tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60032908276040528312024-02-19T08:57:43.613-08:00Steve MeadorWhere do I find subjects to write about? How do I determine what might be interesting or not? What time of day do I write? How much of what I write is true? The muse, where do I find it? These are only a few of many questions I get asked. Here is where I record my thoughts on all aspects of my writing.dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-66598276847743136932014-07-17T19:21:00.000-07:002014-07-17T19:36:24.502-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Defiance High School class of 1974 forty year reunion, </b></div>
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<b> June 28, 2014.</b> </div>
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Great time, great food and lots of photos for you to see. The pictures start with shots from the pre-reunion party on Friday night at Bill and Elaine Warren's home, then a few of the Saturday morning set up at the UAW hall before you get to the reunion photos. Hope you enjoy!<br />
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<i>To see the photos at a faster rate than the slide show, place cursor over the photo and click on the forward or back arrow. If you would like to go directly to the album, click on the "View Album" at the top of photo. This will take you directly to Photobucket, the host site.This will open a new tab and you can see the photos faster and in a larger format.</i></div>
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<iframe height="360" src="http://s1087.photobucket.com/user/steve-meador/embed/slideshow/DHS%20Class%20of%201974%2040%20year%20reunion" width="480"></iframe>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-83127637312490016892013-02-17T12:05:00.000-08:002014-07-17T20:19:17.837-07:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Real Estate is <span style="font-size: large;">Dying</span></span></span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXy_0KQwQ8GLkDy8W7Nh413kzS0DGk8qf3jVjIhIZqFxkGKRmye93-fZ07_jHiG7SeDNSqv6-zq3RLmkiK1cVA30DgFGSnprFxs5qPZNzQQRPeeoaq8yr0ZujN39HD_1IfIfjEoR0IcBe0/s1600/PICT1645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXy_0KQwQ8GLkDy8W7Nh413kzS0DGk8qf3jVjIhIZqFxkGKRmye93-fZ07_jHiG7SeDNSqv6-zq3RLmkiK1cVA30DgFGSnprFxs5qPZNzQQRPeeoaq8yr0ZujN39HD_1IfIfjEoR0IcBe0/s1600/PICT1645.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">I knew when I turned right off Mulberry onto Maple Ave. and
saw the police cruisers, about a block ahead, that the house I was going to
would somehow be involved. The real estate business, for me, has been a topsy-turvy
mishmash of action. I pulled my truck over to the left, in front of the
property, parked on the street, facing the traffic, grabbed my camera and got
out. The officer nearest to me nodded and waved. I returned the greetings.
There was a guy leaning against the trunk of a car parked on the concrete pad
in front of the duplex. I noticed the door of unit A was open and I assumed the
guy was the tenant I was to meet. “You Dave?” He stopped texting and looked up,
“No, I am Josh. You must be Steve.” He
was the listing agent, who was not supposed to be there. I was to take photos
of the back unit, which was vacant and vandalized. The door was to be unlocked,
then I was to go to Dave’s unit and see if he was home and take photos of the
inside of his place. The property is a short sale, meaning the seller is
attempting to sell it for less than what the bank is owed. My job is to give
the bank an opinion of the value. Josh looked unnerved and shaky, “I have some
bad news, Steve.” I figured he was going to say that I couldn’t get into the
units, which would piss me off after driving twenty miles and wasting my time.
“What’s up?” His voice cracked with dryness when he answered, “We got a body
inside.”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Things, although bad for someone, didn’t seem so upsetting
to me. “NO SHIT! Is it the tenant or a squatter?” He told me it was Dave, the
tenant, and that he had come over about a half an hour earlier to make sure
Dave would be there when I arrived at one o’clock. He knocked, found the front
door unlocked and opened it. After calling for Dave, he went in and found the
body. “So, was he in the bedroom?” I am a curious person, although my wife says
I go beyond curiosity and run full speed into nosiness. “No, he is in a chair
at his desk, slumped over, buck naked.”
“NO SHIT!” I say again. “How long you figure he’s been there?” Josh thought a couple days, maybe. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, we go to the back and take photos of unit B. The place
stinks, like mildew and mold and maybe dead guy. I am not sure, but the air is
nasty. It has been chilly in Tampa the last couple days, so maybe bodies don’t
go bad quickly like they do in summer. I am not sure of the physics of that
either. Josh says, out of nowhere, “I
would rather be at my daughter’s birthday party.” </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">I pursed my lips and gave him the sympathetic dad nod. “So,
this your first one? Your first body?” He shocks me by saying it is his third.
“NO SHIT!! He works the area regular. It is ramshackle, gangster land. Lots of
extreme poverty. Lots of homeless. Lots of violence. Lots of bodies. “They all
been natural?” He says yes, that he hasn’t found a murdered person. I say, “Yet.” He looks squeamish. The officer
who nodded to me comes around the corner, stringing yellow tape. “Who you
with?” I tell him I am a realtor, taking photos for the bank. “Not in that
unit, you ain’t.” He points to unit A. “You need to move your vehicle. Park it
on the right side of the street.” I say, “Looks like you guys have this
handled. I am done here.” The officer glares. I walk briskly to the truck and
leave the scene as I entered, in a whirlwind of official real estate business.
No shit. </span></span></div>
dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-71029820404254479052013-01-28T13:16:00.001-08:002013-01-28T13:21:45.444-08:00<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I have been asked to open Pandora’s
Box, but I will harm no one, including myself, in doing so. The contents are
fluid, figuratively, coming and going, sometimes building pressure, forcing the
lid open and spilling out. When that happens I slap the lid closed, slide a
stronger lock through its hasp and wait, because it will happen again and
again. I will search inside my box, on this day, to find some event that I
would change. That is what causes me stress. The box is full of things I would
change; that is the easiest way for an event to get into the box in the first
place. And many of those thing or events I would change are similar, if not the
same, as the things and events locked in the boxes of other people. Everyone
has a box. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I lift the lid and find the
contents are in no particular order. I would not have become addicted to the
Three Stooges, as a third grader, and asked Charlotte to “pick two fingers”
which resulted in me poking her in the eyes, and left me scribbling “I will not
poke others in the eyes” on the chalkboard during every recess for a week. I
would change that action, but will set it aside for now. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I would certainly not have squatted
in the bushes under my friend Teddy’s kitchen window and snickered until I could
hardly breathe as his brother was viciously beaten, by their drunken dad, for
leaving bread crumbs on the butter stick. I have always felt bad about that, as
an adult. I may come back to that.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A definite do-over would be the
incessant brawling in junior high and first two years of high school. It would
be great to have been known as the kind and gentle Steve, rather than the guy who
might pound you into sloppy joe meat because of your shirt color. Lots of guilt
with this one, but those were the pecking order years, so, I will look at that
one later.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The summer I was fourteen I went
into Webb’s woods and shot twenty-one woodpeckers, just because I wanted to,
and because their calls annoyed me. I knew it was wrong, particularly as I
placed them in a straight row and then stared at the bodies. Nature is a
priority with me now, so, I did learn something valuable, but the event
deserves consideration.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1962, when in the second grade,
I told Mrs. Alexander I hated her, because she made me take a note, written in
cursive, to my mom, describing how I was a boy of bad behavior in class. I got a
whipping. Mrs. Alexander, who looked every bit of a wrinkly, pasty, eighty
years old, was only our teacher for a few days after I said that to her. She
died before I could say “sorry.” However, I am not sure this event is high on
the priority list for the task currently at hand. It goes back in the box. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In August, 1973, after working
construction jobs for my father, a drinker and womanizer, I went to see him to
collect the money he was saving for me. I was only paid for two weeks of work
after having worked about ten weeks. He walked up the driveway, with flask in
hand, and asked what I wanted. I told him. He became irate, said I was trying
to pull something over on him, that he had paid me what was owed. I said
nothing in return, borrowed gas money from my uncle and drove back to Ohio to
start my sophomore year of college. I had grown out of the brawling and
wickedness that gripped me as a kid. I should have talked to my father, man to
man, about the money and other things muddying up our lives. But, I didn’t. I
will put this on the top of the stack.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, after considerable time
and exhausting review I have come to a decision about <i>the decision</i> I would change, first. The initial decision happened
in July, 1969. It involved me, obviously, a
gun, a dog named Tip and my cousin. I need to first offer a brief back-story.
My parents were divorced in 1965, after my father went to Vietnam, leaving my mother
with five children under eleven years of age, no support financially or
emotionally. Being the oldest and the most likely to make a go of it, I was
handed over to one relative after another to live with. In 1968 I went to live
with my aunt and uncle in Ohio. Cousin Jimmy was my age and we bonded like a
weld bead to a piece of steel, doing everything together. We hunted, trapped,
brawled, explored nature and discovered the delights in dating. Near the top of
what we shared and cared about was Tip. She was a mix of German shorthaired
pointer and blue tick. She was a smart dog. I know everyone’s dog is the
smartest dog ever born, but I will say with surety that it is the truth about
Tip. In May, she had a litter of pups and for several weeks did not join us on
our daily adventures. One morning Jimmy and Bob, our friend from across the
road, went to the power dam to club carp, which would spawn against the rapid
flow at the dam’s bottom. Carping, as we called it, was fun and there were
always hippies at the dam who would take the bludgeoned fish for food. However,
I wanted to go to Five Mile and hunt snakes, so I did not go with them. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Around noon I got my .22 rifle and
started out. To my surprise Tip joined me. She loved to retrieve whatever we
hunted, it came natural to her. I found water snakes immediately, sunning on
the rocky banks. The snakes would slide into the water and surface several
yards away, in the waters of the back bay. That is when I took my shot, almost always deadly with the first
trigger pull. Tip eagerly dove in and brought the dead, or not dead, snake to
shore. I always patted and hugged her and we would search for another victim.
It didn’t take but a couple minutes. The snake slid, I fired and Tip jumped. I
made <i>the decision </i>at that point, as
she was swimming out to the snake, to cross State Rt. 111, a busy county road,
to look along the riverbank. I hesitated, wondering if I should wait for Tip,
but I didn’t. On the river side of the road I saw a couple large snakes right
away, both slid into the water and surfaced after about half a minute. I took
two shots. As I was looking to see if I hit either, I heard a loud thump and
turned in time to see Tip sliding along the road, and a pickup truck coming to
a stop. I screamed her name and ran to her. She was already dead. The driver
touched my shoulder and said, “She just bolted right out in front of me, son. I
am sorry. Can I help you take her to your place?” I was already crying and told
him no. We moved her to the side of the road and I ran home, got on my bike and
peddled the two miles to the power dam to find my cousin.
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He was on a path, leaving the dam
area, when I told him. He didn’t believe me, but ran to his bike and rode to
Five Mile, where he found her. She was a medium large dog, but he picked her up
and carried the body home, maybe half a mile, where he placed her on the garage
floor, next to the nearly weaned pups. After a couple hours we buried her in
the woods behind the house. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Although as cousins we remained
close our unbreakable, unbendable friendship was destroyed. We argued and had
fist fights with one another and within three months I moved, to live with my
grandparents, in the same town. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We remained under the strained
relationship for years. It repaired itself and we talked about it nearly every
meeting. We talked about all the good things as well. I told him once, about
five years ago, that if I could I would change that morning, decide to wait for
Tip to swim back to me before crossing the road. He hugged me and we both got
teary, two men in their fifties, bonded again like weld bead on steel. Jimmy
passed away in 2011. It is perhaps time to remove this event from my Pandora’s
Box, because the decision cannot be changed and it needs to be no more than a
sad memory in the middle of a beautiful story.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-46955841929638374502012-12-11T21:27:00.000-08:002012-12-11T21:27:23.093-08:00<span style="font-size: large;">The Road to Mulberry</span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">East
of Beulah’s fruit and vegetable stand, just before the big bend in the road
that leads to Mulberry, Obie has parked his rust-scabbed flatbed truck a few
feet off the shoulder, under the canopy of a clump of massive live oaks. I saw
him there, leaning against the tail of the bed, talking with another man.
Teetering on the bed’s edge were what appeared to be onions, the large sweet
onions that grow at the perimeter of the strawberry fields. We call them
Strawberry Onions. They are the best in the world, in my opinion. Better than
Vidalia or Walla Walla or Texas 1015 or any of the others, and I have tried
most. My mouth reacted and filled with saliva. I was no better than Pavlov’s
dog.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
pulled over and discovered that Obie was selling turnips, not onions. “No good
onions till spring,” he informed me. The other man, like Obie, in his
mid-seventies, at least, looks me over good and says, “Where you from?” Obie
says, “You leave this man alone! He is young enough to kick yo ass, Leroy.”
