Monday, July 21, 2008

"Am I Blue?" by Grandpa Jim

Seems to me there's an old song by that name. Anyone know? I'm in a quandary and could use some advice. Have my e-mail contacts switched to view the blog? (The former is a lot less than normal, recently.) Or is it the summer doldrums? Or does it matter? (At times, I feel like I'm "talking" to myself on this site.)

One thing occurs to me, and that is that those who are visiting my blog are too young? Maybe you have to be 70 or 80 to know how painful it is to have unanswered, ancestral questions. Maybe you have to be 50 or 60 to care about 75-year-old history. And that's OK if that's the way it is. Maybe I'm just dreaming (and several people have told me I'm a dreamer) to think that anyone writes anymore.

When I was teaching (and I've been retired for 26 years!) I used to encourage students to "keep a journal." In those days, there was pretty good interest, but not as much as in the earlier years.

I really regret that I didn't keep one when I was in the navy. (I used to dive off the conning tower during swim sessions and I can't recall how high that was. I really think it was in the vicinity of 30 or 35 feet or more. There were times, when I was at the deepest point of the dive, that I could see under the ship and I occasionally wondered if I could continue on and swim over to the other side. BUT...it was just too risky to try. Hitting the water took away some breath and some energy, there was the matter of turning around, and if I COULDN'T make it, of course...)

If I had a journal from those days, I could recall, in more detail, the thrill of those dives.

Almost 800 people have visited the blog. Maybe I should just accept that as encouragement?

2 comments:

Mrs said...

Hey GJ! Just keep writing, and we'll keep reading! I've just returned from summer camp myself and have a story in the back of my head that I'd like for you to post. I'll make sure I send it soon!

Sarah said...

Hi Grandpa Jim. Sorry it's getting a slow kick-off. Sometimes it's that way in the blogging world... I was thinking about your question about whether the younger people are writing these days, and I'd have to say that many are. Blogging has become a very real kind of journaling. I've read quite a few different blogs and it is a wonderful way for people to record their thoughts and feelings about many different aspects of life. Some are about farm life, some are about motherhood, some are about loss and grieving. Most are just the day to day stuff of life. And I have found many gifted writers along the way. The most discouraging thing for all bloggers is the lack of feedback. Unfortunately there are always more people who read than comment. Hang in there. It can often be a slow process to get people involved. Thanks for all that you write! Love you, Sarah