Horror in Colorado

It is not possible for this day to go by without commenting on the horror and tragedy that happened Friday night in Aurora, Colorado. What a deranged, senseless, awful thing to have happened there, and my thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims, their families and their friends. I believe that we have become a less civilized country, and instead of evolving to a higher state of being, we are sinking to the lowest, greedy, violent level. Someone has said that man is made in the likeness of the angels, and that we are just below the angels in our presence, but I rather think, these days, that we are just above the apes. Why are we surprised when things like this happen when so much of what is in the media, on video games etc. is all very violent. Recently, my husband and I went to the movies and were subject to five previews of upcoming films, each one more violent than the one before. If we lead a horse to water over and over again, eventually the horse will drink; the same is true of man's exposure to violence. We have become desensitized to the horrors of guns, rifles, assault weapons etc. and the impact of the bullets that actually do kill people. In real life, it is not a reality show; it really happens and changes lives forever. With so much violence to watch everywhere, what does it take for an already deranged person to do exactly what they see in the movies, on T.V., in video games etc. Not much. I am discouraged today about the direction these incidents point to in our society. Is there any hope for a nation without guns to mow down innocent people?

I have not been on my BLOG for quite some time, but I have an excuse. I have just completed a wonderful college music class called, "Blues, Jazz and Rock & Roll," and oh, what a walk down memory lane it was for me. The book we used (above) is called' I Hear America Singing," by David Kastin and if you want to read an overview of how the Blues music led to Jazz and then to Rock & Roll, this is the book to read. We went to the Mississippi Delta first, where the blues is said to have started, with the slaves on cotton plantations singing " a call and response" format that was then imitated time and again in all these genres of music. And after learning about Muddy Waters and others and the involvement of big city blues, we went to New Orleans, the birthplace of Jazz and heard the music of Buddy Bolden, B.B. King, Stevie Vaughn and then on to Chuck Berry, Jelly Roll Mortin  the New Orleans Brass Band, King Oliver and finally Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino. Then came the "swing era" with the bands of Benny Goodman(King of Swing), Glen Miller and Duke Ellington. Billy Holliday made her debut about this time, as well as Ella Fitzgerald. Bebop arrived on the scene with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie playing a more spontaneous style of Jazz and really "kicked" things up. Soon "cool jazz" arrived with Miles Davis and a more soothing respite from bebop's heated intensity. Other greats at this time in jazz history were Thelonious Munk, John Coltrane and Wynton Marsalis. And then came "Rock & Roll" and the boogie-woogie. This was my teen era of music having started H.S. in 1954 when R&R really took off with songs like Sh-Boom, Rock Around the Clock, and Shake Rattle & Roll...all of which I owned on those single 45s. Here we get the talents of Bill Haley, Joe Turner, Chuck Berry, Johnnie Ray (Cry), Little Richard (Tutti-Fruitti), Carl Perkins (Blue Suede Shoes) Fats Domino, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis (Whole Lot of Shaking Goin On), Everly Brothers (Bye, Bye Love & Little Susie) to name a few. You also had the "Rockabilly" tunes like "That'll Be the Day." And then you had "the day the music died," with the airplane crash, February 3, 1959, which took three of the newest and brightest Rock & Roll stars; Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the "Big Bopper," J. P. Richardson. Motown emerged with small women groups like "the Shirelles" singing Tonight's the Night and Will You Love Me Tomorrow? and The Supremes singing "Stop in the Name of Love," and "Baby Love." Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin were on top at this time and their music has endured over time. The Sound of the Beach Boys surfaced just before the on slot of The Beatles, and Beatlemania in the U.S. They arrived two months after the death of President Kennedy, and brightened a sad nation with their upbeat songs, humor, and showmanship.  Just what the country needed at the time! I was in Africa and missed the whole hoop-la, and when I came back, had never heard of the Beatles! Others around this time surfaced, like The Kingston Trio, and Bob Dylan with his "Blowin in the Wind," and socially conscience lyrics which would soon change. With the Beatles & Bob Dylan came the electric guitar and amped -up music, for better or worse, depending on how you like it. Me, I like the calmer music played on acoustic guitar. My interest in the class began to wane with the arrival of "The Rolling Stones," and their loud, wild, electric guitar music with lyrics about drugs. I could go on and on with the likes of Jimi Hendriux, The Doors and The Who but I think that I will not although our class continued on with these groups. I cannot think of a more interesting (to me) class to have taken this summer! I loved it! 

