It seems to me the leaves are changing colors earlier this year.  Probably just my imagination, but I think the early September chill has activated the sequence like the crank in the game of Mouse Trap.  That sequence of gorgeous colors, followed by falling leaves, (usually expedited by a hard cold rain) then the laborious clean-up signals the end of the tree growing season.   The grass will go dormant and usually turns brown.  The trees will look barren and stoic like a department store manikin without clothing.  Then along about March or April when the buds begin to appear along the tree branches a fascinating reveal takes place.  The trees have grown.  With older trees you must really observe closely to notice, but on a younger tree it is very obvious.   I marvel and wonder how that growth took place through the dead of winter.  But it does.  The tree just kept growing despite the elements.

I recently took on a new job.  I’m one of the youngest members of the team.  And obviously the least experienced.  What a golden opportunity to learn and grow and develop.  I’ve been introduced to a number of team members who have been in their roles any where from a year to 26 years.  Each one of them brings  different perspective, unique background and special knowledge.  They possess unbelievable business and life experiences as well. Their personalities are as colorful as an October maple tree.  Now it is up to me to  listen and be educated.  Not only for my role on the team, but for what each have garnered on their respective life paths.

As a new member of the team, I feel like that tree in December, void of leaves and lacking in value. But if I quietly listen, I’m optimistic, come spring, I will be budding with new knowledge for the job and more importantly new tips for life that will allow me to continue to grow.

Don’t ever stop growing…..

“Well it’s been quite a summer, rent-a-cars and westbound trains.”  That excerpt from Jimmy Buffett’s “Come Monday” really resonates with me.  It always has.  Especially this summer. The song, about a guy who longs to be with the one he loves, is kept apart because of his hectic vagabond summer tour out west.  He desperately wants to travel the road that will take him back to her.

I too have had a busy summer.  I’ve been as far east as North Carolina and as far west as Colorado.  I retired from one job and had the good fortune of being hired into another.  Many would say I’m “Living the Dream.”

But always in life, challenges surface, like the whack-a-mole at the county fair.  Always something popping up to make sure you don’t feel too comfortable or set in your ways.  It’s at those times, when I try my best to  remember the most difficult roads we  travel must be taken with positive steps.  Sometimes we even have to take a step back, to get a better view of the horizon and a full picture of the road ahead.

More than 38 years ago, I literally had a long road ahead of me.  I didn’t have the vision or the maturity to know how to walk that road.  But I had A LOT of help along the way.  This summer, I was able to recount that journey in the book, The Road to Normal.

It took me many re-writes, edits and enormous amounts of encouragement from my son and others to complete this book.  If you go back to the  home page and click on Jewels in Your Crown – Mining the Treasures Within the link will take you to a site for The Road to Normal.

If you happen to be on the road out east, September 20,  I’d encourage you to stop by one of the finest independent book stores in the United States  – The Country Bookshop at 140 NW Broad Street in Southern Pines, North Carolina.  I’ll be there to visit and sign copies of The Road to Normal.

Hope to see y’all there.

As a youngster, summer was always the most exciting time of the year for me.  So many things to do; baseball, swimming, fishing golfing, trips to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals, afternoons at the local park to play knock-hockey or caroms, and of course, camping out, usually in the back yard.

There were always benchmarks to my summers marked often by big picnics. Memorial Day weekend kicked off the summer and we’d listen to the Indianapolis 500 on the transistor radio.  The 4th of July was the halfway point; celebrated with a huge parade and heart pounding fireworks.  The county fair and the state fair signaled summer was coming to an end.  The tastes and smells  of taffy, cotton candy, corn on the cob and the pungent aroma of the carnies working the midway will forever be etched in my senses.

It all came and went way too fast.  By the time Jerry Lewis did his annual MDA Telethon, I was already back to school. I longed for the “Endless Summer” the Beach Boys sang about 40 years ago.  When I began my career and moved around the country to places like Texas or Alabama I found summers did last longer; or so it seemed.  You see, I equated summer with the temperature and the color of the leaves.  It stayed warm and green down south a good bit longer and that really helped my state-of-mind.

When my work brought me back to the Midwest I decided it was up to me to keep that endless summer state-of-mind. I developed reasons for staying outdoors later into the year.  I played golf with two gloves on, I raked my own leaves and when I hit my middle 40’s I began ice fishing in Northern Wisconsin, with my brother.

