I write this piece with a profound love and respect for my father; how he lived his life and shared it with those around him. Many of my early memories are of times we spent engaging in activities he loved and wanted to share, not to make me into a miniature of him, but to share something he loved in the hopes that someday his example would lead me to find my own path, my own interests. And if he could share in them, too, so much the better.

The genesis of this piece is pinewood derby season, when "kids" of all ages gather to make and race gravity driven wooden cars for the love of creation and dreams and fellowship.

‘Tis a season of stress

Holidays fast approaching

Students anxiously await the break

Teachers even more in need of a break

Five years have passed

The house that was empty now full to bursting

Now we prepare to leave

But what was simple in the past is no longer

It’s a virtual world out there

Or so they say

Sometimes it really seems... true

Cell phones, the internet, conferencing

computer to computer, in between

This piece was written at the end of a very long and frustrating day. It is dedicated to the owners and staff of my refuge – Enchanted Grounds – in Colorado.

 

Tension and frustration war with each other

Demanding attention though little remains

Head spinning from one to the other, unable to stop

unable to focus enough on either to find solutions