What's impeccable about timing?

Timing is everything. I have been on both sides of this coin. I have been spot on many times. But, my track record is not flawless. I have been spot wrong on just as many occasions.

One has to learn to read signs. That's a bit of a challenge. But, it is a teaching even from the Good Teacher. He encouraged us to learn a lesson from the fig tree. "When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, then summer is near." Ah-h-h. Reading signs. I'm good at several things, but reading signs is not one of them.

I originally left Dallas to come to Midland 28 years ago. The move was to partake in the oil boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. 6 months after moving to Midland, the oil boom turned to oil bust. My timing was off. I had to find other means of employment shortly after a move. But, I've had good timing too. Teaching in a college is hard to get to do around Midland. However, at the time I got an adjunct appointment, there was a need for white male instructors. Just my luck. That was a 10-year run.

My whole track record is up and down like that. And, through it all, my record really hasn't been that great. This is where I reread someone like the Master and think, "surely it is as easy as seeing the coming of summer from the fig tree!" I don't know. Some say events are destined. That's what appears in great films and in great literature. I don't know. That seems a bit stout. Some say we control what happens to us. I don't know. Control is illusive if I have learned anything about life.

I guess I'll continue to ponder the issue. I think it really is a matter of reading buds and leaves and predicting summer.