“The Sunshine Room”

     On consistently cloudy days outside, on dreary wintry days, on ‘bad news’ days, it would be nice to have a ‘sunshine room.’ In our rapidly expanding digital and technological world, there is likely already a relatively simple mechanism of sorts that will illuminate a room, maybe an entire house, as though the sun was present … maybe a ceiling fixture, a wall addition, a window covering, et al. If not clear by now, I’m a sun worshiper. That’s one of the reasons I live at this latitude on the Sea of Cortez. There is sunshine every single day. Some clouds may drift by on their way to a final destination but sooner of later the sunshine is there in a beautiful blue sky.

     Sunshine is important to me because of my make-up. The older I get, the more I see in our growing world, there is this tendency to become gilded in my thinking. Those folks who lean toward the liberal side might not like me too much for my views. That’s okay because there are times when I don’t like them too much. However, I do respect my liberal friends and sometimes think I’m missing something in their political and social comments. In fact, in my younger years I was more inclined to hold liberal views. Somehow, I had a change of mind along the way. Perhaps my perceptions are too simple, just too bound in historical clashes and events to think in any other way. I think about the fall of the Roman Empire, its laxity on the social issues. I think about how one man could master a large segment of the human race and murder over six million people. I think about Stalin, Russia, the purges, and the slaughters of millions. I think, in some ways, I’m seeing history repeat itself, maybe not so much for me, an old dog not able or willing to learn new tricks, but for my kids, my grandkids, and my great-grandkids.

     Look, I’m no scholar who can spout off the words of the US Constitution, its Amendments, or the Declaration of Independence, but those important papers brought us to a grand place in the history of humankind. Those documents said that people can have liberty, are free to go out into the world and be all that they can be, based on their honest efforts and their brain power. I don’t have to be a scholar to know that most of the people in the world would like that scenario. Yes, we’re all created equal at birth but it doesn’t stay that way. Some of us don’t learn as fast as others. Some of us are ambitious. Some are lazy and try to figure easy ways to live off others’ toil. Some are handicapped, need and should get help from a caring nation … ‘Equality’ means different things to different people. How can a diverse nation (or, world) live up to the word, ’equality,’ when the word was meant to convey our right at birth. Where is the fairness for someone who has an idea, grows that idea into a major business where he hires people, gives them work for their daily bread, only to be regulated by a government with a long list of do and don’t. Should it not be simple enough for a vigorous person with a business idea to pursue that idea without fear of what his government is going to take from him? Should not a tax code be simple enough for everyone to understand without having thousands of pages of regulations? Should not a person expect to die and leave his legacy to family without having the government take a large chunk of his estate? Should not ‘entitlements’ be the exception and not the rule? Was the government meant to be so intrusive in our lives? Did not those beautiful documents from our forefathers postulate what the essential roles of our government branches should be? It seems to this wary and weary old dog that, through the years, we have cleverly rearranged with our fancy legalized posturing the true meaning of those documents.

     So, many can justifiably counter my simple remarks here, but they are honest thoughts. There are at work in this nation and this world forces that are focused on undermining our religious and social freedoms. These forces are evil, treacherous, and they are here in large numbers. These ramblings of an old man will have no effect on this evil. These words are but a Sunday morning sermon on our times.

     In any event, I’ve clearly exposed myself. That’s okay! Most of you who have read some of my posts clearly know that I’m an anachronism, a conservative, a traditionalist, whatever the convenient word. Well, that’s all I can be! My DNA lines up that way. I’m a helpless, hopeless, wanderer in this land of ‘machines’ and madness. I’m not much of a debater, so those who lean the other way can punch all the holes you wish into my little dissertation here.

     Hopefully, I can sell people on the idea that I do try to adapt, to learn new tricks and new ways to please the newer order. There is clearly a newer order! Having lived this long, I see our new ‘machines of progress’ and I see new problems to go along with the old problems. In my vision it is natural for me to see old mistakes from my generation being repeated — you know, that ‘history repeating itself’ thing. It is natural for old fools like me to see new free-thinking people wanting a world community at any expense, at the expense perhaps of the freedom and liberty some forty old timers like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, William Blount, and others all in harmony felt would connect a country’s people. That ‘Constitution’ these great people of history signed was to be the blueprint for not just our country but for any country who held dear the ideals that went into that document. Amendments were added, and the road was perilous then as it is now … But, wow! what a great blueprint for a country to have!

