Our Musings category focuses on speculation, reflection and deep thought, covering everything from self-contemplation to humorous views on life in general.
This is the place to submit your thoughts on spiritual matters or philosophical subjects and to share your feelings on any topics you’ve ever pondered or wondered about.
I never jerk awake. I open my eyes and listen before I move. Without going into the reasons why I forced myself as a young boy, to not be afraid of noises in the dark. My door was always closed and I never slept with a nightlight. I relish the dark. As I lay there, my head still on the pillow, my mind was trying to replay why I woke up. The room was dark. The only light in the room came from a small digital alarm clock wi...
Time. A valuable commodity to some. Not so much to others. You, for example. Clock-watching your work day. Each hour creeping by as if in a time warp. Rushing home for dinner. Spend time with the kids. Must get to bed because tomorrow is another day. Hump day. Payday. Weekends. Vacations. Doctor appointments. Taxes. All controlling your life through time. Me? I’m a retired empty-nester. I couldn’t give a shit less. Time i...
This reminiscent story was inspired by the forum thread, “What kind of car did you drive in high school?” When I was a young lad in Texas, my dad made me work weekends and summers for his construction company. He used to “pay” me a dollar a day to help my uncle clean up job sites in the hot Texas sun. At the end of the week, he would deduct all my lunches and drinks. There were times I would end up with less than a doll...
The transition is almost complete. I can feel it. Soon I'll be adjusted to my new age. It's been a difficult three years. I fought against it. A good fight; but I've run out of weapons. I'm adjusting quickly to the occupying forces. Of elderly forces. Of lesser capacity and capabilities. Of accepting the fact that there are more memories in my past than are possible for me to create in the future. The future is not hopele...
In an earlier life, a woman once remarked to me that it was good to meet a man who was proud enough of his name to write it so others could read it. I don’t know if she was flirting or not but, as you can see, I remember her telling me this. Last Friday while being introduced to a woman, she shook my hand more firmly than I anticipated. Then she held my hand with both of hers and said, "Oh, my. Big hands." I don't know i...
I stand still, silent but for my breath and the sound of my heart beating, the warmth of the sun on my face as I look straight ahead. I look down and place my feet in the exact position I need them and then, standing straight, look sideways over my left shoulder. All is well. My right hand drops to my side I draw an arrow from its quiver by my right hip and fit it to the string of the recurve bow. With an imperceptible cl...
His picture is among a lot of images I store here on this site. His happy, furry face 'smiling' at me. One ear flipped up the way it often was. He was my Sparky boy. Just a glimpse is enough to make my eyes moist. What is it about the simple things that bring us such joy. The unquestioning love that our life-companions bring to us. Whether they are creatures with four legs or the actual people who also encourage and admir...
A young monk was supposed to wander around the world but, he postponed the departure date again and again. The abbot waited impatiently, ‘You’d supposed to start off six months ago. What’s stopping you?’ The very perturbed monk sighed, ‘It is a trial of a very long journey. I can’t imagine how many thousands of mountains and rivers I will have to go through. The climates, the clothes, the foods, and some others. I need t...
God’s Tears (Part One) Long after the sticky drab of an all day late August rain, the trees still spit on me. The fog rolls in, like a thick blanket, smothering the hustle and din I’ve grown accustom to. Only the expectancy of a passing cop car can cut the smothering. There is more than just the eerie quiet that shakes me to my core. Can you feel the dank air, eating you from within, like lead piranha in your lungs? Chang...
I hate what has happened to my America. Where a rancid political system works for the few and not for the many. Where a foul media keeps coloring the news instead of just reporting it. Where class distinctions are proudly touted to divide society even more. America has become a "me first" nation where honor and integrity are second to "what's in it for me." We use suffering as a battering ram to ensure the success of pers...
There is no doubt that poetry has a unique ability to move the human spirit; an ability shared only with music and far more so than even the greatest prose, however impassioned. It is, therefore, no surprise that the greatest composers have felt impelled to set poetry to music; and whilst the lyrics of much popular music are repetitive and banal, the works that will survive are those where the words tell a story or expres...
I dream of a city where everyone are neighbors Knowing helping each other isn’t wrong And there is no race or color Where old ladies can feel safe and sound I dream of a state that works as one Taxing people fairly and giving back what isn’t theirs Helping the poor man to find work and feeding the destitute While not lining their pockets with the sweat of everyone's back I dream of a country that is good and kind to a...
When I am not doing anything I look at your picture, and I think to myself, what it would be like to hold your face in my hands and kiss your lips, to touch your beard and trace your eyes with my fingertips.You have this innocent look of a little boy in your eyes that I so dearly love to look at. That naughty streak to explore is showing in your sparkling blue eyes. I wanted to know what was behind your naughty smile, the...
Today I took a long stroll, well, longish. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the sun shone brightly and hot as I walked through the trees. It was the Fifth day of September, Two Thousand and Eighteen and the forest was quiet and peaceful. Suddenly, I stopped. There, on the lake, just through the trees, a lone Heron, standing absolutely still on the opposite bank just yards away. I raised my camera, focused and... bea...
