Over the hill...

‘n deep in the valley....

Once upon a time in that long ago place that I generally refer to as my ‘way back when time’..actually a lot more than once ‘cuz I was ever a dreamer, I use’ta climb the hill to the top of the ridge that overlooked Beattyville ‘n the river ‘n had a pretty good view of Portsmouth, Ohio too....There were three outcroppings along the path to the top of the ridge ‘n I would sit down on the highest one ‘n let my legs dangle into space while I stared off into the blue distance....I still do that t’day only without sitting on the ridge looking out over the river....mostly I call it (if pressed) lost in reverie...’n when you get lost in your mind like that, you c’n, like the Pooka, Harvey, go anywhere you want ‘n stay as long as you like ‘n when you get back, only a few minutes will have passed....you c’n give it any name you like, meditation or dreaming or magic...it doesn’t matter, a rose by any name...etc...
Ernest Hemingway wrote a book called, “Across the river and into the trees”....he got the title from what are supposed to be the last words of Stonewall Jackson...
Famous people seem to be dying at a record pace the last few weeks ‘n I find myself reading the obits of my hometown newspapers more ‘n more frequently ‘n more ‘n more frequently, I find the names of people I know (or use’ta know at any rate)....’n in statistical terminology, they’re all members of the same fraternity as m’self...all part of the over the hill gang ‘n in a conversation with a neighbor (a member of that same fraternity) he used the phrase ‘over the hill’......I told him I had crossed that ridge ‘n was deep in the valley but I was planning on taking my time along the way....
Anyways I was surprised to learn that there are a number of Americans who don’t know that we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July....so from an over the hill, deep in the valley guy...Happy Independence Day y’all!