     The world changes. Knowledge explodes into rich new innovations and inventions. So, why can’t we all be on the same page in history? We know the answer, of course. The old fools collide with the new fools! It becomes more and more difficult to find consensus on this or on that. Different times? Different political persuasions? Different World views? Do any of us know who is who and what is what anymore? So much to absorb and so many machines!
 
     I no doubt spend too much time in the ruminating room — those ‘good old days’ cannot be retrieved or altered. At least, some of us think they were good old days. So, this old fool just might as well watch the world do its thing and make an idle comment here and there…

     While I’m at it, here are a few more of those idle comments:

     1) The music of today ‘sucks’ (to use the vernacular)! It's too damned loud and the lyrics are lost in the mighty cacophonous
screeching of brass, drums, strings, et al. 
 
      2) We’re repeating some of the same mistakes today that brought much trouble in our history; we don't seem to learn!

     3) Technology has created too many horrific 'gang and war games' to fill our kids' minds; there is too much laxity of control on the part of parents; today's games are not necessarily 'Cowboys and Indians,' tag, and hide and seek.
 
     4) We are an ‘over-reaction’ nation: we have some beautiful children killed and we suddenly want to amend and/or make new laws; maybe the gun laws do need some modifying --- we must care and act!
 
     5) Each side of the political spectrum uses tragedy for their agendas when all must know , should know, we can never stop all the evil that lurks in our world.
 
      6) We should be sane and sensible, change things that can make a difference, and understand that there are some things that cannot be changed; 'We' and 'sane' and 'sensible' are the operative words.

     7) Guns do not kill people — people kill people and those who are evil will find ways to carry out their evil intents …

     There are many other idle comments I could make, and they are negative. People want positive, reassuring, words of promise. They want answers and problem solving. Our scientific and technological knowledge is exploding, doubling, tripling, in relatively short intervals. There is so much to absorb, of which to be aware, that we ordinary citizens stumble over it all. We are bewildered, confused, but, then, Google will help us find an answer. We go on with our lives because that is what we are to do.

     Sound political? Not intended. (Well, maybe a little!) Just looking at serious minutia roaming around in my head … back in my day, we had a sniper killing off students at the University of Texas in Austin; we had the Kent State riots; we had Charlie Manson and his ‘helter-skelter’ crew; we had a socially prominent and politically active Ted Bundy killing pretty young women all around the country; there was the Los Angeles ‘Hillside Strangler’ and there was the Oregon ‘Green River’ serial killer … History from the dawn of time is dotted with evil acts — there in William Shakespeare’s time you will find evil. On and on I could go with the evil incidents that enter our lives … We react to these horrible events, particularly those that kill our children, because we can’t understand how such evil can exist. It staggers us, takes nips at our hearts and souls, and leaves us in a stupefied state of mind until — until we can go to our ‘sunshine room’ and start feeling better. The best invention in the world would be a machine that can determine without question the evil among us … then we could dump all the evil people on an isolated island far from civilized land and let them find ways to annihilate each other.

     But, then, what the hell do I know? I’ll let the grandkids and great-grandkids handle the problems. I’m way too old and too tired to be trying to figure it all out … Hey, how about a real humdinger of a pep pill, a smart pill? Oh, well, a highball in an oversized glass might do it!

     I’m going to the ‘Sunshine Room.’ Guess I’ve given enough ‘pleasure’ and ‘displeasure’ for one day.  

I'm often struck by the relative robotic nature of my days. Some might call them 'ruts.' All along my life's circuitous route there have been routines established, apparently somehow orchestrated by my exclusive DNA components.
 
Surely we all have our idiosyncratic ways of living. Some of us are slow in our movements, not eager to have a conversation so soon after rising from our slumber. Some of us begin talking at the breakfast table and don't stop until sleep finally overtakes us in the dark of night. Some of us are hyper-active, have a need to go, to do, to accomplish. Some of us take on our days with a slower pace, stopping to muse, feeling no real pressure tospeed up our movements. ' Different strokes, different folks.' Now, of course, there are many factors that play into and affect our daily habits - jobs, children, any number of necessities - but I'm betting we stay close to some dictated rhythm within us throughout our lives.
 
