Where in the World is Wes Jackson (going)?

I have been struggling with what the subject of my first trip back on the blogwagon should be, and then it came all too easily the afternoon of March 24th, 2006. My sister Jen gave birth to her second son, a not so wide-eyed 8+ lb. boy named Wes, and I realized the moment I picked him up what a strange and amazing place is the world in which we live.

The first and most profound question to come to me was, "What does the world have in store for you, Wes Jackson?" You see, I've never seen or held a newborn before, not on the day of birth anyway, and it really is something else. If you're out there and you've never tried it, you really should give it a go. If there aren't many accessible babies within the family, you might try wandering a maternity ward one afternoon...it should go over well with the newbie's folks, no?

I was going somewhere with this. Ah yes. So, here is this kid, and it's his first day of life, and already everyone wonders:
What will he look like?
How big will he grow?
Will he be talkative?
Will he be smart?
Will he be an artist? Athlete? Musician? Rocket scientist? Soldier?
What sort of people will he hang out with?
What sort of student will he be?
How much will he like his parents? Grandparents? Uncles?

What does the world have in store for this kid? Think about how much of it is really so far out of his hands. So much of who you are happens at a time when you can't walk or talk or feed yourself or wipe your own ass.

The obvious thing is, everyone in that room wants the best for the little guy and at some point will probably give him advice about what is best for him, but his road will be different...it will be unlike any one that you or I or his mom or dad have ever walked, and that is just such a mindblowing thing to me. Perhaps I'm too simple-minded, but I find it so intriuging. There is just absolutely no telling what this little person; this living, breathing, future contributer to society (well, hopefully, right?), will be like.

There are so many things you can speculate on in the world, whether it's sports or the weather, and most with some degree of accuracy. But how do you speculate on the life of a newborn person, born tabla rosa, with a clean slate? Impossible. And that, my friends, is what I call exciting.

Good luck out there Wes, write your script well.