So here it is, the fishing report...as promised. Have to say, one of the best days of fishing of my life. However, all day long it rained, rained, rained. I was out last night trying to charge my boat batteries in the rain---trying to keep the electrical cord covered and not short out the battery charger in the boat, etc. Until 3 p.m. today I thought my fishing trip was trashed, rain, rain, rain. My fishing buddy and I were ready to call it a rain check. However, about 3:30 p.m. the clouds parted, the rain stopped, and I went to the gas station and filled up the boat with gas and picked up my buddy Dan and headed to the Lake. I don't think we were on the Lake 10 minutes when we started getting hits. After 13 pike plus along the weedline we stopped keeping count, we had so much pike blood and tackle scattered about the boat it was hard to keep up with it. We had double hook ups together---then there was the one where I hooked a pike, landed it, thru the line back in and hooked another on the cast---it was incredible. Then, Dan hooked into a BIG PIKE and fought it for a couple minutes until his rod SNAPPED into THEEE sections, no lie. Then Dan pulled everything in and holding the rod in sections managed to land that fish!!!! It was hilarious, line and rod sections floating in the Lake and he still managed to put it all together and land that fish!!!
The sun came out and warmed us to delight. The boat started on the FIRST turn of the key, the boat and trailer and truck and boat launch all cooperated to form a symphony of joy. Maybe I should have purchased a lottery ticket today, I have been so lucky. However, even becoming a multi-millionaire would not have purchased the day I had. A good friend, more fish than I can count, a beautiful clear sky, the wind laid down, and I became one with the fish and the sky and the sea, it just doesn't get any better than that!!! Tight Lines, Happy Fishing My Friend!!!
Jeff
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Northern Exposure
Everyone has a favorite T.V. show. Michael and I, my brother, grew up watching and playing and always looking forward to watching SKY KING, one of the best T.V. shows of all time. Well, we only had four channels to chose from, but even today I like watching SKY KING, I have every episode if you want to come over and watch. It was about a rancher who flew a plane over his land, managing it, fighting off rustlers and evil, he was our hero. Mr. Kirby Grant, who played SKY KING, is still one of my heroes. In any case, in recent days, my favorite t.v. show is NORTHERN EXPOSURE. Well recent is relative, I think that my love of Norhern Exposure started in the 1990”s, but the year doesn’t matter much. In any case, I have every episode of that too, and watch it every now and then. However, my whole perspective on it has changed now that I am exposed to the ACTUAL Northern Exposure, the exposure to the Northern Woods.
In the t.v. show Norhtern Exposure, When Dr. Joel Fleischman first came to Alaska he was definitely a fish out of water, a New York City Boy placed into a small town where fishing and logging and dealing with cold and snow and winter were the life of everyday. This was not at all like catching the subway and going to the Met. Yes, here he was, thrust into the wilds of Alaska, a fish out of water. In the first episodes I saw I Identified with him. Afterall, I first moved up to Northern Michigan from the big city of Detroit. I was used to going to Tiger Stadium and Cobo Hall and seeing concerts and taking music lessons and generally being a big city boy. Then, here I was, cast into the wind of the Northern Michigan Winters and going from a junior high school of 600 (7th, 8th and 9th grades) to a High School in Pellston of 180. Yeah, that’s four classes, 9, 10, 11 and 12th grade about 180 at its peak. I think it’s much less than that now.
Yes, of course, I spent my summer vacations in Northern Michigan as a young boy, I stayed with my grandparents at the Lake. However, come August, I headed back to the Big City, I didn’t LIVE there, at the Lake. However, we moved up when I was in High School and LIVED there, but all I could think about then was getting out, and going to live in a Big City somewhere. Well, I did that, but the Big City caused me to seek to undo my wrongs and get back to the country of Northern Michigan. Yeah, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
So now, I’ve finally come back and I definitely live here in everyway, I work here, fish here, have friends here, my family is here. This is now home. Now, tonight, as I watch the t.v. show Northern Exposure, I find I can’t identify with Dr. Fleischman anymore, he’s like a fish out of water to me. I now identify with the folks who have been in that little town all their lives, wondering about this stranger who came from some big city and can’t understand how great life is here. I’m quite perplexed that he can’t find happiness in the forests and along the streams and in knowing everybody in town. This is life for me, everybody knows me, everybody knows what I have done and what I am about to do. In fact, today I was in a grocery store in Newberry some 27 miles from where I live and I saw a man from our little town of Naubinway. He asked me how I was and I said “great” and I was looking forward to going fishing tomorrow. He said yeah, he heard, he knew I was going fishing with a mutual friend tomorrow and the mutual friend was equally excited about it, in fact, the whole town knew about the fact that me, “Doc”, was finally going to go do some fishing. They were all talking about it and approved of the fact that I was going fishing with one of the areas best fishermen. They are happy that he and I are becoming friends, and equally happy that I could find sometime to go fishing. Now, think about that. How many people care and hope about whether or not you can get out and go fishing? Well, here, there are a few hundred people who really want me to go fishing tomorrow and want me to catch fish. They want me to be happy and have some time to do such things as go fishing. You know, I don’t think Dr. Fleischmen ever had that, maybe even Kirby Grant didn’t have such love and admiration. I am overwhelmed by it, humbled by it, and wonderfully pleased to be exposed to the Northern Woods way of life. I am very exposed, I can’t drive down my road without somebody knowing about it, I am “Northern Exposed”, and so happy about it beyond belief. I cannot express how great it is to be HOME.
God Bless,
Jeff.
