Monthly Archives: April 2012

April 19, 2012 · 8:53 pm

Shelter in the storm

Time and again, I would return to the Shire to find that the electricity had gone out. The clocks showed me that. Power seemed somewhat fragile.

Yet two years in a row, when snow and ice sent Louisville into a deep freeze, the Shire provided shelter in the storm for me and served as a warm place of refuge for friends stranded in the city, for friends whose homes, as had many in other parts of the city, had lost power.

See you along the Trail.

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April 17, 2012 · 10:47 pm

The pain comes

Every morning,
the pain comes.
Upon waking,
the pain comes.

Different places,
the pain comes.
Different degrees,
the pain comes.

Constant companion,
the pain comes.
Keep on going,
the pain comes.

UA 3460
ORD – SDF
17 April 2012

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April 17, 2012 · 10:42 pm

Dismantling the Shire

The evening saw, not the Scouring of the Shire (written by Tolkien but not used by Jackson), but the Dismantling of the Shire. That word doesn’t really fit either. Let me write a bit about what happened and see if a fitting word emerges.

A few years back, more than I can remember at this point, Tricia and I purchased the Shire – a three-bedroom condominium in Jeffersontown – east of Louisville. It served us well and became a site of hospitality for co-workers, folks who worked on projects with me, family members, and even an Obama campaigner. Not counting family, I think twenty people stayed at least one night at the Shire. Some stayed a few more.

When I moved to New York, the time came to sell the Shire – no Sackville-Bagginses being present to take it off my hands. That has proven easier to say than to do. Over time,we have removed different items. Some given away; some thrown away; and some sold. Still no one appeared on the horizon to buy the Shire itself. But that may change soon. Or not.

In any event, with Tricia and I both in town (it does happen), we used our time to sort through the remaining items. When I leave on Friday, little will remain in terms of household goods. Some large pieces of furniture will remain. But we will have dismantled the Shire, for all intents and purpose.

An era slowly draws to a close.

See you along the Trail.

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April 17, 2012 · 12:03 am

Growing up?

It was one of those: “I’m not real sure what to make of it moments.”

Tonight was laundry night. Always a high point. Although there was some urgency as I go on the road tomorrow. Clean clothes always helps make the journey pleasant.

The washing completed, I placed the clothes in the dryer and returned to my apartment to watch Daniel Day-Lewis find Madeline Stowe again – no matter where she went. I have long ago lost track of how often I have viewed this one. We first got it as a VHS and we may still have it.

Things timed out so that the movie ended about when it seemed the time to go check the laundry. I got there early – about a minute remained on the dryer.

Fascinated, I watched the cycle spin to an end. All sorts of clothes tumbled past. Yes, I am one of those who puts everything in the same load.

After a few seconds, I noticed that while there were different items of clothing, there was a dull sameness to them. Pastel blues. Whites. Blacks. Grays. A brown or two. Dull. Dull. Dull.

Have I grown up? Do I need to do anything about this? I wonder.

See you along the Trail.

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April 14, 2012 · 10:51 pm

What endings do you carry?

Edge of America was the first film of the night. Directed by Chris Eyre, this story of a black man coaching the women’s basketball team at the Three Nations Reservation High School is one of my favorites. It deals with racism, cultural difference, sexism, and more. There are many wonderful scenes.  But seeing it again tonight, reminded me of how powerfully it ends.

The team makes the state finals for the first time in history. For some of the players, this marks their first trip off the reservation. They play the dominant (check out the film to see all the dimensions of that word that are at work) team in the state. The game goes to overtime but the Three Nations team loses. The beginning of the film’s ending takes place on the bus as they make the journey back to the reservation. The coach in particular mourns the loss – taking the blame on himself.

But he and the team receive a joyous, affirming welcome from the entire Three Nations Reservation community: a celebration of effort and heart and all that binds a team and a community together.