They do some verbal jousting and Leroy turns his attention back to me and I
tell him I am from the Lithia area. “So, you a money bags, right?” Obie tells Leroy
it ain’t none of his damn business whether I am a money bags or not. They argue
again, Leroy explaining that he is just being friendly. “So, you know the last
road yonder,” he points westward to where I came from. “You take that to the
dead end and turn left. I don’t remember the road name, but when you turn left
you go to Jap Tucker Road and turn right. You know where I’m talking?”<span> </span>I shook my head yes. He continued, “After you
turn onto Jap Tucker you look left and there is a man, Able, he has a stand
there. He has onions. Good onions. All the time. See, Obie, you old mule, I was
just telling this man where to get onions.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Obie was taking swigs from a
bottle, wrapped tightly inside a brown paperbag. Even from a few feet away I
could smell the rum. At 9:30 in the morning. Leroy reached in the the drivers window
of the car, lifts out a styrofoam cup, looks in it, blows out the dust and
holds it in front of Obie. “Kiss my ass, Leroy!” Leroy says he just might, if
he gets enough of that rum. Obie pours some into the cup. Leroy looks into the
cup, “Cheap-ass! Give me a little more.” Obie does. A car goes by and honks. Obie
slowly lifts his arm, with the bag in his hand, makes a wagging motion. Leroy
nods, imperceptibly, like the driver could see a motion that small. “Who that?”
Obie glares at him, “Dumb ass. No more for you. That was Beulah’s boy. How many
times you seen and talked with that boy? You going blind. Old drunk.”<span> </span> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The two of them stare at the treeline on the
other side of the road, silent for the first time since I stopped. Leroy backs
up, leans his rear against the side of his car, gulps down the last drink of
rum. Obie reaches over and pours more into the cup. I grab a bunch of turnips,
hand Obie four dollars. Leroy says, “Tell Able I’ll be by, directly.” Obie
glances at him, “He ain’t got rum.” Leroy replies, “No, he be a gin man, but he
got good onions. For sure.”
</span></div>
dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-70274809067512608782012-11-29T14:47:00.000-08:002012-11-29T14:47:30.040-08:00<br />
<br />
So often I am asked about my ranch or farm or acreage. I do not own any of those, but the readers accept my words as reality. The following poem was born when we found this shovel near the sidewalk, while walking.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtDEeAlkRLwHdceCJyDWIvDsut5ai93Ht2UhRF1kkiZ5M_xPGOSevyNevkrmbz75l9xPC1L7OfwtFUFF7nyp1l4R8Y8qC2lUxuN2cLMf1si15f8V8rpnhW39MwonBlICHq0HffbmS9bpZ/s1600/PICT2832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtDEeAlkRLwHdceCJyDWIvDsut5ai93Ht2UhRF1kkiZ5M_xPGOSevyNevkrmbz75l9xPC1L7OfwtFUFF7nyp1l4R8Y8qC2lUxuN2cLMf1si15f8V8rpnhW39MwonBlICHq0HffbmS9bpZ/s400/PICT2832.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Today at the Ranch</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 369.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What is it inside the imagination </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 369.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that keeps surprising us</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 369.0pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>--Charles Wright</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">9:00 am</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 369.0pt;">
I have found a
shovel.</div>
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The handle is
broken,</div>
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there is a
small crack</div>
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in its throat.
But it is </div>
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still good in
structure</div>
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and could be
repaired</div>
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for use in
your garden</div>
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or your yard.
Perhaps</div>
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it could scoop
fallen</div>
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leaves of
magnificent</div>
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color, or snow
bland</div>
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beyond all
description.</div>
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Who wants this shovel</div>
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someone
pitched from</div>
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a car or
truck, into my</div>
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pasture, where
the cows</div>
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eye it with fear
and wild</div>
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animals smell
the danger</div>
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of man. Who
would like</div>
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to take this
shovel, make</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 369.0pt;">
it whole and
usable again?</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Noon</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Who will buy
this goat</div>
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with a face
like a sage</div>
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and a mellow
voice</div>
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that beckons
the early</div>
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evening? Will
someone</div>
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take this fine
animal</div>
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and let her
see what lies</div>
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beyond the
wire fence</div>
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that butts
tightly against</div>
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the wood water
trough?</div>
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She is only
familiar</div>
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with the
ground in a pen</div>
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found at the
southeastern</div>
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corner of the
northern</div>
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half of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a section of land.</div>
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She is most
ignorant</div>
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of wars and
the actions</div>
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of politicians
eager</div>
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to make her
life better. </div>
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She merely
seeks to be</div>
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a goat free of
bondage.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">3:00 pm</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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A rusty scythe
crusted</div>
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with more than
forty</div>
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years of chaff
and dust</div>
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is this day
recovered</div>
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from beneath
the rubble</div>
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of a
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Its corroded
blade once</div>
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sliced through
ripe grain</div>
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used to make
the bread</div>
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which fed the
family.</div>
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came cloaked
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symbol</div>
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of all things <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">non grata.</i></div>
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Accept this
implement,</div>
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for past
indiscretions</div>
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often are by
the hands</div>
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of others, not
ourselves.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-88781572603084991342012-11-26T23:44:00.000-08:002012-11-27T06:50:49.373-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Corkscrew</b></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">There
came today a warm rain, not the first rain of the season, but the first that
did not drench with a chill. It was worth standing in and absorbing, as though
it was a slow wash of nutrients for the body and mind, one in which it was
impossible to not turn up the face, close the eyes and, for a few seconds, have
an empty mind. Then I thought of San Carlos de Valle, nestled in the crevice
between two small ranges of hills, in Castile-La Mancha. It was July when I was
there, dry and hot, climate the vineyard owners love. The earthly palette of
the place seems to be loaded with three colors, sky, tan fields and green
vines, but those are a pleasing backdrop for this small town. It is a typical
place for the area, narrow streets lined by thin sidewalks and flat-faced
buildings adorned, here and there, with wrought iron on the windows or doors.
There are many wooden gates hiding patches of gardens or grass in courtyards
only a few feet wide and long. I arrived from the south, from Valdepenas.
Coasting down the road between the two hills brought a self-created wind to my
body, but I thought, as I picked up speed, how I missed the rain, how I wanted
to be pelted by large drops at that very moment, along that road hot as a
soldering iron. The ride down was too short; I
needed a rest and found a small cafe just inside the south end of town,
with views of the hills in one direction, and the narrow street lorded over by
the massive towers of the church in the other. I slid my backpack from my
shoulders and sat in one of the chairs, shaded by a large tile-roofed overhang.
The waitress, maybe in her thirties, walked over instantly and before I could
say anything she said, “I speak English.” I smiled, unable to reply because I
was stunned by perfection of the woman’s features and skin. She wore no
make-up, not even for the eyes, nothing to ruin what she was given naturally. I
was embarrassed slightly by my staring, which was odd at that point in my life.
I usually would have considered a woman of that age old, ready to retire.
Finally, my parched and nervous voice came, “Just something to refresh me. A
drink. A wine, I guess.” She told me her
name was Marina, with a soft tone that matched the luscious look, and she would
soon return with the perfect solution for my dilemma. She went inside and I
opened the backpack, removed my tablet and wrote a few words, triggers to
remind of what I wanted write on more extensively later. Marina returned,
flowing and quietly, with a glass of red. It was chilled. “Rosado. For the
weary wanderer.“ She glanced at my
tablet and asked if I was a writer. With
the glass at my lips I answered, “Kind of. At times.” The wine was better than
rain, the cool of it soothed my tongue, mouth, throat and body with the first
sip. “You know Hemingway?” I was not sure if she was serious when she asked and
she gave no expression to help me. “No. I was seven when he died.” Marina
laughed in a melodious and moist tone, “I will bring you another, when I see
you are finished. Do not take long. Ernest.”
Her hand brushed my shoulder, in a show of humor. I sipped and scribbled
more words and sentences. I did not hear her behind me until she placed a
bottle of the chilled Rosado on the table, along with a corkscrew, one with a
gnarly handle of reddish root or wood. Then, she sat across from me, not
looking my way, but at the hills. Her hair was shiny and black and vibrant, not
what I would expect to find in a place like San Carlos during its harshest
season. It was shoulder length, pulled back and held with a silver clasp, maybe
three or four inches long. With her right hand she took some strands and
smoothed them between her index finger and thumb. The strands fell onto the top
of her shoulder. Naïve and young, I fumbled for words, “You have beautiful
hair.” It was the best I could offer.
She did not turn toward me, just continued to stare at the hills, “I love the
rain. Often it arrives from over these hills. It feels good, warm, even in the
hot of summer days. But it is so rare now. When it comes I collect it in the
barrels in our courtyard and use <span style="font-size: large;">the s<span style="font-size: large;">weet water</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;">for</span> my hair.” She gently collected the
same stands and let them slide through her touch. “My husband works at the vineyard. All the
men in San Carlos work at one vinyard<span style="font-size: large;"> or the other</span>. They are so busy being men that they
forget they have women.” Marina turned her body and attention toward me, “But,
I have my hair and the rain. When it comes.” With that she stood and smiled,
“Please open the wine at your leisure.” She gently touched the corkscrew and
added, “You may keep this. I bought it in Toledo. When I came out of the small
shop it started raining. I stood in the rain, without an umbrella. You are
weary and it may bring rain for you during your trip. Or at another time when
you need it.” Then, she walked away and
greeted a couple at another table. I opened the cool Rosado, drank another
glass of its magic, then gave the bottle to the couple. The corkscrew brought
no rain for ten days, but when it came she was as beautiful as Marina.</span></div>
dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-61456213609008758182012-09-04T10:14:00.001-07:002012-09-11T18:55:25.351-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Colorado, August 2012 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If
I were a magpie I would certainly fly, away from the man with the stone-brown
tan, away from the man with the camera. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Black-billed magpie (<i>Pica hudsonia</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> A rose is a rose along any road.</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Across
the flat, in brights and blacks, we took in late morning hues in a ramshackle
shed sown together with threads, holding implements not often used.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I
found love in Loveland. It appeared behind the window of a small restaurant at
the corner of Cleveland and Fourth, in shapely form and sipping a cold drink on
a blistering day. I waited until love glanced and smiled, then went in for
lunch.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It is a place where something intriguing always seems to be on the horizon.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">added 9/8/2012</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">At the edge of a vast field, which was the beginning of rattlesnake country, I happened upon two small dogs. They were thirsty and I gave them water. Then they wanted to follow me into the hazardous place. I took from my pocket a small red globe and placed the dogs in it for their safety. I was able to see where they two lived and took them there later. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The season for growing is short, one has to race the birds and bees to get the best fruit.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> I think I could live along the St. Vrain, with its daffodils in spring and summertime flow of melted snow draining from cold elevations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Loneliness is only a spit away, depending on the speed of the wind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">added 9/11</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Mule deer (<i>Odocoileus hemionus</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Black bear (<i>Ursus americanus</i>) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Nature is repairing the fire damage in Poudre canyon quickly.I was surprised at how the fire destroyed small pockets of areas, sometimes only a couple acres, then left the next acreage untouched. We did not get into the areas that were total loss.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The banks of the Poudre river were generously littered with charred debris, nearly weightless and easy to crush into powder.</span></div>
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dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-47197329997059213822012-08-03T20:15:00.000-07:002012-08-03T20:27:09.738-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The trail of the gypsies</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I
have had a lifelong fascination with gypsies. The roots of this intrigue likely
sprouted in the early ‘60s, nurtured by movies that featured sly, rugged men
and women with enough world-stopping beauty to keep me inside on a Savannah Saturday
afternoon. As I think about the genesis of my interest, I suppose a tad can
also be attributed to my parents. The looks of my mother, whose dark, wavy hair,
and eyes like charred bark, reminded me of the movie stars on our black and
white tv. Also, my father, whose own dark curls glistened with Brylcreem, when
he was home long enough for me to see the shine, as he was more often than not
a coming-and-going man, for someone who was a sergeant in the Air Force. They
fought a bit and then divorced, with him going off to the luxury of war and
Asian women, her not really existing with five kids in poverty. My mother did,
however, add a nomadic lifestyle to the lives of her kids. We packed and moved
with the gypsy moon. For me, the rambling stopped when I was in the eighth
grade, after which I never lived under her roof again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">However,
when I was in the sixth grade, I met Brenda, who said her mother was a gypsy,
and she was darkly beautiful and mysterious enough, tightly packed into colorful
and flouncy dresses and underneath, what seemed like, pounds of jewelry. They
were from Pascagoulah. The two of them lived a few trailers away from us for
only a few months. I came home one day, went to their place and, POOF!, they
were gone. A midnight gypsy wind whisked them to a destination unknown to any
of the neighbors. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Over
the years songs have kept the elusive wanderers traveling through my thoughts.
Brian Hyland, with <i>Gypsy Woman</i>, Cher
and her <i>Gypsies Tramps and Thieves </i>and
Fleetwood Mac’s <i>Gypsy </i>renewed old
daydreams to current times.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I
continue to have a here-again/gone-again relationship with the gypsies. Last
week, along a country road in Ohio I spotted what I was certain was a small band
of adults and children. There were, perhaps, a dozen individuals total,
crossing from one wooded area on the north side to another, on the south side.
They were carrying nothing. The location was a good distance from the nearest
village, which led me to believe they were not a group of homeless people.