It wasn’t just being outside that helped me transform my mindset, it was how I approached my day. When you’re young, every day of summer has adventurous possibilities.  As I grew older, and the summer days flew by faster, I was determined not to let the calendar get in the way of my happiness.  Finding adventure, completing a project, or relishing a moment wasn’t dictated by the season,  but by me.

I smiled when I saw Labor Day weekend was at the earliest possible time this year. What used to signal the end of summer, is just another reason for a cookout for me now.  Summer doesn’t have to only be three months.  Make it a state-of-mind, not a season.

I’ve never much cared for yard work. It’s often tedious and boring and invariably coupled with traditional steamy Illinois heat and humidity.   I’ve had a hesitancy to prune the bushes and the trees for fear of  messing up the look of them.

A few years ago we were fortunate to find a little cottage on a lake in the Sandhills of North Carolina. It sits on just about an acre of property.  If you sit on the back screened-in porch you can view a couple dozen pine trees, some azalea bushes and the lake.  If you’re perched on a rocker on the front porch you gaze upon, dogwoods,  rhododendrons, hydrangeas, crepe myrtles,  and an assortment of pines and ornamental plants.

When we moved in, you couldn’t see either the lake in the back or the cul-de-sac in the front, because of the density of the bushes and trees.  If you wanted privacy, this was the place for you.  I like my privacy and my solitude, but I learned these trees and bushes need room to grow. When a red tip grows into a pine or a crepe myrtle invades the space of an azalea bush, both suffer.

So, for the last several years, I’ve learned how to prune, how to use a lopper and a chainsaw and how to tell when a branch is really dead.  My landscape friend Jeff often reminds me, you can’t hurt anything.  He proved it by cutting the hydrangeas down to the ground and the crepe myrtles down to knuckles.  Before the year had passed they were not only blooming but thriving with a renewed spirit and freshness.

This isn’t news for those of you who are into horticulture, but to a guy like me who didn’t know a lopper from a trowel, it’s inspiring.   It also makes me think about our own lives and existence.  Do we go through life with the same mundane attitude?  Not really growing, but rather stagnating and letting circumstances smother, overwhelm or stifle our own growth and results.  Or do we decide it’s up to us to change, adapt, refresh, and reshape.  Is your life’s strategy working, or is it time to prune in order to grow?  If you feel like you’re being smothered, overwhelmed or overshadowed, maybe it’s time to take on a new strategy to prune back the old to allow the new to flourish.

Jeff is right;  You really can’t hurt anything by trying…..good luck!

The first entry in the Oxford dictionary for the word “Retirement” is this: “The action or fact of leaving one’s job and ceasing to work.” I certainly concur with the first half of that definition, however I doubt if many people “cease to work” while in the phase of life called “retirement.” Whether it’s around their home or in the public or private sector, very few people work until retirement age and then do nothing. It’s usually not in their DNA.

It’s quite true I have left my current job. I was with my employer for 35 years in a variety of different locations and roles. Now that I have departed to begin new adventures and since I will soon draw a pension from that employer, I am considered retired. The reality right now is I am on vacation. I had accrued enough “PV” to be on vacation from March 1 to August 1.

Frankly, I find it a wonderful spot to be in. People ask me all the time, “How do you like retirement?” I usually say, “it feels like vacation to me.” Indeed I hope it always does. As many people have heard me quote Confucius “If you love your work, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Well, I’m loving vacation and I hope that my new career with Jewels in Your Crown (JiYC) will be just as much fun. You see, I don’t plan to “retire” for a long, long time, but I do hope I can add value on this earth via a new and exciting vehicle.

I imagine many “retirees” feel as I do. They want to continue to add value and make a difference. Let me know what you think.
All my best,
Craig

I’ve always encouraged my talented, creative friends to start their own Blog. They always say to me, “Who would want to read my thoughts?” I always reply, “You might be surprised.”
Last week, the gentleman who hosts my website encouraged me to start my own Blog. I said to him,”Who would want to read my thoughts?” He replied, “You might be surprised.” So here I am, writing my first Blog. He told me it would increase site traffic. For me that is reason enough. I also have lots to share as I prepare to re-launch my website and market my latest book. I’ll look forward to sharing my thoughts and am eager to see what, if anything results from my JiYC Blog. Thanks for checking in!