Thought for the Day: Love

Love is not given to careful evaluations of practical matters.

It revs up its engine and races til it splatters or solidifies.

©Herb Ratliff

Why Not Dance?

If we’re kept within a prison

there’s no lock can make us stay.

Lest our hapless, weary posture

simply let’s us waste away.

And if songs are sung around us

in the Winter or the Spring

But our voice is deathly silent

It’s not the fault of quieting.

When the wren darts to the sill plate

of the window we look out

And the song bursts from his small heart

lauding life and love, no doubt.

Dare we not release the handcuffs

which lock us down each day

And find somewhere within us

Something good or kind to say?

Reach out farther, oh my brother,

give your heart and mind a chance

Lift your spirit and your heels

It is your life, so why not dance?

Herb Ratliff, January 4, 2013, All Rights Reserved

The First Opener on the North Branch

Thought For The Day

Thirty one years later: August 2008

 back row l to r Paul Stenglein, Dave Stenglein, Jim Trembley, Jim Allerdyce, Me

Front: Jeff Stenglein, Bill Stenglein

During the winter of 1977 Jim Trembley and I had bought a piece of property on the North Branch of the Au Sable. A large section, about sixty acres had been split up into parcels, we had gone to Grayling, MI and got five of them, acres, with a little over two hundred feet of frontage on the river. We couldn't see it very well, it was wooded and pretty steep but it was ours and we were anxiously awaiting a chance to see it in the Spring. So on the Friday before the opener, it was the first official Arbor Day,  we headed north to our new spot to investigate.

The drive north is about two hours. We were pretty worked up about seeing it. We talked of building a place that overlooked the river, teaching our kids how to fly fish, lunkers just waiting for our mighty fishing skills and all the years we would get to fish together. When we finally arrived we were out of the car like a couple of kids going into Disneyland. The land looked absolutely pristine. I felt like the lord of the manner, OK, co lord. It was beautiful. The land sat near the foundations of the halfway house where the road crossed the river. It was a rest stop between Grayling and Mio. The fireplace stood high even though the hotel was long gone.

We wandered down by the river. It was difficult to walk because the ground was knotted up with grass and bog, a minor inconvenience. The stretch of water was straight, flat and deep, a perfect place to watch the surface dimple when the trout were feeding. We were mesmerized. It was getting late and dark and we had to find a place to spend the night. So we headed back toward the car. We were going in a different direction than our trip in and so we ended up passing near a cabin. A man was standing in the doorway. We waved and Jim said, "Let's go introduce ourselves." That shocked me because Jim was not the most social person I knew, especially when we were fishing. But, I said sure and we walked over to the house and met Bill Stenglein, the owner of the cabin.

He invited us into the cabin to have a beer. We said yes. We ended up having a pizza, meeting his sons and some family friends, spending the night and becoming life long friends. Telling you about Bill Stenglein and his family will have to happen another day. They deserve a lot of space. Enjoy the weekend friends, I will miss being there with you.

 And to you Bill, what can I say? I've never met a better fly fisherman or a better man. Thank you, my friend.

