Vacation Like You Mean It

Vacation Like You Mean It                 

By John W. Vander Velden

 

We don’t get away as often as I might like.  Now I like where I live, my house and all that, but sometimes everyday life just gets to be too much.  So I enjoy our “escapes” form this reality, and seeing new things…or maybe it’s different things that I seek for just a little while.

It took some planning to find a week when we could go south this year.  All the same it was the first year that field work did not dictate.  So we pushed the date a little later than our usual mid to late March…”spring break” time.  The internet warned when “spring breakers” would congregate.  Now I don’t mind meeting people from “everywhere”, but we love deserted beaches.  So it became the back half of April this year.  Wishing to celebrate Easter at home shortened our time.  We left the Monday after and the road part of the trip took two days.  I have never driven to Florida straight through, and I certainly was not up to that much adventure.

Tuesday afternoon found us on Santa Rosa Island on the gulf coast.  We walked the pure white sand and splashed in the emerald water.  We watched the sun paint the sky all orange and red with its departure.  Our room was on the sixth floor and had a balcony that faced that beautiful water…ooooh…ahhhh…

Now the hotel offered beach chairs and an umbrella and perhaps if we had a couple more days we would have just watched the surf and sea birds, but there were things to do.  We love lighthouses so Pensacola Lighthouse was first on our list.  Talk about new experiences, I had never been on an active military base before.  But that was where the light we sought was to be found and so we entered by the west gate. 

We strolled the grounds of the lighthouse and its museum while the “Blue Angels” put on their show.  Wow!  We watched as they streaked across a perfect blue sky.  When they finished our chance to climb arrived.  Over the years Jackie and I have climbed many lighthouses, and each is different.  This one had a tight narrow spiral staircase without landings.  So this guy that evidently had gotten out of shape had his heart racing by the time he had reached the catwalk.  But the view from the tallest lighthouse on the gulf was breathtaking.

We spent the afternoon at the Naval Aeronautics Museum just a hop-skip-away from the lighthouse.  A wonderful exhibit that reminded us of the Smithsonian.  150,000 square feet of indoor displays of aircraft some that date as far back as WW1.  A must see for anyone that has any interest in aircraft.

We returned to our room in time to watch another amazing sunset to end our first full day on the Emerald Coast.

Next week I’ll tell you about our day on Destin Harbor Walk.  Until then.

 

(492 Words)   5-27-2017  

Introspective                         

 

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Those of you that have read my Blog must recognize that I’m introspective.  I suspect I have always been so.  But in recent years I have taken more time to look…inside.  I think I understand myself better.  Well, I hope so in any case.  But I believe understanding myself helps me understand others…too.   

Most might not consider being introspective a very “macho”…masculine…harrr…uugh…grunt…time to pillage and conquer...sorta of thing.  I suppose it’s not. And looking in takes time, sometimes too much time.  But in this crazy hectic world filled with so much going on--constantly; In this outside the body social media culture we share, maybe the time looking in is not wasted--completely.  Oh I suppose, that a body can be too introspective, just like we can be too anything else.  Surely there is need for balance in all things.  Maybe I’m heavy in the internal examination part.  I know I’m heavy in the self -ridicule part.  Perhaps the two tie together sometimes.  But if it helps me understand--me--the who I am, then I’m all for it.  

You see I am my own worse critic, most people are.  And I measure myself all the time, I suspect most people do.  But I measure myself against who I should be and who I was, and that may be a bit unusual.  I respect you. I really do, but I don’t measure myself by you.  

I can’t.  

It wouldn’t be fair to you, and I try to be fair, but it wouldn’t be fair to me either. 

Because you are not me, and I am not you.  Our lives may cross, intertwine for periods of time, but our history, the whole of it, is very different.  The things you have faced are different than the things I have faced.  Though we have things in common, we do not have everything in common, for we have been shaped by the years of our lives.

Uniqueness.  The things that set us apart, make measuring one against the other purposeless--so I do my best to avoid doing it. 

But I do look inside.  I search my memories for the moments that have shaped me.  I recognize that even the blaa days mattered.  By focusing on times long ago I sharpen my memories of people I knew then. People I may not have seen for years and years.  I study how I reacted to them--most often poorly--so that if a similar situation arises I might handle it better.  Again measuring me against me. 

Now I don’t just reminisce for hours each day--that’s not me.  But there are times when I walk,--I think. Sometimes late at night when sleep avoids--I think. Or when I do some mind numbing work which requires little evolvement--I think. But this mind work occurs most often, when I sit at the keyboard.  Times, when I write ramblings of my mind like this one, or move out of my body into a character I have created.  If I do not look inside…me…how can I hope to show you the inside of those imaginary friends of mine?   

