Terry Moran, I can not begin to tell you how much I’ve grown to admire you. You are so kind, so real and so filled with humility and integrity. I wish there were more people like you. I loved the picture of Rory! Dogs are truly such a great example of living in the moment, forgiveness and unconditional love. Keep up the great work, my friend. I enjoy it when you’re on Abby Philip’s show, too. You bring a rational, centered and compassionate view of things.
Thanks, Lea Ann! You’re exactly right about dogs. Sometimes, when we’re out in the woods, I’ll think, “Rory, you’re a lot closer to God than I am!” I mean it!
America is and always was the country every other country wanted to be and today is no different. We have a short term leadership that are Russian assets just another bump in the road so let's show the rest of the world what to do. Everyone can touch paper until election day. Let's show the world how much we hate what's going on so when your grandchildren ask you what you did to stop it two words is all that's needed. "I VOTED!"
At the end, there is a sound… like something in the distance.
I wasn’t sure so I listened again, and there was.. as if punctuating the end of the poem, a tiny drum beat.
So I listened again.
What a beautiful poem.
I do feel like I’m waiting. Stuck in the limbo of alternate facts and fake news, where rule of law has somersaulted into T’s lap, like a ball of soft clay, and what’s good for the goose is only just that.
As I read your piece this morning, Terry, I recalled my earliest memory: Walking down the halls of my elementary school in 1963 the bell rang to announce the end of the day and I glanced up at the hall clock just as the PA system came on, the principal announced that President Kennedy had been shot. Horrified, I ran for my bike and pedaled home to tell my mom. The assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King affected me similarly those 5 years later.
Reading your blog, I agree we must step away from the chaos that occurs almost daily here in our beautiful country. With each screed that comes from the regime, I look, instead, to the truths easily found and hope that the country's – and the people's – path will turn back to its democratic standards.
And, most especially, I turn to the beauty of nature. Glancing out my front window I see our butterfly garden, populated with jeweled wings flitting about on a daily basis. There is peace there in the midst of my very suburban neighborhood.
Barry's poem has long been one of my favorites; in just those few lines I can feel the peace that nature gives us. Nature is what gives us sustenance and often the ability to move on.
As ever, thank you for your thoughtful words, I look forward to them each Sunday.
Thank you, Terry. You’ve given form to my thoughts…so beautifully. I am reminded of this quote, as well, of the feeling I have during days that I feel that I am beginning to inhabit a “smaller life”…a perfect description of the angst of this moment in our country’s history:
“And yet her real self was not in it at all but blown about on a lonely wind of anguish, outside in the night. And so it would always be, she supposed”
Thank you, Terry, for acknowledging my post! Edith Wharton is my “go to” for existential angst, while I cleave to PG Wodehouse for comic relief, especially when I am feeling like a “pea on a hot shovel”!!
We all need an escape from current events now and again. Nature can definitely be that soothing balm. I have the great fortune of living on the water and all I need to do is sit outside with my morning coffee and watch the waterfowl gliding by. Pretty soon we’ll have the baby ducks and geese following their parents. A reminder that new life can bring change. Let’s pray that it does, with a little help (or a lot!) from us. “We Shall Overcome”. I truly believe that. Thanks for sharing Berry’s words.
I’m jealous. Living by water is its own balm, for sure. Someone once said that the reason people look out at the water—ocean, river, lake, pond—is because it offers “contentless contemplation.” You’re lucky, my friend.
I know. 30 years ago we made the difficult choice of buying our “home on the water” vs taking a yearly vacation. We couldn’t afford both. But being able to sit on the dock, jumping in the kayak, or taking out the fishing boat at a moment’s notice was so appealing that we decided our everyday home was also our vacation home. I’ve never regretted it. And now the house is paid off, tripled in value, and we can now afford to take a trip. Patience. 🙂
Seeing Rory had me remembering long walks around the lake with my Irish terrier, Tara. While I listened to your poem I remembered that joyful time at a bone level. Thanks.
We do need to find ways to reconnect with nature to gain perspective. Rory is an excellent guide to attaining that connection!! And Berry’s poem is the perfect balm for our distressed minds—calm, quiet, and peaceful. Gentleness and a certain awe for life beyond human aggression and avarice seems the right quality for this Sunday morning. Thank you for this lovely reminder of the small beauties life affords us.
Thank you, Susan. We’re lucky to have the small beauties, and maybe there’s something in them we could share across the great divides that are driving these bad times? Maybe not, though. Sigh.
We can’t predict what direction we will actually take, but we can still hope and try for the best outcomes. And certainly small moments of beauty and joy help keep the spirit hopeful!!