Also, I caught glints and shimmers shooting from the arms and necks of the
women and girls, all in the Brenda’s-mom fashion. Local folks out for a walk
would not adorn themselves in such attire for a jaunt in the forest. By the
time I drove to the place where they crossed, I could see nothing in the dusky
density of the foliage; so, I turned around, found a place to park, grabbed my
camera and set out to find them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYskOozBTP2Txzh6mVigzKmcBn7sl2vBvDpPYidJxFtiavKXDwdMvwretcxgbraLh6PBnhQ3BnCnMnphOg1ysSTKfNpSZ6aINKA8AsjVn3bBE0QAWVnXYSteUX_kKtJ6dkqbgZ70niGsCn/s1600/IMG_0377b+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYskOozBTP2Txzh6mVigzKmcBn7sl2vBvDpPYidJxFtiavKXDwdMvwretcxgbraLh6PBnhQ3BnCnMnphOg1ysSTKfNpSZ6aINKA8AsjVn3bBE0QAWVnXYSteUX_kKtJ6dkqbgZ70niGsCn/s200/IMG_0377b+copy.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">It
was a fruitless journey in the beginning and I was losing hope. I eventually
fell upon the trail, by happenstance. The animals along the way seemed unafraid
and as I approached a squirrel I saw a small bead, dropped on the path. When I
stooped to pick it up my eye caught dull flickers of light reflect off the oak
canopy in the distance. That was the spot where the people were warming
themselves around a small fire. Voices were low; faces had a tawny glow from
the golden flames. I settled into a thicket and watched, not sure of my safety,
should I approach the group. From there I could hear the low mumbles of the men
and the reserved responses of women. The children were mostly silent and,
eventually, huddled near an adult. I became weary and shifted my body, snapping
a couple small twigs. A stocky man stood, held up both arms about chest high,
with open hands directed at the others. There was an instant death thrown on
the chatter. He walked slowly around the perimeter of the campfire light and, through
squinted eyes, </span><span style="font-size: large;"> peered into the forest
and undergrowth. When he approached my spot, and got within maybe ten feet, he
extended his arms fully to his front, hands still open, and uttered words in a
language I did not understand. He backed up a few steps, tuned and rejoined the
group. The next thing I remember was waking, at the beginning of dawn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The
embers of their small fire still had heat wafting in the early morning slant.
Once again, I was foiled in my attempt to socialize with those who have always
seemed to me to be the most social. I made my way through the foggy woods, returned
to the car and drove to the village, where, by complete luck, I observed the
gypsies entering, under the lifting mist, into a tavern, its neon sign offering
a lazy glow through the haze. The fog within me, however, was dissipating much
slower than the dampness of nature, I hesitated, decided to wait before
entering the tavern. After thirty minutes or so, I grabbed my camera and
courage, walked through the front door and looked around. The seats and booths
were empty. “Sit anywhere you like. What can I get for you this morning?” called
a man from near the rear of the place. “I am here to see some people who came
in a little while ago.”</span><span style="font-size: large;"> He walked
towards me, “Well, you ain’t here to see anyone, then. You’re the first person
for breakfast on this foggy morn. So, traveler, how you want your eggs? Those come
with bacon or sausage and toast or biscuit.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-33960222999208284422012-07-24T12:48:00.001-07:002012-07-24T19:36:30.291-07:00<br />
<b>40 Year Class Reunion </b><br />
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Another high school class reunion, my 40 year gathering, has
come and gone. I worked on the committee, which consisted of a good friend from
the old days and me. After months of phone calling and web searching, the event
was over in about six hours. Had a great time and I think the other 80 or so
did, also. I am always sad to have it end, because the slice of life we know as
the high school years was very delectable for me. Not that those
days were all perfect and good, but because, very simply, they were what
they were, fit into a slot of our history and lived within the context of
the time. I think of my past often, with all the good and bad, but I do
not compare one time to another, that would be unfair. I do not judge what
I did in one time against the values and expectations of a different time. In
short, it was what it was, just as the current is what it is. Sure, I carry
baggage from the high school days, who doesn't? But, I am beginning to
think I am one of the few who opened up my baggage, heaved out what was not
needed and brought forward anything I thought might be of value.</div>
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This is a difficult post to write, because, as many people
know, I got involved when my cousin, Jimmy Floyd, passed away and I don’t want
to be sappy or maudlin. I didn’t want to do this, but he hounded me, as he
always could, to perfection. It was his goal and dream to be at this reunion,
and I think one of the reasons was that he wanted the two of us to touch again
that golden time when we lived together, during our freshman year, when we were
Lewis and Clark, Boone and Crockett, Butch and Sundance. I have become a hard person to sell to and
only agreed after his death—although, truth be admitted, I would have given in
to his pestering ways. It worked out great. Eric handled the physical duties,
because he lives in Defiance, while Cheri and I (mostly her) handled updating
the class list. We had a fair number of classmates who were not interested and
will not be in the future. She ask one about being listed as “Not Interested”
and the reply was, “You can put be down as dead, for all I care.” All that
stuff is okay, because each person lives as they wish and it is not for me to
finger point or name call. </div>
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Technology has made the process much easier and I will
likely stay connected and work on the next one, for 2017. Thanks to all who
came, to all whose baggage was loaded only with the clothing and personal items
they needed for the visit to our hometown. I know if my cousin were still here,
we would have sat at one of the tables, after all the people were gone, had one
final drink and nodded to each other. We would have stood and hugged, because
we have come to the point in life where handshakes are passé. Then, the last one out would flip off the
light and lock the door.</div>
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There are three photo journals to view, the Friday night events, the attendees and the actual reunion on Saturday. <b>Click on the caption below the photo of the group you want to view</b>. I am an equal opportunity offender and make no apologies! If you get lost while viewing, just come back to the blog and start again. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_110293387" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1njFzwKvx7HujW_eNLD3nWHeqlMr6aDqUokyurRUCfnqBXkZhhGfOqNbw1MNta1hd0zlGPYiatH8azbf4HKwvDVsnZvBTegqmC-Vlx5hwnsEyMOnFaBpaBbzczUZILkVwyjwB_PKJ_tQ/s320/IMG_9683b.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/steve-meador/DHS%20Class%20of%201972%20Pre-reunion%20event/" target="_blank">Friday concert, gathering at Jerseys, setting up the hall</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_110293382" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBi9Rb73hDI7S1Fw0eO2eigt69V7Rek2Hz3Y1CFQ2YqcmOja1AqmyBK9W2ooPXNY71cmHz6UlfR23hVrWtlHcnfueYe4QsHJLqLwGF7e3WwvVnxMDWwiiVIqerhruewtytAo4FPqAjyZd/s320/IMG_9825b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/steve-meador/DHS%201972%20Reunion%20Attendees/" target="_blank">Attendees identified</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_110293377" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxA2A9-5g-1w_8SawRxXfpV7j-knYdtowkIXAjya-wx7Y1XZlPwzhufc55e7mU0G01A7BgOMCSS71-v_uHexZTM9I4tLs2142vTRqubPc1n-VnhVJqpHwcpfSPf-Y7GHBulYtq4sRVzWW/s320/IMG_9937b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/steve-meador/DHS%20Class%20of%201972%20Reunion%20Night/" target="_blank">Photos of the fun evening</a></td></tr>
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<br /></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-4899756028695132352012-07-22T11:42:00.002-07:002012-07-22T13:44:58.733-07:00<b> The Valentine Theater</b><br />
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<b> </b>I was in my hometown recently and for the first time since the 1970s I went inside the Valentine. It is a church now. The screen is gone, replaced by a stage. The projection booth is now a small meeting room. The clickety clack of the projector having been silenced by technology, low profits and soft talk and prayer. The smell of popcorn is missing, as is the buzz of a couple hundred folks waiting for a movie to roll. But, all in all, the feeling of the building is much as it was nearly forty years ago.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRux7siBd1yVmGRNabQHkJzrt2424VRnD1pOmTs68I1z9CU0gyas-i27v3CpBz0Je91Piuoea1xcc8TByGYJPOZmHzhMp5cH8CZGcvA_p1TJiuTU7IpktYL4sCOz72SU3R0ru25Z0PnmQV/s1600/IMG_9597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRux7siBd1yVmGRNabQHkJzrt2424VRnD1pOmTs68I1z9CU0gyas-i27v3CpBz0Je91Piuoea1xcc8TByGYJPOZmHzhMp5cH8CZGcvA_p1TJiuTU7IpktYL4sCOz72SU3R0ru25Z0PnmQV/s400/IMG_9597.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b> The Valentine Theater</b><br />
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The air in the balcony</div>
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lugged the thickness of puke,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dkZOQSXHA2WyKjdKu9rE4DDpNwLNb4NdfYhWncglQyoOfDCmrX5bmhcErTsxD2b3bEClVV20ws-sOhYWpawla3CmcFnTCPmbRxwXkaqpBeOxOC4bz0EWRU5_YcqTEfacoCN2d35tJDK8/s1600/IMG_9586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dkZOQSXHA2WyKjdKu9rE4DDpNwLNb4NdfYhWncglQyoOfDCmrX5bmhcErTsxD2b3bEClVV20ws-sOhYWpawla3CmcFnTCPmbRxwXkaqpBeOxOC4bz0EWRU5_YcqTEfacoCN2d35tJDK8/s320/IMG_9586.jpg" width="213" /></a>the sting of piss and the belch</div>
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of decay to the top of the stairs</div>
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and heaved it against every face.</div>
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It punched like the old usher’s glare.</div>
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It was a sideshow,</div>
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with its booger-crusted arm rests</div>
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and, if rumors were to be believed,</div>
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soggy puddles on stiff velvet seats</div>
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waiting to be sopped up by the ass </div>
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of your favorite blue
jeans.</div>
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It was a main feature</div>
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of willing lips and anxious tongues</div>
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and fingers climbing the rungs</div>
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of love, to the beat</div>
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of a clicking projector.</div>
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And as a parting gift, a wad</div>
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of Kleenex for young men to stuff</div>
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over their noses and try to separate</div>
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the smell of perfume from the sweet</div>
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odor of boob.</div>
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The Valentine Theater originally appeared in <i>Clapboard House</i> literary journal </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KT5oJb4PuYgCvpqpKBzgOWN96LofSoTAZbDA28MfzWKWPG3dLnaVxafpzt_-7lxR2vmCEaNTIB2OzgiZ7BAHa82ZcL2Kfj1aRLGsyKR9ZMO4dzqdtDj4VYveE-vzuv_yHy8MQRN3d-jA/s1600/IMG_9591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KT5oJb4PuYgCvpqpKBzgOWN96LofSoTAZbDA28MfzWKWPG3dLnaVxafpzt_-7lxR2vmCEaNTIB2OzgiZ7BAHa82ZcL2Kfj1aRLGsyKR9ZMO4dzqdtDj4VYveE-vzuv_yHy8MQRN3d-jA/s320/IMG_9591.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY3iselJidYLghh_GAUMJNuPcNLVW1kzBYYUHRVBfEQo3o3MnsbwtdQT-gqF8feO87LEc_Wv-ftpfXasfBBSCUFt7bnGNO31hWSkXmtjriArvDTBJZ4K3b9I3SIyT_lro_gkm1T2t4haM/s1600/IMG_9603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY3iselJidYLghh_GAUMJNuPcNLVW1kzBYYUHRVBfEQo3o3MnsbwtdQT-gqF8feO87LEc_Wv-ftpfXasfBBSCUFt7bnGNO31hWSkXmtjriArvDTBJZ4K3b9I3SIyT_lro_gkm1T2t4haM/s320/IMG_9603.jpg" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NY1COSwRZ3ke0Q1gNIHWOIA4MmEyBAYarnlNYDaQwUULKnzi6HlvQaOH_Cg8B_P7etYCEOPcLigZrd5GD1T45Aas73FGF7pMDjLclFksUdlDJAkxGo8oOqCtlSYxmLSiBwH9AVorJKJe/s1600/IMG_9595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NY1COSwRZ3ke0Q1gNIHWOIA4MmEyBAYarnlNYDaQwUULKnzi6HlvQaOH_Cg8B_P7etYCEOPcLigZrd5GD1T45Aas73FGF7pMDjLclFksUdlDJAkxGo8oOqCtlSYxmLSiBwH9AVorJKJe/s320/IMG_9595.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03kWLh8ptHvqgmfPDs1h3mrIWhrmJ0W7t65MWtKkPyGr0CfBlD94kE9zF_dlZ0AfMkKU6IowLAb9EGML6HJnKETcY4k9KpZwm8xGgWnrEfEbqlrf8aUcV1Yndhua8FWI073WV7FG_2qCg/s1600/IMG_9587.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03kWLh8ptHvqgmfPDs1h3mrIWhrmJ0W7t65MWtKkPyGr0CfBlD94kE9zF_dlZ0AfMkKU6IowLAb9EGML6HJnKETcY4k9KpZwm8xGgWnrEfEbqlrf8aUcV1Yndhua8FWI073WV7FG_2qCg/s400/IMG_9587.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-19599183904886158002012-07-08T17:01:00.001-07:002012-07-08T17:04:00.640-07:00<b><span style="font-size: large;">Front Range</span></b><br />
