Late Bloomers

The Carolina asters are just starting to bloom, and here it is, nearly the end of September. It’s a nice bonus for the hummingbirds as they start their southward journey.

Late bloomers aren’t forgetful or lopsided—we are merely timeline-challenged. After all, I didn’t walk until I was nearly three years old. I learned to ride a bicycle a couple of years after my contemporaries did. I got my driver’s license at seventeen. At sixty-seven, I published my first book.

For every yin there is a yang. I read from Daddy’s law books at the age of five (yes, I asked him about some of the big words). By the time I hit eight, my teachers were urging me to become a writer when I grew up. I told them I needed to have something to write about, first, and embarked that year on a lifetime of adventure.

In my childhood and teen years, I explored the natural world around me, on foot and by bicycle. The ocean, mountains, and desert beckoned me, and I even checked out a few cities. I graduated from forestry school at twenty-one and pedaled my butt across Europe on my bicycle. Afterwards, I disappeared into the northern Idaho woods and emerged a few years later with a new perspective.

Adventures multiplied. Writing for newspapers and magazines provided me ways to share those stories. Mostly, though, I kept myself too busy to write.

Now, since retirement, I find myself still on the “busy wagon,” volunteering for many worthy causes and playing catch-up with daunting household projects. I’ve got at least four more books inside my head, and they are screaming to get out. I’m not going to live forever, so I need to prioritize.

My new challenge is focus. It doesn’t help that the world is currently in a sad state. Distractions abound. There is much happening that I can do little to alleviate. I’ve vowed to help how I can and where I can, but not to let helplessness and dismay overcome me. I’ve cut back on consuming the news (doom-scrolling), while still paying enough attention to know what’s happening. I am reducing the amount of time I devote to volunteer activities, while still maintaining a useful presence. My term on the board of the community theater ends in December; I will continue to volunteer as an usher or a greeter when time allows. I no longer sing in the church choir, but I write a few articles for the newsletter. That’s all part of focusing, not quitting.

We’ll see how it goes. The proof will be in the pudding, as the saying goes, or (in my case) when that next book pops out.

Image by S. G. Benson
#latebloomer #priorities #yinyang