You never forget your first love...a perfect Humboldt day

You never forget your first love. I am not talking about her though, I am talking about my other first love.

Baring your soul on a blog that is public and in cyberspace has it's risks, as a friend often reminds me.

Today is not different than any other day, with a few exceptions. It is sunny in Humboldt without the wind chill. If that isn't the cherry on top of the cake, today is one of the rare days where every encounter is about appreciating life, living in Humboldt and being grateful.

It helps that I started my day stopping by briefly at St. Bernard's church. Nowadays, that is my choice for attitude adjustment. In college, attitude adjustment is what we called pub night.


St. Bernard's is home. The place I live at, well it's the place I live and shower and sleep at, writing the occasional pithy blog post sans smartphone typos.

I got to visit with many of my friends, stop by all my favorite Old Town local businesses and see people I first met in 2003. I had acquaintances and strangers come up and recognize me from this blog and tell me how much they enjoy it. A typical day for me is court and then church and back to court, with some income earning business meetings thrown in after all that; enough to cover my basics and subsidize this blog. My bank account could definitely use a steady income, I could lose some pounds and think I can look like I was 20 again, I could be politically involved and network in the business community like I did in Philadelphia and Atlanta and be "successful" in the eyes of the world.. I could just have settled for the family business and live as an adult as I did as a child with trips to London and Switzerland and Paris and no worries about money which would be par for the course. All of this could make me popular, I would not be single because as another friend reminds me, "Chiv, hot women like money." A single, outspoken blogger and single man devoted to Christ just doesn't have the draw that cash, superficial quips and a fancy car does and I am just fine with not being with those women or any one at all. I truly am content being single.

As Robert Frost said, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Writing was my first love and after trying other more "successful" business careers, I returned to my first love.  I am happy, I am content. I don't wake up every morning complaining about wanting more money, dreading going to work, being with someone else than who I am with, dreaming up what I could do to be more popular and have a bigger house, a better car, more stuff.

Moving to Eureka has been one of the best decisions I have made. It has not always been easy and I have my days, but all in all, the people I have met here, the community, the weather, the local businesses and the quality of life makes it all worth while.

A few days ago, I posted this on Facebook:

For the past two years, black is my choice of attire everyday. Even before, it was frequent. I wear it to honor the men I admire most: priests; but also as this Johnny Cash song says:

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.
I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.
Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.
I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.
And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.
Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.
Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.