{"id":668,"date":"2009-07-24T18:53:33","date_gmt":"2009-07-24T22:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/?p=668"},"modified":"2009-07-25T11:27:15","modified_gmt":"2009-07-25T15:27:15","slug":"random-musings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/?p=668","title":{"rendered":"Random Musings"},"content":{"rendered":"

photo-2-small.JPG<\/a> <\/p>\n

A deadline is negative inspiration. Still,
\nit’s better than no inspiration at all. <\/p>\n

—Rita Mae Brown
\n_______________<\/p>\n

I wonder sometimes, after posting another childhood sketch, what the reactions of my readers really are. A few comments always trickle in, but compared to the total number of readers each week, the feedback is pretty miniscule. And that\u2019s not a slam at anyone individually or at all of you collectively. I appreciate all who take the time to read. I\u2019m just saying, is all. <\/p>\n

On the surface, the sketches are stories and memories of mundane everyday things that happened long ago in a world now long gone. But in the details of each sketch lurks the incessant hunger of a child to search and seize and explore the known world around him. His community, his family, his surroundings, and the events of an ordinary day. And the world outside his established boundaries. A world that beckons, calls, fascinates. A world into which he will one day venture on a quest to search for that magical land he had glimpsed only from afar.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to reach back through the fog of years and try to recapture the essence of the things I saw and heard and felt so long ago. To shed the crusted cynicism of age and experience, and return again to the simple wonder and innocent unpretentiousness of the child. To get there, I have to be in the right frame of mind, kind of \u201cin the zone.\u201d A touch of brooding melancholy helps.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn\u2019t. You never see the failed attempts, the tattered incomplete scenes that get shelved for perhaps another try another day. But it\u2019s been fun. A lot of work, but fun. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve known a few adults who somehow kept alive the flame of childish wonder of their youth. Genuinely. Naturally. Some. But very few. And I\u2019ve seen plenty who walk about with incessant exclamations of contrived wonder. There aren\u2019t many spectacles sadder than that. Or more irritating.<\/p>\n

For me, true childish wonder receded long ago. Only the memories remain. <\/p>\n

Every week or two, it seems, another email pops up in my inbox. So and so wants to be your friend on Facebook, it informs me blithely. As if there would be scant possibility that I might not want to be that person\u2019s friend and even less of a possibility that I might not have a Facebook account. I mean, how far back in the stone age could I be?<\/p>\n

Pretty far, apparently. Because I don\u2019t. Have an account, that is. I\u2019ll be almost any-one\u2019s friend, just not on Facebook. Many of my friends and relatives do have an account. And from what they tell me, it\u2019s a beautiful thing. A great way to keep in touch and instantly share news gossip and opinions and comments. I think most Facebook people check their sites first thing in the morning for all the latest. <\/p>\n

And from what I\u2019ve heard, it\u2019s a surefire way to reconnect with old friends from way back. People you haven\u2019t heard from in years, maybe decades. I must confess, that would be intriguing. There\u2019s a long, long trail of people out there I\u2019ve lost touch with. Who knows who might pop out of the woodwork?<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve considered it seriously. It would be cool to hear from old friends and to join the social network. I could even link to my blog and maybe increase my readership there.<\/p>\n

But so far I\u2019ve resisted the temptation. Where would I find the time? I\u2019m too busy here, working on my writing. Besides, and this is the real reason, I\u2019m just way too paranoid. I\u2019ve read the fine print on the Agreement you enter when you sign up. Anything you post on Facebook is their property in perpetuity, or close to it. Which means forever. <\/p>\n

That means all your pics, all your comments, your gossip, opinions, everything. Even if you take it down, it still exists on the main database. And it\u2019s theirs to use as they see fit. <\/p>\n

What about this website, you might be thinking. I post a lot of stuff here. True. But there\u2019s a huge difference. This is a real website. I pay for the domain. It\u2019s mine. I can take it down anytime. And when it\u2019s down, it\u2019s gone. Not saved in some huge database. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. I might break down and open a very basic stripped-down Facebook account at some point. Just to check out that world and see if any old friends contact me. But for now, I\u2019m pretty content where I am. <\/p>\n

