Paying Attention

Many of us mountaineers who don’t live in the political center of the West Virginia universe (i.e. the Kanawha Valley) have come to know about Jim Lewis through his anti-war activism related to the Iraq war.  For example, he’s been a frequent guest on Hoppy Kercheval’s popular daily Metronews Talkline radio call-in show and has been one of the best informed and most articulate spokespersons for the anti-war position . . . very persuasive.

As I’ve learned more about Jim through Google research and communication with a friend who manages an e-mail network in which I participate, I happily found that Jim is a fellow 3^rd Ager and a lifelong social activist from a Christian perspective.  So, he bucks the stereotypes about those of us who are growing older by continuing spirited social involvement into his “retirement years” rather than disengaging from this kind of involvement.  Actually there are more of those kinds of folks around than you might think.

Another thing that interests me about Jim is that his social and political involvement doesn’t focus mostly on issues like those the AARP pushes such as Social Security and Medicare and long-term care, etc. that address personal lifestyle security.  Rather, he addresses causes that affect the entire community, not just folks with grey hair, which can make things better for everyone.  I think that like Ken Hechler, Jim is an excellent role model in that regard.

For example, he authors a blog, Notes From Under the Fig Tree, which includes regularly-updated and thought-provoking articles on several current issues.  Titles in his most recent blog include Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road, Traveling Toward A Burial Service On West Virginia Route 3,  Judy Bonds—Opening Her Eyes And Paying Attention, The Pat Tillman Story, Connecting the Dots With Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, A Word On Six Geese-A-Laying And Gifts For Our Troops, and A Few Words To Jump-Start 2011.

By the sounds of these titles, I’m sure you can tell that Jim’s writing doesn’t address “Senior Citizenism” narrowly defined but intends to shake things up and make us think about what’s going on in our communities and country.

In comments about the recent death of Judy Bonds, a well-known opponent of mountaintop removal strip mining in southern West Virginia, Jim says of Judy’s mind-opening experience about this practice based upon an interaction with her grandson that demonstrates we are never too old to learn, especially from those who are much younger than us.

“I knew that something was very, very wrong,” said Judy Bonds. “So I began to open my eyes and pay attention.” That was a direct response to a question asked by her 6-year-old grandson. Standing in a creek full of dead fish, holding some in his hand, he had asked her, “What’s wrong with these fish?”

And boy-oh-boy did she pay attention. Paying attention, of course, is the first step toward making change happen when the powers-that-be want you to compromise your values in the name of some kind of unifying bipartisanship.

So, if you get a chance, learn more about Jim and his provocative and insightful comments at: http://www.figtreenotes.com. I’m sure you will be glad you did.  A link that will take you to this blog is available at the right of this page.

Good News: Increased Happiness After Middle Age

With the winter solstice in December came some much-needed good news from The Economist magazine. It’s called “the U-bend of life”.

Essentially, this article reports on findings of social scientists indicating that beyond middle age, people get happier as they (we) get older. As a third ager in the second half of my sixties, that one got my attention.

Of course all the usual caveats apply about taking care about generalizing summary findings but the researchers found some thought-provoking trends across several cultures.

This study reflects the interest of social scientists in understanding what makes us happy and is part of growing research interest in many countries on gauging the “well-being” of their citizens. Surveyors asked two kinds of questions such as: (1) "Thinking about your life as a whole, how do you feel?"  And (2) "Yesterday, did you feel happy/contented/angry/anxious?"


A prominent theme they found across the responses was a “U bend” in which their measures of happiness generally declined until mid-age (46 years) and then increased thereafter regardless of income level. Also, neurotic people—those who are prone to guilt, anger and anxiety—tend to be unhappy and extroversion does the opposite.

For me, this seems to support the idea of the third age movement, that depending on how we look at it, the post-retirement years, a “30 year life bonus” offers opportunities for happiness and fulfillment.

What do you think?

clint eastwood still experimenting at 80 . . .

“I could have been satisfied to stick with the genres I have been doing for years but, the last decade, I’ve been doing a lot of films that were certainly different for me, experimenting with new issues and subjects.”  (Clint Eastwood)


At age 80, Clint Eastwood exemplifies what it means to be a "third ager."Not content to withdraw and retire from life, Clint has directed a newly-released film, Hereafter, a provocative meditation on fate and mortality, life and the afterlife.


