Because Life Doesn’t Come With a Guidebook; It Comes With a Mom

"Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall

 A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.”

 

Mother’s Day already? The years tick by at an alarming rate, the universe may or may not be expanding but I know for a fact that time is accelerating. My Mom passed away shortly after Mother’s Day 14 years ago. It seems a trick, as I remember her being here – what - like yesterday?

My mother was wiser than her young strong-willed daughter once thought she was. Much wiser. And as I grew in that wisdom I realized that she remained far wiser than me for all her years. As she approached 90 she determined how she wished to deal with her modest estate – without any counsel other than her own as far as I could tell. Who was I to disagree with a woman who had navigated her life and her family of six children through an early widowhood? Did she do it perfectly? Of course not, we are but human: prone to foibles, faults and failures. Nobody gets it all right. But she did her best and hindsight would indicate she did it well. Six kids, 8 Grands, 9 Great Grands.

So thanks Mom, I pray to be as lucid, focused and wise at the end of my life as you were. And if I am, I owe it in no small part to you.

Because life doesn’t come with a guidebook. It comes with a Mom.

Time Traveling On a Wing and a Prayer

A couple of late Wing and Feather Day entries for your reflection:

1. Get your act together, I’m coming for you at daybreak

2. Your guess is as good as mine, Donald.

Progressive Dog Rules

Dog rules: they’re mutable. Like Democrat/progressive, rules only they make more sense.

Choose to ignore them if you will and everything will turn out ‘mostly peaceful’ in the kingdom anyway.

It might require a few urban redevelopment schemes at taxpayer expense down the line, but then again, show me a progressive rule that doesn’t.

Of Kings and Queens In The Land of Hashtags

What have we here? Dr. Jilly and granddaughter Finnegan Biden at Chuckie’s coronation, “standing with Ukraine” in their yellow and blue. How, um, inappropriate.

But won’t you please enjoy this pathetic spectacle anyway, in precisely the manner in which it should be. Oh, and nice homage to granny’s hair, Finny.

In case you’ve forgotten the last 2 Democrat hashtag pimps for Ukraine. The years march on but the propaganda remains fixed.

Oh, and congratulation Charles. I suspect you might indeed be the last King of England. In the age of Instagram and Twitter world no one -not even the British - still need your ilk. Check out #King, there are millions.

Sing It Or Wing It

I have not quite bounced back following the Norovirus episode after Easter so this will be brief; my small tribute to Gordon Lightfoot. He was an amazing balladeer who wrote magically evocative, mostly autobiographical, songs about life: love, railroads, shipwrecks. He once noted that radio stations preferred to play songs that made people happy rather than made them think but he found a distinct audience that enjoyed both. While people variously attempted to classify his work as folk, pop or country it was none and all of it. He was simply a fine 20th century poet who wrote the words that moved his music and ultimately his fans.

His songs were covered by dozens of the greats and admired by many icons themselves, including Bob Dylan. Gordon always said he didn’t consider himself an icon, although he was, but simply “a hard working musician.”

Anyway, thank you Gordon for a lifetime of evocative songs and memories. Raj and I met him once in the late 60s or early 70s while we were in college. He was known but not yet a huge success, still playing quite small venues. Raj’s friend was his Mid-west concert promoter and got us tickets for the after show party. It was a small gathering where we actually got to talk to the artist. He was just an ordinary guy, normal, down to earth but with a huge talent. His lifelong unassuming countenance put many of his talented but narcissistic, loud mouthed  contemporaries both north and south of the border to shame for their superiority and greatly exaggerated sense of self importance in the world at large.

This is not one of Lightfoot’s  “biggest hits” but it has always been my favorite. It is evocative, emotional, tinged with regret and honest: everything he did so well.

R.I.P. minstrel extraordinaire.

"Your Love's Return"

A Poet’s Epiphany

I missed the great bard’s birthday earlier this month (April 23). Of course Shakespeare is no longer required coursework for an English degree at many of the country’s prestigious universities (old dead white guy). But at least in some circles he’s still considered relevant.

I used to tell students…the difference between poetry and you is you look in the mirror and say, “I am getting old,” but Shakespeare looks in the mirror and says, “Devouring Time, blunt thou thy lion’s paws.”  - Jim Harrison via The Failed Aristocrat

Although “Devouring Time” finally got its lion’s paws into old Jim; doesn’t seem possible but he’s been dead now for 6 years, so maybe nobody considers either of these old dead white guys relevant after all. Jim Harrison at least has a chance, he’s got a little Native American blood in him.

“Naturally we would prefer seven epiphanies a day and an earth not so apparently devoid of angels.” – Jim Harrison, “Letters to Yesenin” (2013)

“What is past is prologue.” – William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 2, Scene I.

You Have The Right To Remain Ignorant

Dateline Michigan: Another school bows to the gods of woke. Will some one please read us our rights? If we still have any. It seems, if you are conservative, the only right you indisputable have is the right to remain silent.

“You have the right to be offended.”

Don’t let them tell you otherwise.

Demand a Refund

This week’s least surprising headline:

‘Entitled’ Gen Z is the most difficult generation in the workplace

I note that the article was written by a Millennial who is only too glad to pass the torch of “most entitled” on to the next generation. One can only hope that now they can take a break from bitching about how the Boomers ruined their lives.

If I were a member of either of these 2 generations I would demand a refund for my college degree(s); not from my government but from my institution of “higher learning” for their lack of product delivery.

Now get out there, eat right and enjoy the day. I’ve been told those 2 things are not mutually exclusive but do your own research as all other research is potentially biased.