The Best Advise You Will Never Put to Use: Relationships

The nature of old men and women is to reflect on their lives. This reflection generally results in giving young people advice how to live their lives. Mind you, this wise and sage advice is generally disregarded: "I want to make my own mistakes." So I suspect you will not follow the advice I am about to give, no matter how good I think it is!
Why is it that good advice is generally recognized only in retrospect? Benjamin Franklin is reputed to have said, "A penny saved is a penny earned". Darn good advice! But reflection on my life and spending habits indicates I would be a wealthy man if only I had taken that advice to heart! Like you, I did not listen to that old, after all he lived 200 years before I was even born, what could he know about "modern" life. Besides I am different and the times are different and the circumstances are different and I know what is best for me! Right?
It is a truism of life that we can not see the future! And, for the most part, we can not envision what the future will hold. Frankly, we don't care! Young folks seem to have this innate attitude of self reliance; "I can take care of myself, I don't need your help, I will make my own decisions". We tend to listen politely to the advice of old folks and smile on the outside while laughing on the inside. We laugh because "old folks" have some unrealistic notions about life.
Knowing all this, I persist in writing these tidbits of advice. Why? Well, I love you. Plus, I am an old man and this is what makes me happy; telling young people how to live their lives. Indulge me!
Okay these are some of the pearls of wisdom I pass to you. You better listen!

Thoughts from the Winter of Life

The Cycles of Life

Spring’s bright glow of expectancy,

Summer’s wonder of growth,

Fall’s joy of the harvest,

Winter’s requirement of rest,

So goes the cycle of land,

One season gives way to the next.

The seasons of our life

shadows the same inescapable design,

The completion of one season’s task 

Is necessary for the next,

Until that season arrives when a man,

Like the land,

Must unavoidably rest.

Going Home

Sadness fills my heart.

As I anticipate death,

There are things left not done

Dreams not realized,

Fences not mended

Forgiveness’s not pursued

Feelings not expressed. 

Leaving this life of regrets

Never to be fulfilled,

I enter familiar land,

And feel the sense of completeness

For which I have longed.

My heart is overjoyed 

contemplating the ancient promise

 Of seeing My Father

And hearing His words,

Welcome Home, My Child,

Welcome Home.

Steve Jackson 

January, 2015

The Best Apples ....

Everyone can tell I love to eat. I really, really like ice cream, fried chicken, greens peas and mashed potatoes and banana pudding and steamed broccoli. Of all the foods, I like a good red juicy apple the best. You know the kind. You bite into it and it crunches between your teeth and then those cold juices hit your taste buds and sent a cool sweet taste through your mouth. Like I said, I love a good apple.

When I was nine years old, my family and I visited my grandparents in Arkansas. They lived on a farm in rural eastern Arkansas. Dad liked to go out on the farm with my granddad not so much for the work but because he and granddad had an understanding; if dad didn’t tell mom about granddad dipping snuff, dad could ride the horses. For a city boy that was pretty heady stuff. Mom and grandma worked in the kitchen making the best food in the world while drinking sweet tea and gossiping about all the relatives.

In Praise of Dreamers

I was at my cash register yesterday, when a young pretty lady (understand, at my age all females are young and pretty ladies) brought over one of the clearance ties to check out.  She asked if we had any white button down shirts that would fit her.  She also wanted a narrow, skinny, tie. Now understand, this combination of questions is not the ones I normally get from my usual customers.  My curiosity aroused, I asked her why she needed the shirt and ties. She volunteered she had just gotten a job as a server at one of our local restaurants and the dress code called for a buttoned down white shirt and a tie.

Taking a second look at the young lady and I could not help but ask, “Are you a singer or songwriter or both?”  She told me her story.  After a few dead-end jobs in her hometown of Orlando, she finally decided to pursue her dream of a career in the music business.  So she packed her bags, told her mama what she was going to do and left sunny Florida to come to Nashville. She was, indeed, a songwriter and had done some back up singing. She needed a job that gave her enough time write and meet people in the business.