Herb Ratliff, April 27, 2012, All Rights Reserved

The Pelican Brief

Thought For The Day

It was just a few months into being a single parent. Scheduling ended up being one of the bigger problems. Everyone seemed to have something to do other than being on time. The lives of the kids get busier because they were busy to start with and now the going back and forth just added to the normal confusion. I was on my way to pick up my youngest from her alternate home, wondering what we would have for dinner, whether we would make it to the meeting on time and reminding myself to make sure she had all of her school books. It was an unusually pleasant evening for south Florida. The humidity was low, temperature very comfortable, a clear sky and just a zephyr of a breeze off the ocean. I pulled the car up to the house and Lindsay was waiting with her things on the porch. It still seemed odd to do this dance. Lindsay has a smile that can light up a room. When she saw me she was smiling and when I got out of the car she met me with a big hug and a handful of stuffed animals.
After we loaded the car, we exchanged our hellos and got to the business at hand, what are we doing for dinner? Most of the reliables were not hitting the target and I needed to get some gas so I pulled into a station to fill up. We went into the station together to settle up and Lindsay spotted some junk food racks and asked if she could have something that could not have been anything but colored sugar. I took a quick inventory of the available food stuffs and decided to attempt to make a meal out of what was there.
Loaded up with what could only be termed the most non-nutritious meal since Boy Scout camp, we headed out and Lindsay said, "Let's have a picnic.", I agreed and we headed for a local Park. It was pretty much deserted so we had a lot of choices for a spot. We parked and for some reason which now escapes me, decided to eat in the car. It was party time and the sugar just helped it along. We were laughing and talking and giggling when out of the blue it sounded like someone had launched a basket full of oranges into the air and they had all individually fallen on the top of the car. It absolutely shocked both of us into statue like states. We were frozen in place, looking at each other and then out the window. I immediately thought it was kids making mischief but unable to see anyone or anything, I got out of the car and there in perfect formation, just beyond the car were a half dozen pelicans. I turned and looked at the car, it had been thoroughly whitewashed and the mystery was solved. Lindsay let out a primal yuuuuuuuuuuck and we headed for the car wash.
Now, whenever Lindsay and I are together, if we should happen upon a pelican or two, a wide grin begins to form and sometimes uproarious laughter emerges without control. The food may have been without any nutritional value but the laughter and the memory still makes us smile.

Herb Ratliff, April 25, 2012, All Rights Reserved

Let Me Explain.....

Thought For The Day

When I was very young it was normal to ask questions. That's what children do, sometimes to the absolute distraction of the people being asked questions. But, it was expected and joked about and most of the time the questions were answered until the adult involved reached the end of their knowledge base and had to bow out of the discussion gracefully or not. My experience was quite normal in that respect.

As I continued to grow up and entered into relationships with others a good deal of my experiences still created questions, but the willingness to answer questions seemed to diminish. Sometimes the reason for the change in willingness was connected to religion. Let's face it, "Because God said so." is a real conversation stopper when you are a child. Add to it, "Do you want to go to hell?" and here ends the curiosity for most. However, there is always school and there in the halls of learning questions and dialogue are welcomed, right?

I will admit that I may have had more questions than the average kid, if not more questions, more persistence than most in pursuing clarification. This often led to a most frustrating condition for me and most likely for the teachers. They ran out of interest in my questions before I got my answers. Now, leaving a student with more questions is not a bad thing. Seeking information is the milieu of the student. But, asking the student to perform tasks when information has nothing to adhere to is likely to leave both student and teacher in confused state, one about the purpose of this information, the other about the teachability of this student. In this arena, both fail to accomplish their objective.

My curiosity was never sufficiently stunted to leave me without questions. It created some problems for me in the classroom but who doesn't have a problem or two to deal with anyway? What it did to me was sow a seed of passion for explaining things to people, never to leave a person with an incomplete set of reasons for anything I could explain and it drove my kids loony. As loving and caring as I was in my quest to never leave a question unanswered, my children lived in a world that existed on the hope that they would never have to ask me why.

And so the loves you have and promises you make to create a better life for your children can, on occasion, be the bane of their existence. But, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla, right? You can love, you can love deeply, passionately and selflessly the sweet children who enter your world as your babies but how well you love them will be decided by them. Just because your intentions are honorable does not mean they are successful. And in the final analysis isn't the real job of a parent to teach his offspring to be independent anyway?

Herb Ratliff, April 24, 2012, All Rights Reserved

Where the &*#@$%% are you going?

Thought For The Day

It seems a small thing but it is one of the more useful small things upon which most of us have agreed for  many years that has in the last few years seemed to have gone away. It is the convention of bearing to the right when walking in buildings, on sidewalks, paths, jogging, walking the dog and other like activities. It no longer seems to be an applied convention and it is, at times, really annoying and sometimes downright painful. The painful part is when the idea of sharing the designated space is not expressed in an amenable way, but rather approached as Wide World of Wrestling participant might approach an opponent. An expression only useful if you are angry and larger than the opposing perambulator.

