The transition from summer to fall has happened. It's amazing how long ago the hot days of summer seem when in reality they were only a month or so ago. The leaves are falling from my backyard tree. The mornings are cool and there's moisture on my car windows. The afternoons are warm and calm, with blue sky and sunshine.
Fall is my favorite time of the year.
In a few months it will be winter, but until then I have many miles to cover in S. central and SW North Dakota. The only way I can describe how this time of the year makes me feel is to say that it feels like I'm living a sequel, every year to the poem by Robert Frost Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
______________________________
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
____________________________________________
That is one of my favorite poems and I have thought of it many times when I'm in the woods watching the snow fall, darkness setting in and listening to the sound of silence in the woods... which is like no other. And not surprisingly, I think of a specific place and time when I read this poem.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
More thoughts on life - I'm starting to get it...
or at least I like to think I'm becoming more accepting and this writing seems to be the outlet for my fears. I always feel better after writing my thoughts here and I guess I just assume like most blog entries, my writings go unnoticed, except by the writer who finds them to be a venerable masterpiece! HA! Think of that next time your reading someones blog - if you don't already.
Anyway, maybe that's also why I get lengthy in my posts, unconsciously trying to bore a possible reader into leaving the post, because it's a lot of information that I typically only share with a limited group of like minded individuals.
Deep down though, I write these things with the hope that they will initiate thoughts about the things that really matter in life, whatever that may be to whoever is reading this.
On to the substance... When I think of my life and others, we're all like characters in a movie that plays out in a blend of many seemingly mundane things, which are actually the best parts of our life, the ones we often take for granted. Unfortunately, the blend is mixed with tragedy,that we all have to endure, some more than others.
I heard this song for the first time in a long time the other day. The song is called "Grey Sky Morning" and it was introduced to the music world by a group called Vertical Horizon. I think it's a great song and for some reason I had thought I had read at one time it was written by the singer for his wife that died of cancer?? Well, I don't know what the hell made me think that because I cannot find a shred of evidence supporting that anywhere and I can't even find out who wrote it?
What a pipe dream, I can't believe I even admit that I thought that and it kind of makes me happy and pissed at the same time. Happy for the obvious reasons, but pissed (to a much lesser extent) because the song that I thought was so full of substance could possibly be the result of some professional song writing dude or dudette who hit a yatzee one day sitting at some urban coffee shop.
Either way, it's a good song and really gets me thinking about life (what doesn't, right?) and it also helps that the lead singer from Vertical Horizon really sings this song well. I would say perfect in fact.
Here's a link to the song, which I'm going to listen to, to solicit the thoughts that I want to share.
Grey Sky Morning
The movie "Stranger than Fiction" is easily one of my favorite movies. It was definitely one of the biggest influences on my recent thoughts on life, as you can tell or will be able to after watching it, based on the things I wrote above.
Whoever put that movie together really, really gets it. They lay it out so perfectly. Life can and will pass you by if you don't wake up and really, really realize that 1. this is it here on earth and especially if you don't believe in God, than this is absolutely it. 2. I recently saw a quote that went something like this "Life is made up of a thousand little things, and to a much lesser extent the occasional big things" 3. It can all end in a second, without warning.
So, what's the point of this shit that I'm writing? The point is that we can live our life in a few different ways. You can either realize and make the most of it or not realize it, being oblivious to the inevitable things that will change with and around you. In some ways I envy the person who is oblivious, but I'm ultimately brought back to the realization that my way is the right way for me. And for confirmation I fully realize the beauty of the words my good friend Josh S. once said to me "Is the pain of my leaving worth joy of our next meeting?" This is life, pain and joy. Both are dependent upon and intensified by each other.
Lastly, I have been wanting to put it out somewhere a few things that really inspire me. As I was accumulating these things I realized that there's nothing I can say or deserve to say. These things bring up pure emotion and makes me grateful to be part of this beautiful life.
They inspire me to be more, do more and appreciate life more:
Randy Pausch
Skid Boot
Richard Holcomb and especially Dick (The man among men) and Ricky Hoyt
Anyway, maybe that's also why I get lengthy in my posts, unconsciously trying to bore a possible reader into leaving the post, because it's a lot of information that I typically only share with a limited group of like minded individuals.
Deep down though, I write these things with the hope that they will initiate thoughts about the things that really matter in life, whatever that may be to whoever is reading this.
