Monday Musings – 1 January 2024

“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” —Franz Kafka

Milestone birthdays tend to end in “0”. When I turned 70, my friends and family made a big deal of it. If I survive to 80, I suppose I’ll be honored for that, too. But this year I’ll celebrate my 75th birthday and having lived ¾ of a century seems a worthwhile time for reflection.

Last year, I read the obituaries of friends and colleagues like Robert Belloir (one of my basketball teammates at Mercer University) and Terry Maple (A fellow zoo director who resurrected Zoo Atlanta in the 1980s). They were in their 70s, so their passing hit close to home.

I am thankful to be enjoying my retirement and the time it affords me to write, because I still have plenty to say. So, in 2024 (my 75th time around the sun), I’m going to share some thoughts about the world from an old white guy’s perspective. But I’m not one of those bitter old white guys who misses the good old days. I’m a happy old white guy who’s tired of hearing from angry, entitled people who hate the government, hate immigrants, and hate people of color. I want to love my neighbor and see the beauty in the world. My anthem will be one of my favorite Alan Jackson songs: Things that Matter, (and Things that Don’t). Give it a listen and you’ll hear what I’m talking about.

This year, I’m looking for a publisher for two more books—a non-fiction book (a collection of essays I wrote for the Albany Herald newspaper) and a third novel to complete my trilogy. I look forward to exploring metro-Atlanta on my bicycle, watching my wife’s garden bloom in the spring, and the million times I will say, “Damn, I sure didn’t see that coming.”

So, here’s to 2024. Let’s get out and see the beauty and appreciate the things that matter.

HAPPY NEW YEAR