Off Grid

an anecdote of some import to someone, maybe.

If anyone were to ask, and the one asked were to remember, the generalized answer would be: “He moved somewhere out west, Montana I think, climbed himself a mountain and has been living off-grid for the last 21 years.” 

That would be the generalized reply to said question….

The REAL answer, the full debriefing, is impenetrably more complex… but the good news is, that information doesn’t matter anymore…the data has passed its shelf-life, didn’t pass go and is now irrelevant… at least generationally speaking. Seemed like a full minute though…

But, not for nuttin’… all that did happen, a cathartic change DID take place and here we are now… give it a name. 

Seven decades brings along its own proprietary party favors.

I’ve amassed a million anecdotes… one for every occasion… I think they mean something, carry some metaphorical moral or humorous analogy.. they must, I repeat them often enough. 

But who wants to read about unsolicited advice, or esoteric life passages? Aldous Huxley wrote about a brave new world…from my seat in the mezzanine I think his expectations were a little myopic. 

As a septuagenarian, I’m torn between reliving my life in blurry memories, or reinventing my present age, learning each day anew what I still can and what I recently no longer can do… if you know, you know. 

Some ask why I chose to “drop out”…I didn’t. I just chose not to buy another ticket on the merri-go-round- I suffer insane motion sickness. 

I can’t speak about the past, my past, the history that shaped me,  no longer exists. I can’t speak to the future…even the present is no longer “my world”. 

I have enough on my plate, dealing with age related health issues, all quite common, and I spend all my spare time in a private, introspective state so I can keep track of where I currently believe myself to exist within. 

All this sounds ambiguous, and in truth, it is…but its my ambiguity, I believe it all happened and was/is very much still important to me. And so I wish everyone nurture their own ambiguities and keep it preciously to yourselves… btw… stay off my mountain.  

Author's Note

it is what it is, another generic, geriatric anecdote...don't try to keep score, math ain't what it used to be. All comments and critiques welcome.