There are workaholics among us. Some are the movers and shakers of our world. I've worked in life for and with workaholics, admired them, and it has been difficult to keep pace with these good people of accomplishments. There are the loafers among us. Some of these folks make schedules and timelines near impossible to keep and/or they provide 'keystone kop' periods in our days. There are day dreamers (not quite in the same category of 'loafer') who can come up occasionally with great ideas but have trouble with the nitty-gritty implementation process. There are the steady gophers who get the jobs done, do as they're told, who make up the highest percentage of the employee ranks, and who will once in a while offer surprising insight into a particular function.
 
If you're waiting for this to go to some 'Eureka' stage, it's not going to happen. I'm just sitting here being my rather robotic self, doing my routine typing on the laptop, doing my routine maintenance on the social networks, and, right after lunch, maybe, just maybe, I will get some writing done on my tenth book. But here's the thing, you can likely guess accurately to which group of robots I belong and you need to know that I've mingled in all the groups mentioned and I now use 'age' as an excuse for my slowdown in life. I'm up in the morning, not saying much to my good wife and George the cat, kind of sullen, you might say, and, after my donut and chamomile tea, I settle myself on the love seat with laptop on my lap, look out the big windows at the Sea of Cortez, and slowly decide how it is that I will interrupt someone's day with a clever tweet utterance or handle some imagined HOA crisis or really get about the business of writing more in my tenth book. Sometime during the day the good wife and I might, might, take a walk along the beach and gather some sea glass and shells. We might have a drink before dinner, and we will definitely settle into the TV shows that have become our staples. Bedtime comes around 10:30 to 11:00 PM, and, tomorrow, I get to do it all over again - with likely some mild modifications.
 
So, with age and retirement, it seems to me the only good folks that are going to maybe suffer a bit in their routines will be those movers and shakers and the workaholics. Surely, they're going to make miserable some of us in the aforementioned groups. We are who we are and there's really room for all of us ... just, no long conversations, please! I've got to write my posts, do my tweets, figure out this digital world, finish that tenth book, and figure out how to make my books go viral in 2013 ... 

We won't get into the philosophical and metaphysical aspects of our daily occupations with time, the universe, what we might mean in the 'big blast' or 'Intelligent Creation' thing - 'ours but to do ...' Of course, I would like to think it all means something, these wars we fight, these ugly tragedies of our lives, these politicians who make us so miserable with their sand-box silliness, our loves, our friendships  ... our living.
 
Sometimes, maybe it's just better to create our little routines and enjoy as much as we can until our time runs out: be creative, be boring, be active, be a couch potato, be whatever it is we are. We will likely end up at the 'non-spiritual' or 'spiritual' or 'black void' locations for which we were intended.

Where Did Christmas Go?
Posted on December 1, 2012  by  billyraychitwood1      
     
Okay, Christmas has not gone anywhere. It is still the birthday of Jesus, a great man, and, for many, a Savior. Jesus gave birth to the philosophy of Christianity and he gave us many golden rules by which to live our lives. He was a simple man with a richness of heart, mind, and soul who sought to provide all of us, the poor, the rich, the disabled, with a vision beyond ourselves and beyond our problems. From the teachings of Jesus came many branches of religion to satisfy the soul-needs of many.

For some among us, Jesus has little or no meaning beyond His mere existence. For some there is no religion that has meaning. For some there is only this life that we shall live. For some, death brings down the final curtain…an eternal darkness. These people among us have this right to their secular non-belief in God, in Christianity, in all that is Holy. The Christian and the secular can walk side by side, be friends and neighbors, be tolerant of each other’s views.

For me, I say Happy Birthday, Jesus! I say, Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. I say, enjoy the lighting of your Christmas Tree and the presents you place beneath it. It is the Yuletide season. It is a holiday season. Christmas is a federal holiday. Our Constitution was formed by those of Judeo-Christian values. We allow for a separation of Church and State in our federal and state business. Why is this not enough.

