‎63 Years of Memories....

‎63 Years of Memories....
that's what I have now. The photo below shows the chair on the point which for so many years was my father's favorite after-supper place to contemplate and cast for walleye. As much as I feel guilty about what's happened, I know he would understand and even say there's nothing to forgive. He lived life fully and moved on many times. I'm the one with the unique experience of being attached to a beautiful place for my whole life. And despite all my best efforts, yesterday the 'cabin' was sold. I signed the papers and, truth be told, a weight was lifted. A new life lies ahead without the obligations, but with all of the wonderful memories. My unrelentingly positive attitude says this is truly how it is, but my heart is still sad.

There are some things in life for which the balance between the obligation and the joy of ownership often cannot be sustained forever. It became clear that I was no longer up to the task of taking care of the place quite a while back. However, knowing what needs to be done and doing it are often far apart. Finally, no choice was left. It had to be sold.

Now it's gone. No more worrying about how long the grass or how deep the snow is up there. No more sublimely pleasurable early morning cups of coffee sitting on the dock when the color of the lake is like pale blue glass and the air is completely still. No more endless repairs, high taxes, and utility bills. No more late nights around the fire pit with friends and family - warm from both fire and friendship. No more frozen pipes or emergency calls to the furnace guys. No more saunas and midnight skinny dipping that make you feel like you'll live forever while your connection with nature is confirmed by the gazillion stars of the milky way and the loons calling out in the dark. No more concerns with low well water levels or water so hard and full of iron the clothes turn yellow and your newly washed hair feels like brillo. No more finding the way home by boat in the dark after a long day on the lake feeling like this is the only place you really, really belong. No more praying that the boathouse will make it another year without collapsing. And ultimately, no more making new memories with friends, family and loved ones. No new memories, that is, at Half Bay, Lake Vermilion, Tower, MN. New life... here we come!

How do you thank a place for memories?

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Jim Hightower | MAYBE WE COULD FORM A BEER PARTY

Would you have tea with me?
I'm talking to you authentic tea bag folks – those who are not corporate-funded, Republican party spin-offs, and those whose minds are not nailed shut by a simplistic, anti-government, laissez-fairyland ideology. Let's talk. You tea partiers who are fed up with Washington and the leaders of both political parties – hey, count me in! And the target of our anger doesn't stop there, does it? Politicians are the face of our problems, but we all know that behind those faces is the real power that's stomping on us: Wall Street banksters, corporate downsizers, the 13,000 corporate lobbyists swarming our government, and the political consultants and media yakkers who exist only to segment and divide us.
Let's talk about it all – the whole corrupt insider system of moneyed elites who're systematically destroying the middle class and perverting the political process to shut out the voices of America's workaday majority.
Let's discuss this Big Theft, but most importantly, let's figure out what to do about it. Whether you call yourself conservative or progressive, what can we do together to decentralize and democratize our country's economic and political power, putting America back on its historic mission of trying to build a nation of, by, and for the people?
Another organization has suddenly sprouted across the country that might help get us together. It's called the Coffee Party – not meant to counter the Tea Party, but to engage it positively. Check it out at coffeepartyusa.com.
Who knows – maybe we can all merge into a Beer Party! Beverage preferences aside, the important thing is for ordinary grassroots Americans to reach across false divides, see what we have in common – and start acting like the bosses of our government, our society, and our mutual destiny. That's what it really means to be American.
"Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added to the Political Menu," www.nytimes.com, March 2, 2010.
"What the Tea Party Movement Wants," www.nytimes.com, February 18, 2010.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)