WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?

My friend Kate asked me, “What is your purpose?”  I use to have one.  My career was about advocating for workers and trying to make life better for them and their families, fighting for social and economic justice.  Now, what is my purpose?  I guess I don’t have one other than to enjoy life and visit as many beautiful places and friends I can on my Road2Reinvention. 

Recently, several people have asked, “when did you decide to do what you are doing?”  I couldn’t answer that question either.  I remember a sunny day walking dogs with Liz and telling her how terribly depressed I was.  Liz called it my “black dog”, and asked how was I going to get rid of it? I told her I wanted to quit work (aka retire) sell everything and travel in an Airstream.  That day I suppose I decided what my new purpose would be, and here I am, singing in my head a favorite song Further and Further Away,

I can see the place where I came from
I can hear those sounds right now
I can find the paths I used to run
And believe I still know how
Then I shake my head, clearing my vision
I keep those scenes at bay
And I can see the place where I came from
Slipping further and further away… (written by Cheryl Wheeler and sung by Kate Mattea)

My last reinvention is about moving away from friends and familiar places.  It is sometimes a solitary life that includes visiting places and making new temporary friends .  My travels always include destinations where longtime friends or family live.  Cousin Karen and I are planning a reunion at Kings Canyon Campground where we went as kids, and I will spend time in Tucson and Palm Springs with Alaska pals wintering in warm climates.  Hopefully, sister Kerry and brother-in-law Buzz with join me in their Sprinter.

Some people stay in your life forever.  Others drift away.  Visiting Washington, D.C., my last permanent address comes with mixed emotions.  I loved living here and made many good friends.  But each time I visit I see fewer and fewer.  I had hoped to do more walking and visiting recently reopened museums, but my broken toe has limited my walking (see my last blog post).

Also, I had hoped to play my favorite area golf courses. Renditions is tribute to golf’s greatest holes featuring 18 replica holes including the Amen Corner of Augusta and the island par 3 at TPC Sawgrass. 

My home course of Langston, named after John Mercer Langston, the first African American elected from Virginia to Congress and Howard University Law School dean. Langston opened in 1939 with the help of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ikes, because golf courses were segregated. Prior to the founding of Langston, African Americans played golf at Lincoln Memorial (now West Potomac Park) because the other public courses in the area were for whites only.  I would usually be the only white person playing the course, certainly the only single white woman.

Broken toe aside I am seeing friends and hanging on Capitol Hill at casa Tim and Liz, walking Lola and Maggie daily at our favorite place in Washington D.C. Congressional Cemetery.

Post pandemic feels like a new beginning.  As things reopen and face masks come off, I feel as if I am starting a new adventure.  I am hosting again, this time in North Carolina until September.

After hosting, In September I plan to head west to California, and travel the Pacific Coast Highway possibly play the best public golf courses under $50.  My idea of hiking is walking 18 holes.  However, I doubt my description of playing golf would be interesting to anyone.

This blog is a mixture of stuff, things I am thinking about, but it doesn’t have a purpose or consistent theme.  It was suggested I could retrace Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, but it has already been written.  Yesterday’s horoscope suggested good things to come.

So I am asking my readers to suggest a theme, possibly coherent topic.  I am thinking of a daily diary when I begin my westward-ho trek.  I plan not to make reservations, just go as I please.  But, this might be problematic, because camping has become so popular in the pandemic.  So, if you have ideas for a theme, please leave them here in the comments section.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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