The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: lessons

  • Maturing as a Species

    It would be easy to write a post about the many stupidities that mankind is capable of. We still have a long way to go. But most of us have managed to emotionally, ethically or intellectually evolve, at least somewhat. In ancient Rome, it used to be perfectly acceptable to leave unwanted babies on the…

  • Who You Were

    I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that I’m not who I was as a teenager. Sure, I have many things in common with that girl, but frankly I don’t think I’d want to be stuck on an elevator with her. She was so dramatic it exhausts me to think about…

  • A Hitch in My Giddy-Up

    Yep. I’m getting old. I have slight arthritis in my hips, and some mornings it feels as though they’re not going to support my weight for a few seconds there. Rather than a morning smoker’s hack (the sound of my mother’s made me a nonsmoker for life), I have a morning hobble and groan. I’ve…

  • Shame, in Retrospect

    I know a few people who are embarrassed about the way they lived in the past. Conservatives who once were hippies (Personally, I don’t see the shame in being a hippy, but to each his own), peace activists who served in times of war, survivors of multiple marriages, former cult members who have since come…

  • Least Favorite

    I just finished doing the least glamorous, most disgusting part of my job. I spent an hour getting cigarette butts off the sidewalks and bike lanes of my bridge. So many thoughts go through my head while I do this. Smoking is a disgusting habit, compounded by the fact that these butt-throwers clearly have no…

  • Feeling Helpless

    I’ve always admired people who have a strong sense of faith. Whether that translates into religious belief or just an unshakable sense that everything’s going to be all right, it’s just not something that I possess as a general rule. Most of the time that’s fine. The only time it’s bad is when things are…

  • Sorry to See You Go

    I’ve pretty much worked or gone to school or both for 46 years now. I’ve met a lot of amazing people that way. Some have become lifelong friends. Some have taught me some pretty profound life lessons. All have shown me the diversity of humanity. It is a shame that not every teacher in one’s…

  • Life Begins at 50

    I’ve spent much of my life fearing the passage of time. I wasn’t obsessed with the topic, but I didn’t want to get older, that was for sure. What a waste of energy that fear was. First of all, aging is inevitable. All the plastic surgery and vitamins and exercise in the world isn’t going…

  • Lessons I Should Have Learned Way Before Age 50

    This has been a year of great change and great learning for me. I’m starting completely over at 50, and that creates a unique set of challenges. It also allows for a unique set of insights. Here are a few things that I’m finally starting to figure out this year that I wish I had…

  • The Zen of the Pottery Wheel

    I took a pottery class this semester at the local community college, and I loved it. It went by way too fast. I did pick up some pottery skills, but I’m using the word “skill” in its very broadest sense here. At best, I can be considered part of the primitive school. But the most…