In the t.v. show Norhtern Exposure, When Dr. Joel Fleischman first came to Alaska he was definitely a fish out of water, a New York City Boy placed into a small town where fishing and logging and dealing with cold and snow and winter were the life of everyday. This was not at all like catching the subway and going to the Met. Yes, here he was, thrust into the wilds of Alaska, a fish out of water. In the first episodes I saw I Identified with him. Afterall, I first moved up to Northern Michigan from the big city of Detroit. I was used to going to Tiger Stadium and Cobo Hall and seeing concerts and taking music lessons and generally being a big city boy. Then, here I was, cast into the wind of the Northern Michigan Winters and going from a junior high school of 600 (7th, 8th and 9th grades) to a High School in Pellston of 180. Yeah, that’s four classes, 9, 10, 11 and 12th grade about 180 at its peak. I think it’s much less than that now.
Yes, of course, I spent my summer vacations in Northern Michigan as a young boy, I stayed with my grandparents at the Lake. However, come August, I headed back to the Big City, I didn’t LIVE there, at the Lake. However, we moved up when I was in High School and LIVED there, but all I could think about then was getting out, and going to live in a Big City somewhere. Well, I did that, but the Big City caused me to seek to undo my wrongs and get back to the country of Northern Michigan. Yeah, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
So now, I’ve finally come back and I definitely live here in everyway, I work here, fish here, have friends here, my family is here. This is now home. Now, tonight, as I watch the t.v. show Northern Exposure, I find I can’t identify with Dr. Fleischman anymore, he’s like a fish out of water to me. I now identify with the folks who have been in that little town all their lives, wondering about this stranger who came from some big city and can’t understand how great life is here. I’m quite perplexed that he can’t find happiness in the forests and along the streams and in knowing everybody in town. This is life for me, everybody knows me, everybody knows what I have done and what I am about to do. In fact, today I was in a grocery store in Newberry some 27 miles from where I live and I saw a man from our little town of Naubinway. He asked me how I was and I said “great” and I was looking forward to going fishing tomorrow. He said yeah, he heard, he knew I was going fishing with a mutual friend tomorrow and the mutual friend was equally excited about it, in fact, the whole town knew about the fact that me, “Doc”, was finally going to go do some fishing. They were all talking about it and approved of the fact that I was going fishing with one of the areas best fishermen. They are happy that he and I are becoming friends, and equally happy that I could find sometime to go fishing. Now, think about that. How many people care and hope about whether or not you can get out and go fishing? Well, here, there are a few hundred people who really want me to go fishing tomorrow and want me to catch fish. They want me to be happy and have some time to do such things as go fishing. You know, I don’t think Dr. Fleischmen ever had that, maybe even Kirby Grant didn’t have such love and admiration. I am overwhelmed by it, humbled by it, and wonderfully pleased to be exposed to the Northern Woods way of life. I am very exposed, I can’t drive down my road without somebody knowing about it, I am “Northern Exposed”, and so happy about it beyond belief. I cannot express how great it is to be HOME.
God Bless,
Jeff.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Depression
My friend Eddy, who is the best friend ever made for anyone, told me I was depressed. I was slogging thru my days, feeling like I was doing a good job at my job but doing a terrible job of living my life. He said he didn’t understand it, considering I am married to the world’s most beautiful woman, have incredibly talented, smart kids, etc. Then, he figured it out, I was too far from home. He told me I needed to move back to my Michigan home and be with the freshwater sea and the hawks, eagles, seagulls and brook trout and hike thru the woods and cross-country ski and simply be me again. So, I took his advice and moved back to this winter-water-wonderland in the World’s most Spectacular Peninsula, the U.P.
I had actually talked to a psychiatrist colleague after the encounter with Eddy and he agreed, I was depressed. However, he didn’t get it either, I was living in a wonderful town in Ohio, married to the world’s most beautiful woman, have incredibly talented, smart kids, etc., how could I possibly be depressed? Sadly, I was. Now, don’t misunderstand my feelings about Findlay, Ohio, it is a great town, a family town, a wonderful place to be, if, well, you are from Ohio. But for a Michigan boy used to skipping school to go trout fishing with his Dad (yeah, he sanctioned it)---fishing on a May night until 10 p.m. when the “midnight sun” finally sets---hoofing it thru the swamp pulling along an aluminum canoe to find that magnanimous brook trout pond loaded with very ignorant fish that have never been fished at---well, Ohio sort of falls short of the glory.
Enter May, 2009, the World’s Most Best Friend Eddy says to me, and this is a paraphrase, not a direct quote, (because he is very precise and exacting sometimes and I cannot do him justice)---but, he said that it has “been great” to not see you depressed since April, 2008. I said “what do you mean?” He said that every time he called me on the phone in the past years my voice reflected being depressed, and just down, down, down. However, since I moved back to Michigan, he said, he hasn’t detected a hint of that old depression thing. Wow, that really hit me, and I started thinking about my life here in the U.P. I go to bed every night with my arms aching from the strain of re-modeling, hunting, shooting, fishing---moving timber and “stuff” from one garage to another and back again for the re-model and I realized I am no longer depressed. In fact, I couldn’t remember what that felt like, it was like a foreign country, really, it was weird, I couldn’t conjure up those sad emotions, hard as I tried, I couldn’t remember what that felt like, to be depressed. For now, I am so happy seeing the sun almost everyday over Lake Michigan. If the clouds come in, don’t worry, the southern wind will blow them away in a few minutes. Really, it is sunny over 300 days a year at my house---my weather station will attest to that. That’s the beauty of a “southern exposure”.
So, almost an entire year has passed since I felt those pangs of depression. I thought I was past that terrible abyss forever, until tonight. Yes, I have been free of depression for about a year until tonight. You see, my friend Eddy was up here visiting and hanging out with me for two weeks. Today, he had to go home, after-all, he has a wife and a life and a garage and a truck and some sort of southern exposure too. He was up here fishing with me, creating and building and laughing with me until the wee hours. We built bonfires on the beach, we built closets and attic rooms and he hung drywall and mudded and sanded until he worked himself into a pulp. I was long “mush” and tired before he was. However, when my arms gave out, he pushed me, encouraged me to go on, despite a body long unresponsive to motrin. The poor guy couldn’t even raise his arm above his navel after he was here with us, giving his life and soul and incredible strength to us. You have to understand, this friend, this man, has incredible strength beyond belief. I am not just talking about a long reach and physical strength, I am talking strength of character and perseverance and loyalty and “semper-fi” beyond belief.
