Grandfather says...

Name:
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Monday, June 06, 2011

Is anybody out there?







Grandfather Says... Is Anybody Out There?

Hello? It's a little dark in here... Judging by the layers of dust, it has been a while since I last visited this blog... Let's see if I can remember where the light switch is in this room... Oh yes, there it is...

[Click]

Ahhh, that's better. Now, where was I?
October of 2009! Really? It has been that long since I last popped out here to make an entry? What is it with the time continuum and my life? In the infamous words of Steve Miller... "Time keeps on slippin, slippin, into the future"


I want to become a Blogger. Really I do. But I am having a bit of an issue focusing. (Can you tell?)


So my question of the day is... "is there anybody out there?"


Has even one poor sole ever even stumbled across this site and taken a few minutes to read what has been written? Or have I simply been blogging to myself... In the fashion of Chuck talking to Wilson in "Cast Away"


So my challenge to you the voyeuristic viewer that may have stumbled across this site purely by accident... Would you please leave me a message to let me know if you have seen this site and truly are "out there"


Grandfather says...




























Thursday, October 08, 2009

Circles








Have you ever found yourself walking in circles?





Perhaps you have been lost in the woods, or maybe just forgotten where you had parked your car at the Mall... You think you know right where to go, but upon getting there... you find you were wrong and head off in a new direction... Only to wind up right where you began... and regardless of the duration, you end up walking in circles coming back to the same starting point many times over.

Well... guess what? I'm back.

My circles have taken me in several different directions. Some interesting, others not so much, but all no doubt hold a nugget of wisdom and knowledge that will be made evident in the days, months, or years to come...

For all things have a purpose and a meaning...

For years I have had a passion for putting down on paper what wanders into my mind. There was a time that what appeared seemed trivial and unimportant. What I had not realized at that time, was there are no coincidences and all things have a meaning and a purpose... even if it wasn't meant for ourselves...

So as I look a the date of my last post, I see that it has been over three years since I have returned to this place at the fire...

The further I strayed, the less the flame of my passion burned. The fire in my belly grew cold and distant, and the glow grew dim... I did not know why I felt the way I did... All that I did know, was that something felt like it was missing.

After reading these forgotten posts, I now see what I had been longing for.


Grandfather says...

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Have I walked this way before?




Greetings, and welcome back!
You have been a way for a long time. The road of life has may twists and turns, and no doubt you have been occupying yourself in exploring and discovering parts of your self that you were not aware of.
Grandfather says... This is the mystery of life, and the labyrinth of our paths is what gives our lives depth and substance.

The paths themselves are not new. Many have come before us, and many more will follow after us... We may have even followed this path ourselves in the past, we just do not recall the journey because our hearts were closed to this experience and our focus was elsewhere.

Much like the proverbial bread crumbs from the stories of our youth, we must learn to choose carefully the markers that we leave to mark our paths. Look not with the eyes, or listen with human ear. One must follow the heart, and hear with the ear of the ancient self the dwells within each of us.

Sign posts and guides are numerous and live among us. One must not use conventional wisdom or logic to seek them out. One must revert to the true self, the essence of who dwells within the primordial origins of our beginning to find the eyes to see with the heart that which has always been known...
Grandfather Says...

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Letters to Mercedes...

Grandfather says....

Grandchildren make the world go round....

However, long distance relationships with Grandchildren... Can make it seem as if the world is standing still, and time is measured by the next interaction you have with them...
All and all, it can be a heart wrenching ordeal...

Oh what any Grandparent wouldn't give to be close enough to be able to visit, see and hold their Grandchildren daily, and to be play an active role in their physical world... Not just a disembodied voice on the other end of a phone, or to be an occasional out of town guest during a holiday or summer visit... But perhaps that is what makes us treasure them all that much more... The rarity of the visit...

Alas, when hundreds or thousand miles separate us from the ones we love, we consign ourselves to being that voice on the phone, or a two dementional photo disguised as a pen pal time traveler who slips into their lives via the US postal service... or email... It keeps the connection alive, and feeds the heart between visits...

But what happens when that life source is severed? When you are close enough to reach out and touch that special someone, who lives only a mere few miles away, yet you are not allowed the privilege to be a part of their lives...

What then?

Grandfather Says...

Just Blog it!

Friday, May 19, 2006

Thunder Bird...


Messages are all around us.

On the way to work yesterday, I was sitting in traffic at a red light and I just happened to look at the car ahead of me... It was an older car and on the left side of the trunk lid was the word "Thunderbird"

The sunshine that prompted my last post two days ago was short lived. By late afternoon, on the way back home I was faced with several quite large storms. The sky was a menacing dark black, to charcoal grey, and the clouds churned and boiled as they built to a massive wall of clouds... And thunder and lighting rolled along the horizon, and large bolts flashed across the darkened sky...

Was it just a Storm? Or perhaps something more?...

Wikipedia says...