On to the substance... When I think of my life and others, we're all like characters in a movie that plays out in a blend of many seemingly mundane things, which are actually the best parts of our life, the ones we often take for granted. Unfortunately, the blend is mixed with tragedy,that we all have to endure, some more than others.
I heard this song for the first time in a long time the other day. The song is called "Grey Sky Morning" and it was introduced to the music world by a group called Vertical Horizon. I think it's a great song and for some reason I had thought I had read at one time it was written by the singer for his wife that died of cancer?? Well, I don't know what the hell made me think that because I cannot find a shred of evidence supporting that anywhere and I can't even find out who wrote it?
What a pipe dream, I can't believe I even admit that I thought that and it kind of makes me happy and pissed at the same time. Happy for the obvious reasons, but pissed (to a much lesser extent) because the song that I thought was so full of substance could possibly be the result of some professional song writing dude or dudette who hit a yatzee one day sitting at some urban coffee shop.
Either way, it's a good song and really gets me thinking about life (what doesn't, right?) and it also helps that the lead singer from Vertical Horizon really sings this song well. I would say perfect in fact.
Here's a link to the song, which I'm going to listen to, to solicit the thoughts that I want to share.
Grey Sky Morning
The movie "Stranger than Fiction" is easily one of my favorite movies. It was definitely one of the biggest influences on my recent thoughts on life, as you can tell or will be able to after watching it, based on the things I wrote above.
Whoever put that movie together really, really gets it. They lay it out so perfectly. Life can and will pass you by if you don't wake up and really, really realize that 1. this is it here on earth and especially if you don't believe in God, than this is absolutely it. 2. I recently saw a quote that went something like this "Life is made up of a thousand little things, and to a much lesser extent the occasional big things" 3. It can all end in a second, without warning.
So, what's the point of this shit that I'm writing? The point is that we can live our life in a few different ways. You can either realize and make the most of it or not realize it, being oblivious to the inevitable things that will change with and around you. In some ways I envy the person who is oblivious, but I'm ultimately brought back to the realization that my way is the right way for me. And for confirmation I fully realize the beauty of the words my good friend Josh S. once said to me "Is the pain of my leaving worth joy of our next meeting?" This is life, pain and joy. Both are dependent upon and intensified by each other.
Lastly, I have been wanting to put it out somewhere a few things that really inspire me. As I was accumulating these things I realized that there's nothing I can say or deserve to say. These things bring up pure emotion and makes me grateful to be part of this beautiful life.
They inspire me to be more, do more and appreciate life more:
Randy Pausch
Skid Boot
Richard Holcomb and especially Dick (The man among men) and Ricky Hoyt
Not as long as I thought
I was pleasantly surprised that it hasn't been as long as I thought it was between posts. The last post still makes me laugh and I'm glad I posted it, because I had forgotten about it.
If you enjoyed that you will enjoy this as well. The other night she was "reading" to her little brother, and I say reading in quotation marks because she doesn't really know how to read. She had a book open towards him and as he was looking and listening intently she says: It was a fine morning in the evening, during the daytime and the world made sense...
A and I were having a discussion up until that point and as expected burst out laughing (quietly and contained as possible) to which Mck new she had said something funny, but was not slightly embarrassed, but proud of herself because I think she knew we weren't laughing at her.
Anyway, what I originally came here to post are some thoughts that might take me a while to grab a hold of and put down on whatever the technical equivalent is in the blogging world to paper.
I will do that in another post, since personally I'm not a fan of reading 99% of really long posts, which this one is already.
If you enjoyed that you will enjoy this as well. The other night she was "reading" to her little brother, and I say reading in quotation marks because she doesn't really know how to read. She had a book open towards him and as he was looking and listening intently she says: It was a fine morning in the evening, during the daytime and the world made sense...
A and I were having a discussion up until that point and as expected burst out laughing (quietly and contained as possible) to which Mck new she had said something funny, but was not slightly embarrassed, but proud of herself because I think she knew we weren't laughing at her.
Anyway, what I originally came here to post are some thoughts that might take me a while to grab a hold of and put down on whatever the technical equivalent is in the blogging world to paper.
I will do that in another post, since personally I'm not a fan of reading 99% of really long posts, which this one is already.
Friday, June 24, 2011
My sweet little girl
Last night Mck and I were driving home from the grass clipping recycle area and we passed the road that goes to my parents house. The conversation that followed was pretty funny. I wish I would have recorded it, because this doesn't do it justice.
My parents place hasn't flooded, but we can't get to their house because the roads to their house are all flooded.