Luckily, I am a rural dweller. It is not difficult for me to connect with "wild things" and nature in general. For those not living in a rural area, the cost of travel prevents connection. The Billionaires are taking, literally, everything from the workers....except for work.
As racist in this country seek to demolish BLACK PEOPLE again, I wish for the warm arms and voices of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Malcom X, (el-Hajj Malik el Shabazz),The Black Panthers, Angela Davis, Kwame Ture, and all my brothers and sisters bitten dogs and whipped with water hoses. What am I to believe when the KLAN TAKE AWAY MY RIGHT TO VOTE FOR A PERSON I WANT TO VOTE FOR?‼️
Yesterday there was a (solid) Substack contributor chastising readers for our "lack of outrage" on a more obvious and consistent basis.
Outrage alone will not sustain us in this dark season of history. I think there is an innate fear that if we seek some peace in the midst of it all, we are accepting or succumbing or numbing to the insanity-at-hand. And I get it. But while my fear of a great many things we are experiencing is real, as well as a catalyst for countermeasures, I don't want it to either define or consume me. Fear is exhausting. It must be harnessed and converted from destructive to constructive.
I had a business partner that often drove me nuts, but I also learned much from him. The best thing was "you are doing great right now, but what are you doing to protect yourself/your work for the next ten years?" I don't naturally operate that way as far as pace and intensity goes. Exerting "maximum" right now, again and again, is good. Well, until the engine blows.
Thanks for the sustaining post and poem. It's an echo of God's bigger voice and an encouragement to retain Self in the midst of this "Self-destructive" time.
What a lovely poem and voice to grace this day and our lives.
Thank you, Doris. It’s a beautiful morning where I am (my daughter’s softball game in Eldersburg, MD), hope you have a good day!
Rory is blessed to have such a graced companion. Thank you for sharing your insightful thoughts and the beautiful poem.
Terry Moran, I can not begin to tell you how much I’ve grown to admire you. You are so kind, so real and so filled with humility and integrity. I wish there were more people like you. I loved the picture of Rory! Dogs are truly such a great example of living in the moment, forgiveness and unconditional love. Keep up the great work, my friend. I enjoy it when you’re on Abby Philip’s show, too. You bring a rational, centered and compassionate view of things.
Thanks, Lea Ann! You’re exactly right about dogs. Sometimes, when we’re out in the woods, I’ll think, “Rory, you’re a lot closer to God than I am!” I mean it!
All dogs indeed go to heaven.
I love Abby’s show. She’s the best.
America is and always was the country every other country wanted to be and today is no different. We have a short term leadership that are Russian assets just another bump in the road so let's show the rest of the world what to do. Everyone can touch paper until election day. Let's show the world how much we hate what's going on so when your grandchildren ask you what you did to stop it two words is all that's needed. "I VOTED!"
💯
A favorite. Thanks
Thank you for reading the poem aloud.
At the end, there is a sound… like something in the distance.
I wasn’t sure so I listened again, and there was.. as if punctuating the end of the poem, a tiny drum beat.
So I listened again.
What a beautiful poem.
I do feel like I’m waiting. Stuck in the limbo of alternate facts and fake news, where rule of law has somersaulted into T’s lap, like a ball of soft clay, and what’s good for the goose is only just that.
Yet here I am waiting.
Waiting for those stars to shine.
Amen, Sondra.
As I read your piece this morning, Terry, I recalled my earliest memory: Walking down the halls of my elementary school in 1963 the bell rang to announce the end of the day and I glanced up at the hall clock just as the PA system came on, the principal announced that President Kennedy had been shot. Horrified, I ran for my bike and pedaled home to tell my mom. The assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King affected me similarly those 5 years later.
Reading your blog, I agree we must step away from the chaos that occurs almost daily here in our beautiful country. With each screed that comes from the regime, I look, instead, to the truths easily found and hope that the country's – and the people's – path will turn back to its democratic standards.
And, most especially, I turn to the beauty of nature. Glancing out my front window I see our butterfly garden, populated with jeweled wings flitting about on a daily basis. There is peace there in the midst of my very suburban neighborhood.
Barry's poem has long been one of my favorites; in just those few lines I can feel the peace that nature gives us. Nature is what gives us sustenance and often the ability to move on.
As ever, thank you for your thoughtful words, I look forward to them each Sunday.
Amen, Star. That butterfly garden sounds amazing.
