The older I get, the more I think Thoreau was right.
He wrote today's quote after spending two
years living in a one-room cabin beside Walden Pond in Massachusetts. He was
not trying to escape the world. He was trying to figure out how little a man
really needs to live a rich life.
His wealth wasn't measured in dollars. It
was measured in mornings with the sunrise over the pond. Reading a good book
with the sound of birds in the trees, and a walk through the woods on a quiet
afternoon with nothing to prove.
Those pleasures don't cost much.
As I approach ten years of writing these
Morning Chalkboards, I have started thinking about doing something similar
someday. I would love to spend a little time alone in a cabin with a stack of
books, a notebook, a pot of coffee, and no schedule except sunrise and sunset.
Not to hide from life, but to remember what life is.
Funny thing is, when I look back on my
happiest moments, very few required money.
Listening to WGN with my dad on a Saturday
morning. Naps with George asleep on my belly. Watching Fritz chase another
impossible idea and playing Barbies for hours with Hazel. Driving Betty, the
Green Blazer with the windows down over to Parky’s for a hotdog. Sitting on the balcony with a cup of coffee or a cocktail waving to the neighbors.
… and a morning conversation with
all of you Chalkheads. The piece of chalk has become our therapist.
Maybe Thoreau wasn't talking about being
cheap. Maybe he was reminding us that the richest lives are often built from
the simplest moments.
We are coming to the end of July into the beginning
of August this week. Let’s not start kissing each other on the mouth just yet
over both of these winning baseball teams. They have shown us plenty of times
that being in first on August first doesn’t guarantee they will be there in
October.
Let’s finish the month strong Chalkheads. I
see plenty of gusto and astonishment in the dog days of summer.