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I have not submitted very many pieces in the last year or so, call it lazy or uninspired, but here is one that did well. It was the 2nd Place poem, so you might have to scroll down a little. Thanks.<br />
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<a href="http://ibpc.webdelsol.com/2012/05">http://ibpc.webdelsol.com/2012/05</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkNSnqv8IzyDd2Gfz4SxLhsu9fhJUy4JzTDmMBmpPyln2ytHMaqGddhVwJXN7fuqazp4DW6dyEWJIr88QdEa_VmKGqpLhF_ml8HFWOyF6GXnJd7e9pfwira-BSOY2rpkBmMzze9bSzYXa/s1600/smoke+and+dust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkNSnqv8IzyDd2Gfz4SxLhsu9fhJUy4JzTDmMBmpPyln2ytHMaqGddhVwJXN7fuqazp4DW6dyEWJIr88QdEa_VmKGqpLhF_ml8HFWOyF6GXnJd7e9pfwira-BSOY2rpkBmMzze9bSzYXa/s640/smoke+and+dust.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-26087776481883803882012-06-06T18:43:00.000-07:002012-06-06T18:43:11.121-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Length of Never</b></span><br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">How did the meadowlarks in Wichita</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">remain invisible for over two years?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Virgil showed up in the fourth grade </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">with five baby rabbits crammed into </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">a tan briefcase. Two died before lunch </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">recess, one squashed at playground’s </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">edge when it took a wrong turn—Kevin</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">stepped on it—and two dissolved into</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">the wheat field from which they were</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">plucked in the first place. Nature seemed </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">bountiful that day. The walk home tripled </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">in length as I searched for a yellow breast </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">with the black V. My disappointment</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">quadrupled before supper. Our class </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">toured a grain elevator the next day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I watched the wheat-dotted blacktop </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">fill with sparrows as my voice spilled</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">a current of <i>nevers</i>
on the man with </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">the face like a dry riverbed. His voice </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">was smoke and gravel, “Never means </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">something will not happen, forever. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">You should not say that.”<span>
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Out of the sun dropped a place named </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Vietnam, then we moved to Ohio, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">land of cardinals. Red spots dotted </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">the trees and bushes. Shrewd crows</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">attacked row after row of my uncle’s corn.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Guns were useless. Killdeers faked </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">broken wings, lured us into hope </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">and away from their nests. Ground-hogs </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">burrowed under tillable soil, escaping </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">from one hole as we dug at another. Still, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">the sparrows were everywhere. We shot </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">them with BB guns, for a man hidden </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">underneath a John Deere hat. He hated </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">hordes, demanded that we line bodies up </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">for the count. As dust and slivers of husks </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">floated on his coffee he paid us for the</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">deaths, talked about the war and how </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">we would never lose. My voice was oak</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">and mint. “Never means something </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">will not happen forever. You should </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">not say that.”<span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I was in Colorado recently and saw one, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">a meadowlark. I know now of intentions </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">and accidents,<span> </span>of
dark skies and unstable </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">ground, of red spots and guns, of dropped</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">grain that doesn’t matter, of wars and when </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">to dump coffee. I know now that never </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">is a million sparrows later.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXQKT3z6xcgdNBEDiDC13iZJVcJU8NMEZ60US6ArE0qe40D51CC5cGqcZQ5TQ8jPObgdoEDJ0M-Qf9HkmikUrmsv-SPFIMFqyjJJNIVtv66ejn7VrHYdvNBRRehlm2Br9xWnMIAXWCH3JC/s1600/IMG_4782.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXQKT3z6xcgdNBEDiDC13iZJVcJU8NMEZ60US6ArE0qe40D51CC5cGqcZQ5TQ8jPObgdoEDJ0M-Qf9HkmikUrmsv-SPFIMFqyjJJNIVtv66ejn7VrHYdvNBRRehlm2Br9xWnMIAXWCH3JC/s640/IMG_4782.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-83107078255201886272012-06-05T11:13:00.000-07:002012-06-05T14:23:12.941-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Near the Shrimp Docks</b></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I
can tell you, truthfully…Scout’s Honor,
Honest to God, Cross My Heart (the whole stick the needle in my eye
ordeal)…that I rarely know where I will find myself when it comes to taking
photos. I am a dust devil, a willy-nilly traveler to places that happen upon
me, a ramblin’ fool with a camera. If no
schedule dictates my time, I will stop
at anything that screams to the corner of my eye, as did the grassy parking area
at the south end of the 22<sup>nd</sup> Street bridge, near the Shrimp Docks. On
the south side is an old freighter, the Peggy Palmer, resting in a velvet of
rust and barnacles, in what looks to be shallow water. </span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZjhaZEEEbhH5FXZCdfL7mfxI7KhFVxNmqrgRl3vPCO1OKVsf-7RWGZDxpcYAqTY4qV3p2g1qwWw_niyZikr0nQCx_ZH8nisshT7KFUspikY8idj9uflDXsG_Ni51_3dk3CRxBBU6VmcJw/s1600/IMG_7647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZjhaZEEEbhH5FXZCdfL7mfxI7KhFVxNmqrgRl3vPCO1OKVsf-7RWGZDxpcYAqTY4qV3p2g1qwWw_niyZikr0nQCx_ZH8nisshT7KFUspikY8idj9uflDXsG_Ni51_3dk3CRxBBU6VmcJw/s200/IMG_7647.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYynqUsDuoe3Ocq9_g-XUVAt4I0ugnA8EBfTeiyTC3x-kiPdFfK-OuarFN1uAPpLe8JImf5cv-c7ofNLQEfLRznvFxDGjnCnr7wELbVcAnuJ225oednyDAnQYhyd8uIgwKYHJyCK4N0GId/s1600/IMG_7689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYynqUsDuoe3Ocq9_g-XUVAt4I0ugnA8EBfTeiyTC3x-kiPdFfK-OuarFN1uAPpLe8JImf5cv-c7ofNLQEfLRznvFxDGjnCnr7wELbVcAnuJ225oednyDAnQYhyd8uIgwKYHJyCK4N0GId/s320/IMG_7689.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">To the north is a small
backbay. The bridge, in each direction, is three lanes and is lifted by a
series of concrete columns, looking like square fingers rising from the water,
blackened by the salty environment, humidity and age. The concrete surface has
the southern, sooty charm look. This
spot called to me, like the Sirens called to Odysseus and his crew, but I did
not plug my ears, I went to find them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">After
creeping down a steep grassy embankment, jumping off a seawall and tiptoeing through
low tide muck, I encountered a culture that was new to me. I will, from this
point, forever refer to them as the fishing people. I found, beneath the
bridges, under the rumble of the tanker trucks and other traffic above, in the
glow and smoke of small fires, a gathering of gypsies, of sort. Lester and
Azalea, Pooch and Wanda, Hector and Enny and their Chihuahua. Bodacious, along
with many others were there, just as they are often there, out of the mainstream
of this town. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWhTYNwv91VFBmeHYUBLvPyn8PeDblxTmi4gR6Cq88UwdT-IxafDYvUmDBCLqv_nvGSFGHDtygMYpJIdeuHlGNTWnFgiIwEpOy947eb7zactgz8pnyS2omyjyWOo8Z85orgGRb4a5IOTX/s1600/IMG_7686.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWhTYNwv91VFBmeHYUBLvPyn8PeDblxTmi4gR6Cq88UwdT-IxafDYvUmDBCLqv_nvGSFGHDtygMYpJIdeuHlGNTWnFgiIwEpOy947eb7zactgz8pnyS2omyjyWOo8Z85orgGRb4a5IOTX/s200/IMG_7686.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">They come to fish, catch and cook, some out of love of the sport,
some because it provides a necessary meal. These folks are not homeless,
however, there are homeless people there. The homeless do not give their names,
only greetings and nods. They come for the fish, because it is readily shared,
even though they have nothing to offer in return. I am a stranger with a camera
who, out of courtesy, snaps only shots that are not personal, and I am offered
a roasted ear of corn, a thick, sizzling slice of sheepshead and a cold beer. I
thank the group, tell them I just ate, but maybe next time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This
spot is also about relaxing, enjoying the sunset as it paints the skyline and
watching the seabirds pick an evening roost. It is about joking, as one woman
tells her husband to go rinse his legs in the water, get off the black muck with
its strong decay and mineral odor. He laughs and says, “But baby, rich people
pay at a spa to smear this stuff on!” Then,
everyone laughs when the wife responds, “Yeah, well you ain’t rich enough to
smell that bad.” There is low talk about politics and benefits and the weather,
resulting in heads shaking and nodding and an occasional “Amen.” So it
continues until Lester and Azalea stand up and start gathering their gear.
Others do the same. There are farewells and hugs and handshakes and “see you
tomorrow” calls. There is a dousing of the flames and a slow exit, which does
not seem so much slow because people are old and tired as it seems they hate to have
to go. I know the feeling.</span></div>
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<br /></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-74635272343996560662012-06-01T21:36:00.002-07:002012-07-08T20:26:25.214-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Where The Creatures Fly </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I
have recently been to Itawallasassa, also known as The Place Where The
Creatures Fly. A spot that is a depression in the earth’s surface, placing it
closer to Hell, it has the presence of being more remote rather than rural. There
is a brutal nature to its nature. One must slice through the heat and humidity,
the sandy ground like molten iron, the sun like welding arc. Water evaporates
as sweat soon after it is swallowed. It seems, after only a few minutes, that
most bodies would not have the strength to carry enough water to travel
boundary to boundary, whether north to south, or east to west. This is not
fact, but the compression from the dense air makes a person think that, so, you
only walk a distance that, in your mind, you know will allow for safe return. A nervousness and fear keep you glancing back,
as though you are tethered to the entry point.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQxtsHjReKeK2PmHbxTw92eOjKfxaVUv74xm-5DJ5bDk2s84eEtP6Q_rDah79xDTQJEzuAF42bmGkpK-UEoYCtbZZQeYxgFGiydpYwDiR4-on4C14ULRn4cJjWk_c6ZgsFpiImB-okdvH/s1600/IMG_7343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQxtsHjReKeK2PmHbxTw92eOjKfxaVUv74xm-5DJ5bDk2s84eEtP6Q_rDah79xDTQJEzuAF42bmGkpK-UEoYCtbZZQeYxgFGiydpYwDiR4-on4C14ULRn4cJjWk_c6ZgsFpiImB-okdvH/s200/IMG_7343.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Entry
is through a dense thicket of palmetto, vine and briar. Because of the climate
extreme, there are few mammals living in the place, however, they do come for a
drink of the stale, black water from the long pond. The pond is narrow, maybe
fifty feet, but nearly a quarter mile long. There are reptiles in the brush and
along the ground; they are forever alert and wait for the mammals to arrive.