You know, Eddy is not exactly a Christian, not a church-going guy, but he believes in love. He said to me yesterday, “my religion is my friends”, as I told him he was crazy to come up here and spend so much time helping out my ailing home and family. I was teary-eyed and just overwhelmed with his sacrifice. However, he could find joy in that, in fact, he could have fun in a freakin’ thunder storm and a hurricane. When the volcano blows, our Eddy would be putting up shutters and wiring a generator and keeping the anxious calmed with his sun-bursting presence---he is, the definition of friendship. He is a man’s man and easy in his skin and willing to go to the ends of the earth and to the cuts and ends of a 2 x 4 in an attic room full of crappy cellulose insulation for you. In short, he would give his life for you if you reach that inner circle of his friendship. Of all the friends I have had in my life, even Bible-Reading Christian friends and Pastors that sought to befriend me, they all fall far short of the glory of my friendship with Eddy---they always had too much to do when I needed them, but not Ed. Nope, not Ed.
Tonight I am reminded of those awful feelings of depression. Although I saw the Eagle fly, the sun shine over Lake Michigan and the seagulls chirping in my sleepy seaside, fishing village of wonderful people and joy, I am depressed. Yes, I feel those awful emotions again, yuck, sadness, despair, depression, yuck, where is God??? Where is joy??? My friend Eddy has departed, that is why I have these depressed feelings again. He has gone back to his own Love and his own Life and I am INCREDIBLY HAPPY for him at that. However, tonight is the first time in an entire year, that I feel those awful thoughts and pangs of depression, because our “Uncle Eddy” has gone back home. He, as always, left his sleeping place a better place. He, comes in to fill the void, he never takes anything, he has so much to give it is stifling. I only wish I had half the energy and love that is within him.
As I said above, I have had many “Christian” friends over the years, wonderful, incredible people, but they, like me, have too much selfishness within them---it’s so easy to say, “I can’t help you tonight because I have something I have to do”…. But, not Eddy, he always has that “something to do”, oh yeah, he always has “something to do” to help you, and be your friend, and support you and lift you up and care for you---he, in his profane way, exemplifies the Love of our very own God---he, sacrifices, restores, loves, brings you up near and over the mountain top because he loves you. I only wish everybody could have an Eddy like I do!!!! And then, the World would be a much better place!!!! Thank you Eddy, my friend, my brother, the definition of friendship and Godliness to his fellow man on this Earth!!!
I had actually talked to a psychiatrist colleague after the encounter with Eddy and he agreed, I was depressed. However, he didn’t get it either, I was living in a wonderful town in Ohio, married to the world’s most beautiful woman, have incredibly talented, smart kids, etc., how could I possibly be depressed? Sadly, I was. Now, don’t misunderstand my feelings about Findlay, Ohio, it is a great town, a family town, a wonderful place to be, if, well, you are from Ohio. But for a Michigan boy used to skipping school to go trout fishing with his Dad (yeah, he sanctioned it)---fishing on a May night until 10 p.m. when the “midnight sun” finally sets---hoofing it thru the swamp pulling along an aluminum canoe to find that magnanimous brook trout pond loaded with very ignorant fish that have never been fished at---well, Ohio sort of falls short of the glory.
Enter May, 2009, the World’s Most Best Friend Eddy says to me, and this is a paraphrase, not a direct quote, (because he is very precise and exacting sometimes and I cannot do him justice)---but, he said that it has “been great” to not see you depressed since April, 2008. I said “what do you mean?” He said that every time he called me on the phone in the past years my voice reflected being depressed, and just down, down, down. However, since I moved back to Michigan, he said, he hasn’t detected a hint of that old depression thing. Wow, that really hit me, and I started thinking about my life here in the U.P. I go to bed every night with my arms aching from the strain of re-modeling, hunting, shooting, fishing---moving timber and “stuff” from one garage to another and back again for the re-model and I realized I am no longer depressed. In fact, I couldn’t remember what that felt like, it was like a foreign country, really, it was weird, I couldn’t conjure up those sad emotions, hard as I tried, I couldn’t remember what that felt like, to be depressed. For now, I am so happy seeing the sun almost everyday over Lake Michigan. If the clouds come in, don’t worry, the southern wind will blow them away in a few minutes. Really, it is sunny over 300 days a year at my house---my weather station will attest to that. That’s the beauty of a “southern exposure”.
So, almost an entire year has passed since I felt those pangs of depression. I thought I was past that terrible abyss forever, until tonight. Yes, I have been free of depression for about a year until tonight. You see, my friend Eddy was up here visiting and hanging out with me for two weeks. Today, he had to go home, after-all, he has a wife and a life and a garage and a truck and some sort of southern exposure too. He was up here fishing with me, creating and building and laughing with me until the wee hours. We built bonfires on the beach, we built closets and attic rooms and he hung drywall and mudded and sanded until he worked himself into a pulp. I was long “mush” and tired before he was. However, when my arms gave out, he pushed me, encouraged me to go on, despite a body long unresponsive to motrin. The poor guy couldn’t even raise his arm above his navel after he was here with us, giving his life and soul and incredible strength to us. You have to understand, this friend, this man, has incredible strength beyond belief. I am not just talking about a long reach and physical strength, I am talking strength of character and perseverance and loyalty and “semper-fi” beyond belief.
