Why would a very busy man, nearing his 55th birthday, decide to undertake a blog? Is it that I have nothing else to do? Is it that I think I have something to say? Am I bored? (Answers: no, yes, no).
My father was a great thinker and far more disciplined than I could ever hope to be. When he died, I collected his journals...probably 20 years worth of writings in 100 page spiral notebooks that he purchased in bulk from Walmart. Dad would write daily...usually nothing too profound (weather, his weight, what he planned to do for the day)...rarely would he write things of substance. I actually have a diary that he kept as a young sailor in the 1940s (US Coast Guard) that has some interesting tidbits, but those are probably best left within the fading and decaying pages of the leather book. When I turned 50 I decided it was time that I too start to keep a "log." And so, for nearly five years, I have dutifully recorded the day to day happenings of my world. Though more concise and legible than my father's journal, my musings too lack any value to anyone else. I began to question why I was spending time documenting the mundane. About the same time, Paige said that she knew what she wanted for her birthday....I was expecting something like a new camera lens, but she floored me and said "Dad, I want your thoughts. You don't write me enough letters." How true her words are, and while I have tried to write all of our children more handwritten letters, it seems to me that some of my thoughts, those stories, and those memories, should be chronicled in a more modern fashion..so that not only our children could have them as a reference, but also my nieces, nephews, and others. Do I believe I have some things worthy of sharing? Others will be the judge of that. I simply want to get these thoughts down in a dependable way so that when my time here is done, be it 40 days, 40 weeks, 40 months, or more optimistically, 40 years, there will not be a paucity of my thoughts. So the "Focus on Forty" blog will be a combination of personal stories, essays, thoughts, and ideas. And remember, no one makes you come and read my words...you are as free to leave as you are to come. I make no apologies for the words within these pages. I have suppressed comments as this is not a forum for debate or discussion (these will be linked to my Facebook page where discussions can be held). These are simply things that I think important, interesting, or otherwise.