The chalky bones of the unfortunate are liberally scattered. Those are the issues
of small life at Itawallasassa, Smaller yet are the creatures that fly,
butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, bees and numerous other varieties of
insects. The plants and air are flush with such life. It is for that reason I
go there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There
is little tolerance for visitors and there is evidence of this at the entry,
which always has a display of warnings or omens. On each of my visits I have
had to contend with distinct, mostly frightening and intimidating, effects. I
do not know the meaning or significance, whether cultural or religious, of any
of the items, but I am aware of the purpose. I do not know who places the ominous
symbols and devices near the entry. I have never met anyone within the
boundaries, whether visitor or inhabitant. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On
this visit I made my way through the thick, scratching brush and bramble, only
to happen upon a shark carcass hanging from a tree. There were also various
parts of the shark’s body impaled on sticks. The odor of decay was forceful,
invasive, and I had no choice byt to lift the neck opening of my shirt over my
mouth and nose. It was of little help to do so. To the left of the shark was a
small pepper tree and on it hung three necklaces fashioned of thin root,
adorned by a small crab claw. I have found necklaces there before and surmised
that they were to be worn while in the place. I was not certain of that, the
first time there, but my senses told me I would have safe passage, if I was
wearing one. So, I did and I do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I
take my first drinks after about a hundred yards, my clothing already drenched
with sweat, to the point I could wring out the moisture. There is no sound. No
breeze, no lapping water, no dead leaves or brush to crackle beneath a foot or
paw or claw. There is only labored breathing and heartbeat from within myself and the
buzz, hum and thrum of flying creatures. Some seem curious, others have the
edginess that has kept them alive. I constantly whirl and turn, shuffle through
the growth to shoot my photos, stopping often to wipe the stinging sweat from
my eyes. Without awareness I travel to where the trail narrows to footpath
width and the entry has disappeared. It is easy to return, to follow my marks
in the sand, but it is the unknown of what is ahead that forces a decision. I
have the necklace, I have my water, I have my camera, I have my curiosity, the
only question is whether I have my courage. The sun is centered, the shadows
short, the flying creatures beckon from the narrowing path ahead.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijExesL0Fvt3bEj3qu9qMCu0KAhcuXFRR2Jfh1M0DTZLatCA5lmYnAmPwGqizqGuosqzKf5iaD3RvGVK_NYSyTjrnpUCkTaH7OI4fh6JcqD2NveHfEpuTgWT1SS5YoB3W1U7RIHw29ek1s/s1600/IMG_7318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijExesL0Fvt3bEj3qu9qMCu0KAhcuXFRR2Jfh1M0DTZLatCA5lmYnAmPwGqizqGuosqzKf5iaD3RvGVK_NYSyTjrnpUCkTaH7OI4fh6JcqD2NveHfEpuTgWT1SS5YoB3W1U7RIHw29ek1s/s640/IMG_7318.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-42891867908506445172012-02-26T20:41:00.002-08:002012-02-27T11:08:22.105-08:00Oak leaves fall in spring<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1c2hHuozzPmfbyv808WetBIEKn1CMcBjn4gWJBfKaKF4BZhNithV6A96up5sX-7XdhHvCxXNfDnK1_lQSsJ6Kg48ScOXNXujN7XF7GxYwkq_MNFTp8ay3XDKNNFbg6ue8qgrSJ9yvqCkD/s1600/2.26.12+leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1c2hHuozzPmfbyv808WetBIEKn1CMcBjn4gWJBfKaKF4BZhNithV6A96up5sX-7XdhHvCxXNfDnK1_lQSsJ6Kg48ScOXNXujN7XF7GxYwkq_MNFTp8ay3XDKNNFbg6ue8qgrSJ9yvqCkD/s200/2.26.12+leaves.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Oak leaves fall in spring, in the south. Our ground tattooed with mellow browns and gutters plugged with crisp. It is a double-edged drop, as I stop scraping and lean on the rake, remembering decades back, preparing for white and ashen in a colder location. Now, the release brings an abundant pale of new growth which, in a few days, will toughen and deepen its green. Heat and heavy air is soon to follow. But the smell of the different times and places is the same as gusts of breeze send leaves skittering across the sidewalk and down the street, to rest in front of other homes, where my thin curly gems become another man’s bane.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHU85-C-BjCjqiNbE56x3RD77LTZsM6dFlITqq2OU3BvGF5beon19iDCe5ntgWb1B267YFpUjHdK5z1oqxaS8RpzpmuGhBFfsFB9Wth61FhGRjOVmkwjopGNgDoD0TY231cP1Z3fiKgsbN/s1600/2.26.12+leaves7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHU85-C-BjCjqiNbE56x3RD77LTZsM6dFlITqq2OU3BvGF5beon19iDCe5ntgWb1B267YFpUjHdK5z1oqxaS8RpzpmuGhBFfsFB9Wth61FhGRjOVmkwjopGNgDoD0TY231cP1Z3fiKgsbN/s400/2.26.12+leaves7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-47121248249121391312012-02-19T07:58:00.000-08:002012-02-19T07:58:53.489-08:00The Scepter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 76.5pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ObrtOGvqrsajgj7GDSZam4uouZMyHWvgRCRkKZzeoGjaRhgUvu2a-R_oBep5JMUsM4ZnqlY3ltrgPYHW7h4TGhssmdwdq87DGTlI2rCLbPmhHyWXjPAb295JVWy6kjTa19fATcpqrUE8/s1600/scepter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ObrtOGvqrsajgj7GDSZam4uouZMyHWvgRCRkKZzeoGjaRhgUvu2a-R_oBep5JMUsM4ZnqlY3ltrgPYHW7h4TGhssmdwdq87DGTlI2rCLbPmhHyWXjPAb295JVWy6kjTa19fATcpqrUE8/s320/scepter.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I have safely returned from a journey through urban dangers and, on this day, ventured into the sweetness of the spring forest. It was there, near the center point of the two hundred acres—only about fifty yards east of Fishhawk Creek—that I found what appeared to be a scepter, an item simple in form and adornment, which leads me to believe that it is owned by someone who rules a plain and common people or is worshipped by the same. I do not know who the owner could be, or how it came to be in this place, at its resting spot not far from the base of the fungus tree. I do not know if it holds any powers, but, personally, I am always leery of anything that lacks complexity, because such things are underrated by being ignored. However, simplicity is often a deception for things, living or not, and humans have come to admire the simple, it being so opposed to our way of living. It draws us close by lowering our defenses, unless we are cautious.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">I call it a scepter because of its appearance and location. It was made of a single palm frond with the stem of the frond, maybe four to five feet in length, forming the staff or handle. The crest, or crown, was fashioned by the frond’s leaves being trimmed to within a few inches of where they attach to the stem. Around the crown there was a tangle of delicate vine, lightly wrapped and tied. Two sprigs of ripe beauty berries were tucked into the loose vine. Some may consider the workmanship crude, yet, to me, it carried a tone of legitimacy. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfxmOtxvHMflTqL4vweW1GS3QDc7w6BjQBNQTY7fNX_8eZgt7U2AiLC9ujfjbJDdM32dHLqKwKqu7Ix3Qj2DWRKFfqNJy8U-mGfYyRiP-7-mIot7seVOOCb8Qm6Fk4OfLryUtQfOBSCr9/s1600/10.21.11+sulpher+butterfly+2+red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfxmOtxvHMflTqL4vweW1GS3QDc7w6BjQBNQTY7fNX_8eZgt7U2AiLC9ujfjbJDdM32dHLqKwKqu7Ix3Qj2DWRKFfqNJy8U-mGfYyRiP-7-mIot7seVOOCb8Qm6Fk4OfLryUtQfOBSCr9/s200/10.21.11+sulpher+butterfly+2+red.jpg" width="200" /></a></span><span style="font-size: large;">There were also oddities about the scepter’s placement and other events. The steps to discovery began when I noticed a large flutter of sulfur butterflies, brilliantly reflecting the stream of sun, in the bushes and scrub surrounding the point where I had stopped to take a drink of water. <span> </span>These butterflies are normally very nervous and flighty and are difficult for humans to get near. Yet, the kaleidoscope only took flight after I approached and was within touching distance of most; the air filled as though there was a tossing of golden coins. I followed the butterflies to a spot about thirty feet off the path. That is where I looked down and noticed the crown was resting within a triangle, formed by three golden-yellow mushrooms. Perhaps it was placed there to regenerate its powers, or, maybe, the fungus, in some manner, acted as protector. So, based on these facts, it does not seem that this item was merely dropped or misplaced. I only happened upon the spot while following one of the butterflies through the thicket. It was as though I was led to the artifact.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBNKDzo_-QBIj4Y6LNhJvX-vzjZLf-10xF6SThmoP60Hzjc6VYHyIc5kgZhg_2Gy_eARMv1Iezt9RwMhCVgvl8OBAw9eTqxcbtW8IRykCeEiRXDFNu4FKt3wEsFErYyLjDzr3rgjRCdGI/s1600/scepter3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBNKDzo_-QBIj4Y6LNhJvX-vzjZLf-10xF6SThmoP60Hzjc6VYHyIc5kgZhg_2Gy_eARMv1Iezt9RwMhCVgvl8OBAw9eTqxcbtW8IRykCeEiRXDFNu4FKt3wEsFErYyLjDzr3rgjRCdGI/s320/scepter3.jpg" width="258" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">There was no intention of disturbing the scene. I circled it slowly, then bent down for closer examination, fighting the urge to run my fingers along the weathered smoothness and natural beauty of the find. However, curiosity won the struggle within and I gently lifted the scepter to examine its detail. Instantly the natural ornamentation disintegrated and fell to the ground, not a straight drop inside the triangle, but fragments of the vine garland and jewel-like berries dropped on each of the three growths of golden fungus at the triangle’s points, pulled to each as if magnetized. This was an unnatural act and startled me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">At that instant the stale and quiet of the forest was interrupted. A raucous flock of blackbirds dropped into a nearby longleaf pine. The birds became silent, as a breeze developed and rained leaves in great density. Within minutes the dusk of day quickened its descent. Throughout the area, within several yards of where I stood, there came a crunching and rustling among the dead leaves on the forest floor and scratching scuffing in the palmetto scrub. I saw nothing other than the waving and bobbing of plants and limbs through the downpour of oak leaves. Large drapes of Spanish moss also began falling in clumps.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9iRQi7WKqpqMXwhEULEkHXs188zKiMHAvpETdbmR_rH07Hs8K9XlxzvTv3Tkz4dVfTJMoAs8cikheWXH860ISYK2KPBbbw7g0OQ4MvljFtkbCiRFbzcd72pXWamQGeXTO74H0m3tMzWW/s1600/scepter6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9iRQi7WKqpqMXwhEULEkHXs188zKiMHAvpETdbmR_rH07Hs8K9XlxzvTv3Tkz4dVfTJMoAs8cikheWXH860ISYK2KPBbbw7g0OQ4MvljFtkbCiRFbzcd72pXWamQGeXTO74H0m3tMzWW/s320/scepter6.jpg" width="215" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">I placed the scepter back in the place and position it was found, unsheathed my Buck knife, and hurried back to the path. There I encountered a drove of feral hogs, rooting and furrowing madly, standing their ground, which was not typical. I backed slowly to a medium-sized pine, ready to climb to safety. A large boar dashed toward me, sending me into action. I grabbed the lowest limb and pulled myself up and onto the next level. The snorting boar was stopped by a clash of thunder. It returned to the drove, which drifted into the dense scrub. The wind subsided and I came down from the tree, made my home bearing only minor scuffs and a tear in my shirt. Due to the intensity of the events I have only these few photos to share. I will decide whether I should return to the place and visit the item again.</span></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-59258285730397211192012-02-15T20:53:00.000-08:002012-02-15T20:53:42.861-08:00The Carnival<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 76.5pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHuP8TCCUHynJCjP_CB8fwAgHXWjlNX4646P-Pr3UrBvorWeVgOpgR4luyQdjPUsR8LdE_fn2sujdeXaZXTNLY3vOQuJrPLqyEerg0FvSlrbkVERKA6MAEkOX3Kn-Wkikdh86brr2SFGJ/s1600/carnival.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHuP8TCCUHynJCjP_CB8fwAgHXWjlNX4646P-Pr3UrBvorWeVgOpgR4luyQdjPUsR8LdE_fn2sujdeXaZXTNLY3vOQuJrPLqyEerg0FvSlrbkVERKA6MAEkOX3Kn-Wkikdh86brr2SFGJ/s320/carnival.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">In late spring, when the carnival came to town, it was like summer vacation had started early and it was that way every year I can remember. Maybe because the weather was slowly clawing its way higher on the thermometer, maybe because the carnival brought us a color preview of summertime blooms or, maybe, we just came to realize that it was the beginning of the end of another school year. We always knew the date the caravan would arrive, usually a Wednesday or Thursday, and there must have seemed little reason, to the teachers and principal, to keep us in school after lunch on the chosen day. Homework was not given, just delayed, with an unspoken agreement that the next day or two would have a heavier load. Small towns, with their small schools and personal familiarities, made life tolerable in that fashion.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 76.5pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 76.5pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQzpuJ49REWS4mv8qubGljj_XSfynhkl9NykzZcL23vU1kzoFS9AzMmsKjIgHgillg1Oh2hbd54TRD8B_X3oBh75JLhQuvTNyunWFhuK7QzwSsmcx51ttFe7l6I2aIC8BlOxnn-QJO_oGt/s1600/carnival2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQzpuJ49REWS4mv8qubGljj_XSfynhkl9NykzZcL23vU1kzoFS9AzMmsKjIgHgillg1Oh2hbd54TRD8B_X3oBh75JLhQuvTNyunWFhuK7QzwSsmcx51ttFe7l6I2aIC8BlOxnn-QJO_oGt/s320/carnival2.jpg" width="187" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">When the afternoon bell rang, there may have been a rush of bodies, but the minds had already vacated the building and were waiting at edge of town, surrounding the lot where raggedy and dirty-clothed men were busy unhooking, unloading, staking, stacking and testing what they had hauled over freeways, city streets and country roads. Even though the festival was at some distant place in the days before, it seemed to be a special delivery for our sole enjoyment. <span> </span>We would gather, sit, stand, squat and wait on the cotton candy-fresh spring grass that would, by the end of Sunday, look as crushed and dead as grass on the football field the coming fall. But, damage to the spring newness would not be a permanent. The grass would return to normal within a few weeks, as it was washed with rain, waxed with sun and blessed with an absence of feet and vehicles. It would be ready and waiting for us to play a summer’s worth of baseball. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 76.5pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69Zpdybhj0vAySg3XVWLMYOBJGgx9G1YxyefnseeIRcYvIz2zuTBi-SeUitqVS-plJYMszn9G6YWWT-ZVYJKDXz8wZf51OeszdCChrzUAhDYxB8SKCNwLfFwLCEl8wmfph5_B0ZJZ6pTS/s1600/carnival3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69Zpdybhj0vAySg3XVWLMYOBJGgx9G1YxyefnseeIRcYvIz2zuTBi-SeUitqVS-plJYMszn9G6YWWT-ZVYJKDXz8wZf51OeszdCChrzUAhDYxB8SKCNwLfFwLCEl8wmfph5_B0ZJZ6pTS/s320/carnival3.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">The brothers, Pavel and Tibor, the twins who were good at every sport, sat a short distance from the rest of us. I walked in front of them. They were talking in whispers and watching the scene with dilated pupils. You did not need to hear the conversation to know that their sentences contained words like “what if” and “ how do we” and “when.”<span> </span>At an empty spot, between my friends and the twins, I was pulled by forces, <span> </span>either participate in the elation or join the sons of the crazy Slovakian, the butcher with the shop on Third Street, who, people said, strangled the Altmeyer’s German shepherd, because it was German. The clatter of overworked engines and smell of diesel fumes mixed with sweet smoke from the bratwurst vendor added another tugging force. I fell in that direction, dug in my pocket and pulled out a dollar.</span></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-48983004863252304802012-01-14T18:55:00.000-08:002012-01-14T18:55:33.817-08:00In response to my photos...<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