You know, Eddy is not exactly a Christian, not a church-going guy, but he believes in love. He said to me yesterday, “my religion is my friends”, as I told him he was crazy to come up here and spend so much time helping out my ailing home and family. I was teary-eyed and just overwhelmed with his sacrifice. However, he could find joy in that, in fact, he could have fun in a freakin’ thunder storm and a hurricane. When the volcano blows, our Eddy would be putting up shutters and wiring a generator and keeping the anxious calmed with his sun-bursting presence---he is, the definition of friendship. He is a man’s man and easy in his skin and willing to go to the ends of the earth and to the cuts and ends of a 2 x 4 in an attic room full of crappy cellulose insulation for you. In short, he would give his life for you if you reach that inner circle of his friendship. Of all the friends I have had in my life, even Bible-Reading Christian friends and Pastors that sought to befriend me, they all fall far short of the glory of my friendship with Eddy---they always had too much to do when I needed them, but not Ed. Nope, not Ed.
Tonight I am reminded of those awful feelings of depression. Although I saw the Eagle fly, the sun shine over Lake Michigan and the seagulls chirping in my sleepy seaside, fishing village of wonderful people and joy, I am depressed. Yes, I feel those awful emotions again, yuck, sadness, despair, depression, yuck, where is God??? Where is joy??? My friend Eddy has departed, that is why I have these depressed feelings again. He has gone back to his own Love and his own Life and I am INCREDIBLY HAPPY for him at that. However, tonight is the first time in an entire year, that I feel those awful thoughts and pangs of depression, because our “Uncle Eddy” has gone back home. He, as always, left his sleeping place a better place. He, comes in to fill the void, he never takes anything, he has so much to give it is stifling. I only wish I had half the energy and love that is within him.
As I said above, I have had many “Christian” friends over the years, wonderful, incredible people, but they, like me, have too much selfishness within them---it’s so easy to say, “I can’t help you tonight because I have something I have to do”…. But, not Eddy, he always has that “something to do”, oh yeah, he always has “something to do” to help you, and be your friend, and support you and lift you up and care for you---he, in his profane way, exemplifies the Love of our very own God---he, sacrifices, restores, loves, brings you up near and over the mountain top because he loves you. I only wish everybody could have an Eddy like I do!!!! And then, the World would be a much better place!!!! Thank you Eddy, my friend, my brother, the definition of friendship and Godliness to his fellow man on this Earth!!!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Wind of GOD (Songwriting)
I was listening to the “Coffee House” station on XM Radio tonight when they had a guitar playing, singer-song writer give a brief on one of his number one songs. He said he was traveling thru Northern California in his old, tired out van when it died along the road. He got it to the local mechanic who proceeded to tell him that his fuel pump was shot, and that it would be about $150 to repair it. Well, he didn’t have that much money and left the van at the shop. He wandered around, went into the local Safeway Store---one of those have almost everything stores that are scattered about Rural America. He was lost and wandering around wondering what the heck to do. He did have a credit card, but no income, no steady job or gig, no way to pay the bill on the card when it came in a month. Suddenly he heard a familiar song over the speaker system in the Safeway Store---he realized it was his own song, and relished in the fact that the record publisher finally released it. I’m sorry, I don’t remember the song or the artist, but he’s still around and is very good and very famous and now very rich. Thus, he went back to the mechanic and laid down his credit card and said “go ahead and fix it now”.
There it is, out of the blue fortuitous nature of random blessings, that man’s life changed in just a few moments. Things were “fixed”. He went from going up and down California in an old tired out van, playing in clubs for just enough money to get to his next gig, not being able to afford repairs on his van---to being a famous, wealthy song-writer. I too am thankful for the songs that occasionally go thru my head. These songs “fix” things for me nightly. Friends have told me I am a gifted song-writer. I have seen toughened Marines cry over a song I wrote about my daughters called “You’ll Always Be My Little Girl.” However, I still haven’t heard one of my songs over the Safeway Sound System. Until a lot of years ago, I still entertained the notion that one of my songs might make it out there on the airways, might touch someone, might make me rich and famous. Alas, that has not transpired and I realize that my opportunity to be a “young: singer, song-writer has come and gone. Here is a “snippet” on that one….
“What has happened to my princess?
You’ve become a woman of the world,
And you will do things, that I never will,
But to me you’ll always be, you’ll always be,
My little girl.
However, unlike many “one-hit-wonders” or angry musicians I have not opted to relish in the sadness and depression of what could have been and “waste my life away.” Instead, I have continued to lift my song-writer’s nose to the wind and search for the breath of the Creator and find a melody or a few words. You know, Beehtoven said that his music was simply a reflection of capturing the wind, the breath, the voice of GOD that’s always out there on the wind---you simply have to open your spiritual ears and you will hear HIM talking to you. How true is that?
A few short years ago we were asked to write a song for a couple’s wedding. I scribbled notes about song ideas and played a million chords over 3 months-- getting nowhere, in fact, I was downright frustrated and scared because now it was just a day before the wedding and I had NOTHING. I was trying, yes, ME, I, was trying to write a song. I forgot about the wind….I forgot about the breath of GOD….and then in my basement song-writers lair I prayed a simple prayer and asked my GOD for help with this song…I told HIM I was getting nowhere and was lost without HIM….and, as I picked up my pen it came as thus….
“There’s something really special about you,
it’s in your eyes….
There’s something really special about you,
It’s the Kingdom in your eyes…
I’m yours, you’re mine and we are one in Jesus’ eyes…
Well, there’s a lot more to the song, but that’s the gist of it, there is a marvelous Kingdom inside you, I can see it in your eyes---and that song has been played in a lot in coffee houses, etc. to pretty good reviews, but can’t you see that in your true love’s eyes? Something magical, something so special even beyond earthly love? Yes, it’s heaven, a little taste of heaven that you get when you look into those shimmering eyes and see someone loving you beyond belief, beyond what you know you deserve or could ever hope for. There is a Kingdom of God in there.
And that is the gift of songwriting---something beyond anything I could ever do alone. Something that carries me on the wind of GOD to this day. Something that no matter what, I always have something special to rely on, something that not everybody gets. You have something I don’t, and I admire you for it---but I tell you, I am so blessed and thankful to share the next song with you. May you walk outside and take a little sniff of fresh air and find a song in your heart today too. May you sail on the Wind of GOD and soar beyond your earthly woes and troubles and pain and find the freshness of a new song on the WIND OF GOD.
