Epitaph

Epitaph

When I die

Give what's left of me away

To children

And old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,

Cry for your brother

Walking the street beside you.

And when you need me,

Put your arms

Around anyone

And give them

What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,

Something better

Than words

Or sounds.

Look for me

In the people

I've known

Or loved,

And if you cannot give me away,

At least let me live on your eyes

And not on your mind.

You can love me most

By letting

Hands touch hands,

By letting

Bodies touch bodies,

And by letting go

Of children

That need to be free.

Love doesn't die,

People do.

So, when all that's left of me

Is love,

Give me away.

-----Merrit Malloy

into the light

on a beautiful summer weekend my father chose to get up and walk out of this troubled world... in 35 years of working with orthopaedic patients he is the first i've ever had code on me and leave. he was independent to the last, at 94 years young. may he rest in peace and continue to inspire.

flood stage

rain, rain, rain.......... and more water every day. the lake is kicking out 60,000 cfs and the down stream on the des moines river is now "way down stream".... with a kayak you can put in just about anywhere now... if only there was time in the week.

bridging the gap

with weather finally breaking to sunshine an uncharted morning on whitebreast creek (lake) found stripbuilder caged by the 92nd ave bridge's girders. a four hour round trip, with a southern terminus on s45, was a welcome return to activity in the flooded fields southwest of town. it could have been a three hour tour~~~~~~

garden party

i went to a garden party and all my old friends were there... there was magic in the air. this summer is the year of the hydrangea macrophylla or "nikko blue" hydrangea. we have never seen such color and blooms before so the "planets must be aligned". with flooding and constant rains we are seeing colors never before experienced. acid soil produces blue ones and alkaline soil promotes pink.

the lilies are not just in the valley this year. with a colorful array of varieties the raised bed is vibrant, if only in better view from the deck.

smoke and mirrors

late evenings on the backwaters of red rock lake can blur the lines between heaven and earth.

gaeilge

in the republic of ireland the official language is gaeilge or as english speakers refer: irish/gaelic. still after two trips to ireland i can only pronounce "thank you", and that with some dispute. it depends if you are in county clare or county mayo, rather like dialects of english in the US. our trip to the emerald isle again was met with sunshine and friendly faces...... and this year a few pints of guinness in dublin. it is difficult to describe the beauty we encountered but i'll try with a few pictures.
kayakers paddling along the giant's causeway in northern ireland made me wish i'd have taken my folbot along, but so did every stretch of water along the coast and every "lough" or lake. the geometric shapes of the rock formations, raised up along the coast at giant's causeway, proves that there really is a reason to take geometry in school....... couldn't have proven it before this.

the falls hotel lacked the usual "falls" with low water levels and less rain than normal, but the lush countryside was still full of flowers in bloom and "quite lovely" vistas.