OPINION? EVERYBODY HAS ONE

Live till you die!

Howdy in the year of 2012. I have trouble saying that year date. How in the heck that came up anyway, I will never get. I was about to get used to the 1990s when all of a sudden it was 2000. Time just rolls on, doesn’t it?

The passage of time reminds us that we are not immortal, nothing lasts forever on this earth and it is not connected with how smart, powerful or rich you are. Everything and everyone will finally crumble. Jesse James had a tombstone that stood eight feet tall and it has been chipped away to a little round rock. Look at what a little water carved out in the west. They call it a Grand Canyon.

There are good things to think about when discussing the demise of mankind. If a feller could live on and on, what a wretched old world this would be. The wheelchairs and walkers, hospital beds and potty chairs would cover theearth. Life and living can be two different things.

I am living and hopefully you are too. I enjoy sunrises and cutting horses, Grands and pie. I enjoy looking at the newspaper, drinking a little coffee at the emporium with the fellers and watching calves jump stiff-legged at each other. I also get head colds, sore knees and my back hurts but I know I am living.

I breathed in cold air this morning as I did the barn chores. My hands are rough and weather-worn and my nose might be sorta crooked and red but it feels good to suck in fresh air, fill my lungs with air that hasn’t already been inhaled and exhaled by several others. Living big is what most of us in the cattle business do. We are generally broke, sport lots of scars and hobble around after the age of 30 but we are doing what we like and living grandly.

My close relative providesthe family with tales of humor, loving kindness and terror. She is a living person, alive to the bone. She makes sure she enjoys all she does, smiles at the pile of dirty clothes, dirt in the dustpan and hums along as she cooks up meals for me and whoever puts their feet under her table. When she is being funny, you have to laugh - required by the innermost of your being. I’m awed by her kindness; she brings me to my spiritual knees. She is a terror herself when she is scared and that is the truth. She isn’t afraid of much but, when she is, look out! Yes, she is living.

It is my opinion, and everyone has one, watching children play and noting the exuberance they brandish should encourage us to approach each and every day like them. We miss a tremendous amount of life and living by complaining, being angry or not caring. I believe my New Year’s resolution is to continue living until I die! It can be yours, it is good medicine and does not require a membership to a gym!

Bill is a pen name used by the Gravette author of this weekly column.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/11/2012