Most of you know I\u2019m not a fan of our current President. I never watch him speak. Can\u2019t stand the guy. But at the baseball All Star Game last week, as the President walked out to the mound to throw the ceremonial pitch, I rooted for him. Man to man. Throw it over the plate. Or at least to the plate. I felt a bit sorry for him as he stood there and waved to the crowd. He looked lost. Come on, man, I thought. Make me proud of this, at least. He wound up and threw. The announcers fell over themselves burbling about how he \u201cgot it to the plate.\u201d But it was a bad throw. I don\u2019t think he did get it over, or even to the plate. Otherwise, they would have shown it.<\/p>\n

It happens now and then, and it never fails to jolt me a bit. When I\u2019m in public some-where, in whatever setting, and some complete stranger walks up and tells me he\/she reads my blog. The first time, I think, it happened at the mall in Lancaster late last summer. I was sitting and sipping a cup of coffee at the mall center, not a whole lot on my mind, when a young Mennonite girl approached timidly. Upswept hair topped by a little covering, she looked to be maybe twenty years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you Ira?\u201d She asked shyly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am,\u201d I admitted, startled. <\/p>\n

\u201cI read your blog,\u201d she smiled. I smiled back and thanked her. It immediately struck me that she knew a heck of a lot more about me than I\u2019ll ever know about her. We chatted a bit and she wandered on. I have no idea who she was. <\/p>\n

And that\u2019s how it goes sometimes. It happened again at a wedding I attended last Saturday. Almost all who introduce themselves are either plain or from a plain back-ground. Only once or twice was it a completely \u201cEnglish\u201d stranger. So far no one\u2019s asked for my autograph. Once someone does that, I will have arrived. <\/p>\n

One of my sisters reproached me a few weeks ago at the Kentucky family gathering. I haven\u2019t been fulfilling my reporterly duties in proclaiming all the new babies and upcoming weddings in the family. Been doing some serious slacking, she admonished. I bristled. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not The Budget,\u201d I grumbled. \u201cRead The Budget for that stuff. I got more important things to write.\u201d <\/p>\n

My brother Steve backed me up. \u201cNo, he\u2019s not The Budget.\u201d Steve said. <\/p>\n

My sister was not convinced. Or satisfied in the least. She persisted. What can be more important than family? <\/p>\n

\u201cNot a fair question,\u201d I grumbled again. \u201cOf course family is most important. But the nature of the blog has changed over time. I don\u2019t want to bore my readers with so many factual details about people they don\u2019t even know.\u201d Unless I can weave a story around it, I thought to myself. But I didn\u2019t say that. <\/p>\n

It was no use. My defense could not stand. So, in the interest of family peace and future harmony and all that, here goes:<\/p>\n

CONGRATULATIONS TO:<\/p>\n

Andrew (my nephew) and Marnita Yutzy on the birth of their daughter, Hadassah Ilene, born June 17, 2009.<\/p>\n

Jason (my nephew) and Julie Yutzy on the birth of their son, Nicholas Klaus, born July 3, 2009.<\/p>\n

Congrats to the proud parents. May your daughter and son prosper, along with your other children. I don\u2019t have pictures of both babies, so I won\u2019t post the one I do have. For continued harmony, and peace among the Freundschaft and all that. <\/p>\n

AND CONGRATULATIONS TO:<\/p>\n

Mervin Wagler (my nephew) and Mary Marlene Yoder, on their wedding, which was this very day in Worthington, IN. My regrets that I could not attend. <\/p>\n

Jason Stutzman and Mary Ann Wagler (my niece) on their engagement. The wedding is planned for October 2, 2009, also to be in Worthington, IN. I plan to attend. <\/p>\n

And there you have it. Sorry for my slackness. Family things, even the basic factual details, are very important. And I don\u2019t want to lose sight of that. Ever. <\/p>\n

I am a bit distracted this week. A lot of stuff going on. Things happening. Mostly good things. Some of which I hope to share before too long. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it’s better than no inspiration at all. —Rita Mae Brown _______________ I wonder sometimes, after posting another childhood sketch, what the reactions of my readers really are. A few comments always trickle in, but compared to the total number of readers each week, the feedback is pretty miniscule. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}