I have never been given to convention for convention's sake but I must say that certain agreements of the human race are useful. This is one is of particular value because of its tendency to keep the flow of people speedy and without injury. To see it all but ignored is a bit frightening. I have been battered and banged by belligerent bipeds in churches, businesses, parks and hospitals without so much as a "pardon me". 

Are we really in that big a hurry? Is getting to a place that important? Is the intransigence of holding your space in the wrong lane important enough to injure old folks and children? But the real question is what do you give up by contributing to a predictable flow of people. Is it an affront to your individuality, an invasion of your right of expression or an admission of inferiority?  What gives?

If you can bear to the right in your automobile in the interest of avoiding expensive repairs to your body and your car's body why not do it when you are walking too? Please.

©Herb Ratliff, February 1, 2012, All Rights Reserved

Baby, The Rain Must Fall

Even the bird songs drip.

The rain, ceaselessly saturates the ground, the air, my thoughts.

There is no sunshine, no wind, just wet.

Can you imagine forty days and nights?

What is gopher wood anyway?

And what is a cubit?

The sun is waiting,  like me

for a better day,

for a bluer sky,

fly away.

Herb Ratliff, January 27, 2012, All Rights Reserved

Gratitude

This picture is from 1993. Left to right back:Bud, me
Front: L to R:Julie, Lindsay, Dora holding Nick, Cory holding Lindsay.
There are now ten more grandchildren:Lindsey,Kirkland, Joshua, Skylar, Zachary, Logan, Keaton, Xander, Zoe, Brayden.

Have you ever thought carefully about the things you are most grateful for? 

I'm very visual and so my eyes are at the top of the list. Ears that function reasonably well, taste, touch, smell and a little esp now and again. I have enough athletic ability to engage in most sports and compete at a better than average level if I choose. I am teachable. That is what I may be most thankful for on another level. Second chances are high on the list too. If it weren't for second chances no one would ever see this blog. Good health, the ability to heal: physically, mentally and spiritually.

I've had numerous opportunities to apply my skills in a work environment that provided rich rewards. Sometimes I did it with a high level of competence and creativity and provided exceptional service to my employer and clients. Sometimes I did not and that's where some of those second chances I spoke of come into play.

I have met and been befriended by some of the finest people in the world. Many of them have taught me about life. All of them have given something special to me: their time, their experience, their forgiveness in some cases, their disdain in others. Most everything I have received has been as a direct result of my actions and attitude. I must add here that while complaining about results that were less than complimentary to me I was complaining to a friend about things not being "fair or just" and he looked me in the eye and said, "Herb, of all the people I know, you are the last who should be asking for justice. You should be praying for mercy." He was right and I hope I never forget it. I also hope I never forget there are a lot of people out there just like me.

Some parts of my life have been a train wreck. There just isn't any other way to express it. I have fallen hard and often on this journey but, I have never laid there and quit. I have hurt other people, sometimes on purpose, sometimes without intent and sometimes from just being too fixed on my own interests to care about anything else.

Most of my life has been a miracle. More good has come into my life from the generosity of others than I can begin to list. But I cannot continue without acknowledging the best part of my life, my children. They are smart, thoughtful, generous, forgiving. They are wonderful parents. They are dependable friends and they are good neighbors. I hope you get a chance to meet them someday.

Give some thought to making a list of your own. I think you will find that life is good, hope enriches it and experience can be the catalyst for change or plunging you deeper into the denial that life isn't fair. Thanks for stopping by, I'm grateful for you too.

Herb Ratliff, January 24, 2011, All Rights Reserved

After The Party

After The Party

When I walked away from you on that warm summer night,

 I was thinking of when we were somewhere between 12 and 18.

Yes, I knew it was a 50 year anniversary.

Yes, I knew how old I was.

But, I wasn’t ready for you to die.

There was more to do, more to see,

More to feel, more to be, but I didn’t know

There was no more time.

And, I didn’t know there was an imminent epidemic 

of exits.

I don’t want to go, but, I am afraid of standing here

alone.