There it is, out of the blue fortuitous nature of random blessings, that man’s life changed in just a few moments. Things were “fixed”. He went from going up and down California in an old tired out van, playing in clubs for just enough money to get to his next gig, not being able to afford repairs on his van---to being a famous, wealthy song-writer. I too am thankful for the songs that occasionally go thru my head. These songs “fix” things for me nightly. Friends have told me I am a gifted song-writer. I have seen toughened Marines cry over a song I wrote about my daughters called “You’ll Always Be My Little Girl.” However, I still haven’t heard one of my songs over the Safeway Sound System. Until a lot of years ago, I still entertained the notion that one of my songs might make it out there on the airways, might touch someone, might make me rich and famous. Alas, that has not transpired and I realize that my opportunity to be a “young: singer, song-writer has come and gone. Here is a “snippet” on that one….
“What has happened to my princess?
You’ve become a woman of the world,
And you will do things, that I never will,
But to me you’ll always be, you’ll always be,
My little girl.
However, unlike many “one-hit-wonders” or angry musicians I have not opted to relish in the sadness and depression of what could have been and “waste my life away.” Instead, I have continued to lift my song-writer’s nose to the wind and search for the breath of the Creator and find a melody or a few words. You know, Beehtoven said that his music was simply a reflection of capturing the wind, the breath, the voice of GOD that’s always out there on the wind---you simply have to open your spiritual ears and you will hear HIM talking to you. How true is that?
A few short years ago we were asked to write a song for a couple’s wedding. I scribbled notes about song ideas and played a million chords over 3 months-- getting nowhere, in fact, I was downright frustrated and scared because now it was just a day before the wedding and I had NOTHING. I was trying, yes, ME, I, was trying to write a song. I forgot about the wind….I forgot about the breath of GOD….and then in my basement song-writers lair I prayed a simple prayer and asked my GOD for help with this song…I told HIM I was getting nowhere and was lost without HIM….and, as I picked up my pen it came as thus….
“There’s something really special about you,
it’s in your eyes….
There’s something really special about you,
It’s the Kingdom in your eyes…
I’m yours, you’re mine and we are one in Jesus’ eyes…
Well, there’s a lot more to the song, but that’s the gist of it, there is a marvelous Kingdom inside you, I can see it in your eyes---and that song has been played in a lot in coffee houses, etc. to pretty good reviews, but can’t you see that in your true love’s eyes? Something magical, something so special even beyond earthly love? Yes, it’s heaven, a little taste of heaven that you get when you look into those shimmering eyes and see someone loving you beyond belief, beyond what you know you deserve or could ever hope for. There is a Kingdom of God in there.
And that is the gift of songwriting---something beyond anything I could ever do alone. Something that carries me on the wind of GOD to this day. Something that no matter what, I always have something special to rely on, something that not everybody gets. You have something I don’t, and I admire you for it---but I tell you, I am so blessed and thankful to share the next song with you. May you walk outside and take a little sniff of fresh air and find a song in your heart today too. May you sail on the Wind of GOD and soar beyond your earthly woes and troubles and pain and find the freshness of a new song on the WIND OF GOD.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Standing Ovation
They say that when you are about 9 years old your interests and activities will be the harbinger of your life to come. They say that what you love to do then will be what you love to do when you are a working adult or an old man or lady. Now they is the smartest man that ever lived, we all know that….remember, what will they think of next? What did they ever mean by that? What where they thinking? Yeah, that they guy is a pretty smart dude, or your enemy depending on your perspective. In my case, it is so true, I remember when I was 9 I got my first guitar, and still wish I had it, could hold it, play it. But alas, it was a rental that my mother got me along with the lessons. After I quit going to lessons due to attitudinal adjustments my mother took the guitar back. What was wrong with that woman? (Yeah right). However, there were many other guitars to follow, thankfully. It was also the same time I was out searching the woods for “pollywogs” and bugs and lots of different critters. Enter the first of many “microscope” and “chemistry” youth sets. These were filled with a myriad number of tools and collection bottles and microscopes and chemicals for experimentation. I still have the biology text book from that era. I wore those kits out. Then, there was also the first fishing pole my Dad gave me and helped me learn to use…talk about conflicted!!! What was this boy to do with his life???
I also remember spending hours in our “kid’s room”in the basement working with these toys, having a great time in the shadow of my brother’s “Easy Bake Oven Kit”. Although he never became a professional Chef, he’s a damn good cook and a great host. Me, well, I have taken the love of “critters” and science into being a physician. Before that, I took the love of being in the field and collecting critters into being a marine scientist. I also parlayed my Father’s gift of the fishing pole and his love of fishing into a lifelong passion. However, all the while, I have felt the winds of music on the breeze and continued to play guitar and write songs until the present moment. In short, I was always conflicted about what to do with my life and wonder what would have happened if I had continued down the musical pathway. Actually, I now know, that of all I do, writing Nook Notes, Doctoring, being a scientist, and even fishing, I am at my best at writing songs and playing guitar. That may not be true for the listening public, but in my heart I am at my best during that time. I think at this point I have written more songs than the Beatles. Certainly, I have written more than Dolley Parton who I am told wrote around 300. If you ever get really bored, you can come verify this fact for yourself and dig thru my boxes of songs and notes about songs and get really tangled in the mess along with me!
After the age of nine we go on and experiment with many options, but once in awhile they remind us about the path in life we should take---tonight I was reminded about it once again. They was a crowd of people in the local coffee shop. Can you believe it? Yeah, we have several local coffee shops/restuarants in Naubinway. We have Shirley’s Cove, Beaudoin’s Café, Captain Carl’s, Pizza Pronto, The Country Girl Diner and then the Anchor Inn. In any case, only two of them have live music, Shirley’s Cove and the Anchor Inn. It wasn’t long before the bug to perform within me met up with another passionate musical soul (Tim) and along with my wife, the definition of music, we formed a singing trio.
