Abe, 2000-2011

This was a sad day! One of my two Springer Spaniels, the male Abe, died this morning. For six months I knew he had a liver disease, probably Cushings, and that his time was limited since there is no good treatment. He was 10 1/2 years old. His litter mate, Bonnie, is in good health for which I'm thankful. Here are some of my favorite pictures. He certainly will be missed!

May 11 - It's Been One Year

     It's been one year since Rocky died. My grief has been slow and I've felt worse somedays than others. I have found solace in sharing my thoughts and feelings with my friends. I'm not one for public show except when telling stories.
     I do not consider myself a poet. I do not think poetically with every thought. However, I do appreciate metaphors, imagery, and other forms of speech that makes up a poet's vocabulary. Occasionally I am overcome with emotional thought and lines of a poem come up for me. That's what happened with the following poem.
     On December 10, I had the phrases, the "gist," and the ending. But I knew it needed to simmer and I didn't want to publish it until the anniversary of Rocky's death. It simmered until today when I opened it up in the word processor. By now, it easily assumed a poetic form, and some new words make it stronger, in my opinion.
     Here it is, in honor of Reginald B. Rockwell, my beloved Rocky:

The Music Dies Away

The Hospice room has been full of Rachmaninov,

Music from that foreign land and long ago time,

Well-loved by my mate throughout his eighty years,

Always playing in the background,

As he toiled and played and loved me,

His body moving to the rhythm of a concerto

With the look of an eighteen-year old,

Our bodies touched and our damp hair mingled,

Sometimes I could tell he'd become the melody,

The notes, the staff, the harmony,

Sometimes he'd wave his fists into the air to conduct

   the energy,

And the concerto became the foreground, the background,

And all of it became the All Of It,

My love's energy unites with the music now,

The CD woos his worn-out heart,

Caresses his medicated mind, calms his slowed breaths,

He slowly drifts along with the fading life's flow,

The end of the last Track is here,

The Bose turns itself off,

The power of a vibrant creator hangs in the air,

The room becomes still as the beautiful music 

.....dies away

Rocky at age 18 playing his beloved music.

Dialogue In Line At the Post Office

 

USAMA BIN LADIN IS DEAD

LONG LIVE AMERICA!

     I take the 10 commandments seriously so I feel a twinge of guilt as I, along with the rest of the United States, celebrate Usama Bin Ladin's violent demise yesterday. But the twinge is easily swished away by the pride I feel that the USA could perform such a difficult job in less than an hour without the deaths of many civilians.

     I heard the news late last night and tuned to CNN so I could stay abreast of what was happening. What a wonderful sight I saw as people, mostly young adults, gathered in front of the White House to cheer and wave flags and then actually begin to sing our impossibly-difficult-to-sing National Anthem. There was no hint of this news in advance for public relations people to take advantage of, so I believe these wonderful displays of patriotism arose spontaneously.

     I had another surge of pride this morning as I tuned into Morning Joe and saw a clip of students at The Ohio State University jumping into the campus pond to celebrate. I also saw crowds in Times Square but the OSU students made me smile and my chest puff out since that university is my alma mater. 

     I thought you might find interesting the following dialogue I had this afternoon while standing in line at the Bristol post office:

     Old Gent (my age) ahead of me called over to one of the PO clerks who was actually busy with another customer: "Hey, have you got the stamp yet of Obama with the hole in his eye?"

     PO Clerk: No, he has to be dead 10 years before you can get your picture on a stamp.

     Me, totally confused and bursting with curiousity as to why this gent would think there was a picture of Obama with a hole in his eye. Addressing my question to him: What did you say? A hole in his eye--on a stamp?

     Old Gent: Oh, he was killed last night. They shot him in the head, right through the eye.

     Me: Oh, you're talking about Bin Ladin.

     OG: Yeah. Osama Bin Ladin.

     Me: (quietly) You said Obama.

     OG: Did I? I probably did. As far as I'm concerned, they're both the same.

     Me: (shocked) Oh, no, come on now.

     OG: Yeah, What's so good about him? I didn't vote for him.

     Me: (I lost it here and my memory of exactly what was said is gone. I'll make it up the best I can recall.) Well, I did. He's done a good job.

     OG: Well, who killed him? Who actually fired the shot?

     Me: Navy Seals is what I heard.

     OG: How do you know they even got Bin Ladin? That's just what they're telling us. Why did they drop him into the sea?

     Me: They didn't want a place where his followers could erect a monument to him.

     OG: That's what they say. That's what they tell us. They don't tell us the truth. How do we know it's him?

     Me: They've got his DNA. (Blank look from OG) And lots of pictures.

     OG: Well, they can be faked. 

     Me: Oh, you are cynical.

     OG: You can't believe 'em.

     Me: I believe 'em.

     OG: Why?

     Me: You have to have some hope. If you don't have hope, you'll get too depressed.

     OG: Well, then why didn't he show us his birth certificate?

     I breathed a sigh of frustration and relief when the OG moved to the head of the line and the PO clerk called, "Next."

     This is why politicians have to spend so much money--to speak louder and more convincingly to overcome stubbornness, cynicism, and ignorance

      

Elder Spirit Tour

Bittersweet News--A New Chapter Begins

     A new chapter will soon be starting in my life  Today, I was notified I have been accepted as a member of the ElderSpirit Trail View community in Abingdon, pictured above, and placed on the waiting list to buy one of the homes.

     I am very excited. No one knows how long it will take for a home to become available. My plan is to consult a real estate agent to find out what I need to do regarding updating and redecorating Castle Yonder to prepare it for sale. Also, there's going to be some major downsizing that has to be done.

     Thinking about moving to this community is bittersweet for me. Leaving  Castle Yonder, the unique home in the mountains I've known for 27 years, is so sad. I won't be able to take any of it with me except lots of memories, photographs and a few daylily roots.

     But the thought of moving to ElderSpirit is absolutely rejuvenating for me. My life has been like a book, divided into chapters, and I am now ready to conclude the Castle Yonder chapter. I don't know what awaits me, but I've always been a good mover and have adapted to geographic change well in my past. 

     What I love about ES is that its mission is to sponsor a participatory community of aging adults who accept the values of tolerance, cooperation, and governance by residents through compromise and conciliation. They also encourage a later life journey in spirituality. Many religions are represented among the members and the Spirit House is scheduled for various meetings for Buddhists, Quakers, Franciscans, and AA, among others. The community is designed to include all financial levels also. 

     ElderSpirit has three expectations of each member; one is to attend monthly general meetings; the second is to serve on one of the committees, of which there are many; and the third is to be on a cooking team which prepares a meal every nine weeks.  I have visited there three times and now that I'm an off-site member, I'm looking forward to my next visit, the general meeting next Saturday morning.

     I'll keep you all posted on future blogs as to progress toward beginning this new chapter.