1968, a train and a flag

In the summer of 1968, I was twelve years old. I was waiting on a train. Standing in the sunshine of a crisp June morning with my dad. I was excited and I can still recall seeing that train slowly come into focus. The people surrounding us were quite loud, talking and commenting on the events of that day. But, when that train came into view . . . . silence drifted over the crowd like a mournful shroud.

That train began its journey in California carrying Bobby Kennedy to Washington, DC. I recall someone saying something about how there was two caskets. One held the man and the other the dream. Those words haunted me then and they still haunt me today. Forty five years later I understand the meaning of that comment. The world loves someone who will speak for them, taking all the risk and giving others the gift. Some of us cheer on the speakers, knowing that the assassin's sights would be on the speaker and not the crowd. Others see wrong and try to right it. In doing so they purchase a ticket on that train. Knowingly and willingly. It doesn't take courage it takes faith. Faith in the dream and in the people who carry that burden of injustice.

There seems to be a shortage of those who would speak out against all the evils in this world.

That train carried a single flag draped casket. The dream lives in the heart of those who believe in others. No grave could ever hold the dream of people who long to be free. Freedom of all the injustices laid upon them by others. 

I just looked 'round and he's gone.

Do you ever think about the evil you see in front of you? All the wrongs committed by children, teens and adults. The world is a scary place for all its inhabitants. Here are a couple headlines from past newspapers . . . . . . 

A elderly man, aged 56 years, is watching a show with his wife. He is shot and killed. Another statistic in the senseless murder of people who are minding their own business. Oh by the way he is white and the gunman is white too. A man is riding in his car and is shot by gunman. Both are white. Another man is leaving his hotel room to have dinner with friends and is shot and killed. He is black and the shooter is white. 

Yes, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were all killed for minding their own business, the business of righting the wrong they saw in front of them. Hard to say who will be next. Hopefully, a lot of people will be the next one . . . . . the one who speaks loudly of the evils we all see in front of us everyday.

Abraham Martin and John

Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?

Can you tell me where he's gone?

He freed a lot of people,

But it seems the good they die young.

You know, I just looked around and he's gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend John?

Can you tell me where he's gone?

He freed a lot of people,

But it seems the good they die young.

I just looked around and he's gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?

Can you tell me where he's gone?

He freed a lot of people,

But it seems the good they die young.

I just looked 'round and he's gone.

Didn't you love the things that they stood for?

Didn't they try to find some good for you and me?

And we'll be free

Some day soon, and it's a-gonna be one day ...

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?

Can you tell me where he's gone?

I thought I saw him walkin' up over the hill,

With Abraham, Martin and John.

written by Dick Holler

Recorded by Dion

1968

I was just thinking . . . . .

Hummmmmmmmm . . . . . . 

Like the chimp above, I was just thinking. Hummmmmmm . . . . . .  It is hard to imagine somethings that we taught to be the truth. The theory of evolution and the belief of religions come to mind. Seems to me that we need both to complete the picture of our lives. Facts, figures, paradigms and the sort for our logical being and faith, hope and love for our human being.

Or maybe not.

As a young man I was taught how to do everything, the right way. If I did it the wrong way . . . well, I was sure to spend an eternity in Damnation. Kinda scary for a wee one who wants to live to see his fifth birthday! I thought to myself, I better get my act together and fly right. So I did. For fifty years, Then one day I got tired of flying "right" and landed in a field of dreams. There was no ticket booth selling tickets to Damnation, no devils and certainly no fire and brimstone. Where did it all go?

I am a big boy now and I can teach myself. As for the one-way ticket I had purchased long ago? Well, there is a forgiveness policy and I just traded my ticket in for one to the fields of dreams. No rules, no devils and no problems. In this field of dreams I can be anything and go anywhere. I just simply have to close mine eyes and believe, believe that if something is not,      well, . . . . . If I can imagine it, It can be ! Amen.

Fish climbing trees ?

On the topic of who we are . . . .

People tell me I am different. Okay, I agree. But I often wonder why they say that . Is it my point of view they find different? Maybe my take on the world in general. Do they think I am uneducated or just stupid because I view the world from a different point of view? Maybe . . . . by looking at the world from different vantage points we could see the world as a sphere and not a flat map.

"If we all viewed the world in the same light, the world would be a dark place"

Bert Anderson

Albert was right, we are all geniuses, period. The key is to find that bit of genius in your own life. In my life I have been a paratrooper, Dad, McDonald's guy, a fool and a king. But, I am a genius. I give others something to talk and think about. My forte lies in giving others a little peak into my madness. Or is it just my imagination. I reckon that too depends on your point of view.

"If we were all identical, who would inspire whom?"

Bert Anderson

We are all different, even identical twins are different when it comes to their societal influences and of course their individual life experiences, which makes them an individual. So there! No two people are the same, nobody. Thank goodness. So, let the nonconformity revolution start here.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

Dr. Suess

My name is David and I have a problem

Yes, I have a problem.

I listen too much, much too much!

I listen to my inner voices calling me, daring me to do it.

I hear them whisper "Raspberry, blackberry, peach or watermelon . . . . . which will it be?"

I ignore them or at least I try.

They keep calling my name, they dare me and then . . . . . . 

I breakdown, I lose control.

I tell myself that this is some sort of a medical condition, maybe it's in my DNA .

I can't help it, the voices are so loud and demanding.

I breakdown, I lose control.

I reach for the blender and then the ice.

I open the freezer and pull the little glass tomb that holds that frozen worm.

I fling open the cabinet and jerk Jose Cuervo from his siesta.

I force them all into the blender, ignoring their pleads for mercy.

I will have them, I will own them and Yes, they will be mine.

I smile as the whirl from my blender transforms them all into the synergy I desire.

Yes, my name is David.

I have a problem.

Which fruit should I use in tonight's Margarita?