From the polls we get the information that ninety per cent of us Americans still want a Christmas holiday, a Christmas tree, presents under the tree. We ninety per cent see this time of year as a time to spread love, peace, and good will. Is that really so bad? Why is it that some want to make such a big deal about calling a Christmas Tree a Holiday Tree? Why is it that a Nativity Scene is no longer allowed in certain venues? Why is it that the majority does not seem to govern our affairs because of the ‘suffering’ minority?

When does this madness end? When do the encroaching seculars finally take over our country? When does the politically correct get to rule every aspect of our lives? Where did Christmas go? Have we not given in enough to the these minority groups? Can we still keep in place some vestige of our heritage as a nation? I know changes must come as we outgrow some primitive laws on the books. Some of our language must change when it is so obviously insulting to some. Some things just need changing. The difference between conservative and liberal does not escape me, not does ‘far right’ and ’far left,’ nor does ‘moderate,’ ‘progressive,’ ‘extreme.’ Neither of these groups will ever win all the political and social battles, but could we just call ‘Time Out’ for this beautiful season that is now here. Most of us will, but could the zealots call ‘Time Out’ as well. And, yes, I know the liberals want to blame the conservatives, the ‘talk show’ fringe, certain news channels, and it likely doesn’t really matter to most of us. It just seems to come up each year, this issue of ‘Christmas Tree’ versus ‘Holiday Tree,’ the issue of ‘Nativity Scene Displays,’ the issue of ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Holidays.’ Guess we can say both, ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Holidays.’ It just bothers me when some retailers warn their workers only to say ‘Happy Holidays’ because ’Merry Christmas’ might offend someone. So many of us have become hesitant in uttering something so naturally spoken over the years.

Christmas will never be for me the way it was so many years ago. I’ve aged and the season in upon me and past me before I know it. I overheard an argument about all this ‘Christmas Tree’ and ‘Political Correctness’ stuff and it just bothered me. Guess it’s kind of natural for an anachronism like me to be bothered.

Guess it’s kind of natural for an ‘old dog’ like me to wonder, ‘Where Did Christmas Go?’

“Portrait In Time”
Posted on October 25, 2012  by  billyraychitwood1

“Portrait In Time”

Young man, do you not see me as once I might have been?


Is it the wrinkle, the sagging skin Time laid upon me that you see?

Once I stood, perhaps like you, with noble thoughts and dreams

A new bright morning might bring.


 
                                                      Time wore me down with its ceaseless ubiquitous ways and subtle promises.
             
                                                      Time taunted and tempted me with its guile and deceptions,

                                                      With its beauty beads of love.


 
                                                      Time gave me its reins to run wild with the wind toward sunrise and sunset.


  
                                                      Time now leaves me here along the sea, better to have had its moments of joy;

                                                      Sad to have you see the frail and broken parts of me.


  
                                                      Young man, can you not see me as once I might have been?


 
(An ending poem in a book by Billy Ray Chitwood, “The Cracked Mirror – Reflections Of An Appalachian Son”)

“Mirror Images”
Posted on October 24, 2012  by  billyraychitwood1

“Mirror Images”


  I once looked at men like you,
     old men, frail and haunted…
  That was when youth declared
      that I woiuld live forever.
   How hard it was to see then…
                                                                                how easy it is to see now.
                                                                              Life was moonlight and promises…
                                                                                So soon came ecstasy and joy.

                                                                              When did it get this late?
                                                                                When did the tree sap harden?
                                                                              Where is the gold I sought?
                                                                                Where is the key I held?
                                                                              Why is the day no longer long?
                                                                                Why does morning come so late?
                                                                              What is the mystery to solve?
                                                                                What day the reckoning?


(A poem by Billy Ray Chitwood, taken from his book, “The Cracked Mirror –
Reflections From An Appalachian Son”)

Jack Durish (http://www.jackdurish.com) and Chris Martin (http://www.chrismartinwrites.com) write some provocative posts and they stirred my neurons. They got me to thinking about this frenzied two-polar high tech and emotional world in which we live today. They got me to thinking about a simple phrase uttered by Arnold Swartzenegger in one of his films: "I'll be back!" They got me to thinking about the 'yesterdays' that can be no more...two talented writers, concerned about, confused about, thinking about the misty elements that control the hours of our collective existence.

