30 days of thankfulness. Day 12.

Roger discovered this amazing short film and wanted to share it with me, and our Facebook family.

It is really thought provoking.

The incomparable Leonard Cohen passed away. I am very fond of his work, especially Hallelujah, Dance Me to the End of Love, and Suzanne.

We also lost Robert Vaughn, such a dashing and debonair actor. He was in the original The Magnificent Seven  as well as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 

So yeah, this is a pretty disjointed and all over the map post, but I have had [another] one of those days. Was shopping for cat food after work and came across a woman apparently having a severe medical emergency (I think it could have been a heart attack), sprawled across a 50 pound of Kit and Kaboodle while her husband was calling an ambulance. All of a sudden she started to fall backwards and I barely caught the back of her head before she hit the floor. 

Work in and of itself was, shall we say, challenging, today. Let's just say I really earned my pay and the reward I bought myself (brownies - don't judge me!)

The country is still in an upheaval in the wake of the election on Tuesday, and the holidays are bearing down on us fast and furious. Thanksgiving is in 12 days. 

Gas prices are down about .10 here, and we are having our first seasonable cold weather this weekend. Hard freeze tonight according to the NWS. 

So here I sit, having had an average-ish day in my boring life here on Little Beaver Creek and in spite of (or because of) the jumble of happy/sad/stressful/relaxing/inspirational/run-of-the-mill moments that made up my day I am thankful. For Leonard Cohen and Robert Vaughn and the pleasure they brought to so many lives for so many years. I am thankful for thought-provoking short films that at their best make us rethink our opinions and goals. I am thankful for a job that challenges me and the timing that let me be in a position to help that woman from having a concussion added to add to her health concerns. I am thankful for this opportunity to sit and contemplate the complex simplicity of this life I love. 

Be blessed. 

30 days of thankfulness. Day 11.

My favorite patriotic poem. I memorized it as a child. Written by Billy Rose, who also wrote "Me and My Shadow" He was a staff clerk in WWI. 

The Unknown Soldier

There's a graveyard near the White House

Where the Unknown Soldier lies,

And the flowers there are sprinkled

With the tears from mother's eyes.

I stood there not so long ago

With roses for the brave,

And suddenly I heard a voice

Speak from out the grave:

"I am the Unknown Soldier,

The spirit voice began

"And I think I have the right

To ask some questions man to man.

"Are my buddies taken care of?

Was their victory so sweet?

Is that big reward you offered

Selling pencils on the street?

"Did they really win the freedom

They battled to achieve?

Do you still respect that Croix de Guerre

Above that empty sleeve?

"Does a gold star in the window

Now mean anything at all?

I wonder how my old girl feels

When she hears a bugle call.

"And that baby who sang

Hello, Central, give me no man's land.

Can they replace her daddy

With a military band?

"I wonder if the profiteers

Have satisfied their greed?

I wonder if a soldier's mother

Ever is in need?

"I wonder if the kings, who planned it all

Are really satisfied?

They played their game of checkers

And eleven million died.

"I am the Unknown Soldier

And maybe I died in vain,

But if I were alive and my country called,

I'd do it all over again.

My husband was 18 when he joined the Army in May 1976. His mother came to see him graduate from basic training, a miserable hot summer in South Carolina that year. He came home, safe, from his service. He was not maimed or mangled. He was not in a body bag. Many have not been so fortunate.

These have been trying days in our nation, days of protest in the streets and turmoil in families. We, as a nation, can protest and engage in public discourse of discontent because of tens of thousands of men and women who have served, and are still serving  under the flag of the US - in war and peace, plenty and want. Our first line of defense for an ideal and dream we call the United States of America.

For this I am thankful, today and always. 

Interlude

belonging

somewhere between he and she

somewhere between me and thee

there is the place I would rather be

whether on a mountain

or by the sea

some place

any place

where I can just be

me

~ ellen apple

11/10/2016

Belonging

Beside the gravel and dirt lot
Existing between what was and is not
Leaves now withered and clinging to branch
On the hope that there will be one last chance?
Nay, the tree knows whence it resides
Green giving way to brown as time slides
Into not death but a new phase of life
Never without pangs of regret and (perhaps) strife
Goes so with nature and humankind
Belonging to such change is life aligned

~Ellen Apple
11/08/2016

30 days of thankfulness. Day 9 and Day 10.

Lessons in gratitude.

Taught tough, learned with pain and effort.

That is life.

We long for escape. Like the crew and passengers of the SS Minnow, we imagine at times what life would be like on a deserted island, away from the travails and conflicts that assail our every waking moment. 

Especially over the past twenty-four hours or so here in the United States of America. I posted the following on Facebook yesterday:

A few things - and I hope I say this the way I think it, and it is taken in the spirit intended.

First, now many Democrats know how devastated many Republicans felt in 2008 and 2012.

Second, just because the election didn't go your way doesn't mean that the process didn't work. It just means that your (wo)man lost.

Third, I personally feel this was an election where people did not so much vote 'for' a candidate as 'against' a candidate.

Fourth, we as a nation *must* pull together and remember that this is the system we have in place. There is redress through change - get involved and search out a vehicle by which you can help bring about the changes and fixes you long for. I am specifically talking of the Electoral College and Term Limits.

Fifth, if your relationships on social media are so shallow as to be vulnerable because of a vote, or a perceived opinion, perhaps you need a shorter friends list.

Thank you.