It is always thrilling to have someone buy your book, more of a thrill when someone buys several, for friends and relatives. It is a pleasure to receive a note or email from a reader, telling how a certain piece or photo impacted them. But, it is humbling when another person is moved to create something of their own as a response. Here is something I received from mignon ledgard of Lima, Peru, after she viewed the photos in the posts of my recent road trip to Detroit. It is genuinely appreciated. She knows me as Bluejay, my screen name at a writers forum.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>While Looking</strong><br />
<i><br />
<em>To Bluejay</em><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
A huge rusted barn, drops of rain, </span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
each unique, one weathered, one<br />
fallen to freeze exposed to vibrations.<br />
Emu has nothing to do with it.<br />
<br />
A blade of grass, a reed, a song</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
through the winded blow of the lungs, <br />
yet unseen, in the breeze of the colors<br />
of autumn. No sound.<br />
<br />
Does the lion roar? Does the lion bite</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
into a deflated ball the color of a pale sky?<br />
Gray, abandoned, no birds, no clouds,<br />
just an eye through a camera lens.<br />
<br />
No shoes, no sandals, hat is off</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
to the ragged window. Cloaked<br />
beauty of all that is closer to earth. <br />
As we are.<br />
<br />
As we are, we walk barefoot, feel the sand,</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
sink into the soul of rough skin <br />
to soften the edges:<br />
<br />
those we build--these cages </span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
around ourselves for protection--<br />
to keep each of us safe<br />
from experiencing life in a splinter.<br />
<br />
Who cares about someone who speaks</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
of a yellow leaf or about each drop of rain<br />
being unique, having memory. <br />
<br />
Who listens to a jingle of nuts in a pocket, </span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
a bag full of birdseed or stops <br />
for a bucket of sand left from the castle<br />
built by the sea for a mermaid.<br />
<br />
Yet, we will all turn the doorknob, inhale </span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
the lead paint from old peeling frames,<br />
drink aluminum from boxes of cornflakes<br />
or swallow pink, blue, yellow pills<br />
prescribed for an ailment.<br />
<br />
(I think of Christopher Hitchens,</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
wear a C on a t-shirt for cancer).<br />
<br />
He laughs at me with his teeth and his mustache:</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
the lion carved in a wall like a cantilever,<br />
those three-stooges empty chairs and a brick wall<br />
with leaves stacked off the sidewalk.<br />
<br />
Where does the tree begin and its shadow end,</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
while I look at the pointed point at the top of a church<br />
with no steeple, an old welded blue gutter. <br />
<br />
Oh the steeple, it is there! So little.</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
We start again. One, two, three, four, five blades<br />
of grass, a yellow leaf, raindrops, and eyes.<br />
<br />
My eyes, your eyes, we conjugate the verbs to see</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
and to like. And to read and to read and to read.<br />
<br />
We play. We play at being humble</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
on the way down the spiral<br />
where Borges will greet us<br />
as if we were famous.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks, mignon, here is a little thank you, from Florida:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVbl6eGzVhtStnOea2_mqUZyYpEbtrt93Gw_2zHMK556kyTXSZHC1B6qE49PFHzMGIH-vot13rpgAPmN8mTSiwkzKESJBqIgQVOcLv95zUpEBaLvSpgW83Q8Himh-tkjHztNi-0E-X-B0P/s1600/iris15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVbl6eGzVhtStnOea2_mqUZyYpEbtrt93Gw_2zHMK556kyTXSZHC1B6qE49PFHzMGIH-vot13rpgAPmN8mTSiwkzKESJBqIgQVOcLv95zUpEBaLvSpgW83Q8Himh-tkjHztNi-0E-X-B0P/s400/iris15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-12460435380754751762012-01-09T22:57:00.000-08:002012-01-10T08:04:16.352-08:00Along the road to Detroit--The End of the Road On November 14, 2011, I went to Detroit to see the city and take photos. My old friend, and former brother-in-law, Marc, lives in the area and joined me. Here is the recap, in brief, because it is not possible to tell it all in a simple blog. <br />
<br />
(You can click on the link at the end to view the slideshow. There are 100 photos, most with captions.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETSoAfYvG5W_f32YwU06aEY7MqyFsSAcGl-Hj2mcRWyoxpowHsUQT8iwQlFQEuV-xt0yj7_im2YX5Ik2aqgWCHC9JkPKmFaBzSbW6HwY4UaCxWaegvd0GpzFIm1QrkAHT_UEMOTtmy03f/s1600/mlk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETSoAfYvG5W_f32YwU06aEY7MqyFsSAcGl-Hj2mcRWyoxpowHsUQT8iwQlFQEuV-xt0yj7_im2YX5Ik2aqgWCHC9JkPKmFaBzSbW6HwY4UaCxWaegvd0GpzFIm1QrkAHT_UEMOTtmy03f/s320/mlk.jpg" width="183" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I have been to Detroit maybe a dozen times in my life and knew little about it when I first moved to Ohio in the mid ‘60s, other than it was <i>THE </i>Motor City and home of the Tigers, Lions, Pistons, It was Motown, Cobo Arena and CKLW—The Big 8 (which was actually in Windsor). I considered it, initially, a place of wealth, akin to Oz’s Emerald City. How could it be anything less, with all those vehicles being produced in factories where workers were pulling in high union wages? In summer of 1967 Detroit became a conundrum, to me, exacerbated by my youthful ignorance, southern background and then living in the bleach-white farm country of northwest Ohio. It seemed unbelievable there could be riot and revolt in a location where money flowed so freely. How could there be unrest and dissatisfaction in the blue collar Camelot? I was too young to know the reasons and truths. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFxgehH4RsHPlA9Vhww7ore4qU1f7nHNdojlw9_cv_cmp8vIM9bi2vh1jU8dfwJSLFVJNKrAx25Q0cPSnT4ufMdvNvwKkokw0YVdoMhsN-7CnLKh8Gq2qVtcwKwZK1KgJkZfZjn2V-pZJ/s1600/burnout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFxgehH4RsHPlA9Vhww7ore4qU1f7nHNdojlw9_cv_cmp8vIM9bi2vh1jU8dfwJSLFVJNKrAx25Q0cPSnT4ufMdvNvwKkokw0YVdoMhsN-7CnLKh8Gq2qVtcwKwZK1KgJkZfZjn2V-pZJ/s320/burnout.jpg" width="142" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">The news in recent years from, aside from the auto industry collapse, has been the phenomenal physical decay of the city. The web has thousands of photos and articles detailing the <span id="goog_1887334868"></span><span id="goog_1887334869"></span><span id="goog_1869299381"></span><span id="goog_1869299382"></span>dilapidation. I have lived in or near major cities since my graduation, in December 1975, from Bowling Green, so I have personally witnessed urban decay in Dayton, LA, Columbus, Cleveland and other places, but there has always been a bottom on which the decline rests, followed by resurgence. In Detroit there seems to be only hole digging, in search of an elusive bottom. This is my current opinion, however, I do not follow daily or monthly events there. I have no knowledge, power or money to fix it. Countless others have detailed all this with their thoughts and theories; all I can do is tell you about my recent visit and share my own photos.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfT6xShyphenhyphenyk9K6v1EIKq5CwgSW4QcYG3lyPE69daRmB6Gaq3w-GSES0VMtqZAHi7k0y2-KCWwnDLHJoOmDtaz8epwQer9J0scP-FrWp93BAaz3RQbrVCmN4PKM6aFtuCfgdwBzeXoK24OqS/s1600/burnout2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfT6xShyphenhyphenyk9K6v1EIKq5CwgSW4QcYG3lyPE69daRmB6Gaq3w-GSES0VMtqZAHi7k0y2-KCWwnDLHJoOmDtaz8epwQer9J0scP-FrWp93BAaz3RQbrVCmN4PKM6aFtuCfgdwBzeXoK24OqS/s200/burnout2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">I made some phone calls before traveling there, inquiring where I might find the deterioration. The answer, from three different sources, was, “Anywhere.” I asked if there were any places where I should be particularly cautious. The answer was, “Pretty much everywhere you plan to go.” Based on my experiences in other cities, I expected to find certain areas where decay was concentrated and horrific. To my dismay, it was “anywhere.” North, south or west, there was no street, that I was on, that did not have collapsing, burned out or severely damaged structures. Homes, businesses, industrial buildings, churches, nothing was immune. It was apparent, after going down the first couple streets, there would be no reason to simply stand in the street and photograph building after crumbling building.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition to the widespread nature of the damage, I was shocked at the amount of debris and garbage, particularly the discarded tires. Thousands of tires littered sidewalks, empty lots, yards of the vacant properties and alleys. There was an abundance of furniture, fixtures, toilets, cabinets, a you-name-it collection of what humans throw out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_lvN5xayL2GzOM8-EskazLOZBED8DQFpvW0K-DGbZ-uWRP0HPAeJCkxyW7CHmA2MZQb_eCX_nPK-xOF42b6wpjfu1h8HwCQmmkpncKPqR4jMYwOfhfgVs8bsO8L-mnkD4j6exiKZ6DUQ/s1600/sweater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_lvN5xayL2GzOM8-EskazLOZBED8DQFpvW0K-DGbZ-uWRP0HPAeJCkxyW7CHmA2MZQb_eCX_nPK-xOF42b6wpjfu1h8HwCQmmkpncKPqR4jMYwOfhfgVs8bsO8L-mnkD4j6exiKZ6DUQ/s200/sweater.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">I can understand the garbage. The hardest thing to grasp was the contents of the structures. Every house or apartment building we entered contained the everyday stuff of people. Clothing, books, photos, toys, small appliances and mail were common items to be found in the dust and chunks of plaster falling from the walls and ceilings. Several times I thought how it was as though there had been a nuclear explosion, vaporizing the people but leaving the material goods. It was bizarre and leaves me with only one word—Why? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdalUhumng7Ym7YeVybK9TffppV-aQ5pA_7c0UNCoa3BIsWfyWgoMcjrK_vTh_9nypXwCHglBKi3H10nfMsGAMDtdwhMwufj7OF8MSKV-o2j96EwbJZgA0zVPxjOFUdr6rNfLCOUFDYo3D/s1600/detroit92.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdalUhumng7Ym7YeVybK9TffppV-aQ5pA_7c0UNCoa3BIsWfyWgoMcjrK_vTh_9nypXwCHglBKi3H10nfMsGAMDtdwhMwufj7OF8MSKV-o2j96EwbJZgA0zVPxjOFUdr6rNfLCOUFDYo3D/s320/detroit92.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">It was sunny and fair on the day of my visit, wonderful conditions for mid-November. There were some flowers blooming and plenty of leaves that had turned but were still clinging. What was missing was people. Traffic was extremely light on the main streets, even for a Saturday. But, even on the sidewalks and in the yards of the homes that were better maintained, there was an absence, a quiet. No kids, no parents, no grandparents, no pets. In fact, I can only think of four or five cars driving by on any of residential streets in all the hours. That in itself seemed strange, for <i>The</i> Motor City. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, I went about doing what I had wanted to do for a long time. I went up and down stairs, through windows and holes in walls, walked through doors and into rooms and over the debris that, at one time, was personal and valuable to some of those missing people. It is what I went to see and I was not disappointed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjjyOraHZa7VF5Dj97OF8nk-iVX2omXr_9Z9l08WPaUoUxDyKkpeRsZKVOu84PXeehT_WRgSy505IiFdB2URHY5RVsVpyXpynPTnH3innRanNXMQs5cwz5Evlk1LEUQWnCOLcr0ilb5bQ/s1600/marc+and+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjjyOraHZa7VF5Dj97OF8nk-iVX2omXr_9Z9l08WPaUoUxDyKkpeRsZKVOu84PXeehT_WRgSy505IiFdB2URHY5RVsVpyXpynPTnH3innRanNXMQs5cwz5Evlk1LEUQWnCOLcr0ilb5bQ/s200/marc+and+me.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">The drive back to Ohio provided thinking time. I thought how Detroit is the American Dream gone bust. It is The Great American Failure. It is a place that once represented all that we could and should be, but is crumbling like old Rome. It now represents what we had and have lost. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">And what I think is that any American who is interested in seeing what can become of our greatness needs to take a one day trip to Detroit. Lastly, I think we are all, for a train load of reasons, a little bit to blame.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63.0pt; tab-stops: 76.5pt;"><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1355818650"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></a><br />
