NEVER TOO LATE TO SAY THANKYOU

I Am Thankful For

clear blue skies and
spring fragrance of clove currant
and lily of the valley

snow that melts
for tulips pushing through
thawing dirt

birds and butterflies
resting in the
afternoon sun

sounds of children’s laughter
and their parents
joining in

the warm touch of
my love’s hand
a glance from her brown eyes

people who live peace
brave ones who
dare follow them

remembering places
where I have been and
with whom
I have journeyed

roads that lead nowhere
and time to
explore them

 

Clearing Out Life's Accumulation

The business section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is a strange place to find spiritual advice. This morning's paper had an article about clearing out clutter. The writer, Liz Reyer, says that to  "conquer clutter, you must first look inward." She talks about how important it is to understand your inner goals and values. Doing your "inner housekeeping first" makes outer cleanup so much easier.

She goes so far to as to say that "excessive attachment to material items often stems from a misplaced attempt to fill an inner need." Hmmmm . . .

After construction dust settled from our summer remodeling, it was time for a thorough fall house-cleaning. At least that's what we thought we were doing. but somewhere in the process cleaning out old files in the study, our cleaning became a metaphor for something far more significant. Our professional lives had "encouraged" us to keep files of everything from continuing education to workshops, retreats, and classes that we once led.

Garbage sack after garbage sack of our respective pasts went into the recycling. Construction materials we had saved, since we bought (and remodeled) our first house decades ago, just in case we "might need it." Extra furniture a family member might want someday. Talk about our lives passing before our eyes!

We joke that the house has levitated at least three feet off the ground, because it is so much lighter. But we are the ones who feel much lighter. And ready for where ever our full lives lead us next.

The Long View

As a photographer, I find landscape images much harder to do well than close-ups. Somehow zeroing in on something right before me is easier. The key to landscape photography is creating perspective. A beautiful and moving scene requires something to give the viewer a context. For example, the Grand Canyon is probably one of the most spectacular places on this earth. But to aim one's camera straight at it often produces images that lack meaning - or even give any idea of what this majestic place is.

Reading the newspaper or listening to the news is much the same. It is much easier to focus on individual items. With today's instance Internet access, the news often smacks you "in the face," leaving you reeling as to its meaning. As one op ed columnist said recently, "Has Washington Gone Nuts?" in reference to the failure of the budget committee. There are the protests in Egypt and the Occupy protests that have spread so quickly, sexual abuse scandals, Iran's nuclear capacity, poverty rates, pizza as a vegetable, people suing people, and the "death page," as we call the newspaper page itemizing individual violence and death for the day . . . The list goes on and on.

After coming up for air, a person can easily wonder if the whole world  indeed has gone crazy.

Then there is the long view. Clem and I were talking this morning about how to put day's news into perspective.We talked about changes we have seen in our life-time - changes no one even notices today. We remembered a friend from decades ago - a black man married to a white woman - and how dangerous their marriage was in some parts of this country. Or how when I first began working professionally, women were not allowed to own property in several southern states - and, as women, were virtually considered property. Who notices today? The past helps provide the long view.

Today's issues actually give us hope, precisely because they were not issues decades ago. Many of the world's current issues are about things that no one noticed decades ago. Who ate pizza, questioned the distribution of wealth, or considered challenging dictators? Sexual abuse "did not exist" unless it happened to you - and you never dared to speak up. And Eisenhower's voice questioning the military-industrial complex was "heard" only because he was a general. But we trusted our military leaders to know what was best for us - and the unholy industry of war continued pretty much unchecked.

Perspective is both about recalling the past and projecting our hopes into the future. A future where sexual harassment and abuse are greatly diminished. Where war is not a central premise upon which we spend our tax money and where human life is sufficiently valued that the killing radically decreases. Where our food is not a primary health issue in terms of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

The long view. , , it is the essence of all our current messy issues and news.

Being Unique

The newspaper is so full of necessary information and commentary. Now I learn that decorating your home with one of a kind objects is in danger of becoming a fad.

A fad? When I walk around my own home, I recall memories that brought each piece of art, each piece of furniture into my life.  Momentos tucked in our carry-on luggage from trips to foreign lands. Flea market finds, some of them lovingly restored to a functional life. Art by local artists, local being where ever we happen to be, that supports artists' creative efforts.

A writing friends wondered out loud if people who write memoir surround themselves with objects that are memories. Perhaps.

But a fad? Does that mean we are all fads? I'd like to think of each of us as unique and precious, to be treasured by the people with whom we rub shoulders in our lives.

