Solon to the old man:

ah, old man,
do you ever stop dreaming?
even when you know,
unlike before, in your youth,
now that your time is over,
whatever you are dreaming
cannot become reality
because time is running out,
do you no longer dream
about what might be,
or rather,
what might have been?

Old man:

oh no, oh no,
dreaming is a gift forever;
it defies what more subjective folks
rely upon as truth;
when truth is, in reality,
what we choose it to be,
while
dreaming is what could be,
will be, is;
even now,
when i cannot make it happen,
i can dream
about wonderful things,
and
if i stop dreaming,
i fear i will be dead
before dying.

Solon to the old man:

 ah, dream on.

It is Veteran’s Day.

Sunset actually. i’m sitting on our patio with this view:

Mr. Martin, aka Bombay martini, and i are discussing the day.

It was a good day. i got a lot done. Completed the garden maintenance and most of the replanting. Cleaned up the grill. Posted what i thought was a hilarious post. Cleaned up some files, and, of course, took a nap. My dear bride brought home an unexpected surprise, pimento cheese spread.

So, Martin and i sat here contemplating if we should climb the slope to actually see the sun set. There’s always a slim chance of catching a green flash. But i’m settled in, and if i were to ascend the slope, i would be likely to spill Martin. That would be a shame. So we sat here and discussed things.

i thought about posting more photos of veterans to honor them but decided to stop. You see, i suspect most of us who are still around are just a bit embarrassed with the attention. Like me. My time in the Navy spanned 27 years with credit for just over 22 because i took time out to chase being the follow-on to Fred Russell and Grantland Rice.

My decisions to get in and then back in weren’t quite so noble. Facing an unexpected 1A — i wonder how many people know what that term means — i worked to get into Navy OCS rather than being a ground pounder in Vietnam. Then, getting back in was primarily a financial decision to ensure security for my wife and child on the way.

Oh, there were hard times, hard times. There was some sweat, some danger, and lots and lots of fun and satisfaction. Oh, by the way, i did fall in love with the sea and being a mariner. i also found satisfaction in what i thought was being a pretty good leader.

i have held for a long time one of the best things that could positively impact our country is for everyone, after turning 18, spend two years in government service. It wouldn’t work today for that to be all military service, but i think the mixing with other folks from all walks of life, getting the feeling of being involved, maturing for another couple of years, and being held responsible would be good for all of us.

But hey, i don’t know what most of you folks apparently know.

So i will sit here with Martin, listening to Mozart’s Symphony 33, watching the skies darkening and the horizon’s pink fading into the Pacific deep.

To all of the veterans i have run across in my life, regardless of your reasons, putting your life on the line for our country has gained my lifelong respect.

God bless America.

Retired folks seem more than capable of entertaining themselves. Sometimes that entertainment shows the differences in each of us.

For example, Maureen is an artist with an amazing capability for color and design. She pursues art. Even her sewing projects are art in the process. In the last year or so, she has also pursued felting. The finished products are truly works of art. And then, she gets these ideas and they just seem to work, like the felt piece hanging in our family room.

And then, she adds a twist by putting her felting art around a tall and slender glass (maybe a vase, hmm?) and inserting a small, micro light string.

That’s what you get when you can do what she does.

Me?

Well, i appreciate art, but i grew up with a father who was a practical man, and then, i spent just over 22 years in the Navy. And i have to tell you, there is not a lot of art in the Navy of old, beautiful things, yes, like the sea and the sky and the dolphins playing alongside in the bow wave. And some of us believe driving an old Navy steam ship without computers was as much art as science. But i don’t think you can call me someone who creates art. i am a practical man.

i’ve spent the bulk of the last several days replanting and refreshing the soil in our garden boxes. Our tomatoes are fewer but we still have them. Even the strawberries are blooming, although having one or two strawberries every day or so is only satisfying if you are the person who is maintaining the garden. And i cured our new Kamado grill. The first steak night was a success, she sits outside awaiting my first smoked turkey for Thanksgiving.

For an example of my practicality, there is a backstory. For years, my father saved the change in his pocket and gave it to Blythe and later Sam. Much later, i followed suit taking my coins and depositing into a savings account we created for Sam.

My Aunt Bettye Kate Hall knew of this practice and for a Christmas or birthday gift, gave me a battery powered coin sorter. i used it until it broke, then doctored it a bit and used it for another half-dozen years or so. It was about ten years ago when it broke for good. i have hand sorted the coins since then until a couple of months ago when i did a search and found some coin sorters but individual sorters for my pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.

The problem with my purchase is none are very steady. i was frequently knocking them over, picking up the coins on my hands and knees and starting over. So last week, i used my drill to fix my problem. i made a coin sorter holder. As i finished in my garage workshop, i laughed. Maureen had hung her felting piece about two days earlier. The two projects demonstrated, i thought, the difference between the two of us.

i carried my project into the house, an old piece of 2×3 lumber with four drill holds holding colorful coin sorters. i took them into the family room, showed it to Maureen and asked what she thought of “work of art.” After she picked herself off the floor from laughing, i started to leave when i turned and suggested we put it on the mantel, finely decorated by a master named Maureen.

i don’t think she laughed.

My piece of art is in my office closet…but it is useful, and i like it.