<a href="http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/steve-meador/Detroit%20November%202011/?albumview=slideshow"><span style="font-size: large;">Click here to see the slideshow. There are 100 photos, so, if you do not get through them all, please stop by again.</span></a> To return to the blog, click on the back arrow. </div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-21348688906768337002011-12-26T19:23:00.000-08:002012-02-11T18:05:01.415-08:00No Resurrection, Only Coffee<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">I know him either as Roy, short for Royal, or RJ, short for Royal James. Which he claims, in a slurred half-chuckle, has nothing to do with royalty, although he is from Scotland. That is easy to detect in his voice. He knows me only as the man who will provide him a bite to eat or a cup of coffee, but not a penny of money. I told him why at our first encounter, when he asked if I could “spare a dollar….how ‘bout a quarter…how ‘bout a dime, then.” I would guess him to be around five and a half feet tall and about one twenty, but he is not weathered or emaciated, like many of the homeless folks. Roy has simply been worn a good bit. He appears to be in his forties. I always see him in the same area, a busy intersection, gas station/convenience stores on diagonal corners and fast food restaurants on the other two. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlspIYq-MaMTI30tQ3nAb6000W1Bfnb7IGjOzSytRg0JVmR6BppJZOtaApYS3h2cB4nypLCy8XHbbtmvfwOwUPc1RSPJK2s0ErqMBQNtweckbZVrQeiIgVpYvUT5XzlbPUEDjaKQC_8Jgj/s1600/dragonfly1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlspIYq-MaMTI30tQ3nAb6000W1Bfnb7IGjOzSytRg0JVmR6BppJZOtaApYS3h2cB4nypLCy8XHbbtmvfwOwUPc1RSPJK2s0ErqMBQNtweckbZVrQeiIgVpYvUT5XzlbPUEDjaKQC_8Jgj/s320/dragonfly1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Roy told me he has been here a short while, in this country, and that with the economy as it is, employment has eluded him a few times. He becomes talkative in less than a minute from the beginning of our encounters and has shared that he was a Navy Seal in the middle east and other hot spots around the world. Places ranging from jungles to the sandbox to the big iceberg. He has done dastardly and deadly deeds for his country, whichever that may be, and could really spill the beans (or haggis) if he really wanted. But right now all he needs is a little food and some work to get him on the straight again. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qqka1mUFxO4/Tvk4Dd7xNTI/AAAAAAAAApY/9pdUgRAeKlY/s1600/dragonfly1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qqka1mUFxO4/Tvk4Dd7xNTI/AAAAAAAAApY/9pdUgRAeKlY/s320/dragonfly1a.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">As we were chatting during today’s visit, a car pulled into a parking space in front of us. Roy stopped talking, took a couple of steps toward the car and lifted a dragonfly off the grill. He placed it on his palm, where it fluttered its wings for maybe half a minute, then died. “Nothing I could do for him,” Roy says, and placed the dragonfly under a bush near the sidewalk. Something struck me as unusual about the scene. It had nothing to do with Roy’s loss of reality, or super-embellishment of reality, whichever applied to him on this day. It was his hands. They were young, almost delicate, not the hands of a hardened deadly deed doer. I noticed no calluses or roughness, only a small cut. As though all in his life has been lost, or deemed no longer of value, except for his hands. And those are his last treasure, which he perhaps hopes will possess the magic to restore whatever they touch. Our coffees steamed, our sips the loudest noise between us. </span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Npqe2duLYnA/Tvk48kfd18I/AAAAAAAAAp8/kI57nOYAFj0/s1600/dragonfly2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Npqe2duLYnA/Tvk48kfd18I/AAAAAAAAAp8/kI57nOYAFj0/s400/dragonfly2.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-90389041011538051072011-12-22T23:04:00.000-08:002012-01-14T14:33:06.309-08:00Along the road to Detroit--Toledo, OH<span style="font-size: small;">(At the end of the post you can click on a link to see all the photos.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">There are places I'll remember<br />
All my life, though some have changed<br />
Some forever, not for better<br />
Some have gone and some remain<br />
All these places had their moments</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--John Lennon, lyrics,</span><i><span style="font-size: large;"> In My Life </span></i><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Toledo was never about Toledo, for me. It was more of a direction, more of a trip, more about things to see and do along the way rather than things to see and do at the destination. As a place, it was where I went to shop for school clothes, compete in high school sports or to celebrate a special occasion with a steakhouse dinner. It was also a place I went through during Greyhound Bus journeys to my grandmother’s home in West Virginia. It was a place we always called “up the river” when, in fact, it was down the river, beyond Napoleon, beyond Grand Rapids, beyond Waterville and Maumee.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2yFJairFYoI/TvQlDMulMAI/AAAAAAAAAnk/o68r0eel2aI/s1600/old+school2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2yFJairFYoI/TvQlDMulMAI/AAAAAAAAAnk/o68r0eel2aI/s320/old+school2.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">I had an early opinion or impression of the place, my idea of what I thought Toledo represented in the sixties and early seventies. Most of my impressions were created internally, below the sooty look and unkempt physical appearance and I will tell you some events, not out of a cathartic need or horrible recall but because they are what push to the forefront. My opinions began to form in the spring of 1966, as I was walking home from school, with the honk of a car horn. The vehicle slowed and the driver rolled the window down and asked if I would like a ride, because, “Boy, oh, boy, look at that gray sky! Rain is sure on the way. Might be lightning or hail.” Those were innocent times and I accepted the lift. He talked, told me he was a salesman from Toledo, then drove past where I told him to I needed to get out. A little farther I told him again and he turned around, took me back. We sat in the parked car for maybe ten minutes and talked about me and school and girls my age, then he asked me if I played with myself. I said no. He laughed and said every boy did and he would lay a twenty dollar bill on the dash for me, if I would get in the back seat, unzip my pants and do what he asked. As I grabbed the door knob there came a pounding on the window and a screaming voice, “Get the hell out of that car!” My mom may have saved my life. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiMRXWNc5O8/TvQlUpiyMBI/AAAAAAAAAn4/yBo79OkTnrw/s1600/canal2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiMRXWNc5O8/TvQlUpiyMBI/AAAAAAAAAn4/yBo79OkTnrw/s320/canal2.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">In summer of 1967 I got on a Greyhound Bus in Defiance and about an hour later got off at the Toledo bus station, for a two hour stop and bus change. I took my suitcase, a blue Samsonite with ivory trim, and went outside to scout around. At the corner a man began talking to me. I told him I was going to buy some lunch. He told me he owned a restaurant and pointed to it, the Pink Pussycat. I went for the “free hamburger.” Bob fixed me a great burger and fries, gave me a cherry Coke and talked to me while I ate. As I was finishing he ask me if I played with myself. I told him no. He asked me how big my dick was. I didn’t answer. He placed a magazine, with photos of naked men, on the counter and asked me if mine was as big as any of the ones in the pictures. I grabbed my Samsonite and left the Pink Pussycat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eZ3RxvSJ1Ds/TvQlkdeWxcI/AAAAAAAAAoE/ldfwRMVcch0/s1600/farm+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eZ3RxvSJ1Ds/TvQlkdeWxcI/AAAAAAAAAoE/ldfwRMVcch0/s320/farm+house.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, in spring of 1973, I was working a few hours a week at a gas station, during freshman year at Defiance College. It was late afternoon when a car pulled up near the station’s door, only a woman driver inside. I figured she was a typical drive-up, wanting to buy a snack or pack of cigarettes. The passenger window was down and what was a woman’s hair and woman-primped face dropped to a man’s body, wearing absolutely nothing but a cut-off tee shirt and a pair of beige panty hose. He/she asked the directions to the road to Toledo, because he/she was lost and wanted to get home before dark. He/she fluffed his/her hair and smiled and the obvious excitement that was being generated within him/her. I was rough cut in those days and he/she came a touch on my arm away from receiving great bodily harm.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lnAIxXPGJ_8/TvQmCZmfK_I/AAAAAAAAAok/DgPF_90Z0qI/s1600/bg5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lnAIxXPGJ_8/TvQmCZmfK_I/AAAAAAAAAok/DgPF_90Z0qI/s400/bg5a.jpg" width="201" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I became more worldly during my two Defiance College years, even more so when I transferred to Bowling Green State University. My insulated, small town coating was scrubbed and drained away. Rightfully so. Toledo lost its luster, in my mind, of a place of perps and pervs, of murders and crime. It became just another city with no more or no less of the same issues that other cities faced—other than its rust belt, automotive industry decay. But, like Ft. Wayne, it has also seen a revival of the downtown, and I was pleased with what I saw during my recent visit. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">It still holds nothing special for me, as a place. But I will always love that drive along the river, on the road that carried me in my grandparents’ cars, my own cars, in Greyhound and school busses. The winding way that bends and hooks and shoots past farms and orchards and forests and runs just above the late afternoon water of the Maumee River at Turkey Foot, where my cousin and I revved the 100 horsepower Johnson outboard on the Katherine Anne to its limit, as we slalomed over a glycerin-smooth surface, during high school summers. Where, across the river was the lot my aunt and uncle’s summer trailer was parked and Jimmy and I learned to drink too much stolen beer, then puke and sleep off heavy thoughts of northwest Ohio girls in bikinis lounging on docks. It is the road that stretched to Bowling Green with its opportunity to learn and, ultimately, allow me to travel other roads, leaving the road to Toledo to those who would use it more often and for their own reasons. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3hNvEV8B-lnMEsRpnZ2Pa1CGU3CCY-kpy4DwwnHgPpXU7DeYaSv2h-CDQvOI_4Wv8ow3Rksldrge03U_FpnF5Fznl2SrJfoL3krVKTO4u4Qp1qpj4X9WVrp6mNesfCwZaAev73OLLLAKY/s1600/5th+grade.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3hNvEV8B-lnMEsRpnZ2Pa1CGU3CCY-kpy4DwwnHgPpXU7DeYaSv2h-CDQvOI_4Wv8ow3Rksldrge03U_FpnF5Fznl2SrJfoL3krVKTO4u4Qp1qpj4X9WVrp6mNesfCwZaAev73OLLLAKY/s320/5th+grade.JPG" width="220" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1479298090"><br />
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<a href="http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/steve-meador/Toledo%20and%20Bowling%20Green/?albumview=slideshow"><span style="font-size: large;">Click here to see all the photos</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">after viewing photos, click on back button to return to blog </span></div></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-79930690757096868292011-12-15T11:58:00.000-08:002011-12-16T18:43:03.741-08:00Along the road to Detroit--Ft. Wayne, IN<span style="font-size: small;"> (At the end of the post you can click on a link to see all the photos.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>If I had a tale that I could tell you<br />
I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile<br />
If I had a wish that I could wish for you<br />
I'd make a wish for sunshine all the while</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">--John Denver, lyrics,<i> Sunshine On My Shoulders</i></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrhDmXmMATyEF2votdTVHbMSo9h9FHKaa1FXOgmNMzUUiyhyphenhyphena378fG1DOCl1eYTh5OHZmw-qteo213g11tabhJwaH6WwBiOuHFdYcAUuCSK2zaSRZ6t-H4g6Jtk_k23qpzJ9JsCA-XECsm/s1600/ft+wayne+21b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrhDmXmMATyEF2votdTVHbMSo9h9FHKaa1FXOgmNMzUUiyhyphenhyphena378fG1DOCl1eYTh5OHZmw-qteo213g11tabhJwaH6WwBiOuHFdYcAUuCSK2zaSRZ6t-H4g6Jtk_k23qpzJ9JsCA-XECsm/s320/ft+wayne+21b.jpg" width="125" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I never gained an attachment of any degree to Ft. Wayne. From my first trip there to all that followed over the next four decades. To me, there was a somber dinginess about it. The buildings plain and earthy colored. Its residents struck me as routine and lackluster, little more than cows lumbering and grazing in a pasture. I have relatives there, by marriage, (my mother-in-law, now gone, was born and raised in the city) and know these words will not settle well with them, or any others who find Ft. Wayne’s area to be the opposite, or any degree improved over my portrayal. To all those people, I apologize and will add that I found a revived and attractive city during my recent visit (although I still gathered no attachment). But back in the sixties and seventies (and since) I would bet those Hoosiers had the same plan for life as us Buckeyes—put in forty years, then jump on I-75 and drive faster than the speed limit toward the south, where condos and mobile homes were waiting to be plucked like citrus, where retirees could float on a bay in a gilded boat with silken sails. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WJfO_tKsagnRaoYQxeRaYuIKJU1agUs_0Fbp0n7GhEreGRUiMGSheJEut96RnBgOOH5TfOMSl3_rIkzBR2BqXF3KUq3w_JifnW76VpIJrleW_J7o3FNIp87ss4qnjTlpq5l48ohvwXi0/s1600/ft+wayne1c3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="82" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WJfO_tKsagnRaoYQxeRaYuIKJU1agUs_0Fbp0n7GhEreGRUiMGSheJEut96RnBgOOH5TfOMSl3_rIkzBR2BqXF3KUq3w_JifnW76VpIJrleW_J7o3FNIp87ss4qnjTlpq5l48ohvwXi0/s320/ft+wayne1c3.