Border Transgressions

Reading the newspaper over breakfast sometimes gives me indigestion and raises my blood pressure. Earlier this week, I read that there is legislation proposed in Congress to allow the border patrol to bypass environmental regulations on federal park land along the Canada border. I almost choked on my English muffin. After I cooled down a bit, I began to imagine what it might mean.

Have any of these legislators ever been to Glacier National Park? Or driven on the engineering marvel named Going-to-the-Sun Road took years to build? The road crosses the park parallel to the Canadian border and is open only during the summer months. The rest of the year it is buried under tons of snow. Now the border patrol wants to consider other roads nearer the border to better enable catching terrorists illegally crossing the border.

Have these folks ever hiked trails through magnificent passes in Glacier Park and then set out on foot across country? This land is not casual landscape that is easily transversed. The idea of a fence is ludicrous beyond words, given the terrain, or even finding someone who tripped a sensor. If I wanted to illegally enter the country, I'd pick a place in eastern Montana where the land is flat and access to existing roads is far easier. This national park is remote land, land I love, where I go so that I can breathe, thanking the foresight of people before me, who fought to have this land preserved for public use.

Nor do I think Canadians would be thrilled at the prospect of such roads - or proposed electronic sensors or fences patterned after attempts to stem illegal immigration across the Mexican border. Glacier Park is contiguous with Waterton Provincial Park in Canada, with the two parks designated as Waterton Glacier Peace Park. Anyone ask Canadians how they would consider such "border control?"

Further west, North Cascades National Park and the Okanogan National Forest lie on our border and join several provincial parks in Canada. The same international issues apply here. Access to the US would demand a person have specialized mountaineering skills and be equipped to hike through the Cascades massive terrain. It is wilderness beyond my skill level to manage, even in the prime of my life.!Again, this beautiful land is buried most of the year in snow, with the only highway far to the south, a road often closed in the winter due to avalanche danger.

Then, there is Pictured Rock National Seashore in Upper Michigan.  We were just there this fall as we circled Lake Superior and are well aware of how far it is from the province of Ontario. To slip across the border here would necessitate swimming across Lake Superior from Canada. Now I swam once in Lake Superior - just to say I had done it. I doubt I was in the water more than five minutes. The Lake's frigid waters would effectively prevent anyone from spending more than 15-20 minutes in the water before hypothermia would permanently end any possibility of entering the country.  A boat would be more feasible, but does patrolling the border for illegal boats need roads, fences, and electronic sensors? I believe boating is done on the water . . .

Closer to home, who in their right mind would cross the border from Canada's Quetico Provincial Park wilderness into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (Minnesota's beloved BWCA) with mischief in mind?
I am sure there are any number of outfitters who would  be glad to take these legislators on a little trip into the wilderness. And help them portage across the Quetico, where the portages aren't nice trails connecting one lake with another.

The idea of a road along the the Minnesota-Canada border is ridiculous and should send a person into spasmodic gut-retching laughter!  How could be it would be possible to construct a barrier here between us and Canada. Most of the border here and at Voyageurs National Park (to to the west of the BWCA) is water, a chain of many lake that eventually empties into Lake Superior. Would building a bridge along these miles of lake water that separate us from Canada do the job? It certainly has the potential of being a tourist attraction rivaling  the Keys in Florida or the bridge system that connect the Eastern Shore of Virginia with Norfolk. However I don't think the purpose of this legislation is to attract tourists to the border.

And while we are at it, what about the Great Lakes as avenues for illegal entry into the US? This great chain of inland sea is about as permeable as a border can be. And since water boundaries aren't conducive to roads or fences, electronic sensors would be the only possibility of monitoring the border.

We used to go to Texas occasionally in the winter to bird-watch along the border. Birds seem ignorant of national boundaries and there was always the possibility of seeing birds that have wandered north from Mexico. We don't go any longer. The last time we were there, we were warned to stay well away from the Rio Grande River. There are so many monitoring devices planted in park land along the Mexican-US border that we would be liable to have an little encounter with the border patrol.

Is this what we can look forward to along the Canadian border? Roads? Fences? Monitoring Devices? Or is this legislation just one more attempt to whittle away environmental protection policies? A smoke screen to hobble environmental protection of land set aside for people to enjoy - both Canadian and US citizens. Or is over-ruling policies that preserve our great national parks a way to set a precedent to make it easier for logging and oil drilling occur?

I'd call the whole thing border transgressions.

I Used To Be 6 Foot 3 (and a half!)

