What a remarkable difference



has made.
50 YEARS
     FIFTY YEARS AGO (when I was in college)                                               NOW  (after all that I've learned in LIFE)
I looked like this:














And, I drove a used Mercedes










At the end of the month I had $.37 in the bank
and I never gave money a thought.

I played no musical instruments

I screwed around on the one woman who trusted me

I was inward and awkward and pretty sure everybody else on
earth could get along quite well without me

I had ONE real friend and almost no acquaintances


I smoked a little dope on occasion

I studied visual perception with an all-consuming passion
My greatest desire was to paint

I was pretty sure I'd be dead in three or four years

I had no pets

I had NO marketable skills
I spoke no foreign languages

I proudly held no membership in any organization

I won no awards

I aspired to become a writer


I thought I knew what politics was about and wanted
NOTHING to do with it

I believed in a benevolent God

I had absolutely NO idea what Life was about.

I thought birds were interesting creatures.

For some reason, I often worried about tire pressure.
I look like this:














And, I drive a used Mercedes










At the end of the month I have $3.72 in the bank
and I worry about money EVERY minute of every single passing day

I screw around (whenever I can) on a ukulele and a cello

I am married and have no interest whatsoever in any other woman

I am inward and awkward and everyone else on earth seems to be
getting along quite well without me

I have (I believe) maybe seven real friends and countless people
who would consider me an acquaintance

I drink a glass or two of red wine on occasion

I casually study French,18th century, square-rigged ships
My greatest desire is to write

I'm pretty sure I'll be dead in three or four years

My wife has a truly (TRULY) wonderful dog and a weird little cat

I have NO marketable skills
I understand much more French than my father-in-law apparently
knows
I gladly hold no membership in any organization

I once won an award for publishing a blues magazine

I aspire to spending as much time as I can with my delightful wife
in our small cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains

I KNOW what politics is about and want nothing to do with it

I believe that God is either cruel or indifferent, and that based
entirely on the horrors rampant in this world.

I have absolutely NO idea whatsoever what life is about.

I still think birds are interesting creatures.

For some reason, I still, frequently, think about tire pressure but,
these days, my car does the worrying for me.
2017