A happy heart

May 15, 2009

My heart is happy in Chautauqua as I mulch the gardens. My heart is happy as I mow the lawn. My heart is happy as I screech down the lake in the Searay 175 Series. My heart is happy as I stand at the bar of the Lakewood Rod and Gun Club and watch the people mingle and have a good time.

Then I see someone I know. “I took the buyout from The News,” I say.

“What, are you insane?” they exclaim. “I talked to Joe and he said you wouldn’t be happy because you like to be busy.”

Well, at least this person is honest, he tells it like it is.

I still think that in the long run, this was a good decision. There are bright, bright days ahead. Only the prophets will know if metropolitan newspapers collapse on themselves like dwarf stars.
So, here I am in Chautauqua. You’d think this would be the logical place to settle down, but it isn’t. There isn’t long-term happiness here, only short-term peace. My neighbors tell me so. I believe them.

I saw my “peeps” at Yesterdays in Lakewood. I came home and listened to Todd Rundgren and Jackson Browne. “Where were you when you got the picture? Where were you when it blew from every direction?”

Where will be in one year?

That is the question. Keep living like you were a 20-year-old again. That’s the key. Too many grownups. Even the “young people” are entwined in the work world. Can’t come down this weekend, bro. I have to work until 9 on Friday. Sorry.

What a bunch of unfun people we have become.

Have another Beer. No, two’s my limit. I have no limits!