McK: That's the way to grandma's house.
Me: Yep, you're right, it is.
McK: Can we can go there again.
Me: Sometime we can, but it won't be for a while.
McK: We can't because there's water all around her house and grandma has a dike around her house.
- - - -
I was surprised to hear that she obviously had an idea of what a dike was because she hadn't been out there to see it. My mom must have told her about it or she remembered us talking about it at some point a month ago. The following is where it get's funny.
- - - -
Me: Do you know what a dike is?
McK: What?
Me: Well it's a (trying to think of the easiest way to describe it to a 4 year old), it's a...
McK: It's something that protects your house.
Me: Yes it is, very good.
McK: Daddy,I know things better than you do.
Me: (laughing) Yeah I guess you do...
My parents place hasn't flooded, but we can't get to their house because the roads to their house are all flooded.
McK: That's the way to grandma's house.
Me: Yep, you're right, it is.
McK: Can we can go there again.
Me: Sometime we can, but it won't be for a while.
McK: We can't because there's water all around her house and grandma has a dike around her house.
- - - -
I was surprised to hear that she obviously had an idea of what a dike was because she hadn't been out there to see it. My mom must have told her about it or she remembered us talking about it at some point a month ago. The following is where it get's funny.
- - - -
Me: Do you know what a dike is?
McK: What?
Me: Well it's a (trying to think of the easiest way to describe it to a 4 year old), it's a...
McK: It's something that protects your house.
Me: Yes it is, very good.
McK: Daddy,I know things better than you do.
Me: (laughing) Yeah I guess you do...
Monday, May 16, 2011
The way that you wander
Some of my favorite lyrics from the Jeremiah Johnson soundtrack by Tim McIntire.
"The way that you wander is the way that you choose, the day that you tarry is the day that you loose. Sunshine or thunder a man will always wonder where the fair wind blows, where the fair wind blows."
"An indian says you'll search in vain for what you cannot find, he says you'll find a thousand ways of runnin down your time. An indian didn't scream it, he said it in a song and he's never been known to be wrong, he's never been known to be wrong."
"The way that you wander is the way that you choose, the day that you tarry is the day that you loose. Sunshine or thunder a man will always wonder where the fair wind blows, where the fair wind blows."
"An indian says you'll search in vain for what you cannot find, he says you'll find a thousand ways of runnin down your time. An indian didn't scream it, he said it in a song and he's never been known to be wrong, he's never been known to be wrong."
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
No Time To Kill
Written by Clint Black and Hayden Nicholas.
No Time To Kill
There's no time to kill between the cradle and the grave
Father Time still takes a toll on every minute that you save
Legal tender's never gonna change the number on your days
The highest cost of livin's dyin', that's one everybody pays
So have it spent before you get the bill, there's no time to kill
If we'd known ten years ago today would be ten years from now
Would we spend tomorrow's yesterdays and make it last somehow
Or lead the cheers in someone else's game and never learn to play
And see the rules of thumb are all the same that measure every day
The grass is green on both sides of the hill, there's no time to kill
No time to kill, even I've said it, and probably always will
But I can look ahead and see that time ain't standin' still
No time to kill but time to change the kind of hurry I've been in
And quit this work and worry lookin' back at where I've been
If you don't look ahead nobody will, there's no time to kill
If we had an hour glass to watch each one go by
Or a bell to mark each one to pass, we'd see just how they fly
Would we escalate the value to be worth its weight in gold
Or would we never know the fortunes that we had 'til we grow old
And do we just keep killin' time until there's no time to kill
No time to kill, even I've said it and probably always will
But I can look ahead and see that time ain't standin' still
No time to kill but time to change the kind of hurry I've been in
And quit this work and worry lookin' back at where I've been
If you don't look ahead nobody will, there's no time to kill
No time to kill, even I've said it and probably always will
But I can look ahead and see that time ain't standin' still
No time to kill but time to change the kind of hurry I've been in
And quit this work and worry lookin' back at where I've been
If you don't look ahead nobody will, there's no time to kill
No time to kill
No time to kill
No time to kill
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
It's been a long time.
I figured it is about time I put something on here. Well, not much new that everyone doesn't already know or expect to read.
Had a good christmas and new years. Saw a bunch of friends that I haven't seen in a long time.
My family is healthy and life is good.
Had a good christmas and new years. Saw a bunch of friends that I haven't seen in a long time.
My family is healthy and life is good.
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