Spin the wheel and hit the record button
 
My son, Conor, spoke up from the back seat of the car, breaking the silence of our drive to the barbershop. "Dad, my mind is always thinking about things." He sounded concerned when he said this, as if there was something wrong. I asked him if there was anything in particular that was bothering him. He said, "no, I'm just always thinking about stuff." I told him that was normal; everybody does this. He went on to say, "I finish thinking about one thing and then I'm right away thinking about something else...it's as if I spin the Conor wheel in my mind and wherever it stops that's what I'm thinking about."
I had to stifle a laugh. Ironically, just hours earlier I went to Best Buy and purchased a new Sony digital voice recorder. The wheel of my mind has been spinning a lot lately, too. So much so, that I bought this voice recorder to keep from forgetting some of the story ideas that come to me while I'm driving or walking or whatever. It's a pretty cool gadget. Half the size of my wireless phone, I can record hours worth of ramblings, some of which will end up here on this blog – assuming I can remember to carry the thing along with my phone, PDA, car keys, ID tag and everything else I need to pick up off the countertop every morning.
My father is fond of saying, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." In other words, my son will be a lot like me. I wanted to tell Conor that the wheel in his head will only spin faster and louder with time. I wanted to tell him to welcome all these thoughts he’s having, to examine them, spin them like a top and watch them wobble to a stop. Then I remembered that he's just nine. It’s probably not such a good idea to be so lost in thought at such an early age. Besides, his teachers would surely appreciate it if I kept his mind in the here and now, at least until he gets through the school year. I looked back at him in the rearview mirror – this boy of mine with a wheel full of thoughts – and just smiled.
10:20:55 PM  Stories
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