Posted by Anita Bondi on December 31, 2010 under Anita Bondi | 
(excerpted from an earlier journal entry with an added musing for this last day of 2010)
I always wondered what made it so appealing to my father, my brother, and now, my nephew: they plan their trips, arrange their gear, and leave in the wee hours of the morning to board a boat that will take them way out to sea to go fishing.
Last month my dad took J.J. and the waves were so big they had to tie him down. I tried to picture him in my mind — all 65 pounds of him — a rope around his waist, a huge fishing pole in his hands, and the biggest smile gracing his sweet, young face. The captain promised a day of gigantic flounder. The whole group caught only one and J.J. spent most of the day below deck, reading. My dad, cold, wet, and discouraged stayed on deck, rod in hand — waiting.
“Will you go next month,” I asked when he called to tell me the Saturday night flounder feast had turned into a chicken BBQ.
“Absolutely! Even Joe took off from work and we already paid for it.”
“Why go again Dad? The last three times you caught nothing and the weather was lousy.”
“Anita,” he said, ” there is always a chance that it will be different next time and I wouldn’t want to miss it!”
So, on this last day of 2010 I sit with this thought:
What is it that I have gone fishing for this year?
~a glimpse of my long lost abdominal muscles
~a night of dancing with no back pain
~a long walk with Scout right beside my left leg
~stimulating, engaging intimacy with Stan
~a haircut I actually like
~a legacy to leave someone
It wasn’t the year of the big flounder. In fact there was some really lousy weather. But since I am my father’s daughter, I will most likely keep showing up just because there is always the chance that 2011 will be different and I wouldn’t want to miss it!
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on December 30, 2010 under Stan Stewart |
Start now. The waiting is over.
Actually, it’s been over for
A long time.
It’s just my body that
Thought the old doldrums
Were still in vogue.
Catch up now with the
Train that’s already speeding ahead.
I must be agile, fit and young enough
Still to grind the unhallowed asphalt
Under my heels.
Move! This is not a timid movement
That takes one nowhere.
No! This is a fluid and unflustered tempest
Of fulfilled endeavor.
Run on to the snow and grass.
Drop into
A walk.
Let the
Sweet stages of
Nature’s wonder
Fill up the
Old emptiness.
(The new story is much
Like a tree.
It’s life-filled leaves cascade up
To vibrant branches and deep roots
That connect to
Everything.)
No longer focused on the too-distant
Future, I round the corner of
“Now” with its access to
Enlivened feelings,
Joyous exuberance for the present, and
Powerful fulfillment within and
Beyond imagination.
~ by Stan Stewart
Copyright 2010, 2011 by Music for the Moment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on December 29, 2010 under Stan Stewart |
someone told me that there’s
magic about the year 2012.
i don’t know if i believe in
magic, because i’m focused
on what’s real and tangible
now.
i’ve for too long waited for
the magic to intrude on my
reality, take care of me,
remove all cares from me.
i know better.
and i still long for the magic
from outside to rescue
me.
what do i have to be
rescued from?
very little except myself,
so i know that this desire
to be rescued is just
delusion.
i don’t need cosmic
magic. all i need is
the common, everyday
magic that i can find
in the voice of a friend,
a touch, a mid-day nap,
the sound of guitar strings
resonating together,
a creative urge,
an inspiration.
this is my magic for now.
~ by Stan Stewart
Copyright 2010 by Music for the Moment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on under Stan Stewart |
it’s been too long since
i had that sense of being
two-feet-on-the-ground
solid.
it may be that i’m too
intense for myself or
my life is occasionally
too much for this
embodied state i live in.
and thus
the unsettled me
is too often what i present to the world.
even under winter’s snow,
the ground is here.
may i find it in time
to stand firm into another year.
~ by Stan Stewart
Copyright © 2010 by Music for the Moment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on December 28, 2010 under Stan Stewart |
Winter white has painted
The world outside and
Left nothing about the
Shape of local geography
To imagination.
The rocks dressed up in
Snow and the trees
Dressed down for
The season place the
Forest in stark contrast
To the jutting buildings
We humans erect for
Shelter and bragging rights.
White and gray:
Looking so flat to our
Eyes (which seem to
Long for
Color). So why is
Winter so happy with
This combination?
Perhaps it knows –
As many artists might
Tell you –
That it is not the
Color that matters,
Nor the canvas.
Beauty is in the
Creation.
I peek at a single
Flake
Resting on top of the
Mound of snow.
From this vantage
Point, the beauty of
This Winter creation is
Not only apparent,
But jarringly brilliant,
Wise and
Intricate.
~ by Stan Stewart
Copyright © 2010 by Music for the Moment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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