Sam

Tamara on a New Journey

I wrote this letter to my oldest daughter Tamara as she left for the Midwest and Palmer Chiropractic College 1989

Dear Tamara,

I wanted to find the perfect gift for you, but nothing seemed right. I decided instead to give you a farewell wish, to send you on your way. And sometimes the best things ever said come last. People talk for hours saying nothing much, then stand at the door with words that are suddenly very important.
You are standing at the door to a new adventure and I want to say a few parting words, the kind that last in memory and heart. And although my skills leave much to be desired, there are so many things I want to share with you.
The door is open and you enter a world that runs about as smoothly as a car with square wheels. It is ok to be uncertain; this world is run by leaders who behave at times like children. Adulthood comes on you and suddenly ready or not, your it.
The day before yesterday, you were that fragile little baby that seemed so helpless. Yesterday you were that nine year-old that loved horses more than eating. Only this morning you were a teenager I handled so badly.
If you always put your heart into everything you do, you cannot lose. If you never make a lot of money, no one will be able to take the wonder out of your life. In today’s world, The Golden Rule seems to be lost, make sure it is always in your pocket.
It is a complicated world where we need to constantly make choices. A peach is sweet beneath the fuzz, a toad is more than warts, and a person is not just, what you see. If we can learn to make those wise distinctions than we can be tolerant, we can get to the heart of problems, instead of wrestling with gross exteriors.
When a person grows up, they start making their own assumptions. I am sure I fed you my bias and prejudice through the windows in which I viewed the world, I hope some are good. Now you challenge your own and you will see through your own windows. Sometimes they get clouded and need washing and new light comes in. It is always better to be wise rather than smart. It sometimes takes a long time to find wisdom; it is a lifetime search. The greatest knowledge sometimes comes in the most unexpected places from the most unexpected people.
You have an edge, not because I was a shining example of Christian endeavor, but because God would never let go of me long enough for me to completely turn my back. And he wound his way in and out of my life long enough, for you to know him too.
No matter how loving or loved we are, when that moment comes and you feel that cold loneliness, you will face it and win, God will not turn his back on you.
You are already in motion in your life, more prepared to face the world than I was at your age, more prepared to push off and make a good start. You may better understand why people of every country and religion have at one time or another found it so easy to make other people suffer. While a country glued to their TV’s cheering for a little girl caught in a mineshaft, will destroy a village and everyone in it, in a country they cannot identify on a map.
And while you are trying to figure all that out, remember that every right you have as a women was won for you by women fighting hard. And little girls born today need you to help pave their way. In a man’s world, it takes courage to maintain and extend the range of equality. And you need to continue to add to the pot for the women in line behind you.
There is plenty to keep you busy for the rest of your life. And being busy cannot promise that life’s absurdity will be made smaller, but with faith, it can be manageable. With faith, you will occasionally feel that overall, things do more forward. And if you focus that hope on your life’s discontent, Gods light will melt many shadows.
I want you to be strong, aggressive, tough and resilient, yet full of feeling. I want you to do good when you can, hold on to your wit and intelligence and use it like a shield against people who would injure you. Laugh and enjoy a life of your own choosing and a world of your own making. I want you to be everything that makes you unique. When you enter strange oceans, don’t leave any of yourself safely on shore. Go bravely into unexplored territory.
C only get there by hard work and risk and sometimes not knowing just what your doing. My hope is that what you discover will be wonderful and in that discovery, you will find yourself.

And by the way, I love you,
Mom

Tamara graduated and now has her own practice

Health Quest Chiropractic

1760 State Street

                                                             Schenectady, N. Y. 12304

Cowboy in the new west

A friend of mine, Don, was a cowboy of sorts; his leathered face chiseled by the elements, with a wide toothy grin, more like Gaby Hayes than John Wayne. He always wore a Stetson, a big belt buckle with a longhorn or a bucking horse on it, great detailed cowboy boots, all his shirts had pearl snaps and a Levi jacket that boasted many days under the sun. He played the guitar as was fitting a wanabe cowboy but his talent lay in his story telling. He could entertain young and old for hours relating adventures that pieced together his life on the prairie.  He spent most of his time on cattle breeding ranches in the Northwest.  Most of his work was done with a pickup truck, (a fact he would have liked to leave out,) but on occasion, they used horses to find cattle lost in winter storms. Snowstorms in the Northwest can be deadly, he told stories of freezing rain, snow and wind you would have to see to believe. It pushed across the prairie, piling snow into enormous drifts, and the temperature could drop below zero in breakneck speed. Part of his job was to keep track of the cattle on ranches with hundreds of acres. The cardinal rule during this kind of weather was, no hand was to travel out in these conditions alone, and he must be partnered up. Searching for cattle on huge expanses of ranch land was a difficult job, especially in bad weather.

The cattle would often turn their backs to this icy blast, slowly drift against a fence, and many would die. Don discovered that Hereford cows reacted differently. They would head into the wind and slowly move forward until they came to a fence at the windward end of the ranch.  They would stand shoulder to shoulder facing the storm, taking turns moving to the inside of the herd for warmth.  When this happened, they would be found hungry but alive and well, days after the storm. Who would have believed that cows had a sense of fare play?