Does anyone really doubt that the 'machines' have taken over the world? Sure, the takeover was helped along by the dual wizardry of Computer and Corporate genius. It is very likely that these minds envisioned what they were creating. It is also likely that their creations far exceeded their expectations. For certain, these minds had no choice...their visions, their competitive juices, their incredible brain power made the reality of our 'today' inevitable.

As Jack Durish opines in his most recent post, most of the world has fallen into the routine of fast text messaging while dining out in a fine restaurant, while driving, while taking a walk, virtual slaves to their new world of electronic gadgetry. Writers of great talent wonder why their books are not selling. They are trying everything they know in promoting their novels, but nothing seems to encourage sales. The naysayers might suggest the product has flaws, that established authors always sell their books (sure! with mega-bucks for promotion, TV appearances, media blitzes, and, sure great writing), but the issue is not so basic and simple, methinks. The 'future' is now, that 'future' many of us saw coming but were so beguiled by its on-rushing dazzle and seeming utility that we accepted it without thinking...but, then, what else were we to do? Life could be handled by the 'machines' and without our expending too much effort.

So, here we are, smack dab in the middle of a 'science fiction' movie and we can't walk out of it. Our lives always had its routines, but today the routines are connected to the laptop, the internet, the social media, so many avenues of choice. Our days are gone before we know it as we lose ourselves in the magic of cyberspace. My wife still reads her books (on her laptop). I still pretend I'm a writer (on my laptop). God forbid our internet system goes down! We're lost, even angry at the down time. My wife gets her reading done. I get my writing done, sort of, because there is the need to nourish my twitter, my facebook, my goodreads, my, my, my!

We don't talk so much anymore because we might be interrupting each other as we peck away at our laptops. We don't talk so much because now we have gone through the laptop wars of the day and are watching our favorite TV shows we taped over a period of days. We don't walk as often as we once did. Our 'get up and go' just 'got up and went.' We don't go out to dinner as often as we once did, socialize one-on-one with friends as often as we once did...we do so much socializing on the laptop. We don't read as much or in the same manner we once did, and we perhaps don't read the classics so much anymore, or, that big old tome we call the Holy Bible.

The other consideration, even with all the above rambling, this new world of electronic gadgetry could be a fun and good thing. Maybe many folks still have time for conversing, for reading, for socializing outside the web fare, and for walking and staying in shape. For this 'old dog learning new tricks' the new digital world can get confoundingly frustrating at times. It is during those times that I wonder just where the world is heading. One thing seems rather certain to me: the machines are indeed a controlling factor in my life.

One thing is also sure, should I awake in the morning, I'll be sitting in this spot on the love seat beginning my day of routines. I'll still be promoting my books, still writing posts, still finishing my next book, and still waiting for some bright light to go off in my head that makes sense of all that I'm doing. I'll still be trying to figure it all out while I'm thanking my God for blessing my life.

Hope you were not thinking this post would offer some quick fixes to potential problems. Hell, who is smart enought to outwit these machines? Me, I'm hoping for 'Divine Intervention.'

And, how was your day?

Can There Be Neutrality?
Posted on September 13, 2012
  by  billyraychitwood1

On the anniversary of one of our country’s worst civlian nightmares, September 11, 2012, an American Ambassador and three other Americans were killed in Libya. On the same day in Egypt the American Embassy was stormed by a radical Muslim faction that set fires, ripped up our flags, and caused not only much damage to the buildings but much fear to our small community of citizens there. Two countries, one still trying to form a semblance of government in a post-Moammar Khadafi environment and one whose passive government chose not to intervene in the American Embassy destruction.

Was it a coincidence that these two events occurred on the anniversary of 9/11? Were the events somehow a sign post signifying a beginning or a beginning of an end? And, what do these two events have to do with writing?

The last question will be answered first. I am writing! I am writing because these two events got me thinking about the posture of the world, of all our great nations. The events got me thinking about my kids, their kids, and their kids’ kids. The thinking is not the good and wholesome kind of thinking, and I need to write about it. It is thinking that will undoubtedly be unsettling for some and will likely fit right into some others wheelhouses. I’m writing about neutrality, but more precisely, my inability to stay neutral on certain issues that are facing America.

Our two political parties had their conventions during the last two weeks, and they were polar opposites as far as platform and vision. They most certainly got me thinking, and, with the two 9/11/2012 events in Libya and Egypt, all these events combined to give me a first class migraine.