I think being introspective is a requirement of a fiction writer.  I could be wrong.  I usually am.  But even if it is not a requirement, it is a tool I use, and if you have read any of my writing you know I need to use all the tools I can get.  So I will not blame myself for being introspective. But I will not praise myself for it either.  It is part of who I am, no more, no less.  

Is it one of my strengths or weaknesses. 

Who can say?  

But I hope it opens me to feel more for others…to care when caring is not easy.  That seeing my flaws helps me overlook blemishes in others.  Maybe…maybe…. I hope so…

1-27-2017  (647 Words)

6-24-2023 (652 Words)

Luctor Et Emergo

Luctor Et Emergo          

 

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Luctor Et Emergo is the motto of the Dutch province of Zeeland.

 

Even though my aunt and uncle came from South Holland, they named their farm, “Luctor Et Emergo”.  My aunt told me it meant I struggle yet survive.  And though that is not the exact translation of the Latin phrase, for Emergo means emerge, it is close enough and seemed a fitting name of that property, considering the journey they made, all the setbacks, all the heartbreaks, that had at last culminated into the ownership of few acres in southern Michigan.  In truth I was but a spectator and for most of those trials.  I was too young to appreciate the blood and sweat poured into a dream that at last came to being.  But reaching that point did not end the difficulties…did not end the struggle.  But the struggles did not destroy them, and though it may have helped to shape who they became, it did not define them. 

No one wants difficulties.  Parents wish to protect their children from the hard realities of life.  We all hope for a better world, one that has eliminated the catastrophes we have endured.  But life…by its own definition…has struggles.  So Luctor Et Emergo should be the slogan each of us shout.  To know that struggles come, come often, try to overwhelm, do their best to destroy hopes and dreams, and sometimes succeed in doing just that.  But they do not destroy…us.  No, we are survivors. We emerge from beneath the tumbling waves that seek to devastate.  Sometimes out of those waves great things arise.  It is for us…as survivors…to stride onward strengthened by the struggle.  To move forward knowing full well that the road before us has its potholes.  But we are survivors, and more, for we have been made stronger by the struggle, and understand that dreams endure as long as breath exists.   

Yes, the battles we have endured have cut us…cut in ways others cannot see…left marks that remind of failures and the fewer hard won successes.  But those scars are symbols, metals of honor, signs that we have overcome obstacles and are still standing.  

Each day we face things planned and unplanned.  Each day there are setbacks, unexpected.  Each day difficulties rear their ugly head.  But when we reach today’s conclusion.  When we at last return to our beds and rest, let us say to ourselves, Luctor Et Emergo, for today as everyday, I have struggled but I survived.

1-26-2017  (417 Words)

 

 

 

Spokes

Spokes

By John W. Vander Velden

 

 

Even the spokes of a bicycle wheel have their purpose.

We might think the most important part of a bicycle wheel is the tire.  Those of us that have had to deal with flats might agree.  It is the obvious…you know… “where the rubber meets the road”.  The tire seems important.  Life is like that.  There are people that we notice, important people.  How easily we overlook all the others as we categorize the populace.  But if I were to go the store and buy a bicycle tire…just the tire…how far would that take me?  For the tire would be nothing without the tube inside to hold the air.  And the tire and tube would be of little value without a rim to mount it on.  It becomes a “this bone is connected to that bone” kinda’ thing doesn’t it?

That’s the point.  Every part of a bicycle has its purpose…even something as simple as the spoke.  And though I have ridden a bike with a broken spoke, the wobble in that front wheel proved that the loss of even one spoke mattered.

If each spoke matters to a mechanism like a bicycle, doesn’t each person matter to the greater mechanism, the human race?

Life sweeps us along, and we do not notice our place in that grand piece of machinery.  We do our jobs, take care of our families, pay our taxes, just live, and by doing so never recognize our contribution to the larger picture.  We are like bicycle spokes…perhaps unnoticed, but vital.  Each of us has a unique purpose, a purpose that only one person can fill.  Each of us must find what that purpose is…at this particular time.  For our purpose changes during this journey we call life, and we need to accept those changes in order to move ever forward.  We need to recognize our place, not only in our small portion of the world, but in the larger community.  For our purpose must be greater than our own household, our own friends and family.  For we are the spoke and the wheel needs us, and the wheel is but part of the whole world and all that fill it.  Each has a purpose, a need that only that person can fill.

(382 Words)  3-25-2017

 

Years and Years

 

Years and Years  

               

By John W. Vander Velden

 

 

 

Years and years ago, they began this journey,

Having no idea where this new and frightening path would lead.

 

Years and years ago they could not see the pain and disappointments,

The loss, the illnesses, the failures they were forced to face.

