Passing it on

trails in the slipstream

     It was a quiet moment, a relaxed pause in holiday saturation, a deep sigh.
     "I think it's so neat the girls are carrying on some of our traditional things," Lana said looking at one of the home made gift tags Katherine created.
     Sentimentalist that I am, I've kept some of those tags, even dating back to when elder sister Kristin was a wee one.
     Traditions and rituals are the stuff of this season including taking measure, a self imposed exam we tabulate when we see old man time limping for the door. 
      Resolutions and reflections go hand in hand.

      We are fond of the Kennedy Center Honors, a seasonal glitter of tribute. This year's celebration came with an announcement that a year long remembrance of JFK's devotion to the arts and creativity will cast a major presence in Washington. I'm struck by the resurrection of the lights of Camelot in a capitol presided over by a reality television star. JFK and Jackie looming over the Donald and Melania. Good juju.

the embrace

      Do you think the significance of the US and Japanese ritual is fully appreciated and understood? 
      75 years after the entry of the US into WW II two hated foes crossed a chasm once thought impossible to bridge. Though we are nominally allies with Japan two visits this year seared wounded hearts with deep and cathartic healing.      
      First President Obama visited Hiroshima where America first used an atomic bomb. He embraced survivors, said the souls of those who died speak to us and he urged the world to purse a future without nuclear weapons. 
      Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor, that they attacked propelling the US into the war, was another bridge. The significance of those first visits of former combatants to the historic sites of war may seem to be only protocol or ceremonial but in the arc of history they are momentous. Two blood enemies acknowledging the deepest blackness of their hearts in order to move forward in a better world. The ritual of forgiveness on a global scale.

        Does irony not strike again? The end of a year, the end of an administration, two principal adversaries of a World War talk of burying hatred and nuclear weapons as a President-to be-talks of a new arms race.

the fist salute

        Every four years as the Times Square ball drops, an adjustment begins to move over the US as the transition of power turns closer to inaugural day. It is a marvelous tradition  and sends up the message things are normal, life continues  and all is well. This year the peaceful transition will occur, but a majority of Americans know things are not normal and all is not well. 

       A fist salute next to a Christmas tree?! A Christian celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace met with a kind of power fist salute. No things are not at all normal or well.

winter green

dedicated to resilience 

     See you down the trail.

SEEING INSPIRATION

REFLECTIONS

   Mark Twain, Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson and Ernest Hemingway all found refuge and inspiration in the Hawaiian Islands. 
    The abounding beauty is but one of the captivating influences that engage the mind and put the muse to dance. The melding of Polynesian culture with indigenous history and native personality is rich. Add to that, color,   aroma, food, and a special relationship of people with nature all playing out in the unique light of a Pacific Island and you have a blend for reflection, appealing to writers and countless artists.
      William Faulkner said a writer needs experience, observation and imagination. Twain, London and Stevenson found it here.  
       On a previous visit, working on a documentary, a helicopter pilot with whom we worked told me the land and the Hawaiian people are connected in a special way and he said the land is alive. There is an energy and power to life that abides on land that has emerged from the sea by power of the ring of fire. Observing and experience life here stokes the imagination with volcanic power.

SEEING IT

     These frames are works of reflection in degrees of intricacy. If you have a moment, decipher how reality is bent by reflection.

  The following are a trio in tribute to the dancing palms.

   The following frames may take a moment to determine how up is on the bottom.

   Wishing you moments of reflection and inspiration.

REMEMBERING THE DREAMER

    

     See you down the trail.

LUCK-FORTUNE-BLESSINGS-AND YOU'VE NEVER SEEN THESE BEFORE-PLUS THE SECRET OF THE WISHBONE

GETTING PERSONAL HERE

     Being acclimated to the pace of life in a village tucked between the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific I was caught off guard by how many people were in motion and doing commerce in our near by "big town."

       Our favorite natural food super grocery was a festive crowd doing an animated ballet with little carts, baskets, shopping aisle slide-bys, earnest product choosing and cheery chat. Very cheery since after all San Luis Obispo repeatedly has been called one of the happiest places in America.   

      I paused for a few moments just to take it all in.  Wow, I thought.  All of these folks from across every demographic and life-style possible, and believe me in California that is a wide spectrum, every one of these folks were fixated on the big day, the gathering, the feast, the party, the family or the friends.  No, they were not all on the same page or in sync with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who, in two eras, birthed and certified a day of Thanks, but they were full of anticipation and in motion to the moment.  I stood there chuckling, smiling largely at the very prospect that we can still get up for a time certain to pause and at least pay a token regard to all that is good in our lives. And out here you can stand there with a shopping basket in your had and just chuckle away and barely draw a second look.

