Although Changes Are Evident Some Just Saddens Me

Last week I returned from a vacation in Florida. I took my 6-year granddaughter to the beach and did other normal things that a 6-year old would enjoy. I have been going to Florida now for over 35 years to vacation and visit in-laws. I love Florida, the sun, the heat, and the beach as well as the fishing.

While there I just had to visit the boardwalk at Daytona Beach. I hadn't been to the boardwalk probably for over 5 or 6 years. I sure was surprised to see the changes that had occurred over the years. Progress they call it. Condos were being built as well as hotels being converted to time shares. The rides with exception of the lift that takes you over the pier are no longer there. The excitement to me was missing. I did notice on the pier that they still had dances and live music on the weekend. As I was walking on the pier, they were playing our type of music, the 50s and 60s so all was not lost.

I recall how the smell of hotdogs, popcorn, and french fries filled the air as did the excitement and the salt from the ocean. The boardwalk was actually once made of wood in most places, hence its name. The song by the Drifters, Under the Boardwalk, always reminded me of the boardwalk at Daytona although the song was about the boardwalk in Jersey. (Special note check out my website, The Drifters are the spotlighted artist.)

It just saddens me that things can't remain the same for historical reasons. It is the tourist attraction and the money that caused these changes but nonetheless I liked the old look. I really enjoyed driving and parking on the beach and of course this is now a"no, no." The rationale for this was because erosion of the beach and also many pedestrians were actually hit by cars. Safety and environmental concerns changed the law.

I don't know if I want to go back to the boardwalk when I return to Florida. The nostalgia is now missing and it doesn't look the same. It probably good for Daytona Beach and tourism but not good for this baby boomer.

Visit the 60s once again.

Baby Boomers How Many Saturday Mornings Do You Have?

All of the baby boomers are now at least 42 years old considering the fact that baby boomers were born between 1946-1964.

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Even though I am home and just work on line as an Internet marketer, there is something about a Saturday morning. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work on my computer although, I rise very early and do a little each day. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. Why I mention that is that I want to share this story with you that I heard and found once again on the Internet.

A years ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.

By my calulation and based on living to the age of 75 my marble bank now has 839 marbles remaining. Have you checked your marble bank? How many Saturdays are you wasting and how many do you have left?

Baby boomers revisit the 6os once again. The 60s Official Site.