam was raging, and anybody not in school soon found themselves wearing green (instead of railroad blue) real soon. Besides, (though I didn't know it at the time), the ill-fated Casey Jones was an ancestor from the Welsh branch of the family tree--so railroading was a career field was probably best abandoned after that summer.
I gathered a few skills that helped me endure the military time that was inevitably to come (type 60 wpm, shoot a camera, drive truck, answer a phone with a suitably homogenized midwest/California accent)--and headed down the road on Life's Journey.
Looking back at my past self, what magical words of advice would I share? "Facebook"? "Craigslist, Microsoft, digital photography?" (This was a time when "Honda" meant 50cc minibikes.) No, even if I could do it, there would be no projecting the future into that past. "I am from the future and here to tell you, jump into computers and meld CB radio to your typewriter (already an IBM Selectric)--move to Palo Alto, and look for these guys, Gates & Allen, and tell them you want to clean their garage for free?" Hah. Leave the poor kid alone, he'll find his own way.
It's what I try to remind myself with my own kids now. Stay in the present. Every moment gets shattered and battered by the past and future--instead, trust the moment! There will always be enough money, perhaps not as much as you might like, but enough. Enough food, enough whatever, as long as you enjoy the present, and learn from the dog. Stay awake, live like your grandparents, and Be "Bhole Baba" (easily pleased).
2 good eyes, but you still don't see--
The last half of '66, just out of high school, time to set out in the world, to seek my fortune. I ended up working the railroad by day, teaching guitar by night.
It wasn't to last long, Vietnam was raging, and anybody not in school soon found themselves wearing green (instead of railroad blue) real soon. Besides, (though I didn't know it at the time), the ill-fated Casey Jones was an ancestor from the Welsh branch of the family tree--so railroading was a career field was probably best abandoned after that summer.
I gathered a few skills that helped me endure the military time that was inevitably to come (type 60 wpm, shoot a camera, drive truck, answer a phone with a suitably homogenized midwest/California accent)--and headed down the road on Life's Journey.
Looking back at my past self, what magical words of advice would I share? "Facebook"? "Craigslist, Microsoft, digital photography?" (This was a time when "Honda" meant 50cc minibikes.) No, even if I could do it, there would be no projecting the future into that past. "I am from the future and here to tell you, jump into computers and meld CB radio to your typewriter (already an IBM Selectric)--move to Palo Alto, and look for these guys, Gates & Allen, and tell them you want to clean their garage for free?" Hah. Leave the poor kid alone, he'll find his own way.
It's what I try to remind myself with my own kids now. Stay in the present. Every moment gets shattered and battered by the past and future--instead, trust the moment! There will always be enough money, perhaps not as much as you might like, but enough. Enough food, enough whatever, as long as you enjoy the present, and learn from the dog. Stay awake, live like your grandparents, and Be "Bhole Baba" (easily pleased).