FLOWERS OF SUMMER

YESTERDAY, (OR IS IT TODAY?) WAS THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER, THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR. I GUESS WE CAN SAY, FROM NOW ON, IT IS ALL DOWN HILL. I TOOK THIS PICTURE THIS MORNING IN OUR BACKYARD GARDEN, AND I DO NOT KNOW WHAT MORE COULD BE SAID ABOUT THE DELIGHT OF SUMMER EXCEPT PERHAPS THIS POEM BY ROBERT LEWIS STEVENSON CALLED:

THE FLOWERS

ALL THE NAMES I KNOW FROM NURSE

GARDENER'S GARTERS, SHEPHERD'S PURSE,

BACHELOR'S BUTTONS, LADY'S SMOCK,

AND THE LADY HOLLYHOCK

FAIRY PLACES, FAIRY THINGS,

FAIRY WOODS WHERE THE WILD BEE WINGS,

TINY TREES FOR TINY DAMES----

THESE MUST ALL BE FAIRY NAMES!

TINY WOODS BELOW THOSE BOUGHS

SHADY FAIRIES WEAVE A HOUSE;

TINY TREE-TOPS, ROSE OR THYME,

WHERE THE BRAVER FAIRIES CLIMB!

FAIR ARE GROWN-UP PEOPLE'S TREES,

BUT THE FAIREST WOODS ARE THESE;

WHERE IF I WERE NOT SO TALL,

I SHOULD LIVE FOR GOOD AND ALL.

AH, YES....WERE I NOT SO TALL, AND WERE THERE NOT SNAKES IN THE GARDEN, I TOO WOULD ENJOY LIVING AMONG THE BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS OF SUMMER!

* CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE FLOWER DETAIL

SO YOU THINK YOUR LIFE DOESN'T MATTER
If you don't know about "The Writer's Almanac" website, and you love poetry, you will love clicking into this site. I have always known that poetry needs to be read aloud for its full enjoyment and appreciation, and this is what this web-site will bring you; a poem of the day read by Garrison Keeler along with other tidbits of the day. Last week, I was experiencing one of those nasty days when I was thinking that my life was worthless and did not amount to much, or that I made any difference to anyone at all on this stage we call LIFE. And then, as if a mysterious hand led me to this poem, read on The Writer's Almanac, I was able to make a pyridine shift to envision things differently. This poem is sad, but also profound, and I invite you to read it here, and then think about the people in your life that YOU make a difference to......

IT IS NOT THE FACT THAT I WILL DIE THAT I MIND
                                                            Poem by: Jim Moore
but that no one will love as I did
the oak tree out my boyhood window,
the mother who set herself
so stubbornly against life,
the sister with her serious frown
and her wish for someone by her side,
the father with his dreamy gaze
and his left hand idly buried
in the fur of his dog.
And the dog herself,
that mournful look and huge appetite,
her need for absolute stillness
in the presence of a bird.
I know how each of them looks
when sleeping. And I know how it feels
to fall asleep among them.
No one knows that but me,
No one knows how to love the way I do.

And isn't this really the measure of each of us? We each have a few people in our lives for which we make a real difference, one difference being that we know them and love them in a singular, unique way that is not available to anyone else. I think that we all crave someone to be in our life who can be our historian, our notebook, and to know us and love us to the enth degree of honesty, warts and all.