 

Years and years ago they could not imagine

All the wonders and magic found within ordinary days.

Nor anticipate the amazing mountain peaks

Of life’s grand vistas.

 

Years and years ago, they began this journey

And now stand near their destination.

 

Memories, the good, the bad,

The trail taken, the road avoided.

 

Years and years ago they began a shared adventure,

Called life….

 

(105 Words)  10-1-2016

 

 

The Optimist

The Optimist

By John W. Vander Velden                

 

I would consider myself an optimist.  I think being an optimist is a good thing.  It means that you are hopeful about what lies before you.  Seeing the better, if not the best, drives me to trust others.  But being an optimist carries a price…and sometimes that price is high.  For seldom do things follow the perfect path and often optimism leads to disappointment.  Disappointment leads to questions, questions about many things, but most often whether my hopes have been well placed to begin with.

I am not a fool, or at least I hope I am not a fool.  During those times I have been crushed, I recognized that hopes and reality rarely mesh completely.  Yet, I continue to hope for the best but remain certain I will have to settle for what comes.  Seems a bit ridiculous doesn’t it?  Maybe it is.  But, to me, it beats the alternative.  Should I expect disaster on every turn and be surprised when destruction does not come?  Would living in such a “dark cloud” improve my daily life?  Yes, living so would eliminate the moments of disappointments, but would not everyday be filled with depressed feelings of a world filled with impossibilities.

That type of existence does not seem a “living life to the fullest” kinda’ life.  But perhaps I understand that darkness more than others.  For though I would call myself an optimist, I deal with a chronic darkness.  Few would know that facet of my health.  I do not mention this weakness for sympathy or some misplaced honor, but rather as a statement of fact…it is something I have to deal with every day.  Everyone has battles they face, unknown to all but their closest, and this is one of mine.

Perhaps optimism fuels depression.  Who can say?  Perhaps feeling deeply about things fuels it.  I couldn’t tell you.  But I am an optimist.  I hope for things that seem beyond the normal range of possibility…even though I understand those results are unlikely.  Optimism sees the candle in a dark room.  Pessimism stands near that small light and only sees the blackness.  Which would you prefer to be? 

I see God in what others might believe a cold dark world.  If that is the only light I see…then let me be the optimist!

(387 Words)  3-7-2017

 

 

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Eight

By John W. Vander Velden

In life, most of us would like things to stay as they are.  But life is not stagnant.  For if life remained puddled and un-changing then perhaps after a time it too, like a pool of standing water, would lose the very vibrancy we need. 

There are the changes most profound in our lives, and the binding of my life to another ranks high on that list.  But looking back…and remembering…I can still see that day clearly.  A snowy cold March day.  I remember the snow blowing across US 6, thin white wisps skittering from left to right as Jim and I drove to the church.  The hours standing in a small noisy Sunday School room, the excitement and tension that filled the space I shared with family members and Gerrit, my closest friend.  Strange that on that afternoon someone else would become my closest friend.  Not that I don’t think the world of Gerrit, but he would understand, it’s the way it should be.  Like I said life’s changes.

Much of that day is a blur of hours and events.  But I remember how I felt then…how seriously I took the significance of that day.  To me the vows taken then were forever… Frightening isn’t it.  I think it should be.  I remember waiting at the front of the church for a beautiful woman.  A woman that for whatever reason, foolishly agreed to tie her life to mine.  I remember her trembling lips and all I wanted to do was let her know everything would be alright.  But I was not so young or naïve that I could, in all honesty, make such a promise.  For I understood that in life things change, and no one could guarantee the perfection of smooth sailing in our future.  All I could do was promise that no matter what, we would face…the whatever…together.

That was the promise I made that day.  That is the promise I make each day.  That one plus one is so much more than two.  And a truly bound couple is a force to be reckoned with.

But today I must convince myself it has been twenty-eight years.  Surely it cannot be. 

Wasn’t it just....

Well, no….I guess it wasn’t…

But when I allow myself to think about all the things we faced, all the challenges, all the problems overcome, all the wonderful times, all the things we have done and seen together…well then…I guess…yes, it has.

Life continues to change, and we continue to grow with those changes.  I still cannot promise that everything will be alright, that the future is all blue skies and songbirds.  But I cannot imagine facing… the whatever…without Jackie at my side and am grateful I don’t have to.

So I wish my beloved, Happy Anniversary, and state here and now, that she is the best thing that has entered into my changing life.  Together, my love, together we have all the years that God gives us.  Together we can face any changes that lie ahead.  Together we can look past storm clouds to the rainbow that will come.  For twenty-eight is but the beginning…

(534 Words)  3-16-2017