‘As you move through your day
keep your heart focused on the Goddess within
and let her spirit guide and show you the way.’
-Ntathu Allen
Category Archives: gratitude
photographs in nature | WAVphoto |Autumn walk
I walk, I look, I see, I stop, I photograph.
-Leon Levinstein, 1955
Every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
-John Muir
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flowers
I’m so fortunate to know such strong & beautiful women.
To have the opportunity to photograph one in this field
of flowers is a dream come true.
http://www.Migratoryhaven.com
Willsboro, New York
heartbeat
dignity
Dear Caregiver,
I saw you.
I heard you.
I don’t know if you truly heard my quiet voice, strained with a lump in my throat say ‘thank you’.
I came to pick up my mother for a visit to the doctor. You may not recall that day specifically because you were doing your job. Your days are probably filled with moments like this, without anyone seeing the work you do. That moment will always live inside my heart.
I saw you pick out a fresh outfit to put on, one that all three pieces coordinate. You couldn’t have known that I took my mom shopping a couple summers ago and we picked out that outfit together. I saw the care and concern in your actions toward my mom as a caregiver and as a caring human. She may not remember anything about today, may continue to jumble her thoughts and words but you understand that she is my mother.
I heard you when she gave you a difficult time about changing her clothes that day. You gently told her she’s going out today and reminded her that she would like to look nice. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for remembering that this once vibrant, loving, beautiful woman is still beautiful. You helped preserve her dignity for this moment. I doubt she will recall it. I will never forget it.
You know about the dementia, the challenges in getting her to the hospital just two nights ago. You know the medication given to her to get thru that procedure made her even more forgetful, challenging, perhaps. And you continued being kind, professional and caring.
I saw you.
I heard you.
I thank you.
memorial
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I walked through the fallen leaves on a bright & brisk morning. I came across the field and walked the pathway toward it remembering my first visit many years and a lifetime ago. Back then, I was overwhelmed with emotion because the monument itself was beautiful, unique, powerful. I remember I had stopped in my tracks after it came into view. Masterfully created, mindfully placed.
Sacrifice finally recognized.
While I thought I knew what to expect having visited the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, DC before, the emotion hit me harder and more deeply this day. Perspective broadened, time passed, gratitude carved into my soul.
58,286 names etched into black granite.
Each name belongs. A son, a brother, a father, a friend.
The youngest name belongs to a 15 year old who lied about his age.
The memorial is a somber place standing out among the white marble momuments and tributes that surround it. The intention of the black granite surface is to reflect the trees and sky and the people who come to visit.
A place to grieve. A place to remember.
Tributes are carried to The Wall and left behind usually with tears of grief and sadness. A burden of the survivors. Flowers, letters, emblems of friendship and memories. A brand new Harley Davidson motorcycle — a gift to an only child from his dad, was left at the wall to honor the son who would never get to ride it.
The commitment continues to bring each one home to be buried in the United States.
Near each name is a small symbol:
a diamond means they are accounted for
+ symbolizes they have not been recovered and are still missing.
As the remains are discovered and returned home, the + is etched
into a diamond.
The + will be etched into a circle when, and if, they return alive.
Nature
Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished.
-Lao Tzu
sun shine
‘The sun shines not on us but in us’ ~John Muir
15 minutes
I walked down the aisle past the piano keyboards, past cymbals on display looking like shiny branches on short trees, heading toward the loudest drum section in the back. Music equipment was everywhere on display – calling for
a test drive. The chairs were set up facing the stage. A jazz clinic was about to take place, the special guest performing at a local venue.
I arrived with little background information, yet was immediately defensive at what I observed. A man appeared to have cornered the guest asking for a LOT
of autographs and kept referring to his phone. Immediately I suspected these autographs were headed for ebay and this man was actively listing each item.
I applaud myself for how wrong I was.
The actual story is so much better.
The local music store had invited our high school jazz ensemble to participate in a clinic with Randy Brecker. Before you immediately judge me on my “I’ve read the album covers and know all the musicians involved for the past 50 years knowledge”, I’ll share with you that I cut my teeth in the 80’s dancing all night to every song I could sing & dance to. Certainly the birthplace of karaoke.