         Less than 24 hours later our tennis foursome was taking a break between matches chatting with a well known village resident.  His hair is coming back in, but he is still weak and drawn from the radiation and chemo.  He moved with a kind of creakiness though he is trying to get back to regular play.  One of our group, a good friend of his, asked what he was doing for Thanksgiving-she was worried he was going to be alone.

         "Me and my old dog are going out someplace for a walk and then we'll both have some chow," he laughed.

         She worked on him, telling him about her daughter's gathering, all the room they had, all the food they were going to have, how he should join them.

          No, he declined.  He said he'd turned down a lot of offers and appreciated every one's kindness but he'd be just fine.

         Luck, fortune, life's unveiling, your circumstance.  Regardless of where you are on this spectrum, there is this chance to pause, do an audit and count the good in your ride around the sun.

     This force of creativity, this exotic and unique woman, this artist and gardener who has put up with me and all those years of chasing stories and documentaries around the clock and around the globe is a blessing who has made my life a thing of even more beauty and fulfillment. Our two wonderful daughters, one who is in Connecticut and will be in New York City this holiday, and the other who is in LA on this day of thanks are  blessings indeed. The three of them have multiplied my understanding of love.

    The beauty of this planet and the special grandeur of California and the health and ability to hike up to 11 thousand feet in the Sierra, for example, has a special place in my heart of gratitude. I hope not to take such blessings for granted.

TURKEYS ON PARADE
a tribute to the bird of the day

REEL THOUGHTS REDUX

       Steve McQueen's 12 YEARS A SLAVE is an example of brilliant and ethical film making. It could be one of the most important films made.  Why?  Because it immerses the viewer in a vivid reality that must be embraced so the lessons are forever remembered and never repeated.

    This puts the hateful, ignorant, violent and destructive nature of American slavery out there with a force that crushes.  Yet the powerful dignity of humanity survives, carried in the heart of a man who is done so many wrongs and injustices you wish you could put your hands on the slavers, plantation owners and other allies of that horrible part of our history. 

    The acting is superb and the film making so extraordinary that you become an emotional captive of that era. You may never encounter cinema villains that provoke such dark rage in your heart. This film gathers you into a time and culture that enslaves your sense of hope and leaves you desperate as to how any human, let alone American citizens, could think, act and behave in such vile, brutal and evil ways, even while spouting Christianity. 

     We've all "studied" slavery, but we've never seen a window into that horrible human enterprise like this. Every performance was masterful and contributed to the stark approximation of truth, as history. Chiwetel Ejiofor who portrays the real man, Solomon Northrop must be a candidate for the Oscar.  His performance of the true life journey, while fighting desperately to retain dignity is something you'll never forget, nor are you likely ever to put away the frank retelling of a time in our past that should haunt us forever. 

     It's a special film. I wish everyone would see it.

              THE SECRET OF THE WISH BONE

     HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

     See you down the trail.

YEP, THE SEASON'S TURNED-THE WEEKENDER

JUST WAITING

   I remember hearing a Harry Reasoner commentary many years ago where he said "Labor day was like a new, new year."  His logic was that everything sort of stars over then.

   Well, he was right that with summer ending there is a kind of final lap of the year, but as I got older, raised daughters, discovered more home owner chores and lived in the country I found that fall is something different than Reasoner's idea.

    As my friend Frank now does, I put up wood for the winter and put Hatteras shutters on a screened porch, and styrofoam around foundation, basement and/or crawl space openings. And I got out the snow shovel.

    Each step along the path toward winter reminded me, the summer party is over, the beach is closed.

     A lot about this time of year is an homage to waiting.  Maybe some fitness or travel dreams are put on the shelf until next year as we go about preparing for the oncoming end of the year holidays, a distant patch of light.

    Again, my friend Frank had a "wisdom" about the time from Thanksgiving to the New Year.  He said "nothing gets done."  
    At the time he and I were journalists who were looking to improve our lot by developing and producing a television series. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have quoted him over the years.

   But I've also learned there is a special quality to fall.  It seems to be a natural frame for reflection, gathering with family and friends, contemplating a kind of intellectual or spiritual pre winter-hibernation preparation.  

   Putting up wood, winterizing, cleaning a garden and the like are all cues for a recognition that we have about completed another circuit of the sun.  But the older we get, the more quickly the beach seems to open again. Even our waiting seems to fly by.

THE WEEKENDER VIDEO

Please take six minutes to see this

fascinating display about the real wealth 

distribution in the US.  I suspect that regardless of

what you think, you'll be amazed.

See you down the trail.