Now, this Trio stemmed from Church, Tim being the Pastor, and my wife and I helping out on the music in Church. Well, that kind of makes bars or even Shirley’s Cove a tough venue, but thankfully the Anchor Inn was willing to have us perform. They were willing to have us play an eclectic mix of folk, pop, rock, bluegrass and gospel. So tonight was our debut. We were totally unplugged, no kidding, there was no sound system---we had to fill a very large room with original songs, gospel songs, bluegrass songs and Van Morrison and Eric Clapton and a myriad number of other songs without the benefit of electronics. I must admit I had a lot of trepidation. However, the concept of being right among the audience intrigued me. The night did not fail me. The audience was incredible, they joined in singing along even with original songs, clapping, stomping their feet and at the end, giving us a STANDING OVATION. I have never experienced a standing ovation, ever, it was amazing. As I reflect on it now, I can see why. There was this magical thing that happened, the two guitars blended so well, and Jomay on her keyboard filled in the gaps, and the harmonies blended and echoed into the room in a pleasant whisper of songs and talent. I, my partners, and the audience were transfixed. I can’t stop thinking about it. I remember looking in my wife’s eyes many times, and Tim’s, and just relishing in the energy that surrounded us. We were so blessed to have this opportunity, and the audience we had, and the gift of music.
During the intermission our daughters sang, and played, and lifted us all. I followed that with a song I wrote, “You’ll Always Be My Little Girl”. I moved up into the center of the room to play it and I think, really connected with the audience. I think I really embaressed my little girl, but in the long run, I think she appreciated it. Tim was amazing on guitar as usual. It is so much fun to play with somebody better than you, you learn so much, we really connected on it.
Now, as I sit here and write, I reflect on the career in music that could have been. I used to be saddened by it. I would get downright depressed about not “quitting my day job” and going into music. However, now I don’t care about what I didn’t do. I only relish the moment that we had tonight and what we did do. I realize that, well, that is what music does, it takes you away from taxes and work and unfilled dreams and depression and anxiety. It doesn’t matter if it’s your vocation or avocation, it is there for you. It is a power that captures the breath of God from the air and transforms you into an angel. Yes, an angel, even for a brief second, you become the vessel for transmitting beauty, grace and love from the Great Power. So, it is in fact, music, it's a “living” for me. It is the living power and love of music that echoes in my life from 9, to hopefully 90. I thank God for it, I thank my last band Script for it, I thank Tim and Jomay for it. Importantly, I thank the audience tonight for it, being there with me in it, and giving me the first standing ovation of my life.
I also remember spending hours in our “kid’s room”in the basement working with these toys, having a great time in the shadow of my brother’s “Easy Bake Oven Kit”. Although he never became a professional Chef, he’s a damn good cook and a great host. Me, well, I have taken the love of “critters” and science into being a physician. Before that, I took the love of being in the field and collecting critters into being a marine scientist. I also parlayed my Father’s gift of the fishing pole and his love of fishing into a lifelong passion. However, all the while, I have felt the winds of music on the breeze and continued to play guitar and write songs until the present moment. In short, I was always conflicted about what to do with my life and wonder what would have happened if I had continued down the musical pathway. Actually, I now know, that of all I do, writing Nook Notes, Doctoring, being a scientist, and even fishing, I am at my best at writing songs and playing guitar. That may not be true for the listening public, but in my heart I am at my best during that time. I think at this point I have written more songs than the Beatles. Certainly, I have written more than Dolley Parton who I am told wrote around 300. If you ever get really bored, you can come verify this fact for yourself and dig thru my boxes of songs and notes about songs and get really tangled in the mess along with me!
After the age of nine we go on and experiment with many options, but once in awhile they remind us about the path in life we should take---tonight I was reminded about it once again. They was a crowd of people in the local coffee shop. Can you believe it? Yeah, we have several local coffee shops/restuarants in Naubinway. We have Shirley’s Cove, Beaudoin’s Café, Captain Carl’s, Pizza Pronto, The Country Girl Diner and then the Anchor Inn. In any case, only two of them have live music, Shirley’s Cove and the Anchor Inn. It wasn’t long before the bug to perform within me met up with another passionate musical soul (Tim) and along with my wife, the definition of music, we formed a singing trio.
Now, this Trio stemmed from Church, Tim being the Pastor, and my wife and I helping out on the music in Church. Well, that kind of makes bars or even Shirley’s Cove a tough venue, but thankfully the Anchor Inn was willing to have us perform. They were willing to have us play an eclectic mix of folk, pop, rock, bluegrass and gospel. So tonight was our debut. We were totally unplugged, no kidding, there was no sound system---we had to fill a very large room with original songs, gospel songs, bluegrass songs and Van Morrison and Eric Clapton and a myriad number of other songs without the benefit of electronics. I must admit I had a lot of trepidation. However, the concept of being right among the audience intrigued me. The night did not fail me. The audience was incredible, they joined in singing along even with original songs, clapping, stomping their feet and at the end, giving us a STANDING OVATION. I have never experienced a standing ovation, ever, it was amazing. As I reflect on it now, I can see why. There was this magical thing that happened, the two guitars blended so well, and Jomay on her keyboard filled in the gaps, and the harmonies blended and echoed into the room in a pleasant whisper of songs and talent. I, my partners, and the audience were transfixed. I can’t stop thinking about it. I remember looking in my wife’s eyes many times, and Tim’s, and just relishing in the energy that surrounded us. We were so blessed to have this opportunity, and the audience we had, and the gift of music.
During the intermission our daughters sang, and played, and lifted us all. I followed that with a song I wrote, “You’ll Always Be My Little Girl”. I moved up into the center of the room to play it and I think, really connected with the audience. I think I really embaressed my little girl, but in the long run, I think she appreciated it. Tim was amazing on guitar as usual. It is so much fun to play with somebody better than you, you learn so much, we really connected on it.
