Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Writer enjoys simple life in Gurdon

This Mothers Day weekend I had the Clowns over and we kept busy right here in Gurdon.

For those who dont know, Terry and Cynthia Easley of Malvern are the Clowns. I call them that because they were professional clowns for more than 20 years. I took them to a meeting with food served on Friday night, and they seemed to enjoy the food and fellowship.

Then Saturday, about noon, they took Michelle and I out to eat at the Walnut Cafi.

The Walnut Cafi served all-your-can eat oriental food. I understand the cook is from Thailand, so I hesitate to say Chinese.

Whatever was in the food, it was good and I would love to go back.

Saturday night, we visited Ravens Coffee Shop and listened to the Napa Pickers, which is a group of musicians I always like to hear.

But before the night-time picking, you guessed it, Terry and I went fishing.

I introduced Terry to my favorite fishing hole, but all the big ones were on vacation.

I caught a war-mouth and Terry got a lot of bites but no takers.

So we came in from our fishing outing, went and picked up my lawnmower that was being fixed by Butch Keen and then headed to the music.

There was actually nothing much wrong with the lawnmower. It just needed a spark plug. If I were of any other profession than a writer, I would probably have known to change that spark plug myself. Still yet, it was wonderful to only have to pay $2 to get a mower back up and running.

Simple life

I suppose that was a rather long introduction about my weekend, but it was fun sharing it.

By the time you read this, our high school graduation in Gurdon will be over for another year.

Now that I have landed in a spot where I hope to be for some time, I have thought a bit about my high school graduating class. It was the Class of 1977. Yes, that was a while back.

It has dawned on me, at 47 years old, if I were going to be a millionaire, a brain surgeon or a rock and roll star, those dreams would have already panned out.

Somewhere in there, I wanted to run my own newspaper. I did that. I was a publisher four times.

But now comes the simple years. For the first time in my life, I pick up the newspaper and wonder how many more years it will be until my age group starts frequenting the obituaries on a regular basis.

In short, my life is more than likely half over. I can either regret all the energy I spent in my youth or I can be thankful that I am still coherent enough to write you this column.

I choose the latter. It is good to be a writer of a family newspaper in Gurdon. I am officially the managing editor of the Gurdon Times. I figure that is a pretty snazzy title for a country boy from Hagerstown, Indiana.

We were the Hagerstown Tigers and our colors, like the Go-Devils, were gold and purple.

Sharing my dream

Another friend, Ted, called me the other night and asked me to look over a five-page writing of a young man he knows thinking of going into journalism. I had to smile.

No matter what path my future takes, I must say I would not have missed my journalism career for the world. Running down that news story, feature or ball game is not quite as exciting as when I was 27. . But then again, when the storm came May 11, I was up and running! I always did like a good severe weather story.

So my comment is simple. If you live to serve others, as any good journalist will do, then when you are older and the money is thin, you still have your rich memories, to share again and again.

So young people of Gurdon, choose your path wisely. Make sure, in your mind, the good will outweigh the bad.

I guess I did good. Because in my case, the good times made it worth it.

Until next time, this is John, still on his Journey.