Trek Around the Sun

 

 

Trek Around the Sun

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Perhaps each week has commonalities. A repeat of named days following in the exact same order. Weeks that have common patterns we must follow, each nearly a photocopy of the last. One day just following another.

But I, for one, never thought of weeks or days either, in that manner. I will not say I have always been excited by each morning’s arrival, or that I haven’t at times allowed days and even weeks to blend together. For I have. But my profession gave me a bit different perspective than others might have. For being tied to soil, crop, and livestock, to live a life controlled by weather and season, presented each day as unique. Perhaps the differences might be so subtle, but at times, one day could be dramatically different. A sudden thunderstorm, perhaps, a difficult caving, a broken piece of equipment. My life was like that, at times, unpredictable.

 Perhaps it was this week that drives my thoughts in these particular musings. For on this week, I have successfully ridden this globe for seventy-one treks about the sun. Perhaps once I thought that seventy-one was a large number when it was associated with a person’s age. There are times I still do, when aching joints and weakening muscles remind me of my body’s condition. But looking back―looking back the years seem but a fleeting moment.

Changes in my life’s obligations, offer me a greater opportunity to look back. Give me time to consider my past. No, I don’t sit in my rocker, chew on a stem of grass with a cup of coffee in my hand and just reminisce. I’m too busy for that. Perhaps one day, but that version of life doesn’t really appeal to me. But as I ride this globe on yet another circuit, I do at times remember. And in those moments, I find it unbelievable that I have the number seventy-one attached to years of my existence.

How could it be?

Why only yesterday…

Well, I guess not yesterday, but it was not all that long ago.

It can’t be that long ago. I mean, it doesn’t seem possible.

But times when I dig back through my photo stock, when I see images of the places that Jackie and I have gone, reminders of the adventures we have shared, then yes, it has been that long. So, I must admit, at least to myself, that I have had quite a run. Riding this planet year after year, has been and continues to be filled with events. Some of those events may stand out more than others, but each a part of my life. And though I might categorize them by how I felt at the time, some wonderful, and others not so much, I will acknowledge that each one was necessary. Every one of the more than 49,099 days I have ridden this planet, has done its part to make me the man I am. A different man than the one I was only yesterday, and I expect to be a different than the man tomorrow.

For I am changed by life’s experiences.

And that excites me.

For I know that God isn’t done with me yet. He continues to mold me for the tasks yet unseen. And with his help I will stride forward with the energy that remains, and face the challenges ahead, and try not to be too critical of my past missteps. With God’s help perhaps one day I will come to accept myself as I am, yet always striving to become just a little bit better than I was. That I try, to find ways to share the love God has so freely given me, with others. To become the best husband, father, neighbor, and friend I can be.

Yes, you see, I’m on trek ride around the sun, a and fortunately I do not travel alone.

     (648 Words) 2-11-2023