Now, as I sit here and write, I reflect on the career in music that could have been. I used to be saddened by it. I would get downright depressed about not “quitting my day job” and going into music. However, now I don’t care about what I didn’t do. I only relish the moment that we had tonight and what we did do. I realize that, well, that is what music does, it takes you away from taxes and work and unfilled dreams and depression and anxiety. It doesn’t matter if it’s your vocation or avocation, it is there for you. It is a power that captures the breath of God from the air and transforms you into an angel. Yes, an angel, even for a brief second, you become the vessel for transmitting beauty, grace and love from the Great Power. So, it is in fact, music, it's a “living” for me. It is the living power and love of music that echoes in my life from 9, to hopefully 90. I thank God for it, I thank my last band Script for it, I thank Tim and Jomay for it. Importantly, I thank the audience tonight for it, being there with me in it, and giving me the first standing ovation of my life.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Correction
Ruminants, yeah, the title was not spelled correctly, isn't that just par for the course. And forget me trying to spell that Manhattan, Manhatten town correct. I've been there anyway---and liked it. I'm glad you can laugh with me and my early Alzheimer's dementia.
The Herd (Runinants)
It started innocently enough. Although I am living in Paradise, I was saddened by the lost of my beloved pet boxer Abby, and am trying to fill the void. So, I bought a few deer pellets for RUMINANT ANIMALS (Thanks Ed for SP) and invited Momma Doe and her yearling for dinner on a daily basis. They soon equated the shape of the green suburban coming down the road about 4 or 5 p.m. with a bucket full of corn or deer pellets and would come down to the beach and wait in the trees nearby for me to lay down the pellets. It was really cute to see those two deer trying to hide behind leafless trees---thinking I couldn’t see them---with their ears perked up, standing motionless, looking at me incessantly, thinking they were invisible. The truth is, I could see every detail of their eyes and fur. However, they really depend upon motion as a sense more than seeing distinct objects. So they equate that to me---thinking if I don’t see them move, they are invisible. I have found I can stand within a few feet of them and as long as I am motionless, I am invisible. Remember the movies about the dinosaurs, the raptors, and the characters being a few inches from a Raptor and being “invisible” as long as they didn’t move? Well, that trait has certainly carried on into my Michigan Deer.
I would laugh out loud and chuckle with this wisdom. As I talked out loud I sounded eerily like my friend Julie---who would chuckle that way about Abby. When Abby would try to “butter up” to Julie for a snack---thinking Julie didn’t have a clue about Abby’s motivations with the short wagging tail---Julie would chuckle in the tone much like I chuckle over my deer. Isn’t it fun to watch someone you love try to get something from you when they don’t think you know their motivation and you don’t care anyway even though YOU know because you love them so much you’d give them anything anyway????
Be that as it may, after countless dinners the Deer have started to trust me and have little fear of me to the point where I can pour corn within a few feet of them and they tolerate me. Well, maybe that’s because they are pretty hungry from the long cold winter, although some roots are showing now and they can fill themselves more readily. Still, they are hungry enough to go to the edge of trust with me. They really like drinking water from my stream and kicking up the succulent roots that have been at stream temperature all winter. A couple weeks ago those shoots were hidden below ice and snow. However, now spring is coming rapidly, the birds are returning, deer food is being exposed. Soon, the Great Lake itself will be exposed again.
The commercial fishermen are involved in a flurry of activity everyday, trying to get out on the ice with the trucks and snowmobiles and bring back the whitefish before the final meltdown and blowing winds break up the ice. Yesterday they went out 16 miles past the Naubinway Lighthouse and brought back 3,700 pounds of whitefish. They bring the fish up thru the ice on gill nets, and load a wooden sled with tall walls to the max and tow it back. All this over 18 inches of ice some 16 miles from shore. Is that a job you want? Can you imagine going out there and hearing the ice creak and moan, going over cracks and fissures and feeling the waves move under you and bob you up and down. You can’t wear a survival suit, it slows you down too much to fish. You just trust the elements and the ice in order to make the living. Should things go bad, it’s not likely you would live. As much as I admire the Coast Guard, and my friends within it, they wouldn’t get to my fishermen friends in time in the frigid waters of Naubinway from the Traverse City Air Base.
I just went out on the ice cross-country skiing yesterday, over anywhere from 1 to 5 feet of depth of water beneath me. I took virtually no risk compared to my commercial fishermen friends. However, as I skied the ice creaked and moaned and moved about and I must admit, it unnerved me at times. At first I told myself to relax, I can’t drown in 5 foot of water. But then, I invisioned myself going down thru the ice in 5 feet of water with a pair of almost 7 foot long skis on. It would be damn near impossible to get them off in the ice cold water---in fact, I realized, I could drown in much less than 5 foot of water. However, I persevered and continue to enjoy the ecstasy of being out on the lake on skis with the morning sun coming up. You can’t imagine unless you join me in it. I am facing the east, watching the sun come up over the ice and the cedar trees, out there all alone, without a sound except the ice and wind, maybe a coyote, feeling the faint warmth of the sun on my face, knowing I am part of a greater thing than myself. It really makes the day go by so much better, exercising first thing in the morning like that. Anyway, back to the story.
Such are the deer—willing to risk going out on the edge with a human, me, in order to survive, make a “living”, despite the potential fact that I could take out my pistol and have enough venison forever right in my front yard. But, they have to go out on the edge, because they are hungry, as are my commercial fishermen friends, going out on the edge because their families are hungry.
