by Denny

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I retired June 1, 2021, after being a truck driver for 50 years. It takes time to transition from hurried schedules, pressured delivery times, fourteen-hour workdays and having to account for every minute via logs. Every day there was someone telling me what to do, whether it was a boss, dispatcher, shipper, receiver, or the D.O.T. regulations. And then there was that inner drive that kept pushing me forward to be the best I could be despite all the hazzles, pressures and ignorant drivers. When I was younger (23), on the scale of 1-10 for doing stupid stuff, I scored a 10. In 1975 the speed limit on interstate highways was 55 mph and CB radios were the craze. Everyone had one to know where Smokey Bear was sitting with radar. It was hammer down if you wanted to make money and were being paid by the mile. I remember one time leaving Rome, Georgia late Monday night with a load of carpet and delivered it in Portland, Oregon at 6 AM Thursday. That’s 2,550 miles. On another occasion I ran from Houston to Chicago without stopping except for food and fuel. I unloaded and drove another 7 hours home to Iowa. For a short time, I had a weekly run from Duluth to Atlanta to Houston then back to SD, MN, or IA. (3,200 miles) There were many other similar instances too numerous to mention. I was always pushing the envelope back then. That was the year I got 9 speeding tickets in various states and lost my license for 6 months. Talk about stupid! Looking back now at 69 I think, “What was the point?” In other words, “Too soon old, too late smart”.

So, here I am six months into retirement. I go to bed and get up when I want to. There are things to do around the house, but if they don’t get done today, no big deal. If I don’t want to do anything but play with my model train layout, I can do that. I find more time to read the Bible, and if inspired, to write blogs like this one. Since Lucy is still working, I try to help with the dishes, laundry, and other jobs. It seems there is always something I’m fixing or tinkering with. We enjoyed taking our motor home out for the first time this Summer and Fall. We did 4 short weekend trips, but plan to venture out of state next year. I’m learning to relax and slow down. I’m becoming a real “homeboy”. Somedays I don’t even go anywhere. When I do, I don’t feel like I must hurry, but wonder why everyone else is in one. Without fail somebody will be 20 feet off my bumper just chomping at the bit. “What’s your point” I often find myself saying out loud. I wish there were bumper stickers that say: “Just because you’re in a hurry doesn’t mean I have to be”. “Retired Trucker- I have more miles backing up than you have going forward”. “Retired Trucker-I forgot more places than you’ll ever see” or “Retired Trucker – I have over 2 million, how many miles do you have?”

I was doing the grocery shopping the other day, and an old song by Simon and Garfunkel came to my mind.

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

I’ve come to realize that to slow down is more than not driving too fast or not trying to cram 48 hours into a 24-hour day. It’s more like stopping everything and just quietly reflecting on life; where you’ve been, what you’re doing and why, and where you’re going. It’s sorting out the urgent things that control and drive us from the important things we often neglect.  It’s noticing the little things all around us that we never saw before. It’s forgetting you have a cell phone or where you left it. It’s laying down your agenda and stepping out of your world to lend a helping hand to someone in need. It’s a friendly word instead of an outburst of anger when you don’t get your way, or someone crosses or invades your space. As the song says, you got to make the morning last, because it passes so quickly. So goes life and the older I get the more I’m aware of its brevity.

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus and his disciples arrived at the home of Mary and Martha. Martha was the fidgety type, distracted and worrying about preparing the big meal, meanwhile Mary was sitting on the floor listening to Jesus speak. Instead of asking Mary to come help her, she goes directly to Jesus and basically orders Him by saying, “Don’t you care that Mary sits here doing nothing while I’m in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove fixing the meal? Tell her to come and help me”. I think Martha’s intentions were good in wanting to serve Jesus a good meal, but it seems she was focused more on herself and wanting Mary to help her get praise from Jesus for all her hard work. Jesus replied (my paraphrase), “Chill out Martha, slow down you’re going too fast. You got to make this moment last. Mary has discovered that being close to me is more important than all your hurrying, worrying, fussing, and anxiety”. In other words, Mary was feeling groovy (so to speak) in the presence of Jesus. I wonder how many of our prayers end up sounding like Martha telling Jesus what to do. It’s like, “Jesus, here is my agenda. I have a lot on my mind and many things to do, so just bless it and make it happen asap. I would talk more, but you know I must hurry to get everything done today. O yeah, I’ll bring an updated list with me to church on Sunday. See you then, Amen”. 

Quite often Jesus retreated by himself to an isolated place to refresh himself and pray. Ministering to the crowds of people that constantly came to him with their needs was physically draining. Also, He needed to get alone and spend time with His father in Heaven to be in tune with Him. If Jesus needed to do that, how much more do we. Don’t wait for retirement before you slow down and start feeling groovy. In the case of Mary and Martha, Jesus said Mary has chosen the best part indicating that it was indeed her choice. What part are you choosing?