[Rhodes22-list] A Pirate Looks at 50

[Jim White]

I woke up this morning staring 50 full in the face. I know it's a monument 
birthday, a milestone, but somehow it doesn't seem a whole lot different 
than turning over 50 miles on the odometer of my bike after I turn it back 
to zero....only this time I can't turn it back to zero. So, I think it's 
more like 50 miles an hour, just a gentle cruise with the wind in your 
face.... Or maybe like sailing my boat single handed, an inevitable 
slipping along to new or familiar places. Now it's simply the journey that 
matters.

  When I was young(er) I always had in the back of my mind the notion that 
"when I'm young again.....", but in the past couple of years this notion 
has faded, replaced by a sense of just traveling along on the water, trying 
to avoid the shallows and sandbars, but learning nonetheless if you get 
hung on one.

There was no revelation following the tolling of the bells of my birth 
hour, or enhancement of insight, I don't even think any of my hair went 
grey(er), or I acquired any new wrinkles.

No, today I don't feel maudlin or especially reflective, just thankful to 
be here. All the cliches, like, "if I'd have known I was gonna live this 
long, I would've taken better care of myself", just go out the window, and 
I keep riding down the path. Although I'm certainly not going to score 
highly on the list of "he who dies with the most toys wins" mentality, I do 
have friends and family who've made this trip more than worthwhile, so the 
material things take a distant back seat. And living here is like living in 
the pages of a Steinbeck novel. I think that's the way it is with most 
coastal communities, and I guess I'm just another character.

So what's next? Well, just because I turned fifty doesn't mean any dreams 
went out the window too. I still want to circumnavigate the Gulf and near 
Caribbean, I want to take a monumental road trip or two, maybe visit some 
places I've never been. But for right now, I plan on continuing sailing, 
surfing, riding, diving, fishing,  taking care of business, exploring the 
islands in my life, eating at D' Pizza Joint, drinking a little beer (maybe 
a little rum too...), enjoying days like today, when the air smells like 
the sea, and you can hear the waves crashing on the shoreline and all of 
the other things that make up this crazy patchwork collage that I call my 
life. Mostly I plan on enjoying the journey with my family and friends....

Although I have never spoken to any of you personally, after having 
interacted with many of you via this list, you all have been included, by 
proxy in that collage.... .

Cheers to you my fellow waterpeople
jw


Jim White
Le Menagerie
www.lemenagerie.blogspot.com