The jazz band took the stage and performed their first piece. Randy Brecker
rose from his seat, ascended the few stairs, greeting the musicians on stage. Humbling even the band director, the clinic began with Randy taking the microphone – ‘I can’t critique this…can I play with you guys?’ I think only a handful of the students could grasp that they were about to play with a
musical legend.
A little background: Randy Brecker is a trumpeter, composer & one of the founding members of Blood Sweat & Tears (1968 album), a Grammy Award winner, has toured behind the Iron Curtain in 1989. A studio musician, sometimes never actually playing with the artists but with ‘credits’ on albums by: Steely Dan, Ringo Starr, Aero Smith, BB King, Chaka Kahn, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross (see?, I sort of ‘knew’ Randy Brecker…), Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Frank Zappa, George Benson, Paul Simon, The Average White Band, Lou Reed, The Brecker Brothers…to name a few.
According to allmusic.com Randy Brecker has 2,208 credits on albums.
Next, a 17 year old trumpeter from the jazz band came forward to solo – he exchanged some effortless musician-to-musician strategy with Randy. The music they played-back & forth jazz trumpets with support from the band was just incredible. This young trumpet player got a ‘thumbs up’ from Randy Brecker.
That moment will probably always live with that young man as it began to sink in that he just jammed with a legend. Unsure if he even heard what Randy said into the microphone to the crowd…”keep your eyes on this kid” kind of thing.
A memorable experience for this group of musicians to share the stage with living history.
The guy with the autographs?
Sometimes I just can’t walk away. I started a conversation with the man with the autographs & a few hundred record albums. Prior to the clinic, Randy sat, patiently signing album cover after album cover with this man. The best part – they were not going on ebay. This album collection is his hobby. He has several thousand albums in his basement with over 20,000 signatures – his wife draws the line that they must remain there. I asked how willing the musicians are to sign autographs. He told me one person met him for coffee the morning following a concert and signed a few hundred while they talked.
Randy Brecker at Cascio Music 2014
After all the albums were autographed, Randy Brecker took a small breath, handed the marker back, reflected saying, “Wow, that was my whole life
in 15 minutes”.
I doubt he’ll get credit on an album for his appearance on a small stage in a music store on a winter afternoon, but the almost 70 year old Randy Brecker made a difference that day.
tradition
It takes an endless amount of history
to make even a little tradition.
-Henry James
I dropped an envelope into the mailbox the other day.
That envelope carried almost 70 years of history inside.
The envelope contained my son’s signed contract for a summer job at a camp. Not just any camp, at “The Greatest Camp in the Universe.”
Poko MacCready Camp where the sun is always shining…
After turning into the camp road, winding down the rutted driveway, a glimpse of the pond between the trees, it takes only a few moments to allow the memories to fill every part of my soul as I step into the parking lot and smell the pines. Immediately refreshed.
I wonder if that’s how my dad felt when he first arrived at Camp Poko Moonshine so many years ago. My dad and his brother worked summers at camp leading hikes in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Fresh air and sunshine in their blood, Adirondack mud on their shoes.
Magic.
Over the years, my brother, cousins and I have participated at Poko MacCready as campers and counselors. My cousins favored the horses, I loved the swim dock. It was the best opportunity to learn what you’re capable of – lessons sometimes realized years later. Planted so deeply was a sense of family and belonging.
Soon I was packing hiking boots, t-shirts and bug spray and dropping my own kids off at Poko MacCready. It always feels like home to walk the path again. Nostalgia consumes me when I enter the dining hall with the huge stone fireplace knowing my dad had spent time right there. How could he have known he was starting a tradition? My cousin and I have become friends, hiking in the Adirondack Mountains together, our fair share of gratitude, mud on our shoes and balsam scent in our lungs. My son and my cousin’s son will become third generation counselors this summer. The envelope is in the mailbox!
http://www.pokomac.com
Celebrating its 110th season this summer!
Wendy Andrews 