Were the Libya and Egypt events coincidental? I’ll answer with this question: is there a tooth fairy? Were the Libya and Egypt events a sign post to a beginning or to a beginning of an end? My answer to this question has to embrace the political conventions, but here is my attempt at an answer with abundant questions thrown in.

At one political convention, speaker after speaker had a portrayal of our country in great economic decline, in great need of jobs, new leadership, new commitment to a strong ‘carry a big stick’ foreign policy, less govenment control of our God-given freedoms, the power of the individual to succeed as far as her/his potential permits without de-incentivizing federal regulations and runaway tax codes. The speakers at this convention spoke to the  convservatives among us. Were these speakers speaking truth or fiction? Would it be better to ask the unemployed and all those who were promised ‘Hope’ four years ago,
promised by a man who said he would be a one-term president if he did not succeed in bringing the unemployment rate down below eight percent?

At the other political convention, speaker after speaker regaled the beginning of Hope’ that started almost four years ago. The speakers talked of needing more time to implement that ‘Hope,’ that new society where everyone got a fair shake. The speakers railed about inheriting the worst economy in a generation. They cheerfully blamed their political foes for being uncooperative and not offering any solutions to the issues facing the nation. The speakers said nothing about having the entire government in their hands for two years of the new presidency. The splendid speakers mentioned achievements in getting our
troops out of Iraq, bringing more troops home from Afghanistan and they talked of killing Usama Bin Laden. They talked again of ‘Hope.’ The speakers spoke to the more liberal among us. Were these speakers speaking truth or fiction? Would
it be better to ask the unemployed and all those who were promised ‘Hope’ four years ago?

So, yes, the events in Libya and Egypt do signal a beginning and a beginning of an end. Here’s where I leave ‘neutrality’ and give my simple soliloquy, powered only by my heart and by my limited intelligence quotient, prefaced only by saying that I’m no politico, no shill, just someone who cares about the direction his country is going, who wants to share what he feels. It is
impossible to maintain a neutral position when the stakes are so high at this moment in our history. These are my thoughts. Try not to hate me for them — loving me for these thoughts is so much better!

My wife, Julie Anne, made it so crystal clear to me. She quoted an old saying: “Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” She also reminded me that we have Greece, Rome, Russia as history markers, great countries who failed in their socialistic networks. She reminded me that we need to help our poor, our elderly, our sick but be able to discern those who would take advantage of our largesse. We discussed the issues to the best of our abilities. But, then, it is easy to discuss when your belief systems are the same. It has always amazed me how good people can differ on issues with fairly
wide magins.

For what it’s worth, here are my conclusions. We have today a near government-dependent majority in our society, if not already a majority, that is, people on the public dole to one extent or another, people who are indeed needy mixed in with many (who can say how many?) who are simply there for the free hand-out. It bothers me when I hear people say I don’t care about the poor and sick among us or my statement that we need to weed out the freeloaders of society. I remember my dear mother during post-depression days in Appalachia working two jobs to keep her son and daughter with her. I remember her dying in a senior care facility bed when I was not there, and the thought still brings me pain. Caring is of the heart, and my heart cares, but my mind cannot accept the individual’s rights being sucked away by a government whose wish is to take what you and I make and redistribute it to a mass of people who may or may not need my help, who may or may not be lazing around just waiting for the next government check. We are becoming too much of an entitlement country. We need to know where our tax dollars are going, and it’s fine if the dollars are going to those who truly need. We need to stop with the class warfare rhetoric, the trash politics and lies, and we need to stop playing race cards…

Whoa, I’m getting too revved up! I’m also becoming conscious of my narrative's length, so I’ll end it here.

It was simply important for me to express what I’ve been thinking since those conventions and since the terrible events of Libya and Egypt.

Can there be neutrality? Not from where I sit. But, maybe we can calmly talk and hear each other out, maybe do some old fashioned compromising. It is actually time to change the face of politics, time to put some faith and trust back in the hearts and minds of the people, time to stop the special perks our politicians enjoy, time to build, create, and enjoy what our labors can produce, time…time for me to stop writing.

Is not freedom and liberty great that I can give you my thoughts and yours to me?