Later, I posted this:

My heart especially aches for my beloved LGBT friends. As well as my many 'othered' friends who do not have the 'right' skin color or accent or religion or country of origin. I often say we can be and do better as a nation - I still believe that, but more than ever it has to start in each heart, in each mind, in each house and workplace and on each social media platform. 

I did not have the heart, or the energy, to write my day 9 of thankfulness last evening. I had been awake from 3am on 11/08 until about 8pm on 11/09 with maybe 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I was past tired. So I fell asleep at eight, and got up at my usual 3am even though I am not working today. 

I am thankful that I have the right and privilege to vote as a citizen of this country. I am thankful I had the means physically and intellectually to do so. I am thankful and humbled for the heart and commitment and respect of my friends and family throughout this process of choosing leaders and enacting laws. There was more on my ballot than the choices for president/vice president. Our congressional district had 3 candidates vying for the "Fighting Ninth" here in Virginia, and there were 2 state constitutional issues up for vote here as well. Elsewhere in the county in which I live there were municipal elections, and proposed changes to the restrictions on the sale of alcohol on Sunday. I have a co-worker who was running for a seat on the town council in Glade Spring. Nationally, there were senate elections and several gubernatorial elections. There was a marvelous kaleidoscope of ballot issues across our country, reflective of the diversity and complexity of who we are as a nation. 

All many of us will hear, though, is Trump/Pence and Clinton/Kaine. I am not thankful for that. I am not thankful for the vitriol and bitterness and stubborn divisiveness that just will not go away.

I am thankful for you - reading this wherever you are - that you are taking the time to read this and hopefully take to heart my closing visual offering. May we ever remember that we are all stewards of this wonderful planet, and one another.

30 days of thankfulness. Day 8.

Belonging

B-eside the gravel and dirt lot

E-xisitng between what was and is not

L-eaves now withered and clinging to branch

O-n the hope that there will be one last chance?

N-ay, the tree knows whence it resides

G-reen giving way to brown as time slides

I-nto not death but a new phase of life

N-ever without pangs of regret and (perhaps) strife

G-oes so with nature and humankind

Belonging to such change is life aligned

~Ellen Apple

11/08/2016

Today I am thankful for the impermanence we have as a constant in life. Change can be scary, and exciting, but it is necessary for growth. 

Blessings to all, on this day of immense change for our nation. 

30 days of thankfulness. Day 7.

I came home from work today and spent a nice, calming interlude holding my black cat on my lap and just appreciating the joy and purpose she brings to my life. 

Later, I had a really nice conversation with my friend Lilian who lives in Olympia, WA. 

For my evening meal I had my usual salad, and then a handful of dark chocolate covered cherries for dessert.

As I write this, we are watching Dancing With the Stars. The joy and positivity of this show is so refreshing juxtaposed against the angst and conflict on this eve of what is shaping up to be a historical presidential election in the US.

Earlier today, I discovered an error in my favor relating to a purchase I had made and took steps to ensure that I had paid properly for the items in question. 

None of the above are earth-shattering or life-altering. All are just parts of the whole of a day in my life. Being thankful,  living a life of gratitude, is not about grand gestures. It is about making everyday moments real and meaningful. 

There is power, and wisdom, and creativity to life. From the iridescence of a ruby-throated hummingbird to the sweeping and limitless horizon when you stand on the shore of an ocean there is both permanence and  ephemerality to life. To fully experience and live the majesty and delicacy of the world  we are entrusted with begins with thankfulness. 

30 days of thankfulness. Day 6.

Time change has arrived, and the descent into the darkest days of the year has taken on a sense of urgency. We sometimes have to see the darkness to appreciate the light, just as we sometimes need the trials in life to really know how blessed we are.

When darkness falls early, there are songs from my youth that come to mind. Here I bring you a verse of an old Methodist hymn, the lyrics to an iconic song from an iconic television show, and the words to a song that our local sunrise to sunset AM radio station played at signoff when I was growing up.

My quote for thankfulness (gratitude) for the day is from the Dalai Lama.

Day is dying in the west;
heaven is touching earth with rest;
wait and worship while the night
sets the evening lamps alight
through all the sky. 

Mary A. Lathbury, 1841-1913 


Lyrics to "Happy Trails" by Dale Evans Rogers
Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.

Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.

Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.

JIM REEVES LYRICS"Suppertime"

[Sang]
Many years ago in days of childhood
I used to play till evenin' shadows come
Then windin' down that old familiar pathway
I'd hear my mother call at set of sun.

Come home, come home it's suppertime
The shadows lengthen fast
Come home, come home it's suppertime
We're going home at last.

[Spoken]
Some of the fondest memories of my childhood
Were woven around suppertime
When my mother used to call 
From the backsteps of the old homeplace
Come on home now son it's suppertime. 

Ahhhh, but I'd loved to hear that once more
But you know for me time has woven the realization of
The truth that's even more thrilling and that's when
The call come up from the portals of glory
To come home for it's suppertime.

When all Gods children shall gather around the table 
of the Lord, Himself and the greatest suppertime of them all.

[Sang]
Come home, come home it's suppertime
The shadows lengthen fast
Come home, come home it's suppertime
We're going home at last...

This first Sunday in November, I am thankful for the memories of my childhood that evoke comfort, security and hope. I do not doubt that if there is a bit of the optimist in this pragmatist, it is in no small part to having had been reared in an atmosphere of love, respect, community, patriotism, and responsibility.