One Minute You’re Young, The Next You’re Joining AARP
No more than a few days after I told my wife, I haven’t gotten my AARP invitation yet! it arrived in my inbox. They must be listening. As all of my friends are turning fifty this year I’ve seen a lot of social media posts about joining. It’s such a strange feeling joining the esteemed American Association of Retired Persons at my age but there are perks and I won’t be the least bit embarrassed to use them. I’ve already warned my family and friends not to be harassing me for my awesome discounts.
My eighty-three year old aunt tells me even at her age she feels the same way inside as she did when she was in her twenties but she wonders who the old woman in the mirror is. I'm beginning to see how that could be possible. I don't know what it is but suddenly I have the overwhelming urge to hit a buffet at 4:30 in the afternoon and gorge myself on jello salads. I kid.
Uncle Midge
I found this photo while rummaging through old pictures the other day. Curtis Walton (Uncle Midge) was technically my father’s uncle but he was grandfather to me. I had no idea why everyone called him “Midge” but all of his friends and brothers had nicknames. To say he had a colorful life is an understatement.
My paternal grandfather died of stomach cancer in the early 1940’s when my dad was around three years old. After this, my great uncle Midge became a sort of surrogate father/mentor to my dad and helped to give him direction.
My uncle wore a newsboy cap whenever he stepped outside and would fight at the drop of a dime. During Prohibition, he ran moonshine. After that he made his living as a roofer until an unfortunate fall from a roof forced him into early retirement. He always lived in the worst parts of Columbus.
We spent nearly every Sunday with him when I was a child. Stepping into his house was like going back to the 1940’s. He preferred his old vacuum tube radio to television. His wife made some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten in my life, I mean good enough to put KFC or Popeye’s to shame. He was a man who was rough around the edges but had a very good heart and definitely knew how to survive. I wrote this poem a few years ago in his honor.
Your life was hard
but it was honest,
full of simple pleasures
like…
listening to the Red’s game
playing on the old Sylvania radio
with a cold Stroh’s
and plug of Redman
tucked away in your cheek
I remember the scent
of wintergreen chewing
tobacco and Old Spice
and how you joked
that the roaches
that scurried up
and down your walls
were like old friends
and you didn’t know
what you’d be
lonely without them,
Some laugh
at your kind of living,
you always said you preferred
a life on skid row
to living in a mansion
because the poor
could only steal your money
but the rich and the greedy,
they could steal your soul.
Ahem, Speaking of Poems
I give you the cover of my new book Ephemera! The image in the center will be larger in the final version but this is pretty much what it will look like. What do you think? I can’t stop looking at it. My wife and I are actually going to have the image printed on canvas and we’re going to hang it on our wall.
I’m working putting the final touches on a very special contest for the book launch. Hint...it will be FUN and will involve cryptocurrency. I’ll have more information, including a publication date, to share with you soon!
From the Book's Back Cover:
"Poetry should move us, it should change us, it should glitch our brains, shift our moods to another frequency. Poetry should evoke feelings of melancholy, whimsy, it should remind us what it feels like to be in love, or cause us to think about something in a completely different way. I view poetry, and all art really, is a temporary and fragile bridge between our world and a more pure and refined one. This is a world we could bring into creation if enough of us believed in it. This book is ephemera, destined to end up forgotten, lingering on some dusty shelf or tucked away in a dark attic. Yet the words, they will live on in memory. I hope these words become a part of you, bubble up into your memory when you least expect them to and make you feel a little more alive."
Happy Birthday, Raymi!
Last but not least I’d like to wish my lovely wife a wonderful birthday! This woman is my soulmate, my partner in all things, and my largest supporter. She puts up with me and all of my wild dreams. I’m looking forward to resuming our travels very soon, beautiful, we have a lot of time to make up for! What a wonderful and wild ride it’s been so far. I love you!
--
All for now.
With Gratitude,
Eric Vance Walton
Most of us have experienced a moment of perfect peace at least once in our lives. In these moments we lose ourselves and feel connected to everything. I call these mindful moments. Words can’t describe how complete they make us feel.
These moments are usually fragile, evaporating in seconds. What if there was a way to train your mind to experience more of them? It’s deceptively easy and requires nothing more than a subtle shift in mindset. My new book, Mindful Moments, will teach you to be much more content despite the chaos and imperfect circumstances continuing to unfold around you. Upgrade your life experience today for only $15.99 on Amazon.com.