FALLING LEAVES

We’ve been blessed with three weeks in the mountains

where every morning at day break

we pick up our walking sticks don our jackets 

and take a walk around the lake.

Blessed to take care of two dogs who not only make our daytime bright

but love to be around us…

and put themselves to bed at night!

Blessed to watch the sun rise buoyed by a morning breeze

Blessed to walk with deer and ants…

with butterflies and bees.

Blessed to watch the beavers whose energy never seems to cease.

Blessed to say good morning to the turtles, ducks and geese.

Blessed to walk among the pines as slow as we may please.

Blessed to hear the wind making music in the trees.

This morning as we walked accompanied by that familiar breeze

we noticed how the leaves have started falling from the trees.

As I watched the leaves cascading down I suddenly became aware…

how this is nature’s way of signifying a change is in the air.

Nature doesn’t broadcast or vociferously proclaim…

She has a quiet, subtle way of showing…

how nothing stays the same.

So as summer begins it’s transformation into fall…

We feel a little bittersweet because we know

our time at the lake is over…

it’s time for us to go. 

And I wonder if memories are like leaves…

they gather on our trees

they stay with us a while then one day…

they drift off on the breeze…

Perhaps that’s the way it’s meant to me…

memories are meant to drift when the Fall winds blow…

reminding us there’s now room on our tree

for more memories to grow.

SIMPLE ADVICE

He came to his dad on the eve of his wedding asking

“Dad, any last minute advice?”

“Any words of wisdom?”

“And please can you be precise.”

“When it comes to your wife,” Dad smiled

“I have a few insights that might apply:

Know when to make her laugh 

and know when to let her cry.”

Let her know you will do your best 

to never make her frown

to encourage and support her…

and never let her down.

And finally tell her she need not be afraid 

because you want it known…

you will always be beside her…

and she’ will never be alone.

ONE MEMORY AT A TIME

We pass them every morning as the day’s about to break

an old man and a young girl…seated by the lake.

They are sharing a moment together…a moment of solitude

and as we near them we walk softly…not wanting to intrude.

The other morning when he heard us coming…he smiled and turned his head

He told us his name was Charlie… “and this is Tess.” he said.

The next day he greeted us by name…and we were surprised we must admit

when he smiled looking out at the water….and invited us to sit.

They had no fishing poles, no equipment…so finally I said, “Hey…

Charlie, why do you and Tess sit by the water ever day?”

“At the beginning of this summer,” he said, “my wife,Tess’s grandma, passed way.

so Tess and I come to the lake to remember her each day.”

“I’ve spent my lifetime loving Tess’s Grandma

but in some ways Tess just met her…

I want her to know the kind of person her Grandma was

and I don’t want either of us to forget her.”

“We come here every morning.” Tess said.

as the the bells on the church began to chime.

“Grandpa says the best way to remember Grandma…

is one memory at a time.”

We listened to a few stories…

about how Grandma loved to bake,

how she loved to sing although a little off-key, 

and how she loved this lake.

Then we took our leave…as we were very much aware

we had infringed enough on these two…

this was their time to share.

And now we wave when we pass each morning…

as around this lake we climb…

knowing a Grandpa is sharing a Grandma with his granddaughter… 

one memory at a time.

INNER PEACE ON AN INNER TUBE

An old man and an old woman down an old river decided to float.

They opted to glide on inner tubes instead of in a boat.

In an inner tube, they heard…stress and troubles will decrease…

So in their inner tubes…on that old river…they searched for inner peace…

They were the only two on the river save for some geese and two fishermen

and somewhere along the river..they found their tubing Zen.

As they floated with the current through the straights and around the turns

They found the river is a good teacher…and there’s a lot to learn.

In a world where much of the of land is taken…every mountain, plain and hill

no one owns the river…and no one ever will.

On the river there’s no hurry…even though over obstacles the water climbs

you know eventually you’ll get there…they call it river time.

As you float along the river…you tend to forget any problems you have had

because in the middle of the river it’s impossible to be sad.

As you watch the waves, the trees, the sun…the clouds in the sky above

you realize how the river can teach us about love.

There are times when the river drifts apart…having different paths to weather

but the river knows there will come a time when it all flows back together.

The river understands how each part is important…no matter how big or small

for she knows that in the end….she is one river after all.

