I awoke this morning with these words in my brain:

Nearly fall already.  Just yesterday it was 1978, and the whole world was laid out in front of me like a ripe plum.

Huh.

So I did what any normal person would do; first I made those words my Facebook status, then I sat down to ponder why they might be rolling around in my noggin at 6 am.  Those ponderings brought forth two quotes:

1.  They’re gonna make a movie from the things that they find crawlin’ round my brain.  (Adam Duritz)

2.  If a man views the world the same way at 50 as he did at 20, he has wasted thirty years of his life. (Muhammed Ali)

Coincidentally, as I sit here tapping away, my playlist has shuffled to Born Again by Badly Drawn Boy.  You could look up the lyrics, but I’ll save you the trouble:

Maybe there’s a reason why I’m born again
There’s something rare going on under my skies
You got to chill out, find a reason for your soul again
And judge the miracle by feel, not size
Infinite the reasons why I’m born again
The modern innocents have soul on their side

Try to capture reasons why I’m born again
The more I look at it the less that I find
But I wont bail, there will be a reason for my soul again
Another miracle has seasoned my mind…

Clearly, the universe has asked me to put aside other plans for the day and get my shit in order.  Metaphorical shit.  Metaphysical shit.

So another summer is coming to a close, a summer long past that one in 1978 when I was a new high school graduate ready to swallow the world in one gulp.  And what have I to show for it?  What have I learned?

~Well, the remains of a few jobs (some short-term, one lasting nearly a quarter of a century) have scattered to reveal new opportunities.  And I think change is good—if it doesn’t kill you, that is.

~Music is a gift. 

~We each need to find our own sources of rejuvenation.  For me, they include reading the Psalms, looking at sunflowers, and receiving a visit from my friends Ben and Jerry. 

~No one is perfect, and going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sleeping in the garage makes you a car.  But that doesn’t excuse us from trying to do the right thing.  Each new day has the potential for greatness, but some of them will end in disasters of Towering Inferno proportions.  The trick is to tip the scales in the right direction more often than the wrong.  Although I will admit here that I think we deserve extra credit for good intentions gone awry.

~A loving family needs no explanation—certainly not from a bumbler like me.

There’s more to write—much, much more.  Words about forgiveness and kindness and the importance of a fiber rich diet.  But it’s nearly fall, and tomorrow the entire world might just be in my rear view mirror.