                                                    MIKE BARCLAY, VIETNAM VET
Today is Memorial Day, 2012, and this morning I took a Vet to breakfast...my husband, actually. Mike served in Vietnam in the years 1966-67, and though we have talked about his experience through the years, I decided to do a kind of interview, over our Bob Evens biscuits, to learn some of the facts of Mike's experience. Mike trained for 8-9 weeks at Fort Polk, Louisiana and did advanced training at Fort Eustis, Virginia where he was trained to be a seaman. I think that he was fortunate in this because, even though he could have experienced enemy fire, he never did as a seaman on a supply boat traveling up and down the Mekong  Delta. Mike left home on August 12, 1966 from O'Hara Airport in Chicago where he had driven with his Mom and Dad from Colfax, Illinois (about 2 hours drive) two days in a row because the first airplane transport had no room. I can just imagine what his mom and dad must have been thinking on the ride back home, wishing that he was coming back home to stay. But back they went the second day, and with anxiety and trepidation, he boarded a MATS (Military Air Transportation plane) because all the airlines were on strike at that time. Mike's tells me that his Mom and Dad were just as apprehensive as he was sending their youngest (& only one to go ) off to war. I personally cannot imagine such a difficult thing to do.....and I know that his mother must have been in tears while his dad tried to remain stoic and strong.
Mike flew to San Francisco, Hawaii, the Philippines  and then to Vietnam where he checked in at Camp Pen Hoi, called by the military, Camp LBJ, a very large army base out in the middle of "nowhere" with jungle all around. From here, Mike was given his year's assignment as a "seaman" or "boats- man" on a 14 crew supply boat that traveled up and down the Mekong Delta delivering food and army supplies. And, although the quarters were tight, the crew got along well together and ate  great food from the cook on board, named Roosevelt Little. Guard duty for the boat was 24-7 and Mike stood guard  plenty of nights as well as days, but during Mike's time aboard, the boat was never fired upon. What a blessing!  Mike spent his R&R in Hong Kong; saw the sights and bought himself a new suit and coat.
Forever, I will be grateful that Mike did not see combat in Vietnam  I honor him as a veteran today because Mike went, and no matter what one might think of the merits of the war in Vietnam, Mike went. And, no, he did not have much of a choice as he was drafted, but still,he went.
Today I think about all the men and women who "went" when they were called or even signed up to go, and those who are at war today in the name of the United States. I am grateful for their dedication to our protection.
Mike told me this morning over breakfast that he had a chance to "re- up" for 90 days, and if he had,  he would have been discharged upon his return to the U.S. He then said, "if I had done that, then I would not have met you." This is true as we met in Washington, D.C. after Mike's return when he was stationed at a base outside of D.C. and I was there working for the Peace Corps. It was so sweetly said that, after 42 years of marriage and putting up with me, I think he still thinks he made the right choice.

 

Today I was cleaning out some drawers and came  across a file entitled

"Late Bloomers." And, before I tossed it, I reread about some famous people who did not hit their stride, or realize their true talent until later in life. I think of myself as a late bloomer in that, I always wanted to be a writer, and did not begin to write seriously until well into my fifties. And, I was 67 when I published my first novel, "To See a Sundog." So many of us in life are consumed with responsibilities of jobs, marriages, children, family etc. that, unless we have made our passion or interest a career, we do not have much time for it until later in life. What is gratifying to know is that it is never too late to do what we do  well, and  to do what we love.

 I think about Julia Child who did not serve a French meal until she was 36, and Susan Boyle who debuted with her magnificent voice at the age of 48. So many late bloomers were considered "failures" at an early age, and often did not do well in school. Thomas Edison's teacher told him that he was unable to learn; Albert Einstein had a difficult time learning language and failed his college entrance exam. Winston Churchill failed sixth grade and Isaac Newton's school work was considered poor. Henry Ford was evaluated as "showing no promise." F.W. Woolworth's employers refused to allow him to wait on customers because "he didn't have any sense." Like many of us,  I am prone to discouragement, and tend to give up when I cannot see the value in something. Or, I have second thoughts about the worth of the endeavor, or if it has any meaning. But, then I discovered that if it has meaning to me, it is worth doing, and again, it is never too late. As I write this, I have three different books in the "pipeline," and all are substantially begun. These "late bloomers" encourage me to continue......

I remember a quote from my High School, The Summit, that was nicely framed and easily read each time I walked down the hall  to my  classrooms. It said, "Greatly begin though thou have time but for a line....low aim, not failure is crime." I have never forgotten this, and it continues to inspire the writer in me. If you want to read more about Late Bloomers, go to the BLOG of Debra Eve.

Today I am featuring some of the pages from my Art Journal Books.....I love creating these art books, and use a variety of medians to express ideas, writings, sayings, art and amazing color. I will add a few here for today's entry, and for you to enjoy. I have finished four of these books which will be featured in an art show in Cincinnati in mid September.