After the Fact: California dreamin’

“As a kid, I threw so many rocks out of our neighbor’s driveway in Missoula, Montana, that my father had to pay for a load of gravel for resurfacing.”  John Elway.

Never underestimate the wishes and dreams of kids, no matter how improbable or unlikely you think they might be. I don’t think it’s as common among little girls today, but I remember my friends and I “choosing” which movie stars we wanted to be like when we grew up. Those were the days when the studios “owned” their actors and actresses and glamour was the price of admission. There were no casual affairs, no scandalous behaviors and all lived in mansions that equaled Versailles. It was like Disney come-to-life. Now, it’s like Rod Serling’s “Twilight Zone.” Or Wes Craven’s “Nightmare on Elm Street.”

When my grandson was in grade school, he declared he was going to be a “rapper.”  Having absolutely zip musical ability, that sounded well within the realm of possibility. A few years later, pyrotechnics was a burning interest (no pun intended, actually) but, by the time he reached high school, he’d discovered computers. He can make mine do everything but butter the toast.

Circumstances change what we want and where we want to do it. Back around the turn of the century (or maybe a few years later), young women my age were “encouraged” to become nurses, teachers or secretaries. Dear ol’ dad almost had a heart attack when I mentioned law school. Micki, my sister, was a typical middle child. She never rocked the boat. She never really wanted to be anything but a nurse. Teaching really wasn’t “my thing,” but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life until yesterday. 

Did you know that the Cumbres Toltec RR offers a class that’ll teach you how to be an engineer or a fireman on those wonderful steam engines? Well, you can find out more by writing them at cumbrestoltec.com. Maybe we’ll be in class together! I’ll be the one with the white hair!

And daughter Chris is hoping she’ll have time to take the master gardeners’ class offered through CSU’s Extension programs in January. Their office is located on Hwy. 160 behind the Monte Vista Co-Op gas station. There are all manner of wildly different and exciting classes around here so, if you haven’t yet started, if you’re taking a break or if you’ve retired from doing one thing, don’t despair!

There are jobs (and I’ve had quite a few) and then there are careers (I’ve had a few of those, too.) A job is something you do that may not make your heart pitty-pat, but it puts pintos on the table. A career, though, is what thrills your soul and puts green chile in the pot of pintos. A career doesn’t necessarily have to last for years and years, but it’s one of those things you wish would never end. If you have a career, you will put off retirement as long as you can. Some things can be a job for one person, but a career for another. Teaching is one of those things; I’m not sure about nursing because my sister Micki retired three times and always went back to nursing. Both of my grandfathers worked for over 50 years: one had a job, the other had a career. One loved what he did, the other just put in time until he could retire, and continued to complain for the next almost-20 years.

It’s probably a really good thing that John Elway didn’t know about the thrill of shoveling coal in a Cumbres Toltec engine or the Broncos may never have won a Super Bowl.  Maybe someone should let him know about the railroad because he’s really not too old to begin again.