Film endings leave much to ponder. Some leave me wondering. Some do little more than set up a sequel. And some do that in a very clumsy way. Some fail to provide enough of a resolution. Some come as an anticlimax – the film ended some moments before, but the makers did not stop. But some …

Some endings touch me and stay with me in ways and for reasons I can articulate and reasons I don’t understand. Consider:

Butch and Sundance defiantly running into a hail of Bolivian bullets. (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)

Shane riding away. (Shane)

Ethan Edwards stepping to the door and then turning away from the joyous reunion. (The Searchers)

Olive Hoover’s family joining her dance at the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. (Little Miss Sunshine)

Each ending unique in its own way. Each memorable.

What endings do you carry with you?

See you along the trail.

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April 14, 2012 · 9:23 pm

Arriba

Roberto Clemente

Roberto Clemente (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Standing in the sanctuary,
holding up the line
of those who sought to leave,
José and I spoke
of baseball present and baseball past,
and our conversation’s magic conjured you.

From the sea you rose,
to stride proudly across the beach,
pass through the mists
of memory and time and
take your place
on the green right field grass
of the stadium near
where two rivers end and one begins.

For a moment,
a fleeting moment,
an endless moment:
your good strong arm and lightning bat,
your graceful lope and glove of gold,
your passion for the game,
your commitment to humanity
back where they belong.

And a smile crosses my face.

And a tear fills my eye

And all is pain.

And all is well.

And all is well.

Arriba!

15 April 2012
Brooklyn and Manhattan

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April 9, 2012 · 11:28 pm

In the elevator

His short legs did reach the floor,
but barely lifted his small body
eight or nine inches above it.
The elevator light gave his canine eyes
a sheen of green as in silence he
peered  intently up at me.
Was it friendship I saw
or merely lust for the sandwich I carried?
I will never know as
the elevator lurched to a stop
and he followed his owner
into the hall.

9 April 2012
Morningside Gardens

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April 8, 2012 · 8:27 pm

A ride through friendship and the years via films

Films carry a great deal of my past with them or so it seems when I view them.

As I watch them again, I experience them anew, I see scenes that I have somehow managed to miss in the past. But I also find memories washing over me – memories of the time I first saw them – memories of how they spoke to my life at that moment – memories of where I was and what I was doing – memories of the people present when I saw them.

I have started watching every DVD I own – in no particular order, simply in the order they come off the stacks where I store them. I have done this before. This time I find them evoking memories in a powerful way.

The memories jumble, bumping into each other, pulling me through life and experiences in a random order – evoking the people who are and have been part of my viewing experiences through the years. Smiles and tears commingle in a fun ride.

Tonight – Little Miss Sunshine – which features one of my favorite endings and calls to mind some of my favorite movie-going companions.

See you along the Trail.

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April 8, 2012 · 3:18 pm

Trumpeting resurrection

The saints of the United Presbyterian Church of Ozone Park invited me to preach this morning. It was a beautiful, sunny, cool day in Queens. Easter lilies graced the front of the sanctuary, trumpeting resurrection. 

As usual my photo fails to do justice – and yet, perhaps under some unperceived artistic inspiration, the photo blurry photo the sense of movement present on that first Easter morning – going to the tomb – returning to get others – going back to tell what they had seen, though not yet understood.

Alleluia!

See you along the Trail.

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April 6, 2012 · 10:23 pm

Still I wonder …

The story of Rwanda – as is the story of any genocide – is absolutely wrenching.

Each of the films I am viewing this evening has a scene that particularly tears at my heart and soul: European soldiers arrive to rescue, to evacuate Europeans and North Americans but not Rwandans. They leave knowing the horror taking place around them – aware of what will likely befall those they leave behind.

I watch. Tears fill my eyes.

And I wonder … would I have got on the truck?

And I wonder … who are my brothers and sisters that I abandon today?

The tears slide into my beard.

I can only fall back on grace.

Yet still I wonder …

See you along the Trail.

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