There may be a lesson here; every human being has to decide to meet difficulties head on or to turn from them. If you evade what you are afraid of  and go drifting with the wind, it can destroy you.  It may not kill you physically as it does some cattle, but it may cost you fine opportunities and spiritual enrichment.  Your faith will support you, when the wind blows and tempest swirls around you, standing fast, can bring you through alive and well days after the storm.  It is what we are promised; those who endure will be saved.

1990

 

Me & Malaika  2008

To good neighbors Ellen & John

Being protestant I know little about saints, but a little research gave me some interesting facts. St Valentine is a kind hearted patron saint to a rather diverse group, those with the plague, prone to fainting, lovers, happy marriages, those with epilepsy, engaged couples and bee keepers to name a few. Like all good saints he was beheaded as was the fate of most of the piety folk of his day and it is thought that the 14^th of February marked his destiny.

With the old adage, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing; I decided to embark on an unusual valentine thank you note. And being stuck on this blooming couch too many hours a day prompted this narrative.

Most of the happiest moments in life come to us in teaspoonfuls, not in gallons or bushels. They arrive in the least expected places, fill gaps that are full of shadows, warm love starved hearts and renew faith, hope and courage. Friends can have a profound effect on someone’s life and wellbeing. Moments, that may show up in a shovel or a truck with a plow, a tool bag, hot water heaters installed in jig time, an offer for dinner, an encouraging word, willing to drive and on uncanny ability to see when you are trying to hide the pain. So what can one say to express the kind of gratitude that is adequate compensation? I can simply say that on this day set aside to celebrate love.

Thanks, I love you both.

To the Snow Angels

One snowy morning, I looked out

And what should I see

Snow Angels arrived just to help me

House bound and feeling low

I wasn’t about to shovel snow

But these jolly characters, four in number

Tackled that snow with vigorous plunder

They tossed it, they turned it and set it aside

Shoveled a path, the snow tried to hide

They cleared off the car, swept the steps down

All with a grin, never a frown

Tackled the ice, it couldn’t abide

Got the job done, with lots of pride

So to those Angels who came one cold winter day

And did a job, without any pay

I know snow shoveling is not all fun

But I thank you for a job well done

                                          Thanks to Ellen, John, Zoe, Mike & Lila
                                                              January 2011

On an ancient scroll, where life mysteries

Are hidden, these names were written

Somnath, Sivaraman, Buono, Timpson, Bonesteel, Hoy,

Kamwaki and Lund

They knew not yet their destiny, but their

Worlds were to one day merge

This wonderful mix of cultures, traditions and

Personalities has come about

Many of these narratives,

share just a brief glimpse

Of this great happening, that was written in the stars

HUNTING STORY

              

                                                        
                       I wrote this for the Saugerties Fish & Game Club, of which I am the editor.

A good family friend has a hunting camp up north where each year he hosts a mixed crowd of hunters. The women, always in a minority, were resolute one year to compete with the men, dreaming of the big one that would give them bragging rights. The first morning we got about a foot of snow. Most of the determined feminists rolled over with a groan delaying their possible victory. I figured the deer were all laid up in the area they called the big pines, so I took the 4 wheeler and parked on the edge of a hay field, walking back down the trail I just came in on, and started hunting up the slope into the pines. Just as I rounded the corner a nice buck stepped out on the trail, about 30 yards away. I thought I had a good sight on him and pow! He reared up, tucked his tail and bounded off into the hedgerow down slope from the trail. I haven’t shot many deer, but this one acted like he was hit hard, so I arrogantly figured he was as good as mine. I went back to the 4 wheeler, poured a cup of coffee from my thermos to let him and I both settle down for about 15 minutes, before going to trail him. I checked where I first shot at him, the snow was littered with hair, but no blood. I have shot deer before that did not bleed out right away so I wasn’t at all discouraged. The fresh snow made trailing easy, I found where he had wandered, his pace did not seem to change, where he bed down and munched on mossy grass, but no blood. I finally gave up his trail and headed back to camp to tell the proverbial (the big one that got away) story. The next day, the neighbor who had the property adjoining the camp, stopped by to tell about a nice 8 pointer he got that morning and found a very strange strip of hair gone about 3/8 of an inch wide completely across his chest.
I can only hope I am a better newsletter editor than a hunter.

JOURNEY TO A BUCKET LIST

In our world's most crowded streets,
Often in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life;

A thirst to spend our fire and restless force
In tracking out our true, original course;

I long to inquire into the mystery of this heart
Which beats a single tune, a life melody to impart

So I must start a bucket list, before less sands in time
And seek that obscured from view, experience to make mine

Adventures, once in dream space, a threshold now to cross
Reaching into an abyss to mark the heart, no opportunity loss

Blogging in the New Age

I was pulled into this cyber world, heels dragging in the sand
I barely comprehend the lingo, don’t understand broadband

But my children are so savvy, they are on the cutting edge
They will not let me hangout, no sitting on the hedge

So now I am a blogger, I am published on the net
What this will turnout to be, is anybody’s bet

So you may read my stories, poetry and stuff
And you may visit me again
And that might be enough

My greatest hope, as you may guess
Is the financial gain
There are those who are doing this
With very little pain

In front of the keyboard
Cocktail in my hand
If this brings in dineros
It would be mighty grand

Could I jump on that cash cow?
Semi-retired sitting at my desk?
This would be a dream come true
And I would be so blessed

So bare with me while I tweak it
And redefine my way
Could I become rich and famous?
Just rich would do, one day