The river is quite confident in all the beauty she creates

And she knows, if you happen on her…the wonders that await…  

So if you happen to see an old man and woman…

floating on a river near some geese….

chances are,

if they’re on an inner tube…

they’ve found their inner peace..

INNOCENCE LOST

We adults tend to lose ours innocence as the years unfold…

which is why the innocence of our children is a beauty we behold.

Children sing before they realize there even is a song.

They dance whenever any kind of music comes along.

They draw upon a canvas before they realize it’s a wall.

They climb as high as they can climb before they understand the fall.

When we see innocence in our children…we are happy to detect it

and we realize it’s up to us to nurture and protect it.

But a question now arises which leads to a scary thought…

What happens to this innocence when our children have been shot?

Let’s stop a moment to remember…to take a closer look

How we did nothing back in 2012 after Sandy Hook.

Oh, we prayed, we mourned, we wept…and we said we’re sorry too

as we told the grieving parents…there’s nothing we can do.

And every day since then our country has paid a tremendous cost

as more children have been murdered…and more innocence has been lost.

Never again will they sing, or dance, or draw upon a wall

Never again will they marvel at the Heavens, or climb up high, or fall.

In 2012 we stopped protecting our children…our daughters and our sons

our love for them now less important than our obsession with a gun.

As the two sides fight with one another to do what is required

All the children of our country are caught in their crossfire.

A child will play with a ray of light before he realizes there’s a sun

A child will attempt to pull a trigger...before he realizes it’s a gun.

But we know what harm a gun can do…and if we want our children to survive

we must do all that’s in our power to ensure they stay alive…

If we continue to allow their innocence to be taken…

in this most heinous kind of theft…

There will come a time, 

if we haven’t reached it already 

when we have no innocence left.

ALL THE PEOPLE I HAVE KNOWN

When I stop and take a look at my life now that I am well past fully grown

I like to think how I’ve been blessed by all the people I have known.

Certainly there is my family, my children, my grandchildren and my wife

but what about all the others people who have helped to shape my life.

Some were with me from the start but are gone now…to my dismay

Some have been here many years…others merely crossed my path along the way

Some I’ve known by name others I never really knew…but I’m still glad

at what they all have given me…at the impact they have had

I’ve known mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters…aunts and uncles too

I’ve known teachers, students, and children who helped to mold my point of view.

So many people I have met whose influence I can’t ignore

from priests, professors, bus drivers to baggers in the grocery store.

I’ve known mechanics, fishermen, lawyers…waiters and waitresses galore

all who made me think a little differently than I had thought the day before.

I’ve known authors and musicians…I’ve loved their melodies….their words

I’ve been changed by every book I’ve ever read and every song I’ve ever heard.

I could go on and on because in my mind a host of faces are now blending

You might say when it comes to the people in my life…the list is never-ending.

And I imagine it’s the same with everyone

For no one ever lives their life totally alone

No…we are who we are today

because of all the people we have known.

REMEMBERING WHTIMAN

We’ve been dog sitting for two weeks now…it’s been amazing I might add

but it has also stirred up memories of the dog that we once had.

He was a Golden Retriever, his name was Whitman 

He was as gentle as can be

We spent a good twelve years together

(I wish we had 83).

Why did you name him Whitman, people would ask?

Was it because you loved Walt Whitman’s poetry?

If only…we would answer…

he was named after a bakery.

If you think naming Whitman after a bakery was crazy…allow me to elaborate…

Whitman’s made the best better cream donuts…our family ever ate!

An amazing feature of memories is how they seem to fly in on their own wings.

They pop into our heads when we least expect them…triggered by the simplest things.

Taking Bella and Matti for a walk…watching them unwind

Throwing a ball for them to retrieve…and Whitman come’s to mind.

Sitting with Bella on the couch…before she goes to bed

thinking that’s exactly the same spot Whitman used to lay his head…

I guess it is inevitable…and certainly no reason to be dismayed

that as we make new memories…we’re reminded of old ones we have made.

It gives us a chance to think back…to be thankful…to remember with a smile

a person, or in this case a dog, who was in our life a while…

Whitman’s bakery and Whitman are long gone now but we still remember their mystique

for a dog to be named after a donut…he must have been unique!

So as we sit with these two wonderful dogs…and try to get them to behave us….

It’s nice to remember our Whitman…and all the memories he gave us.