THE GRAND ADVENTURE WE CALL LIFE – CHAPTER XX1V
If I were to be limited to a one word descriptor for life it would be adventure. I have found over the past half century or so that every day is good. Some days just happen to be better than others.
I have also learned that labeling the day after today as tomorrow, and the one just past as yesterday, is rather misleading. We would be better served if we saw, and taught our children to see, yesterday as opportunity for adventure lost, the future as endless opportunity for adventure, and today as the opportunity to make the adventure of the future possible.
From that lofty philosophical perch I generally look toward the future with a sense of eager anticipation. It also allows me to see adversity, usually, as an opportunity for developing new skills and talents or for expanding on those that have been dormant.
Twenty years ago I embarked on the adventure of becoming a writer to fulfill a childhood dream. Well, I have now written six books, am starting on a seventh, am an associate editor for a major magazine, and have literally written hundreds of feature articles for a wide array or periodicals.
I still have a day job that pays the bills. I have also had adventures (seeking the ghosts of Route 66 with a 1929 atlas and a Jeep) and surprises (a phone call from Jay Leno as your watching his program!) that never would have been possible if it were not for the ability to see a dead end job as an opportunity and incentive nursed by my dearest friend to pursue the dream.
The dream continues to be an elusive one but the adventures spawned by the chase are worth far more than the price of admission paid with frustration, rejection, long hours, and hard work. Fortunately for me, the pursuit and subsequent adventure show no signs of abatement in the near future.
This Saturday, I will be in Chloride for an interview with KNAU radio from Flagstaff, Arizona and to sign copies of Ghost Towns of the Southwesthttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=1968adventurer&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0760332215&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr as part of the Old Miners Day celebration. I will also be eagerly looking forward to the end of the day and dinner with my dearest friend at Yesterday’s, one of our favorite eateries.
If you are unfamiliar with Chloride, and Yesterday’s Restaurant, this would be a great weekend for discovery. Billed as the longest continuously inhabited mining camp in Arizona, Chloride is located about 15 miles north of Kingman just off U.S. 93.
The rest of the weekend will most likely be spent chained to the desk. After all, the deadline for completion of a Route 66 encyclopedia and atlas, a project that brings me closer to making the dream a reality, is now only seventeen months away.
July is peppered with a myriad of opportunity to break the monotony of the daily grind and to provide a welcome break from work on the new project.
We have the Fourth of July, a favorite holiday of mine, a possible trip to the village of Supai, and on July 17, Chillin’ on Beale Street, a celebration of the automotive orphan. As it is the people that give life flavor, not the event or the location, July promises to be truly spectacular for my dearest friend and I.
The trip to Supai would an opportunity to visit with friends and acquaintances not seen in several years. Chillin’ on Beale Street is an endless opportunity to visit with old friends and to make new ones.
On the 27th of the month, Dries Bessels from Holland will be stopping in Kingman as he leads a tour from Chicago to Santa Monica in celebration of two American icons, Harley Davidson and Route 66. A visit and dinner with Dries is a rare and pleasant treat.
Dale Butel of Australia will be in Kingman at the end of the month and plans are to introduce him to the pine forested island that is the Hualapai Mountains. This should be a wonderful evening filled with friends, good food, and stunning scenery.
If I am having this much fun on the grand adventure we call life, what would happen if the elusive dream is captured?