Just outside my office window is a Mugho Pine with a thistle
bird feeder hanging out in plain sight. I need to take the time to
clean out last season's seeds and fill it with the new! Maybe
that's why there are no finches this year!? Or, just maybe, the
weather isn't just right . . . no snow . . . an abundance of seeds
elsewhere . . . or maybe (just maybe) I have not been looking
for them -

Here is a little Ogden Nash creation I recently received from
a friend.
              I sit here growing old by inches
              Watching the clocks instead of the finches
              But sometimes I visualize in my gin
              The Audubon I audubin.

If I have time this week . . . I may fill the feeder . . .

The Loss of a Wonderful Man

We are mourning the death of a dear friend. John's death at 77 was about both blessing and grief. His grief and ours. John was diagnosed with dementia six years ago. Other than sometimes having trouble finding words, hard for this articulate man, John did well until these past months. During these waning days of autumn, he deteriorated rapidly. At the end it was if he was suspended between here and whatever lies beyond, until he simply stopped breathing.

Never one to deny reality, John knew exactly what was happening to him. With dementia, he knew dying happens twice. First with his loss of connection with what we call our Self, and thus with others we love. Until the final dying when he would breath no more.

John grew up in West Texas and retained some of the drawl of his childhood. It took me several years after we first met to understand what he meant when he said "how ya doin'" - that he did not mean he was asking for a report of my immediate state of being. It was simply a Texas hello! John lived in gratitude and celebrated life. His infectious laugh will remain with me forever.

John's mind was quick and he had a carefully honed ability to hear not only what was being said, but what was not said - or sometimes realized - by the other person. As a listener, he spent his life in the service of hearing others' stories - their pain and their joy. He gave so much of himself, but would be quick to say how much he received.

Death is always loss for us who grieve. Yet at the same time, it was a blessing that he did not linger at the end, when he moved into confusion and anxiety. I knew him for exactly half of my life - to the month. Life will be strange for some time, the knowing he is no longer here with us.

Optimists and Pessimists

One definition of pessimists and optimists is the glass half-empty and the glass half-full.

This abnormally extended autumn has been a time for optimists and pessimists to declare themselves. The optimists make glowing remarks about the weather to strangers. They do things over their lunch hours they never bothered to do in the summer - like eat lunches on the company picnic bench and toss balls around to each other, while savoring each beautiful days.

The pessimists are waiting for the other shoe to drop. They search weather reports and bemoan the lack of rain. They are sure we are on the edge of impending doom, when climate change will wipe us all out. They are so busy whining and complaining they hardly notice the blue sky and the vibrant colors of leaves reluctant to fall from trees.

Of course there is an underlying reality to a very unusual fall - while Denver and the northeast are buried  under damaging snowstorms while we enjoy balmy weather. At the same time each autumn day has been a reminder to breathe deep and enjoy the gift we have been given. Just like life itself - when we have no way of knowing which day will be the last for ourselves or for those we love.

Me, I fall in the optimist category. Growing up with a mother who was a pessimist, I resolved to embrace what ever goodness I can find in life.

Breathe deep. The snow will eventually come - and it too has its beauty.

Our New Book!

Our new book Why Breathe? has rolled off the press! It is a beautiful book - poetry by both Clem and Elizabeth. It is available from us directly - just email one of us. And it will be available in a number of independent bookstores in the area. We will keep you posted as to when it will be available and where.

We began talking about writing a book together last winter. This time, the title and the cover came first. Then we began the task of deciding which pieces of poetry we wanted to include. Some poems have been around for a while, but not yet published. Others are more recent, including poetry written as we were putting the book together.

One poem is the result of a merger of two poems we had written separately about Sandhill Cranes. A line or two from Clem, then several lines from Elizabeth, until we were satisfied with how we had woven it together. At this point neither of us remember which lines were whose - even though our poetic voices are quite different.

Then the task of editing and rewriting, until the manuscript emerged.

We think it is our best work yet and are eager for people to take a look - and hopefully purchase a copy, so that they might absorb one poem after another as it speaks to them.

A wise person said that when you are writing, what you write belongs to you. When you offer something publicly for others to read, you no longer own what you have written. Every reader connects what they read with their own experiences and derives their own meanings. That is the beauty of poetry particularly. Sometimes poets do not even realize what they have written, since profound poetry comes from someplace deep inside.

It's Why Breathe? A collection of poetry that asks the perennial, unanswerable questions. Why do we get up in the morning,when the world sometimes seems painful and chaotic? And it is Why Breathe! The celebration of precious life and love.