Some people ask why I write. There are a variety of reasons. I really do like to ponder. I like to look at possibilities. I like to have dreams. I like to cry. It helps me to feel human. Most of all I just love to communicate.

A golf pro once said it is not the outcome but the process. I guess that has been said a number of different ways. I have fallen in to the deep dark caves of the past and the future. I have rued misdeeds and wasted moments. Sometimes I have focused so much on the future, I have forgotten the present.

I try to make sense of our world. I try to understand people and situations. On my own little scoreboard I don’t look for genius or brilliance. I just look for those that are more often right than wrong. I treasure any one who can open up to me or others. I am constantly mystified by the potential of man…and woman.

I wish I knew how to play an instrument. Notes and chords get to my soul. I am tickled by a fabulous singer but sometimes more so by the arrangement of the conductor. I love a big band. A jazz piano. If I am in the car and hear Bob Seger or Fleetwood Mac, I turn it up so the windows vibrate.

I wish I knew how to paint. My daughter Lindsey is a marvelous painter. She sits down and just lets loose. Sometimes I say why don’t you paint this or that and she gives me the look…and it ain’t good.

I now have Buddha Board on my desk compliments of my daughter in law, Dionne. You have a brush and water and just paint. When the water evaporates you have a clean slate once again. It’s kind of like a Rorshach test that disappears. Good thing.

I wish I could tell you how I am going to spend my day. I envy my buddies that have so much to do that they plan weeks and months ahead. I plan by the hour. There is an air of adventure as I sometimes just take off without a clue where my wanderings will take me. Creative or clueless? Your choice.

I really enjoy cruising on a ship. When Kath and I took our first one the over/under on me lasting on the one week cruise was not good. Actually it was a pretty big ship and if you couldn’t keep your mind busy, you didn’t have one.

I like to take a problem and find a solution. I break things down into small parts. The dilemma is a lot easier to attack that way. I can usually come up with something, no matter how hairbrained it is. I write on the politics of our nation because the inanity is so evident.

My main problem is following through. I used to have a book, “50 Great Ideas I Haven’t Done Squat About”. I think I lost that too. Oh well, I must have some sort of strange disease I can blame it on.

I wish in some ways I had been a teacher. I love young people. I would probably be an easy A. There would be more BS than substance but then again isn’t that what life is all about. I would be asking more questions of them than they would of me.

I truly enjoy public speaking. If I am on my game I really get the crowd to listen. I try to show my emotion and soul to help them as they search for theirs. I have spoken on depression. I have spoken on God. I have spoken on life. On death. I am pretty good at eulogies, so feel free to sign me up.

When I write I like to tell you sometimes of my world as I have done above. I try to put a little bit of myself on my paper. Once again not to lecture but to share. I hope it hit’s a deep emotion or a random thought within you. I hope it is just like we are talking together.

Looking at the previous part of this message I guess I do fancy myself a musician. An artist. A teacher. A wanderer. Maybe an inventor. Maybe a philosopher. A singer of sorts. Maybe my way of song is writing.

Carpe Diem. Be in the moment. Build your Bucket List, no matter how young or old you are. Take a flyer. Just goof off. Act zany. Sing in the shower. Life’s too short. Maybe I will see you along the way. Talk to you soon.

As always

Ted The Great