I have often wondered why I am so much slower than everybody else. Could have been my upbringing (I was sickly), or delayed education (I chose travel over college in my early years), or even my propensity for independence in not wanting to take the long road if another one looked shorter. To tell the truth, some of those short roads were pretty steep.
Now I have come to a place where a lot of people got there before me by taking the easier (more normal) route. Their road might have been longer but it had signposts. Sometimes even a few helpers along the way. They definitely had a lot of company -- and companionship -- while I have been literally lost for months (even years) on end, all by myself. I have even been stalked by things that wouldn’t dare come near a good-sized group. A couple of times I thought I was dead.
Eventually, I arrived (a little battered and worse for wear) even though my colleagues' reaction to me always tends to be more startled rather than amazed. I’m working on that. Trying to mind my “P’s and Q’s.” But it isn’t a easy for someone of my age and experience. Not like it would have been in my youth. And it's been so long since I’ve driven anything, the old models are obsolete. Now, everybody’s driving things you wouldn’t believe. Or flying. Some are even coming amazingly close to time travel. Take my last six computers for instance...
Those marvelous machines could do so many things one practically had to have the brain of a jet pilot to actually take advantage of them all. Just understanding the manuals on them could take years (most people don’t even go there), and then you’d never get anything else done. Which is why I simply mastered the few things I needed for my work, and let the rest go. Who in the world has the time with life being as short as it is? You might say I contented myself with taxiing up and down the runway all those years instead of actually lifting off the ground to at least see what the thing could do. I admit I literally wore out six machines and never tested the boundaries on any of them. But no matter. As they say, a person can only chase one rabbit.
But imagine my surprise when I found out after much ranting and soul-searching (not to mention a heap of money) that my current machine actually has the capacity to diagnose its own problems and fix itself. Almost like humans. I am amazed and grateful. And totally shocked that most other people have known this for quite some years, now. At any rate, I finally have the capacity -- and know-how -- to get myself out of the ditch if I slip off the runway, again. Still not flying, though.
Wonder if I’ll ever.
What's happening on the farm today: Am finally getting into the routine of milking four goats without slaying myself. Maybe I'll actually have enough energy left over to make yogurt next week. Or maybe ice cream. Cheese is a long way off, yet, though. The girls still aren't very happy about having to share...
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