I am that Crow!

It was a simple day's event. I was headed back from Trader Joe's. I wasn't really in a hurry, but I think I was driving like I was. I wasn't going that fast but I thought it would be fast enough to blow the trash out of the middle of the road, which is what I was trying to do. That is until I realized that the trash was jumping and actually wasn't trash at all. It was a crow! Now, something you should know about me, I don't like crows very much. They are loud, obnoxious, scroungers, imitators of birds of prey sometimes when flying and the most annoying thing to me about these birds, they seem like they are always mocking. Mocking other birds, people and whatever seems to be around. So, as I approached the bird I was trying to scare the bird to fly away and fear me in my huge car (at least compared to the bird. But when I approached the bird it didn't fly away. I thought, "How brazen! This bird isn't even scared of the car! What a jerk!!" (Yes this is what I think about crows, they are jerks!) This bird not only didn't fly away but barely moved out of the way for me. As I looked closer I saw something was not exactly right. I looked closer and this crow was actually missing some feathers as well as had some feathers that weren't quite full with pieces missing. It looked like a younger bird too. That was it, I couldn't help it. I turned the emergency lights and stopped the car right there in the middle of the street. I got out and tried again to scare the bird into flying away...and failed. The bird wanted to walk underneath my car but I was able to block him at the last moment. So I changed tactics, I would try to get the bird out of the street without touching it, lest it bite me or get killed by another car. Somehow I was able to successfully herd the bird to the side of the road safely. There was a part of me that thought I should have let the bird die there in the middle of the road...but then I had a thought...I am that crow!! I am trying to not get run over in the middle of the road, I run away from the one who tries to help me live, and I can only effectively motivated by fear into a place of relative safety to recover and "lick my wounds". I left feeling less like a jerk and more like a wrecked animal in need of some recovery from whatever life happened to throw at it.

 

Letter to Memories

I decided to write a letter as a song using songs from my childhood. Maybe you'll recognize some of the names of the songs. I might make this into a song, we'll see. 

Sitting down to write a note to you my friend.
An Invitation to Understandin'
Still wishing you were still here, everyday
No matter the actions or choices, voices still replay...

I hear Mr. Milsap singing about the "Smoky Mountain Rain",
his lost love, in the beauty there is still pain
Not sure why Gatlinburg reminded me of a cereal Captain
It was just a time, a story I'd get trapped in

I miss the way "Friends are Friends Forever"
and "Emily", "The Kentucky Rose" used to
search for their "Place in this World".
and maybe a life outside this "Rocket Town"

"Petra Means Rock", it's true
but "This Means War" for the "Available" few
"To Hell With the Devil" is all I'm sayin'
"Honestly", this is all they were playin'

In Acapella they "Laid their Weapons Down"
and there was "Amazing Grace" all around
Their voices rang out clearly
knowing though, it was "My Responsibility"

Now it's nothing but a "Rainy Season"
"Whistlin' in the Dark" as to the reason
"Wonder if They'd Love Him" in your town today
Truth is that "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday"

It's been a long time since I dreamed...

I was jumping. I jumped as high as the inside of the school's gymnasium. I grabbed a hold of the middle I-beam. As impressed as the few friends watching were, the landing was always the toughest. it always hurt the knees, no matter how I tried to shield them. Then there were the other times of jumping over the trees in the forest near Yosemite, just didn't feel like walking around any more. My favorites though were the times where I could just soar or swim the skies. It was such a freedom up in the clouds as they passed by as if no time to stop for a greeting.

The worst were the ones about the sea or water, probably rooted in the one about Little Fredrickson's boy falling into the pool presumably because of something I had done, after all, I had signed my name in the freeze frame. The most frightening was the wave of infinite circles all crashing in the middle of where I was on my boogie board. The waves, the dark- all descending onto the place where I was.

These are the major themes of the two stories- the ones about the ability of ascending and those about descending. Either way, those have been the majority of the substances of my dreams in years past. These days, however, sleep is hard to come by either through sheer will-power to "get through" a paper or to just watch that show that I haven't seen because I haven't had so much time because of said homework. One would actually have to sleep for them to show themselves. It's been a long time since I dreamed...of either.

Day #25 "Never Gettin' Tired of You"

This is day #25 of the 25 day, 25 song challenge...

• Day 25 Song That You Could Listen to All Day without Getting Tired of:

The song that I could listen to all day and never get tired of is "A New Hope" by Five Iron Frenzy
This song is a good reminder of where hope comes from and who provides it.

Amy's going back to school today
Elation, jubilation
Streams from her face
Did the halls smell
Of gunpowder still
What made the human mind
Dark enough to kill

A new hope
Where is your freedom
A new hope
Cast off your burdens

A darker world lies behind this one
Cryptic, it hides beneath perception
We all saw it on that day
Stunned, we stood stuttering
What did the news say

A new hope
Where is your freedom
A new hope
Cast off your burdens
A new hope
Where is your freedom
A new hope
Here is your freedom

Peace
Fills us
By hope we steer
Our dark hearts salvaged
We live without fear

Day #24 "Dancing With Friends"

This is day #24 of the 25 day, 25 song challenge...

• Day 24 Song That You Have Danced to with Your Best Friend:

The song that I've danced to with my best friend is "Blue Comb" by Five Iron Frenzy. I really wish I could upload the VHS of us dancing around the Christmas Tree. It was a typical night where we were asked to "watch" the Christmas Tree Lot at the church to make sure people weren't stealing trees at night. Our solution was staying up the entire night making ridiculous movies about absolutely nothing at all! So much fun! At one point we danced around a Christmas tree like it was a bon-fire of a Native American campground. As we did so we started singing Blue Comb, because it had come out earlier that year, maybe a month or two. But I can't upload that video. Here's Five Iron Live performing Blue Comb...

Day #23 "I Cant Stand It!"

This is day #23 of the 25 day, 25 song challenge...

• Day 23 Song That You Can't Stand to Listen to:

The song the I cannot stand to listen to is "Sail Away" by Enya. I can not stand that sound. I never really liked it when it was on the radio and everyone loved it. I didn't like it when I found out that the words were actually in English and not in a foreign language. And I really didn't like it when I had to do a dance routine to it! So, I still have bad feelings toward this song. It sounds like a haunting dream and not the good kind, So, yeah that's my song I can't stand.

Day #22 (12/02/14) "Song Someone Has Sung to You"

This is day #22 of the 25 day, 25 song challenge...

• Day 22 Song That Someone Has Sung to You:

As a general rule people don't usually sing to me. Even my kids will sing a song, but not to me but while I happen to be in the room. So really the only song I can remember anyone singing to me would be Jesus Loves Me which is a traditional song. I'm not sure who wrote this one but it has been around for sometime. While it's simple in construct, it's theology is pretty sound. "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so..."