BLAZING A NEW TRAIL
There are different ways to get places, but when I was a kid, it was predominantly the shoe leather express, minus the leather. It was rubber and canvas tennis shoes in those days.
Even with only legs and feet to carry us, we still had different routes to choose to get to school. We never took the long way, the civilized routes cluttered with sidewalks and crosswalks.
We took short cuts. Even if it meant having to go by ol’ man Hatchet’s house. Word was, he hacked up kids with his Hatchet… but he’d have to catch us first.
The well-worn path through thickets, bamboo, gnarly trees, and golden weeds eventually dumped us out close to the elementary school.
The problem with trails is that they’re not always the most direct route. Plus, if they’re there it means they were blazed by someone else.
Davy and I used our tennis shoes like road graders; shuffling, kicking, filling our socks with stickers. It took time, kicking up dust every day, arriving at school just in time and filthy, but eventually we had our own trail, dangerously close to ol’ man Hatchet’s, but trailblazers can’t be faint of heart… or have clean shoes and socks.
Sometimes in life, we don’t set out to blaze trails. The stars align or Divine intervention arranges our meeting with destiny. Sometimes it’s a wooded field, sometimes it’s a business, a mission field, or even a blank piece of paper.
Blazing a new trail has a couple of benefits; one is the gratification that comes from the grueling process. The other is the advantage it brings to others, folks that gain from our endeavor.
I guess it was my mom that passed on her love of books to me. Maybe part of it was all the reading they made me do when I was a kid trying to help me overcome my speech impediment. Either way, I didn’t come to the place where a new path begins by myself.
Long before she could talk, my youngest sat on my lap as I read her books, pointing at pictures and words. She’d look up at me, wide-eyed in wonder, smitten with the magic of words.
Her second assignment in her college writing class was to write about a place. She picked an arcade, but not just any arcade, she wrote about “our” arcade. The place she and I spent countless hours, tokens, and laughs.
My daughter poured out her heart and soul, using the assignment as partial therapy to cope with being away from home… and a dad she sorely missed, but maybe not as much as he does her. She wrote it for me too.
My daughter’s writing, even being objective, is beyond her years.
I’m blazing a new trail, learning the business of writing from the dark side that not many people see. Whether I end up being published traditionally or not, I’ve been gratified by the hard work.
I know now the trail isn’t for me… it’s for the more talented one that shares some of my passion for writing… and blood.
Sunday, December 4, 2016 @ 10:00 am
It really is a small world, Floyd. I worked for the company that built Crackerjax, “back in the day”, as they say. Man, how we fought with the city over our bold colors and bright lights! I can tell you the owners had one thing in mind, making money. How gratifying to see Romans 8:28 fulfilled through God’s blessing upon you and your daughter. I’m humbled to see just a small snapshot of how He must being using even a place like Crackerjax for His glory. Blessings on your Sabbath!
Sunday, December 4, 2016 @ 1:40 pm
Wait, wiat, you cannot leave us without a finished story. I would love to read all of what your daughter wrote. My oldest grand daughter is a writer I think because she is a reader. All those year in the jungle without TV, electricity most of the time and being the only girl on a team of three missionary couple drove her to forge a little nest in the corner of her room, a reading nest. Then I bought her a huge hanging chair which would easily hang from the huge logs used as support rafters in their house and hold lots of books. Nothing blessed me more then to know she used that chair every day. I think the swaying of her hanging chair gave her security and peace to go deeper into what ever she was reading. All three of my daughters children are readers, little TV helps. She expresses herself in speech classes and competition, through high school and now as a freshman in college. But first she must write her speech out. This past Thanksgiving she said her last speech to us…yep…reading gave her the foundation to express herself. Her Mom and Dad told her early on, she was like her Grandma, me…man oh man that was a blessing rush. I think your sweet daughter has taken up the same pen her Dad has taken up. I don’t think parents realize how much children gain when they sit down, in the quiet of any room and someone reads to them. They can nurture a thirst for reading, writing, interest in other cultures, interest in learning, etc. This post bless me in so many ways, thank you and maybe could we get more of what she wrote??????
