Friday, January 24, 2014

Your body will grow old, but your mind doesn't have to.

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As The Commander and Kadizzle drove into the campground the first thing they noticed was an older gentleman with a straw hat an a rake. Beside him was an old beat up run down camper. The man was a little hunched over and looked like he could be living on the edge of economic survival. He was busy raking and cleaning the area. From past experience both Kadizzle and The Commander assumed he was the camp host. Often the Forest Service let someone like this stay free if they did some minor work. After introducing himself, Dave said he was one of the camp host. The Commander struck up a conversation with Dave and soon, asked him for some information. Dave said “ let me go over to my motor home and see if I can get you an answer”. Expecting to head for the old beat up camper we instead took off in a different direction. Dave led us to a very nice practically new deluxe 28 foot motorhome. Sitting inside with Dave in the lap of luxury both Kadizzle and The Commander both realized they had made a big mistake judging a book by it's cover'


Dave said he graduated from high school in 1950, so that probably means Dave is 81. Dave drove his nice motorhome into the campground on The Salt River one day and decided to camp. The first thing he noticed was the place needed cleaned up, and the shrubbery needed trimmed. When Dave pointed this out to the Forest Service they asked him if he wanted a job doing it. Dave said yes and agreed to do it for free. So with his trusty wheelbarrow he set about the task.

The Commander and Kadizzle told Dave we would help him. After cutting some brush Kadizzled asked Dave where to dump the wheelbarrow. Dave pointed to the spot. When Kadizzle reached the dump there was a huge pile of brush. Did Dave cut and haul all of this? The answer was yes. An 81 year old man outworking most people half his age. Everyday Dave is up early raking, sweeping, and cutting brush. When the volunteers showed up to clean there was nothing to do. For weeks Dave has been waiting for the paint to redo the out houses he already has taped and ready to go.

Most of the time when you talk with an older person you find they are very conservative and set in their ways. Dave has been on the road and exploring North America for 18 years and a conversation with him can go just about anywhere. Visiting with Dave Kadizzle has talked with him on many subjects from education, to flying, to science, to religion, and on it goes. Talking to Dave you realize he has evolved his ideas all his life. Dave was not a man set in his ways. From what Kadizzle can tell he was a very successful businessman, a pilot, and an avid hiker.

Dave has been an observer of a lot of life. Kadizzle is a flaming liberal, and Dave seems to share most of Kadizzles beliefs. Often Kadizzle like most people wonders “ Am I confused or on the right track?”. Conversations with Dave are reassuring. After 81 years Dave is a liberal, a man who believes as Kadizzle does. Many times you hear someone say people are Democrats when they are young and they grow out of it to become conservative Republicans as they age. People also get Alzheimers as they age. Sometimes after you say something to Dave he will say “cool” or some other expression fitting someone a quarter his age. Dave has grown old, but his thinking hasn't. Dave could be sitting still running out of gas like so many, but he is using his gas everyday to push that wheelbarrow and push some minds to a better cleaner world.

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