Life is good

So, the sun is shining and the sky is blue here on Rocky Top -- one beautiful, brilliant, colorfully kinetic last gasp of autumn.

It's election day, too. But I don't want to get into that today. We'll talk about that tomorrow.

No, today's a day for contemplating life's riches.

I'll never have much money. Don't need it. My priorities are elsewhere.

And yet, I find silver in the stars, and gold in the morning sun. My wealth derives from good times with good friends, simple moments, laughter, campouts, family moments, fried chicken on Sunday afternoons.

I love the joy that kids bring to the world, and wish that we'd never lose that innocent optimism. I enjoy old westerns, simple morality tales, where good always wins and the guy gets the girl every time.

My stocks and bonds are sunsets, reading Hemingway by the fire on a cold night, Porter and Dolly on the record player, a lazy baseball game on a late spring afternoon.

It's dinners you never want to end, laughing so hard you tear up, talking to the fella down the street who fought at the Battle of the Bulge, loving your country despite its faults, doing what little you can to help make it better.

It's caring too much and too sincerely, no matter how often you get hurt. It's aiming for the stars even if you don't make it past the front porch. It's being loyal to your friends, never making them wonder whether you'll be there.

It's trying to be humble, taking nothing for granted, enjoying every moment of every day. It's knowing this journey ain't going to last forever.

It's all this, and heaven too, in which my riches lie.