Yes, it's true. I wanted to be like Grizzly Adams when I was a kid.
I remembered this suddenly on Sunday night. I said to Susie, "Remember Grizzly Adams?" To which she replied, "Huh, what, no...who's that?" The generational gap between us engulfed me. I gasped and launched into my vague memories of the man, his beard, and his bear-friend. Funniest part was that I also remembered thinking as a kid, "I can't wait until I live like Grizzly Adams; in the woods, alone with nature, helping people"....in the woods? Whatever, I wanted to be him, no matter how strange this may have been considering I was probably 5 years old. Besides he wasn't totally alone, as I suddenly remembered on Sunday just before going to bed. I shouted to Susie, a good while after the original conversation, "oh yeah, and Grizzly Adams mentor was Uncle Jessie (Denver Pyle) from Dukes of Hazzard who wandered through the woods often giving help and advice to Grizzly when struggling with moral dilemmas!" Susie was now scared or maybe a bit concerned for me.
I was happy to remember my role model...I think I liked him at such a young age because I loved nature but I also loved that he was a helper. He always attempted to help those in need (and there were a great deal more people than one would think needing help in those woods). I also thought, until about 2 years ago (embarrased to admit) that I would do every job, travel to every corner of the world/universe, and experience every lifestyle (criminal to holy man). I would watch Grizzly Adams and think, "I can't wait until I live in those woods"...then I would watch Star Wars and think, "I can't wait until I learn the Jedi secrets from Yoda", and so on.
I still wonder, dream, hope and expect to experience some of these things. But I certainly have lost the feeling of, "I can do anything and will do everything". I wish this wasn't true but perhaps it's part of becoming an adult or maybe it's just unfortunate or maybe it's just temporary.
I know that I hope Jack always feels like he can do anything. Perhaps, I'll just have to get back to feeling the same in order to make sure of that.
I was happy to remember my role model...I think I liked him at such a young age because I loved nature but I also loved that he was a helper. He always attempted to help those in need (and there were a great deal more people than one would think needing help in those woods). I also thought, until about 2 years ago (embarrased to admit) that I would do every job, travel to every corner of the world/universe, and experience every lifestyle (criminal to holy man). I would watch Grizzly Adams and think, "I can't wait until I live in those woods"...then I would watch Star Wars and think, "I can't wait until I learn the Jedi secrets from Yoda", and so on.
I still wonder, dream, hope and expect to experience some of these things. But I certainly have lost the feeling of, "I can do anything and will do everything". I wish this wasn't true but perhaps it's part of becoming an adult or maybe it's just unfortunate or maybe it's just temporary.
I know that I hope Jack always feels like he can do anything. Perhaps, I'll just have to get back to feeling the same in order to make sure of that.
1 comment:
That picture of the Griz is even scarier than I pictured him. Seriously, if that guy came up to me while I was in the woods, saying he wanted to help me, I'd freak out. I'd probably pee my pants out of fear and then try to kill him with a rock or something.
Post a Comment