I was planning to talk with a Dog Support client, and she told me she didn’t know how to use Paypal, Venmo, or Zoom.

She was awfully nice and said she would try to find another way to pay me for my consultation about her new dog. And she preferred to talk on the phone.

A few minutes later, I got a Paypal e-mail saying I had received a $50 payment. When I looked, I was surprised to see her name.

Seconds later, I got this quite remarkable e-mail, which I loved dearly:

“Hi, Jon, I’ve just sent you $50 using Paypal…So hilarious…all weekend, I kept thinking, how am I going to get the money to him? Then I thought, “for crying out loud. The man is learning the Ukelele, and he’s more than 70. Surely I can figure out Paypal! Ha! You inspired me, Jon; I’ll call you at 5 p.m.”

I loved the message, we had a great and productive talk, and I think I helped with her problem. She was great – bright, open, creative – she has a lucky dog.

I loved the letter, who wouldn’t?

But it underscored my great surprise at the shock waves and affirmation my ukulele lessons have caused. I didn’t think it was a big deal; I just mentioned it in passing.

Is it really that odd for someone my age to learn to play an instrument? The answer, I see, is yes.

It is a big deal; it is surprising to many people when a 75-year-old man decides to try something new and change.

This woman also told me she loved reading about Maria and me; she loved that we are so off-centered and strange.

I take that as a compliment. We had a wonderful talk. I hope to talk with her again one day. Her dog will be fine.

People’s expectations of people my age are not high. I guess I’m supposed to be drooling in my chair in the living room while my beleaguered wife tries to care for me and do her own work.

I confess there are moments like that, but they are rare. I feel healthy and strong, and full of myself most of the time. Sometimes at night, the old ghosts come to haunt me, but my Sleep Apnea Mask hisses and whistles and blows them away.

We old people are supposed to be quiet, retired, doddering, and feeble.  To stay in our place.

At times, all those stereotypes are true for me, but I feel vital, strong, curious, and open. I feel like I’m just getting started, that I’m just beginning.

I think fear has a lot to do with it. I’ve always been terrified to stop and keep things the same. I didn’t come up to the mountain to sit still.

I think it would be the end of me and my usefulness. I love learning to play the ukelele, but I had a dozen ideas backed up that I’m waiting to get to for the farm, my blog, and my life.

With any luck, I’ll get to die in my sleep or keel over while serenading the donkeys with my Ukelele. I want to go as gracefully as my flowers, yet another venture that is new to me.

I’m not ready to inflict my music on Maria, who swears I’m improving. We’ll see; I have a lesson tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. Flo, the barn cat, loves it, and the donkeys are keeping a wary eye on me. The chickens flee at the first twang. Zinnia goes to sleep.

Stasis is the first death, along with a refusal or inability to learn or change. When I stop embracing new ideas, I’ll be dead in spirit, if not the heart. I’m no God, but I have been reborn and resurrected myself in many ways.

I practiced the ukelele tonight, and I enjoyed it very much.

I’ve always loved music and never thought I could play it, but then, I never thought I could learn much of anything. As I’ve stopped trashing around in terror and begun living my life, I’ve learned much about myself.

When I made a new friend who was a music teacher, I just blurted out, hey, can you teach a man my age how to play the ukelele? “Sure,” he said, “I’ve taught 80-year-old men to play the guitar.”

Okay, I said, without another thought, “I’m in.” And that was that.

I am in all the way. I am many strange things, but a quitter is not one of them.

I can learn, do well with new things, and embrace change. I refuse to join in the march against hatred, argument and fear enveloping the country. I’m aware of it. It pains me; it will never own or define me.

In my faith, hatred is evil and will inevitably consume anyone who embraces it.

I’m just not going there, it’s not how I wish to spend my remaining years. I realize the ukulele is a big deal; many people have written to me saying it has inspired them.

That is a good enough reason to learn it. My mission is to spread color, light, good, and some joy. That’s why I am here and still here. The angels will protect me.

I can’t wait to play the ukelele at the Mansion. They will love it, especially as only a few know what a chord it or would care if I was off-key. It’s the idea that matters.

That is all a surprise to me, but then I am repeatedly surprised by the effect of many of the things I do and the fact that I do them in the first place. I am the child of impulse.

My new Dog Support friend was correct; Maria and I live Off Center. That is where we belong, and we are well-matched and happy there.

I’ll be even happier when I can make some music and write a song about it.

I think I’ve already got the name for my first song:

I’ll call it “Off Center.”