And in the past six years, Clint's prolific creative endeavors have included seven films, each different from the others in theme, narrative and visual style. Since 2004, he has directed Million Dollar Baby, which won the best picture and director Oscars, the back-to-back second world war movies Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, Gran Torino, his most commercial picture to date, Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, and Invictus, about South African rugby, in which Nelson Mandela is played by Morgan Freeman.


Clint is now hard at work on his next project, a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover.


Eastwood is quick to point out that for him, the emphasis is on the here and now. “I don’t think much about the hereafter, because I feel you’re given one opportunity to live in this world, and you have to take advantage of that and do the best you can. That’s the hand you’re dealt and you have to play it out. If you’re worrying too much about the end of it all, you can’t really live the present of it all.”

Clint's life is an inspiration to all of us who are finding purpose and joy in an active and engaged life as we grow older.

An insight into his perspective on life is found in his comments about what keeps him going.  “I just enjoy working,” he says, “I thrive on it. For me, a good script is usually the inspiration, and I’m always looking for new subject matters because every film is a new challenge for me.  I could have been satisfied to stick with the genres I have been doing for years but, the last decade, I’ve been doing a lot of films that were certainly different for me, experimenting with new issues and subjects.”

More of us are joining Clint in his un-retiring approach to life and say, hooray for him!

Searching for Allah . . .

Thanks to the events of 9/11, a horrific event for our country has been transformed into a positive experience for me as my spiritual growth has been enriched through study of Islam.

First, I obtained a copy of the Qur'an and began reading, enrolled in a course on Islam at WVU, re-engaged with Sunday School class at the Spruce Street Methodist Church where I'm a member for classes on Paul and Religions of the World.

Thus far, I've found found that the Christian teachings with which I've become familiar thoughout my life have more in common with Islam than I expected.

And I've been impressed that Muslims seem to take their religion more seriously than I have or many Christians I know do.  For example, Muslims memorize the entire Qur'an in a language that is foreign to most, Arabic.   To me, that's comparable to Christians memorizing the Bible in the original languages, Greek and Aramaic.

Also, Muslims pause for prayer at least five times daily.

Here in Morgantown we are fortunate to have an active educational resources from the Muslim community and Mosque and Muslim Student Association at WVU.  For information about these, check the Links section on this blog.

It's become clear to me there are alot of misunderstandings between Christians and Muslims despite their common heritage as Abrahamic religions which they share with Judaism, too.

Of course, all religions are more diverse than they seem at first glance.  All have their conservative or fundamentalist and liberal wings and many schools of thought.  For example, very strict Imams seem to have more in common with hellfire and brimstone Baptist preachers than one might expect.  And both religions have members who interpret their scripture less literally, taking the context of the time it was written.

With these commonalities in mind, I'm led to wonder what's all this fighting about between followers of these religions?

More to follow later.

my north bend trail summer . . .

My goal this summer of 2010 has been to ride the entire length of the North Bend Trail on my favorite Specialized hybrid bicycle, 72 miles between Wolf Summit near Clarksburg and Parkersburg, WV.


Of course, I'm doing it in pieces of 10-15 miles each but it's been a great opportunity for me to renew my love for this part of the state up-close and personal.


My first observation is that it's been a really hot summer!  On the hottest day of the summer when the temperature was over 90 degrees and the humidity over the top, I was bicycling the section of the trail west of Salem to Long Run Road. At least a couple of times, I paused to lie in the shade to recover and I hydrated continuously.


Second, this trail is an outdoor photographer's paradise.  Central West Virginia's wildflowers are plentiful here, posing quietly for my lens.  And, many of these flowers are butterfly magnets, so their fluttering and colorful wings also attract my attention.  Check them out by clicking on the slide show found on the right of this blog page.


Another treat for bicyclers on this trail is the numerous tunnels that the 1850's railroad builders created to ease trip for early industrial era steam engines and us post-industrial age bicyclers who followed.  Some are totally lightless and provide welcome cool respite.


I encountered few other bicyclers and usually traveled solo except when I was joined by brother-in-law, Dave Rice and his wife, Linda, who are younger and more experienced bicyclers now living in Wilmington, NC.  We rode the segment of the trail west of North Bend Park to Ellenboro and back where butterflies and tunnels are plentiful.  We recommend the trail, the Ellenboro McDonald's and the North Bend Park lodge food.