Sunday, December 4, 2016 @ 3:48 pm
What she wrote keeps getting better and better. Let me get the okay from her, and I’ll post it. Might have to be in two separate posts due to length, but I’ll see what I can do.
It’s so great to hear about your influence in all of your family’s lives. What a wonderful legacy. I can’t think of much better than that. I’m happy for you, Betty.
Sunday, December 4, 2016 @ 4:55 pm
Oh, my word! This is so neat! You have definitely blazed the trail well, my friend. What a legacy you are leaving and interweaving for your dear girl! I’m with Betty…I want to read, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story”! I hope she gives you permission to post it. I can’t imagine how much the two of you miss each other. That bond you have is just growing stronger. God bless you both, brother.
Sunday, December 4, 2016 @ 5:48 pm
So exciting, Floyd! Don’t you just love it when your kids can do something better than you can? My grown kids continue to amaze me!
Sunday, December 4, 2016 @ 7:06 pm
I think it’s wonderful, also, to be able to share the craft of writing and reading with our children. They go hand in hand, don’t they? I’m thinking of her side of it as well and the joy she must feel to know her gift was passed down from her dad. What a beautiful thing to have in common! I can’t help but wonder where the future will go and perhaps how you two will continue to write. Like Betty said, I hope she will be a guest on your blog. It would be fun to read her words and style. My daughter, and English major, just edited a 1200 word story of Christmas for me that I’ve been working on and have to submit to my critique group next weekend. I really like it now! She is much better at it than me too!
Monday, December 5, 2016 @ 11:19 am
So your daughter is following in her father’s footsteps. 🙂 What a wonderful thing to do!
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 @ 2:43 pm
Love this, Floyd! I’m so glad you have such a great relationship! Plus your daughter is a great writer! I also have a couple of kids following in my footsteps with writing. They are far better than I am and I’ve learned a lot about how to write from them and even how to make it more fun. One of my daughter (a 23 year old nurse) writes about an hour on her work days and several hours on her days off if she’s not off on an adventure. It’s so fun when our kids share some of our same interests, isn’t it? Thanks so much for sharing some of your daughter’s writing. It was fun to read!
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 @ 5:05 pm
As usual, you got a lot of love and a lot of attention and a lot concern re: everything that you went through. Thank you much, Bro. You’re a very special person to and for many people. Bless you…. 😉
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 @ 6:31 pm
I too want to read the rest of her story. I tried to scroll down, but then could see it was still in the typewriter. LOL Reading to your children at an early age will give them a love for books and reading for themselves. Our son loves to read, because I read to him, but I failed with the next two, only telling stories but not reading to them. Neither of our girls read much, and I blame myself for the childhood lack. I did read the Bible to them each morning as my mother did for me and my siblings. I always enjoyed the creative writing class in 9th grade. Now as my daughter Nancy says, I write like I am speaking and not so decorative. I loved this post Floyd, and thank you for sharing with us here at Tell me a Story.
http://letmetelluastory.blogspot.com/
Thursday, December 8, 2016 @ 7:00 pm
That’s sweet, Floyd, to see your daughter write of special times with you.
Your description before that of hiking past Hatchet’s place reminded me of the tales surrounding Boo Radley Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird story. My daughter and I just finsihed reading that aloud together for American Lit.
Merry Christmas,
Jennifer Dougan
http://www.jenniferdougan.com
Friday, December 9, 2016 @ 9:39 am
For me, anything I’ve done in life that was worth much wasn’t done thinking about blazing trails. I hear the Father’s heart and take a step. Maybe some people can do it, but if I were to see the end or the full price of where He called me, I would probably get too overwhelmed to even start. So I’ll keep taking my steps. 🙂 Love that your daughter is writing too. My son in high school is now playing guitar on our worship team and leading in his youth group. It’s a pretty amazing thing when some of your passion gets into them too. Thanks Floyd.