Friday, April 10, 2009

50 - 482: Beginning the countdown

August 5, 2010 is 482 days from now. That day, at 9:25 in the morning, I will be 50 years old. In place of a mid-life crisis, for nearing 50 seems the time for such, that would involve buying a bright red high-performance car, hooking up with a young blond woman of negotiable virtue, and hitting the road, I intend to firmly establish the what and, hopefully, the why of my life.

In one of my early Babble On pieces, I said that I had three reasons for blogging: memory, clarity, and the honing of my skills as an essayist. While the third reason is still a goal, it will always be a work in progress; it's the journey, not the destination.

For the next 17 months and change, I will be concentrating here more on memory and clarity. I have often joked, "I have a degree in history, but that's behind me now." No, not really. I have to understand where I've come from to have a grasp of where I am, and further, to plot my course from here.

Along the way, I will strive for humor and optimism, for I prize those traits especially. I will not be looking to cheapen anyone else in my recollections, but I almost inevitably will at some point, so I apologize in advance.

I expect joy and pain in the telling, for that is the life that has come from the exercise of my God-given free will. So, a pause to gather my wits, and let's go.