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps part of the reason for my early-developed impressions was because the hour ride westward always seemed to be through an overcast and dull heaviness, regardless of the season, or the weather conditions when the trip began. Plus, once we reached New Haven the roads were more pothole than blacktop. Something else has occurred to me, as I think back. During the first journeys, with my grandmother, she would often stop along the way to buy fresh corn, beans, cabbage, or whatever might be offered by farmers along the route. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I had an awakening, a growing appreciation for the macroscopic view of the world. Where I used to see a farmstead with barns and silos and fields, I suddenly had interest in things as simple as the thick curls of paint on the wooden legs of a fruit stand, the rust-eaten hinges and hardware on a barn door or the texture and color range of corn tassel. These yanked at my curiosity and begged to be touched. I obliged. I carried that awakening down the road to our destination and along the road of my life. So, for this, thanking Ft. Wayne would be appropriate, rather than setting its residents out to pasture. I suppose the tendency would have developed within me anyway, and maybe already had, but the blandness of that place and time is where the buck stops.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7x9w6ccJVJzGtjgolQGkj0iVGVzjSfA6CPVYZd6LpEzD6oIb1PajsFs54YaMhScqcPw-IFHYHnwu55-Ys23Hg2rPBNLdZlEIB-CtfZOC3FlRAUDU2s2reSH59GmFxaBesYTEt-DQZNAdm/s1600/ft+wayne14a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7x9w6ccJVJzGtjgolQGkj0iVGVzjSfA6CPVYZd6LpEzD6oIb1PajsFs54YaMhScqcPw-IFHYHnwu55-Ys23Hg2rPBNLdZlEIB-CtfZOC3FlRAUDU2s2reSH59GmFxaBesYTEt-DQZNAdm/s320/ft+wayne14a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Like the cliché goes, old habits are hard to break and on my November trip I glommed onto the bits and parts and pieces, rather than seeing the large. Yes, I did mention above that the city is revitalized and clean, but, my attention was diverted to the macro. I noticed arcs, arches and angles, with the whole of the buildings blending into the sky. I admired branches and leaves as the trees stood on the sideline. My gaze attached to crisp shadows rather than the casting objects. And, yes, at 57 years old I still touched and felt some of the things that were within reach. And, yes, I daydreamed about the things not within reach. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgME7oT7w__kzz1mAgQvZ_VeYCRacJM8ILxycKCn3FDefjjMS3ouNaPi3mWsXAb1szR_7Wm_UULFAByqCQfDB58hyphenhyphenKG_wEN_vYuCRslJ3acQ6wiwFDXRWXL0P9JOoUIv1TMg69BoGO4j46i/s1600/IMG_5709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgME7oT7w__kzz1mAgQvZ_VeYCRacJM8ILxycKCn3FDefjjMS3ouNaPi3mWsXAb1szR_7Wm_UULFAByqCQfDB58hyphenhyphenKG_wEN_vYuCRslJ3acQ6wiwFDXRWXL0P9JOoUIv1TMg69BoGO4j46i/s200/IMG_5709.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">More and more, I am finding that the rot, the mold, the algae, the collapse of the once sturdy and firm always pulls me in. I am no longer disgusted by atrophy and decay. Perhaps it is my way of reckoning with my own decline, and the strange thing is that I am seeing an increasing amount of beauty in the dwindling of existence. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">All in all, Ft. Wayne is still a palette of drab, but on that recent November day there was a blue sky, a strong and warm blue without clouds. Kind of like the place was offering an apology for all the bleached out wrongs it committed against me. But, I am an old fashioned guy who believes in long courtship and moving forward slowly. There will have to be more than blue sky and those free cookies the docents hand out as you enter the terminal of their airport. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/steve-meador/Ft%20Wayne%20IN%20area%20--%20November%202011/?albumview=slideshow"><span style="font-size: large;">Click here to see the photos. </span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">after viewing photos, click on back button to return to blog </span></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-3918181308365858102011-12-02T15:21:00.000-08:002011-12-02T15:23:56.183-08:00Along the road to Detroit--Defiance, OH<span style="font-size: large;">(At the end of the post you can click on a link to view the slide show)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Everybody's so different, </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I haven't changed.</i></span><br />
Joe Walsh, lyrics from <i>Life's Been Good</i><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQY43wbj2vgw1Ngpqt2BzKA5uPeXPPhRwNEosxyP3Ea9mZEQ6bClUIiO53PV2ZRNobXjYMiYn2JayqzxTlqPfD8MQTZVuqAjxk-1YJcgQ5JppTyF2QocD7jMqnSXFkFkyuKoq-6XT3yjCL/s1600/defiance26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQY43wbj2vgw1Ngpqt2BzKA5uPeXPPhRwNEosxyP3Ea9mZEQ6bClUIiO53PV2ZRNobXjYMiYn2JayqzxTlqPfD8MQTZVuqAjxk-1YJcgQ5JppTyF2QocD7jMqnSXFkFkyuKoq-6XT3yjCL/s320/defiance26.jpg" width="230" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Defiance is about an hour upriver from Toledo, about the same distance downriver from Ft. Wayne. It is in an area, in northwest Ohio, which played an important role in the early growth of this country. I knew nothing of that history when I went to live there in October 1965. The town’s existence then, as it has remained, was primarily due to a large General Motors foundry. Coming from rural WV, I was impressed with the wealth, the dark turquoise color of the new Plymouth police cars and, what was presented to me as fact, that a tornado would never land in Defiance because it was at the confluence of two rivers, which created a special magnetic force. Fortunately, in spite of my hillbilly twang, I was able to blend in each time I returned to go to school there. I moved away after sixth grade, came back for the last couple months of seventh. Moved away again, came back for last couple months of eighth. Moved away again, came back as a freshman and stayed through graduation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have lived in lots of places, but Defiance is my hometown, primarily because it is where I found stability in family life and schools. It is where I attended my first two years of college, met the perfect girl for me and got married, and visited nearly every year for over forty-five years. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8oiZrqhxofvkgc_Q1dTxQ9Qw0MJ-trA51GJA-I3fqsziDE_Ga8a3JuSx0F2c1gPr5HxaYxmX6v2-KaXAF0IPx-jmjvOc_fiwGaTramkt5B7BBvOVpfANXPH6WrbndXViu6Ic33UX1nQEa/s1600/defiance24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8oiZrqhxofvkgc_Q1dTxQ9Qw0MJ-trA51GJA-I3fqsziDE_Ga8a3JuSx0F2c1gPr5HxaYxmX6v2-KaXAF0IPx-jmjvOc_fiwGaTramkt5B7BBvOVpfANXPH6WrbndXViu6Ic33UX1nQEa/s320/defiance24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is not a story about growing up, or coming of age, rather it is a tale of realization, a lament of sorts. I was there recently and, much like those days of October 1965, the weather was the same tease, chilly and misty one day, sunny and sixty the next. The town has changed. I suppose it has remained true to that great ‘50s and ‘60s word that so many places in America promised to be, “Progressive.” The population is roughly the same, but Defiance has grown in boundary and business and has done so through homegrown talent. For all that, I am proud of the place. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Throughout the decades of visits, I continued to view the changing of the town and the people I know as just that—everything seemed to be changing but me. Physically I was changing, that I understood, but mentally I was the same old Steve, the same kid, student, quick-witted guy of satire and fun, but others were growing older and leaving behind all the things that needed unpacked for the journey forward. Events and happenings from the ‘60s and ‘70s that were shared and remembered with good laughter only twenty years ago are now remembered with, “I don’t really remember that. I am glad you can!” My lament is more than someone forgetting a minor incident; it is the look in the person’s eyes. It’s the very slight squint and glance downward, followed by a nearly unnoticeable shake of the head, as they can’t recall. Then they give the “Do I know you?” look, the one that’s almost always a conversation killer. “Hey, been really great to see you again!” What can I say other than, “Same here. Hopefully we can talk again before ten or twenty years or more fly by.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw11VbYtJvfehuomz8v3oDtYi_n1LlpFlIa4uZ0bf2RRMWs3zYHg0Lo1JCPTsoQKYyFVdq-jobpjuGKQCg8oNE-tqzz04_pDaWGwLHhEW9ntMdxR_gRzy9TAelygA6QQhGFRAPDFipEwwl/s1600/defiance39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw11VbYtJvfehuomz8v3oDtYi_n1LlpFlIa4uZ0bf2RRMWs3zYHg0Lo1JCPTsoQKYyFVdq-jobpjuGKQCg8oNE-tqzz04_pDaWGwLHhEW9ntMdxR_gRzy9TAelygA6QQhGFRAPDFipEwwl/s640/defiance39.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, forty six years and one month after I arrived, I have finally left. Not forever gone, not completely-washing-my-hands-of-the-place gone, but gone from the youthful spirit that kept me attached so closely. I finally realize that I was little more than a passerby, like Tecumseh, Pontiac, General Anthony Wayne, travelers on the Miami and Erie Canal or the huckster who came in the wagon and sold elixirs and liniments. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Like many, I chose to leave, not knowing that each day would make “the good old days” a little more remote, always thinking that the life I had there would never end and having no idea that in actuality it might become the life that never really was. The combination of gray days and age, along with midnight streets and empty benches, has a way of getting a person to set his calendar to the proper year. During my last day there I thought about my visit and did not want to go home and wrap up any writing with the old cliché <i>You can never go home again, </i>so<i> </i>I picked up some stones at the new reservoir, held each one and thought about special times before heaving it into the water. The stones sank and will be there for ages; the memories will fade with me.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu49WKU-vSorjTL-538OA1utN4dBx3osgfxoCaEvSqJif5TkTVsQymbaLNSiwZNe91shRFe89c3TiUKPecJml1yQftYUo-A_87xDFEIg8XdWPf9h3tbTDTOKuyxthyphenhyphenmnZdMgMl4vAuBr9Y/s1600/defiance23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu49WKU-vSorjTL-538OA1utN4dBx3osgfxoCaEvSqJif5TkTVsQymbaLNSiwZNe91shRFe89c3TiUKPecJml1yQftYUo-A_87xDFEIg8XdWPf9h3tbTDTOKuyxthyphenhyphenmnZdMgMl4vAuBr9Y/s320/defiance23.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-right: 63pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/steve-meador/Defiance%20--%20November%202011/?albumview=slideshow">Click here to view all the Defiance photos</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">after viewing you can click on your back button to return to blog. Thanks. </span></div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-77163155624776392672011-11-22T18:22:00.000-08:002011-11-23T08:20:44.126-08:00There just may be things out there...<span style="font-size: large;">I have never been to Roswell and do not believe in the whole alien/UFO thing. However, I was recently in Defiance, in northwest Ohio and caught this on my camera. Just before snapping the photo there was a rumble and BOOM! and this is what I saw in the viewfinder. A small town midnight happening that may change my opinion on what is out there.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8EatSkTpoRTAY4cQiybOiJXU31RBN_oSGF4AG6K48YNbXrvQGcg46X_TJiEO1fiWtiyMj7LBH7XeqH2Iit2zbHGtvuNIgTSsLdjAdgVAWcgVtSmjSA6PCk6nG_mxajdTioidEQJMtas9/s1600/defiance8a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8EatSkTpoRTAY4cQiybOiJXU31RBN_oSGF4AG6K48YNbXrvQGcg46X_TJiEO1fiWtiyMj7LBH7XeqH2Iit2zbHGtvuNIgTSsLdjAdgVAWcgVtSmjSA6PCk6nG_mxajdTioidEQJMtas9/s640/defiance8a.jpg" width="640" /></a>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003290827604052831.post-5224874510998681282011-11-22T09:04:00.000-08:002011-11-22T09:06:18.773-08:00Geishas of Autumn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAKoXi0XlM-I6dqoD5ZCsdicOWjLn_nopcF0quTUW7TfHnDuNYiLDBHlhI9BdmPHr0jyc5pvthO9Qg1lyrccwSEL2Rpwl0PZT3TZ9EL0493gfXtw_w-S_LymW23X2vv4fklUEFAflTjef/s1600/detroit6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAKoXi0XlM-I6dqoD5ZCsdicOWjLn_nopcF0quTUW7TfHnDuNYiLDBHlhI9BdmPHr0jyc5pvthO9Qg1lyrccwSEL2Rpwl0PZT3TZ9EL0493gfXtw_w-S_LymW23X2vv4fklUEFAflTjef/s640/detroit6.jpg" width="472" /></a></div><br />
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<h1 style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Geishas of Autumn</span></b></h1><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The tulips have danced</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">and bowed, the daylilies departed</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">from single afternoons in the sun,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">the goldenrod remains as stringy</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">veins without ore.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">A breeze rides like samurai</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">through the oaks and maples,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">herds of severed leaves gallop </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">across the sidewalk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Before the goldfinches took tour</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">they drained their summer</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">plumage onto the ginkgo.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Beneath the temple of branches</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">a thousand Lilliputian geishas,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">porcelain faces tilted upward,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">patiently wait</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">for their fans to fall.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIJkIxfJBse_Gv6bifAitzyUsy1y3znN8xDd5i0CEobRE3_8xus1FUegkwLauIEGDF-1EkhndXaqXi8j35hdFDIl8yYpM6jZYw6GT3sgMu08Evjcoqxg_jqEGu4h2tyYmWcxYgoIRvmd-/s1600/toledo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIJkIxfJBse_Gv6bifAitzyUsy1y3znN8xDd5i0CEobRE3_8xus1FUegkwLauIEGDF-1EkhndXaqXi8j35hdFDIl8yYpM6jZYw6GT3sgMu08Evjcoqxg_jqEGu4h2tyYmWcxYgoIRvmd-/s400/toledo2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
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This poem first appeared in Umbrella Journal</div>dublinstevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05465334771938507786noreply@blogger.com0