“The Grandfather Clock, USS BONHEMME RICHARD, and Robert Redford.”

Saw a “Twilight Zone” last night. The 1950’s version. One about a man who was always told by his father and grandfather that the Grandfather Clock that he had, represented his life. The clock was handed down to him from generation to generation. He was told that he had to always keep it wound up. If he forgot to wind it, then the clock would wind down and his heart would stop right along with the clock. As long as he kept the clock wound, he would remain alive. The man had his clock taken away from him. The clock was sent to another home. The man was petrified that the clock would not be wound and that it would wind down and then he would die with the dying beat of the clock. So as he lay in bed, as the clock wound down, he knew he was going to die, because that is what was told to him this whole time. Only he did not. The clock wound down and he did not die. As it turned out, this whole time, they were all wrong. He realized at that very moment that his heart was beating to its own rhythm. Not dependent on anything else. I loved that “Twilight Zone” episode. I am thinking I had already wrote about another one in here, maybe….but I love the parables.
The man’s life was not dependent on anything or anyone else’s. What a thought I had as I watched that episode. I watched a documentary about Quincy Jones recently. He said, “We only got about 20,000 days here. We gotta make them all count”.
I say, more like 30,000++…
Also, I thought, how lucky we are to get older, at any age. What a gift. A boy I grew up with died at the ripe young age of 19…..Too damn young.
Someone told me, “Ryck, getting old is not for the weak”.

I am getting a Grandfather clock, but let me tell you, that damn thing will be electric and it will have backup batteries in it:)

The Ship. “Don’t give up the ship!” As we say in the Navy. The USS BONHEMME RICHARD, on fire. Blazing, uncontrolled. Sailors kept fighting the fire as the American Flag waved onboard, meanwhile, the belly of the ship was on fire. Sailors kept fighting the fire. Now the fire is out. “Don’t give up the ship!”
There is a movie named, “All is Lost” with Robert Redford. He has about one sentence in the entire movie. The movie is merely him and a sailboat. Man against nature. My favorite part of the movie is when there is bad damage to the hull of his boat and he is mending it back together, leaning over the side in his harness, slopping and mixing the glue together and lathering it in the fibers of the fiberglass hull. Forehead dripping with sweat. I don’t know what about that scene I love so much. Maybe it was because he was not willing to give up the ship yet.
I have no clue about this blog post I wrote…., what comes out, comes out….kind of like I am merely the conduit….

Love you guys!
Hot and balmy here in the D.C./Maryland/Virginia. (DMV) area of our country.
Cheers:))
Ryck.