Now Or Never

How many times have we heard those words? I can think of dozens of times myself and oddly enough they were often the last words I heard before doing somthing pretty dumb actually. Get your driver's license they said, "It's now or never." I was twenty-five and my grandfather had never gotten his driver's license. I guess the people who cared about me most didn't want me relying on others for transport if I needed to move my body across the planet faster than walking, biking or busses might move me. I felt no compulsion to drive, no alacrity whatsoever. I had lived on the East Coast and had seen the genteel, efficient culture and lifestyle that often springs up around urban areas served by efficient transit. Walkable villages proximal to rail links, after generations of only having to have one car, can add up to tens of thousands, perhaps eventually hundreds of thousands of dollars, saved; plus time spent commuting can be infinitely more productive and rewarding than when just driving back and forth, moving your skin bag around.I have always figured that if people truly like the place they are, they won't feel th eneed to move about as much anyway. The irony of self-driving cars is they will continue to try to emulate mass transit, but they can never become as efficient or safe, because they are mixing it up on the regular streets, where accidents sometimes happen. This, combined with autonomous vehicles being small, you lose that shred of extra safety that comes from every other driver knowing, you don't want to hit a bus. You may be able to make self-driving cars not turn left into traffic, but one can never know another driver might do it to you. Another time these words were spoken was when the neighborhood kids had built a platform, high up in the largest tree on our block. There was a giant cable we had pulled out of the river that one of the crazy adults we knew attached to an even higher branch, so our "rope" swing was over sixty feet long and produced a huge swing arc. I'm not sure how, bu tsomeone managed to put a giant knot in th ebottom of the cable that even acted like a seat. Anyway, I climbed up to the top platform and the kids of the neighborhood gathered, one swung the cable to me. The idea was to hold on tight, let yourself fall off the platform and slide down thick plastic covered cable. Well, I just could not do it. I was th efat kid and the tiny knot of kids surrounding the rope swing had doubled and doubled again until I was sort-of the show. At least half the kids in the neighborhood thought I would chicken out. I probably thoguht I would too, but I knew it was safer than trying to climb back down the tree. The words were said,"It's now or never. Besides, you don't want the whole neighborhood to know you chickened out." Well, I leaned off and nothing happened I was suspended in mid air by my two hands clutching the cable and my underwear had gotten stuck on the head of a nail as I left the platform, so I was attached to the rope swing by me two arms and for a fat kid, that's scary enough, but my ass was nowhere near the wooden platform, so there was no way to go back. This may have been th efirst time in my life that time slowed down because what may have only been ten seconds seemed like half an hour. Those assembled were pointing and yelling, laughing and screaming. I saw my sister cover her eyes and knew that couldn't be good. One of the adults immediately started climbing up, bu tin th eend, the guy who chided me to "go!" stopped laughing and pointing long enough to release me, from the rear end and I came down fast, but safely. My hands burned from the friction with the great plastic sheath, but my face burned more from humiliation and disgust. No one enjoys being the butt of jokes, especially when it is because of somethnig so close to your butt! Nearly as often, though when I jumped off or got that driver's licnse, it was the start of something grand, somethnig that surpassed even my own expectations about what that decision was going to make in th erest of my life. Going to college was one of those now or never things. Making my first week long canoe trip and embarking on my Great Lakes Bicycle Trip all had that moment of fear and trepidation that comes from hearing thos ewords, so often paired with challenge and difficulties, most often unbidden. Who can know before we leap into the abyss what the future will bring? My family history is replete with stories like when we left The Coal Region of PA headed for Denver and the first day out the cooler got dumped and shorted out the main wiring harness of the car. It presented us a truly now or never choice. We would either make it back to Denver or not. That was the big question of the moment, but the repair had taken one of our three travel envelopes. We frequently travelled like that. We would add money to the envelopes equally, over a seriries of weeks or month, saving up for our trip. The envelopes were lovingly labeled Food, Fuel and Fun. The "Fun" envelope got it's contents removed, a full third of our budget for the whole trip evaporated on day one. The Sun had not even set yet and we expected to get to Iowa by nightfall. That was the start of a trip that re-introduced me to the first true love of my life. A friend from Middle School who is smart, beautiful and compassionate, exciting to be around, with high moral character and who had always been able to arouse my animal instincts. Had we not decided to go, as crazy as much of the rest of the trip was, my life would have never been the same. Sadly, I think it was me, not wanting to "now or never" something or other that led to our moving apart. All of this has been a convoluted preamble to NOW. Sometimes stories of old are not enough. They act as touchpoints, signposts or lighthouses, helping warn of the rocky shores and sandy shoals but sooner or later, we all need to leave the safety of shore and jump off, into the unknown. We need to do it before the echoes of the words "now or never" die out in our ears, we need to move! We can never plant the tree we needed to plant twenty years ago, we can only do this one in this moment. We cannot take back words not said, we can only offer what words we have now. It is impossible force opportunity to find a way back, when we find it is more conveinient for us or for us to bid opportunity wait unitl we actually feel ready. If those things were possible, we would all be famous and rich and living the life of Rilley. Strike while the iron is hot, change is gonna come, but only if we get with th eprogram and do our part. I promise, if you get caught up by the underwear, or are in over your head, I won't point and laugh, I will come to your aid. We can all see the predictions and trend lines. If we want to have seven generations revere and honor us, we have to do the same for them.