Better to bloom late than never

I’m going to write a book. I am writing a book. I have a million book ideas. So why can’t I get any traction with them?

As many of you know, one of my hobbies is doing historical reenactments of the Texas Revolution. I got into the hobby because I wanted to write a book about Texas Revolution reenactors. I’ve been working on it for 10 years now. It’s become a running joke whenever I show up at a reenactment for someone to ask me how my book is coming along.

What no one else knows is that I have another book I’ve been wanting to write since 1986, nearly 40 years. That one is about my experiences on staff at a Boy Scout camp. In the interim I have started and stopped writing books about Star Trek, The Lone Ranger, and a compilation of some of my columns from the past 30 years. I have a few other ideas bouncing around in my head, but nothing scribbled out on paper yet.

With the passing of my 60th birthday in August, I’ve come to accept that when I finally do become a published author that I will officially join an elite group of late bloomers. Maybe we’re better described as chronic procrastinators. Either way I’m in good company.

Col. Harland Sanders was 62 when he started Kentucky Fried Chicken. Laura Ingalls Wilder was in her 60s when she started writing the Little House books. Ray Kroc was in his 50s when he co-founded McDonalds. Anna Mary Robertson Moses, aka Grandma Moses, was 78 when she started painting. Peter Mark Roget was in his 70s when he published his famous thesaurus. Harry Bernstein wrote “The Invisible Wall” at 96 and went on to write three more books, the last one at 100.

Joseph A. Campbell was 52 when he started a canning company and 78 when he first canned soup. Miguel de Cervantes wrote “Don Quixote” at age 58. John Pemberton was 55 when he created the formula for Coca-Cola. Fauja Singh started running marathons at 89 and was killed in a hit-and-run accident earlier this year at the age of 114. “Star Trek” actor William Shatner was 90 when he became the oldest person to go to space in 2021.

In February, we celebrated Sports Editor Robert “Cease” Cessna’s 50th anniversary at The Eagle, and he is still going strong. A year ago, my father celebrated his 80th birthday by doing a tandem skydive. If you think that’s impressive, his mother-in-law joined him to celebrate her 94th birthday!

The point is, you’re never too old to learn new things, have new experiences or to impact the world in marvelous ways. That’s not an indictment of youth, but rather motivation and inspiration for those of us flirting with retirement age. No, I’m not courting retirement, I’m just getting closer to that age. I still have a lot of years and work ahead of me.

Sandy and I moved to Brazos County two years ago and started a hobby farm on our little plot of land. It has taken an enormous amount of work, but we are now raising chickens, ducks, rabbits and a goose we named Duckie. We’ve made numerous attempts at gardening with little to show for it. Still, we soldier on, putting in the work and praying for success.

Doing all that work on the farm is part of my excuse for not finishing any of my books. By the time I get home from a long day at work and do chores, it’s late and my mind is mush. At the same time, I can’t help but notice that my friend and former colleague, Gary Cosby Jr., who is a photojournalist with the Tuskaloosa News, has written and published 21 novels in his Will Danger adventure series in his spare time since 2022. Gary is about my age and how he manages to crank out books at such a frenetic pace is beyond me.

One of the things that keeps motivating me is the quote by Oliver Wendall Holmes that says, “Many people die with their music still in them. Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it time runs out.”

I have a lot of “music” in me that’s just bursting to get out. Rather than disciplining myself to sit down and write each night, I get distracted by things of urgency or lesser importance. Let’s call that procrastination. If I spent half the time I waste scrolling through Facebook working on my books, I’d probably have written two or three books by now.

In hindsight, it’s obvious what I need to do to achieve my goals: Buy more chickens!