As I woke up this morning, I could feel the strain of 68 years of life. It was time to face another day and for some reason the words, “Another Day in the Life” came to mind. Maybe it was because of seeing The Beatles museum exhibit last week here in Portland?

When I Googled the phrase, it was the title of the song but never mentioned in the lyrics:

“Woke up, fell out of bed,
Dragged a comb across my head,
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup,
And looking up I noticed I was late,
Found my coat and grabbed my hat,
Made the bus in seconds flat,
Made my way upstairs and had a smoke,
And everybody spoke and I went into a dream…”

Further investigation revealed a pictorial book titled “Another Day in the Life” by Ringo Starr that I had never heard of until today, or was it “Yesterday?” Here is his description of the work:

“This is a way of putting my life out there, because if I were to write a memoir, there’d be five volumes before I got to The Beatles. So I’m going at it this way, through photographs and quotes. And this is, I feel, a better way for me to do it.” – Ringo Starr

I did not discover its origin but it has evolved into another day…at the office or in paradise, whatever your mood happens to be? When I woke up this morning, I was thinking about my 31st move and all that needed to be done in the next two weeks. We drove the first carload of our possessions to the new apartment yesterday, concerned about cramming 2,000 square feet of living space plus a garage into less than 1,000. Every day another load goes to Goodwill or we’ll send out a plea to a friend, neighbor, or family member to take this or that off our hands.  

To think that 68 years ago I didn’t have a single possession, while twenty years ago we filled a 5,500 square foot house. Much of our furniture has been moved from Indiana, to Illinois, to Texas, and finally here to Oregon. If it doesn’t find a home in the next week and I can’t fit it in the car to take to Goodwill, it will go to 1-800-GOT-JUNK. I hate to think of any of it as junk! It’s been passed down through family and filled with happy memories. Sure, there are a few scratches and dents, but nothing that can’t be easily repaired. However, to ship it or store it costs too much, so we’re limited on what to do with it. 

It’s indeed “another day in the “Life”…for me and the “Wife.” For some unknown reason, my words need to rhyme. This is why there are so many poems in my collection. Where Ringo needed pictures to explain his fascinating life, I need rhyming phrases to make mine seem more interesting. “Life” is filled with “Strife” that cuts like a “Knife.” We’re “Movin’ On,” so stuff “Be Gone.”