The Men That Don't Fit In

There's a race of men that don't fit in,
    A race that can't stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
    And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
    And they climb the mountain's crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
    And they don't know how to rest.

If they just went straight they might go far;
    They are strong and brave and true;
But they're always tired of the things that are,
    And they want the strange and new.
They say: "Could I find my proper groove,
    What a deep mark I would make!"
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
    Is only a fresh mistake.

And each forgets, as he strips and runs
    With a brilliant, fitful pace,
It's the steady, quiet, plodding ones
    Who win in the lifelong race.
And each forgets that his youth has fled,
    Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that's dead,
    In the glare of the truth at last.

He has failed, he has failed; he has missed his chance;
    He has just done things by half.
Life's been a jolly good joke on him,
    And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, ha! He is one of the Legion Lost;
    He was never meant to win;
He's a rolling stone, and it's bred in the bone;

    He's a man who won't fit in.

I have always loved the writings of Robert Service.  The characters, awe,  longings, fear and wildness expressed in his work.

I relate so much to The Men Who Won't Fit In. This poem describes my own restlessness, a Scottish curse perhaps, that travels with many of us in our wanderings (physical, emotional and spiritual), and becomes a teacher in our old age.

"And now is the time to laugh" ........

TAI CHI CLASS #1

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Tai  Chi class #1.

The first class was fraught with thoughts, rather than flowing movements. Kind of reminiscent of getting a mammogram, and with the dismal condition of my creaky knees just a painful. Put your right foot in, your left foot out, raise your arms with your palm up lower with your palms down, hold the imaginary ball of light, pull in energy into one's solar plexus. The only thing that was promising was that we were all quite slow movers, which was a plus for the teacher. 

After 30 minutes, I thought my right knee had turned into a bowl of rice crispies and the left was screaming at me to stop. But onward I went through the 60 minutes, no air conditioning and sweating profusely.  The next day was pretty bad with my knees still grumbling to each other about the abuse they sustained the night before. But, eventually, over a few days, they calmed down.  However, they are in for a shock on Thursday when once again they are called upon to bend and flex for another hour.

I trust after the ten-week course, the knees will be more flexible, and I will be too.

SQUISSSHHH

The air is oppressive.

It drapes like a heavy cloak.

Around my shoulders...........

I wonder if humidity is good for the complexion?  In Scotland we always declared that rain was the secret of our fair complexions. Water is life after all,  and mist does a body good.  The joints are another matter altogether.  Makes one ponder the ying and yang of life,  it does.....

BROKEN PLACES

I am taking my old achy knees to Tai Chi classes tonight. The bad right knee and the aching left knee that I twisted last Friday, hunkered down, staining a corner of the deck that dh built 25 years ago. The area was designed never to be reached by human hands, or so it appeared to me last Friday. My knees paid the price of my stubborness to stain that particular area. I am not sure how the exercises will go, but go I shall.

More and more with each passing week, I find my body is letting me know it is present, and not in a healthy way. I do not like that feeling..... Perhaps it is too late...but perhaps it is not. Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life and a call to live, after all.

Today, I am thankful for aches that talk to me, and new beginnings that are always within reach.


Onward..... into the fray

WHERE DOES TIME GO?

Its been a while since I posted, yes indeed, a while. Where have I been? In the land of the lonely some days, in the land of the lost many days and in the land of self imposed irrelevancy every day.

However, a few weeks ago, I was called for jury duty. Fretting immediately set in. How shall I get there by bus, drive and walk three blocks in the city in 100 degrees, my oh my, one worrisome day after another passed by. The big day arrived, I got a ride, exhale. For the first day in a very long time I was relevant, my service was needed, my opinion counted. People listened to me. No I was not chosen for a jury, after all I have a history in my professional life, of plotting and drafting many accident surveys over the past thirty years. Ergo, was not wanted by lawyers for a civil case involving an insurance company. But, the call to service was a blood transfusion, a validation, that no matter how far I have distanced myself from life it is only one step away from me at all times.

Reading Joseph Campbell while waiting to be summoned lifted me up also, how can one read his writings and not be enlightened.

" Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again."

" One great thing about growing old is that nothing is going to lead to anything. Everything is of the moment."

Joseph Campbell

Amazing..... just amazing. Perhaps I will venture out more to participate in the moment. Thank you Joseph Campbell for your teachings, and thank you to the State for the simple call to life....

Awakenings come in strange packages at times.......

PAULO NUTINI

A wee boy from Paisley, my new favorite.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

MESSAGE TO SELF....................

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas War is over
For weak and for strong If you want it
For rich and the poor ones War is over
The world is so wrong Now
And so Happy Christmas War is over
For black and for white If you want it
For yellow and red ones War is over
Let's stop all the fight Now

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas War is over
And what have we done If you want it
Another year over War is over
And a new one just begun Now
And so Happy Christmas War is over
I hope you have fun If you want it
The near and the dear one War is over
The old and the young Now

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over if you want it
War is over now