Sunday in the Valley

 

The Great Smoky Mountain Air Balloon Festival

Another Sunday morning in the Tennessee Valley is full of joy and relaxation as I follow in the footsteps of my own pursuit of happiness... as has been so eloquently stated in our US Constitution.

From inside the safety and security of my screen-in back porch, I am able to survey and observe nature unfolding right in front of me...  from squirrels and rabbits frolicing around our backyard, but I can see birds of all sorts flying by from hummingbirds to hawks as there are no restrictions in the sky above me.

My butt is comfortably sitting in a extra-padding deck chair; my Lenovo laptop of over five years is still functioning perfectly with the help of Best Buy's Geek Squad; my YETI cup is full of McCafe coffee from pods with a few spoons of Sugar Free French Vanilla Cappuccino Mix (it holds 3 normal cups of coffee at one time), and my ears of listening to music from 1964 to 1971 via my BOSE earplugs that fit very comfortably in both ears...

A gentle breeze blows through the screens and cools me off ever so effectively as the heat of the day slowly increases to the point that after I eat my brunch out here, I will probably return to the insides of my climate controlled (and completely owned for 15 years) house.

In the meantime, I sit out here with our 3 cats in a mellowing state of euphoria, listening to rock and roll tunes of the best decade EVER as far as music was concerned and the lyrics that were explicit between the lines...  and, as I reflect upon the decade of the 1960's, I am appalled by the simple fact that most of the same issues we had then are still with us today...   like:

• wage income disparities
• racism and civil rights
• unemployment concerns
• fighting foreign wars
• declining K-12 education
• healthcare costs
• slow economic growth
• fighting against communism

BUT...  the only difference is that I now NO LONGER GIVE A SHIT...  partly because I am retired and no longer have to KISS ASS and violate my prinicples and/or integrity and partly because all subsequent generations have allowed this to happen.

At 73 years of age, I may have 20-25 years left at best, and the last 5-10 years I will obviously not be in the best of health...  as my heart condition worsens, my internal organs degrade, and I continue to receive treatment for 2 kinds of cancer simultaneously...  there is just so much one body can withstand before it runs out of whatever it is that sustains its existence and my death will be witness by very few...  if any.

Until then, I will continue to enjoy my simple lifestyle as it slowly lingers from one moment to the next gathering its final memories of how life ended up for me.

However, I would do nothing over and have no regrets as my life has followed the only course that it was intended to follow from the getgo...