Well, the news got out. It got out that I am unarmed when I feed my pets, my deer, and shake the bucket full of corn and say reassuring words and have plenty of food to share. It wasn’t long and we had a couple of young bucks joining the herd. Before I could cough and blink I inherited 14 deer now. They are about 1/3 bucks and 2/3 does, pretty good odds I’d say that the bucks will have a good spring. About half of them trust me, and stay within a few feet when I pour the corn. The other half take off running about 50 yards away and watch me, and as soon as they see me go back into the house they come back and have their dinner. I am sure that someday soon they too will become closer friends. I went from one bag of week of feed to about 6 bags of feed a week now.
Yes, it started innocently enough, but now I am become Pandora, and am holding an open box. Because, in addition to feeding the deer, I have been putting out salt blocks and alfalfa and bird seed in feeders and now I have blue-jays, chickadees, too many red squirrels (including “Fast Freddy”), crows, black birds and chipmunks. Virtually every living critter within several miles now equates my house with home, and mom’s cooking, and SANCTUARY. Isn’t that a great thing to be? A sanctuary for someone or some thing? Isn’t that the love of a mother for her children, always offering sanctuary. Isn’t that the love of my friend Ed to come help me work on this never finished housing project? Isn’t that the love of God, to give his Son Jesus, creating a sanctuary for you? Yes, I like being here and each day having these most beneficial thoughts inspired by all around me. God Bless You This Day, thanks for listening, and may you also find your SANCTUARY among the Herd.
I would laugh out loud and chuckle with this wisdom. As I talked out loud I sounded eerily like my friend Julie---who would chuckle that way about Abby. When Abby would try to “butter up” to Julie for a snack---thinking Julie didn’t have a clue about Abby’s motivations with the short wagging tail---Julie would chuckle in the tone much like I chuckle over my deer. Isn’t it fun to watch someone you love try to get something from you when they don’t think you know their motivation and you don’t care anyway even though YOU know because you love them so much you’d give them anything anyway????
Be that as it may, after countless dinners the Deer have started to trust me and have little fear of me to the point where I can pour corn within a few feet of them and they tolerate me. Well, maybe that’s because they are pretty hungry from the long cold winter, although some roots are showing now and they can fill themselves more readily. Still, they are hungry enough to go to the edge of trust with me. They really like drinking water from my stream and kicking up the succulent roots that have been at stream temperature all winter. A couple weeks ago those shoots were hidden below ice and snow. However, now spring is coming rapidly, the birds are returning, deer food is being exposed. Soon, the Great Lake itself will be exposed again.
The commercial fishermen are involved in a flurry of activity everyday, trying to get out on the ice with the trucks and snowmobiles and bring back the whitefish before the final meltdown and blowing winds break up the ice. Yesterday they went out 16 miles past the Naubinway Lighthouse and brought back 3,700 pounds of whitefish. They bring the fish up thru the ice on gill nets, and load a wooden sled with tall walls to the max and tow it back. All this over 18 inches of ice some 16 miles from shore. Is that a job you want? Can you imagine going out there and hearing the ice creak and moan, going over cracks and fissures and feeling the waves move under you and bob you up and down. You can’t wear a survival suit, it slows you down too much to fish. You just trust the elements and the ice in order to make the living. Should things go bad, it’s not likely you would live. As much as I admire the Coast Guard, and my friends within it, they wouldn’t get to my fishermen friends in time in the frigid waters of Naubinway from the Traverse City Air Base.
I just went out on the ice cross-country skiing yesterday, over anywhere from 1 to 5 feet of depth of water beneath me. I took virtually no risk compared to my commercial fishermen friends. However, as I skied the ice creaked and moaned and moved about and I must admit, it unnerved me at times. At first I told myself to relax, I can’t drown in 5 foot of water. But then, I invisioned myself going down thru the ice in 5 feet of water with a pair of almost 7 foot long skis on. It would be damn near impossible to get them off in the ice cold water---in fact, I realized, I could drown in much less than 5 foot of water. However, I persevered and continue to enjoy the ecstasy of being out on the lake on skis with the morning sun coming up. You can’t imagine unless you join me in it. I am facing the east, watching the sun come up over the ice and the cedar trees, out there all alone, without a sound except the ice and wind, maybe a coyote, feeling the faint warmth of the sun on my face, knowing I am part of a greater thing than myself. It really makes the day go by so much better, exercising first thing in the morning like that. Anyway, back to the story.
Such are the deer—willing to risk going out on the edge with a human, me, in order to survive, make a “living”, despite the potential fact that I could take out my pistol and have enough venison forever right in my front yard. But, they have to go out on the edge, because they are hungry, as are my commercial fishermen friends, going out on the edge because their families are hungry.
Well, the news got out. It got out that I am unarmed when I feed my pets, my deer, and shake the bucket full of corn and say reassuring words and have plenty of food to share. It wasn’t long and we had a couple of young bucks joining the herd. Before I could cough and blink I inherited 14 deer now. They are about 1/3 bucks and 2/3 does, pretty good odds I’d say that the bucks will have a good spring. About half of them trust me, and stay within a few feet when I pour the corn. The other half take off running about 50 yards away and watch me, and as soon as they see me go back into the house they come back and have their dinner. I am sure that someday soon they too will become closer friends. I went from one bag of week of feed to about 6 bags of feed a week now.
Yes, it started innocently enough, but now I am become Pandora, and am holding an open box. Because, in addition to feeding the deer, I have been putting out salt blocks and alfalfa and bird seed in feeders and now I have blue-jays, chickadees, too many red squirrels (including “Fast Freddy”), crows, black birds and chipmunks. Virtually every living critter within several miles now equates my house with home, and mom’s cooking, and SANCTUARY. Isn’t that a great thing to be? A sanctuary for someone or some thing? Isn’t that the love of a mother for her children, always offering sanctuary. Isn’t that the love of my friend Ed to come help me work on this never finished housing project? Isn’t that the love of God, to give his Son Jesus, creating a sanctuary for you? Yes, I like being here and each day having these most beneficial thoughts inspired by all around me. God Bless You This Day, thanks for listening, and may you also find your SANCTUARY among the Herd.
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