Journey. Gotta love them. I mean…who doesn’t, right? Man
were they good too…especially as loud as possible back in the 80s via the power
of the 6x9 monster speakers in the back window of the car. I still crank them
up here and there…nothing like a 40 something running around with “Rubicon” (B
side tune few outside of Shawn Hedger and I know about) blaring out the window
of the SUV or minivan. That’s one cool dude right there…pulling into the
Walgreens to get some more “Freeze Away” for the plantar wart on the bottom of
my foot that’s killing me. I might barely be able to walk right now, but I can
jam with the best of them dang it.
Yea, coolness it all its form. Defined. Refined. Still loud
and proud.
By the way, that song? It’s circa 1978. Yea. Just a few
short of 40 years ago. Let me say that again…nearly 40 years old. Open a box of
perspective and put it all in…
Watching my kids play outside the other day got me thinking.
Have you ever just stopped what you were doing to watch kids play? I mean
putting down the smart phone and really watching them get all into whatever it
is they are intently doing. It’s fun. Life with no regard and pure joy. It’s
like stepping back in time. To the time when “Wheels” was just hitting the
circuit. Old fashioned “play outside” moments. Times I honestly wished I could
step back to for just a few minutes. Things as simple as playing Nerf football
out in the front yard or just grabbing the ball and glove for a nice
round of catch. I think I still have my glove…just not sure the worn out
rotator cuff could handle it.
Get some perspective today from something, somewhere. I know
it helps keep me grounded. My kids give me that nearly daily and as I watch
them literally leap from toddlerville straight into late childhood which is
starting to freak me out. Slow down people. Just slow it all down.
Today I’m going to find the time to lower the windows and
crank up some good ol’ Van Halen. If only I could bring back those late 80s
lunches at Wyatt’s Cafeteria with my dad while I was at it. Those were some
good times and they had some great chocolate cream pie too. Like other things in
life, that pie has gone by the wayside and that specific taste is no longer to be found . But dad and me? We’re still alive and
kicking with the best of them. Well…thanks to mom and my wife we are anyway. (What would we do without the women in our lives anyway?!)
Sometimes I do feel like I’ve got life by the horns. Wife,
kids, a couple of dogs and we got rid of the minivan a few years back. It’s all
good.
But I know one day the only horn I’ll have a good grip on is
the one I’ll be using to honk at all those fast driving whippersnappers as I’m
just trying to get to Krogers and back. Next thing I know I’ll be looking back
saying that great song is 60 years old. Whew, it goes fast.
Either way I’ll still be cranking it - even in the four door
Buick I guess we are all supposed to end up driving.
For now, I’m gonna go find me some pie, turn up Chain
Reaction on the drive home and throw a ball when I get there.
"When life is good, enjoy it. But when
life is hard, remember: God gives good times and hard times, and no one
knows what tomorrow will bring." Ecclesiastes 7:14
© 2015, J. Brady
"I say it how I see it and I make no bones about
it."