"The Thunderbird is a mythical creature common to Native American religion. Its name comes from that supposition that the beating of its enormous wings causes thunder and stirs the wind. The Lakota name for the Thunderbird is "Wakinyan", a word formed from "kinyan", meaning "winged", and "wakan", "sacred". The Kwakiutl called him "Hohoq," and the Nootka called him "Kw-Uhnx-Wa." It is described as being two canoe-lengths from wingtip to wingtip, and it creates storms as it flies- clouds are pulled together by its wingbeats, the sound of thunder is its wings clapping, sheet lightning is the light flashing from its eyes when it blinks, and individual lightning bolts are glowing snakes that it carries with it. In masks, it is depicted as many-colored, with two curling horns, and sometimes with teeth within its beak."

Perhaps the winged one was passing over to emphasize the Air Element of the Eastern Sky... What ever the case, Message Received, Loud and Clear...

Grandfather says....

Might we please see the golden orb again?

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Let there be sun...


After 10 days of nothing but rain and clouds, it was sure nice to see the sun this morning. I was beginning to think that my feet would become webbed, and I was going to have to revert back to the sea...

As I basked in the morning sun, allowing its radiant heat and beauty to warm my skin and lighten my heart, I couldn't help notice that I was facing the East... The place of new beginnings... Much like this blog... A new beginning...

So we can take the stone we talked about yesterday, and place it east of the fire pit and mark the direction of the rising sun, the new day, and a new beginning for us all. A time to give thanks and start the day fresh. Like the children that dwell within us, or that we long to be we can view the world around us with new eyes and awaken our selves to the endless possibilities that lie ahead for us this new day.

Like the winged ones, Hawk, Owl, and Humming bird... Let your imagination take flight!

Grandfather Says...

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Everybody must get stoned…



Well, actually that wasn’t Grandfather… I think it was Bob Dylan who said that…
But the point that I was trying to make here is that stones are people too… well, not actually “people” in the sense of the word that we are accustom to thinking about as people, but they are the original people of this planet who play vital role in the greater plan…

They are teachers and story tellers, and they are the record keepers who hold stories of old, dating back to the beginning of time itself.

Perhaps that is why I have always been drawn to them… Even as a kid I was always going on my own rock hunting excursions… seeking the sparkly or unique stones and smuggling them home with me in my pants pockets… to be found later in the bottom of the washing machine, or heard tumbling with loud thuds as they freed themselves from the pockets of my jeans in the dryer…

Not much has changed over the years, and I still find myself connected to rocks of all kinds… In all their various shapes and forms… If I am not clambering around on them at some state park, I am holding one in my hand, or eating my lunch perched on top of one in the sunshine… I actually form a friendship with them, and some will come home to share a bit of their wisdom with me. Not all rocks mind you, just a certain few that for some special reason have shown up along my path, and have somehow indicated to me that they were meant to be found by me… They will be carried home and provided a new resting space, until the lessons that they carry are learned, and they move on to their next pupil.

Here is a recent example… On my walk back from lunch yesterday, I stopped to throw away my trash and missed the receptacle with one of the items… it was nearly impossible to have missed, as I was very close, and the bin was an open topped model… Just make the basket and move on… Well, I missed just the same, and as I stooped down, and looked behind the trash can to retrieve my errand yogurt cup low and behold it was leaning up against a most unusual rock … there were only two rocks in the area. One that was visible, and the other, this unusual one, lay hidden behind the trash can. I would never have even known it was there unless I had missed the shot that led to this unique encounter… I picked the rock up to look at it, and it just fit into my hand. It is hard to explain what the connection feels like, but it is as if I had held the rock before, or it was designed to fit my hand perfectly. This and the fact that it was found under such unusual circumstances warranted more investigation, and a free ride to the rocks next destination along its path…

As I am typing this, I am looking at four small stones that sit on my desk next to my computer monitor. They too were found in a similarly unique manner as above. However these are currently here at work with me, rather than being taken elsewhere.

They are arranged and stacked on my desk, and help bring a sense of calm to my day. They help keep me grounded and I feel as if they are speaking to me at times…each has its own story to tell…

Three of the stones have been stacked and I have added a small red berry from a member of the plant people, which was gifted to me during the same trip that connected me with these stones. Together they create a small statue that acts to tell a combined tale of their own. As I look at the configuration, to me they resemble my vision of Mother earth in a robe of stone holding the great red nation to her breast, wrapping them in her cloak of stone protecting them from the harsh elements that encircle them.

I had not thought of this before… I am not sure if she is emerging or retreating… Is it a new nation emerging, or a vulnerable nation about to retreat to the protection of the inner earth once more…?

Grandfather says….

Hmmm

Grandfathers log, Day one...

The trip from ones mind to ones keyboard can be a whole lot further than one would think...

On a whim I have pecked out the first installment of this blog, without backing it up with the thought process of where this all might be going or why I have even began this journey at all.

Perhaps all will be revealed in the coming days... It is said that the Great Mystery touches us all in mysterious ways...

My journey thus far has proven that statment to be true many times over along this path... more times than I can count... Very much like the old quote "you can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can not count the number of apples in a seed..." All will be revealed in time...

Grandfather Says...