November 2023

War is not healthy for children and other living things.

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Today is officially Veteran’s Day. We observed it yesterday so working folk could have their paid day off, but today is actually the day. It was originally Armistice Day – the ceasefire on November 11, 1918 that officially ended World War I or what was then known as the Great War. 

Veteran’s Day was always a happy holiday for me. It was the day after the Marine Corps Ball and my dad had the day off after a night of celebrating his calling in life. He was a Marine through and through until the day he died. 

I was a Daddy’s girl through and through, but four tours of Vietnam took a toll.  For more than four years between my ages of 7 and 14, he was away from home at war. In the in-between years, he was home and I was the apple of his eye. When he was finally done with Vietnam, my dad spent his energy keeping his PTSD from annihilating him.  He had no more energy for me.  When my son came along and put the light back in my dad’s eyes, I was both grateful and jealous.  But he had something to live for once again.  The two of them had an epic love story.   

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The ocean calls to us all.

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The ocean calls to us all.  The beach beckons.  The dawning sky a revelation of seashells on the shore gifted to us with the tide.   

The sun, the sky, the ocean, the shore – the four elements of life.  Earth, air, fire, and water.  Complete in one spot and rich with the ions that bring us a sense of peace and well-being.  The ocean calls to us all. 

A perfect locale.  All of creation revels in the sand, sea, and sun.  All of creation floats as if in the womb in the water beyond the breakers.  All of creation marvels at the wonder of moon pull and sun shine.   

To see dolphins leap, fish in the shallows, birds swooping and swirling, and, when we’re lucky, a stag enjoying a brisk afternoon swim is to see the planet for what it is – a place that teems with life, that is pure, mystery mixed with a bit of magic.  This is our planet.  Our being the dolphins and the birds and the stag and the fish and all creatures great and small including us.   

Dappled sunlight on the surface of the water causes the dolphins to leave a trail of sparkle when they leap.  Is it not sad that humans leave a wake of ruin and debris as we move. 

But not always.  Sometimes we humans leave a trail of art or a trail of love or a trail of charity.  We are not evil, but we are misguided.  We focus on the wrong things.  We forget that the ocean calls to us all to be complete, to be artists, to be art — to drift along in the beauty we’ve been given.  To get back to the elements of sea, sun, sky, and shore.  The tide swells rocking us like a mother with a baby. 

Our brain waves sync with the rhythm and we become united with the sea, the sand, the wind.  We coexist – we do not rule.  We do not ruin.  We do not improve.  We just are.  Just breathe. 

Let the sea call to us all like a preacher in a country church calling sinners to the altar.  Let us find forgiveness and peace and discover our place in the universe.  To leave a trail of love amidst the beauty given to us. 

The Phoenix

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“How many times am I expected to do this?” The exasperated Phoenix looked at the new fires erupting around her. Her insurance agent had canceled her coverage fires and fires ago. She knew from experience that she had to let the fires burn to ashes before rising, so she settled in and tapped her talons on the kitchen counter – waiting for it to catch fire and burn.

“This is getting old.”

She had given up the fire extinguisher because it wouldn’t allow her to rise. The Phoenix didn’t understand why, but her wings were useless while the flames burned. The rubble had to burn to ashes. Complete ash was required. Cold ash.

Photo by Chris Sabor on Unsplash

She bided her time and used a coal shovel to scrape and scoop. After the last fire, she’d been sloppy. There were piles of ash here and there. They were so deep, and she was too buried in ash to stretch her wings. She had to shovel her way out.

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