THE GOOD TIMES, THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

My grandson has come to live with us for a while, and that means changes.  He's 21 years old and has been frustrated by several disappointments since graduating from high school three years ago.  The kid was a good football player, turned down chances to play at several colleges.  His problem is that he doesn't know how to do much.  Nobody ever required much of him, other than excelling at sports, which he has done.  He's also been involved in MMA fighting, did well at it.  But simple things most people learn early on aren't in his bag right now, and he came here to follow me around and learn them.  I'm talking about working with tools - how to work on a vehicle (my old truck), or get a fussy lawn mower running, or build gates for the backyard fence, or do house repairs.  And we've started doing some of those things, and he says he enjoys it.  Yeah, he's clumsy with the tools right now, but he'll learn.  But that's not really why he's here.  He says he wants to be a writer.

This young man is my only grandson, and we've had a tight relationship since he was tiny.  He's always been an avid reader, and his imagination is bigger than he is, and he's a big kid.  He knows computers, how to use them and all that.  His thing is fantasy.  He's already written a script for a computer generated movie done by a group of college kids.  I watched the video, was surprised that a bunch of college sophs could do that.  Looked like lots of the stuff I've seen on television, that made for kids stuff about fighting monsters and all that.  He's working on a story that's medieval, sort of like what you see in the Game of Thrones series.  I'll support those efforts, help him along, show him how to self-publish his stuff.  And he can help me get some graphics done for several novels I've been bogged down with.  Times around here were already pretty good, but the good times, they are a-changin'.

For one thing, I'm slowed down with some crippling injuries that keep me from doing much real labor.  I don't last long with heavy work, and that's where he comes in.  I'm  hoping to toughen up some as the injuries heal (and they will), but a 72 year old is capable of only so much.  My contribution is that I've done a lot of things in the past, and I can pass that along to him.  And I don't do this with the intent of making a handyman out of him.  It's the work ethic that's important.  Leaning to work translates over to "building" books because it takes effort and a stick-to-it mindset.  Like watching a house go up and taking pride in knowing you built it, the writing of books is the same.  I don't really start enjoying my work as a writer until the foundation and the framework is up.  That's when you can clearly see where you're going, what your hard will is leading toward.  So . . . today, we'll do some work in the yard, like trimming hedges and moving things around and getting ready for springtime.  And believe it or not, that's indirectly important to writing.