Thank you, Terry. You’ve given form to my thoughts…so beautifully. I am reminded of this quote, as well, of the feeling I have during days that I feel that I am beginning to inhabit a “smaller life”…a perfect description of the angst of this moment in our country’s history:
“And yet her real self was not in it at all but blown about on a lonely wind of anguish, outside in the night. And so it would always be, she supposed”
-A Mother’s Recompense by Edith Wharton
Love that, Ellen. Years ago, I read Edith Wharton—Age of Innocence and House of Mirth. She’s so great. You’ve made me want to go back to her!
Thank you, Terry, for acknowledging my post! Edith Wharton is my “go to” for existential angst, while I cleave to PG Wodehouse for comic relief, especially when I am feeling like a “pea on a hot shovel”!!
Thank you. Again, poetry speaks to the most hidden places in our hearts. These are hard times and grace is indeed needed.
We all need an escape from current events now and again. Nature can definitely be that soothing balm. I have the great fortune of living on the water and all I need to do is sit outside with my morning coffee and watch the waterfowl gliding by. Pretty soon we’ll have the baby ducks and geese following their parents. A reminder that new life can bring change. Let’s pray that it does, with a little help (or a lot!) from us. “We Shall Overcome”. I truly believe that. Thanks for sharing Berry’s words.
I’m jealous. Living by water is its own balm, for sure. Someone once said that the reason people look out at the water—ocean, river, lake, pond—is because it offers “contentless contemplation.” You’re lucky, my friend.
I know. 30 years ago we made the difficult choice of buying our “home on the water” vs taking a yearly vacation. We couldn’t afford both. But being able to sit on the dock, jumping in the kayak, or taking out the fishing boat at a moment’s notice was so appealing that we decided our everyday home was also our vacation home. I’ve never regretted it. And now the house is paid off, tripled in value, and we can now afford to take a trip. Patience. 🙂
Rory is adorable. A beautiful poem for peace and calm 🌻🌻🦋🦋
Thanks, Lori. Rory is my best pal!
Thank you. We forget our humanity when we forget nature.
Precisely.
🙏
Seeing Rory had me remembering long walks around the lake with my Irish terrier, Tara. While I listened to your poem I remembered that joyful time at a bone level. Thanks.
We love our terriers! Tara is a perfect name.
We do need to find ways to reconnect with nature to gain perspective. Rory is an excellent guide to attaining that connection!! And Berry’s poem is the perfect balm for our distressed minds—calm, quiet, and peaceful. Gentleness and a certain awe for life beyond human aggression and avarice seems the right quality for this Sunday morning. Thank you for this lovely reminder of the small beauties life affords us.
Thank you, Susan. We’re lucky to have the small beauties, and maybe there’s something in them we could share across the great divides that are driving these bad times? Maybe not, though. Sigh.
We can’t predict what direction we will actually take, but we can still hope and try for the best outcomes. And certainly small moments of beauty and joy help keep the spirit hopeful!!
Luckily, I am a rural dweller. It is not difficult for me to connect with "wild things" and nature in general. For those not living in a rural area, the cost of travel prevents connection. The Billionaires are taking, literally, everything from the workers....except for work.
As racist in this country seek to demolish BLACK PEOPLE again, I wish for the warm arms and voices of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Malcom X, (el-Hajj Malik el Shabazz),The Black Panthers, Angela Davis, Kwame Ture, and all my brothers and sisters bitten dogs and whipped with water hoses. What am I to believe when the KLAN TAKE AWAY MY RIGHT TO VOTE FOR A PERSON I WANT TO VOTE FOR?‼️
Very timely message for me.
Yesterday there was a (solid) Substack contributor chastising readers for our "lack of outrage" on a more obvious and consistent basis.
Outrage alone will not sustain us in this dark season of history. I think there is an innate fear that if we seek some peace in the midst of it all, we are accepting or succumbing or numbing to the insanity-at-hand. And I get it. But while my fear of a great many things we are experiencing is real, as well as a catalyst for countermeasures, I don't want it to either define or consume me. Fear is exhausting. It must be harnessed and converted from destructive to constructive.
I had a business partner that often drove me nuts, but I also learned much from him. The best thing was "you are doing great right now, but what are you doing to protect yourself/your work for the next ten years?" I don't naturally operate that way as far as pace and intensity goes. Exerting "maximum" right now, again and again, is good. Well, until the engine blows.
Thanks for the sustaining post and poem. It's an echo of God's bigger voice and an encouragement to retain Self in the midst of this "Self-destructive" time.
Well said, and I couldn’t agree more, Greg. “Rage-eating,” I call it. It’s a kind of addiction. And it’ll wear you down.
Well put.