The-Sometimes-Serendipitous-Circus-That-Is-My-Life

By Jonan Keeny

My wife, Mary Lauren, and I both work multiple jobs, and I know we aren’t alone in that regard. (Shoutout to all of you doing the same! Let’s start a club! We won’t have meetings because we’re too busy. It’ll be great!) It isn’t always fun or easy, but we feel it is necessary to do so in order to feel fulfilled as human beings, as professionals, and as parents. (She isn’t available at the moment to disagree with me, so…) And if I haven’t mentioned it before or if you haven’t seen me/us out and about with Wyatt (9yo) and Miles (4yo), the boys keep us on our toes. So when the stars align and ML and I actually have a mutual day off AND the boys are out of town…It’s date time. Despite how rare this is, that is exactly how and why we found ourselves hanging out in Clayton on a Monday afternoon last month.

One of my favorite things about Clayton in the warmer months is that many restaurants are OPEN on Mondays! For our family, that tends to be a particularly busy day of the week (you know, those pesky jobs, school, RCHS Marching Wildcats rehearsal, soccer practice, etc.), and preparing dinner is not always easy. (Here I need to again remind you that, once upon a time, I lived in NYC, just a half-block from Times Square. Ask me about seeing Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, drummer for The Roots, in the Times Square McDonald’s at 3AM sometime! I’m still waiting to run into him in Rabun County…) Please understand that I bring up Mondays and restaurants not to disparage anyone or any business. I completely understand not being open when it is not costeffective to do so. And please, please PLEASE enjoy your days off!!! However, it has taken some getting used to. So, sitting on the patio at The Hush downtown prior to the Hush Rush (#hushrush; let’s get it trending!) and having the time to order food one course at a time(!) enjoying my wife’s company, without any sort of need to hurry or constantly correct inappropriate boy-child behavior, was wonderful. It’s in those fleeting moments that I am reminded of just how much I love this woman. When she isn’t laughing hysterically at my hilarious jokes, she is actively listening to my hopes and dreams, as well as to my artistic frustrations. (But mostly she’s laughing hysterically at my hilarious jokes.) And don’t worry other-wonderful-restaurants, we’ll be visiting soon.

Jonan Keeny was born in Topeka, Kansas, he got older in Berwick, Pennsylvania, and then he lived a bunch of other places. A lifelong learner and a full-time dreamer, the prospect of grand new adventures gets him out of bed in the morning, with some additional assistance from his two blonde-haired, blue-eyed alarm clocks, of course! Jonan recently rediscovered his passion for photography, which keeps him quite busy tromping around the woods, stopping at random places on the side of the road, and uploading photos to his website, www.myworldpics.com, and his Insta, @dude4disney. When he isn’t wrangling two little boys, he’s likely hanging out with his wife, Mary Lauren, reading a book to learn something new, or dreaming of life’s next adventure and Walt Disney World. Regardless of the activity, he’s probably participating in it while wearing funky socks and a cool hat.

After paying and thanking Chris for being such an awesome server, we stroll up and down Main Street, shopping or just window shopping at Wander, Lulu and Tully’s, Isadora Popper, Main Street Gallery, Outdoor 76, Butler Galleries, Reeves, and all the rest, enjoying a lovely summer afternoon with a gentle breeze that is just enough to keep us comfortable in the sun. Not long after, as we sip iced lattes and share a dessert at White Birch Provisions, our “normal” life begins again. Various messages from various jobs, which leads to changing plans slightly to get some things worked out. So, we head on over to St. James Episcopal Church for a chat. As it turns out, just a few days prior, St. James had held its 15th Flower and Liturgical Festival. So after ML is finished and I have potentially and unexpectedly added a new photo or two to “Sanctuaries,” and we have taken a few shots for ML’s new job at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, we move on, gorgeous flowers in tow, sun-kissed and content, and head home. There’s laundry to be done, various cleaning to do, birds to feed, and travel preparations to be made. Just another typical day balancing work and life with the love of my life…Time well-spent, indeed.

Anyway, as I wrap this up around 4am, slamming coffee at the kitchen table in my parents’ home in Berwick, Pennsylvania where I got older, eyes blurry with tears of joy and sadness from reflecting on a long-overdue NEPA trip, before I move on to writing fresh beats for the RCHS Drumline, and before moving on to finishing my weekly tasks and prep for Sunday at FPC Highlands, I leave you with this: Whatever “it” is for you, please don’t take it for granted. Life is awesome, but it is also short. Share the smiles, share the hugs. Embrace the grind, but spread the love.