Herb Ratliff, January 6, 2011, All Rights Reserved

New Beginnings

I was just under six months old when I began my first new year. My prospects were pretty good. I had parents, a home, food at the ready, comfort was available and hugging was plentiful. I had an experienced sibling that had been around for nearly five years to survey the new digs and help me negotiate the new terrain. I can't give you much in  the way of details but overall my needs were met. Other than the parents being a little slow on feeding and cleaning sometimes, life looked like a pretty good gig.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, Henry A Wallace was vice president, Population was 136,739,353. The National budget was 78.56 billion, Federal debt 142.7 billion, unemployment was 1.9% and it cost three cents to mail a first class letter. You could send a post card for a penny.

None of that meant a thing to me personally but it affected how my family lived. The president froze prices, salaries and wages to prevent inflation. Withholding taxes on wages were introduced. In the world of medicine Selman Waksman discovered streptomycin and coined the word antibiotic and Doctors began to use the pap test to detect cervical cancer. Finally, the Pentagon was completed and became the largest office building in the world.

Our world is different now but the point of all this is to say that the potential for change is not theoretical. For all of us there will be tremendous changes in our lifestyle. For some the change will be minimal because they will not be here long enough to see any substantial changes. For those who stay, the infants, the toddlers, the prepubescent, the teens, and the collegiates, who have the benefit of knowing pretty much everything anyway, the change will be driven by them and so it will be tolerable. But here is the challenge. You personally can create or influence the change. If there is a condition or a crisis that needs to be addressed, you can have an effect on its outcome. Everything that happens in this world starts with an idea or a problem. So, if you are unhappy with the world or love it, you input counts. Adolf Hitler was one person. Steve Jobs was one person. Sam Walton was one person, from Arkansas for crying out loud.

Do not ever sell short what you can do, never. And, don't be afraid to fail. Failure is a part of the process and as sure as your next breath but it is O.K. Check out the number of things Thomas Edison tried to use as filaments for the incandescent light bulb before he came up with an ideal substance. You are as powerful as your dream.

Herb Ratliff, January 2, 2012, All Rights Reserved

Victoria's Secret

 Thought For The Day

Once upon a time there was a chubby, black, white, orange and yellow, striped, caterpillar, named Victoria. Victoria had a very pleasing smile and walked very gracefully for someone who had twenty-eight legs. She climbed in and about the milkweed bushes of her neighborhood every day, careful not to wander too far from home. Although she lived in a beautiful, open field, Victoria was not very happy. She was not happy because all of the other creatures in the garden called her pudgy and said she looked like a neon sign with legs.

Now, it is true that Victoria had a pleasant roundness of features, but that seemed only natural for a caterpillar with such an enormous appetite. She simply felt hungry all the time. No matter what she ate the next leaf she came across looked even more tantalizing than the one she had just finished eating.

So Victoria began to hide from the others in the garden. She would carefully look around to find a place to munch on leaves all by herself, until one day when she began to feel very, very tired. Victoria needed sleep. She began to look around for a quiet spot that would be safe and snug for a nap. Her curiously huge appetite had gone away. She began to feel groggy and disoriented. It became a great problem to figure out which foot she should start with. That had never been a problem before.

 It was early in the morning when she began her hunt for the quiet place and now it was growing dark. She felt like she could not take another step when suddenly, she tripped on a new leaf shoot and would have fallen to the ground but caught herself with her twenty-seventh foot. "Whew !", she gasped, not even being able to imagine what might have happened if she had missed the stalk. Carefully and slowly she worked her twenty-eighth foot into position to hold on to the branch. "Gotcha", she whispered, and fell fast asleep.

She awoke a few hours later with a feeling unlike any she had felt before. A little voice inside her was saying, "Look like a leaf." Victoria was very confused by this little voice. But, she heard it again. "Look like a leaf." Now Victoria was a pretty smart caterpillar, as caterpillars go and she was more than a little put off by this curious little voice telling her to look like a leaf. She felt even more ridiculous when she heard her voice saying, "Why should I look like a leaf?", and her chubby little cheeks began to glow red with embarrassment for talking back to an imaginary voice.

It was just at that moment that a very curious thing indeed happened to Victoria. A lovely silken thread appeared before her that shined with all of the colors of the rainbow through the light of the very full moon. And without knowing why, Victoria began to wrap herself in between the folds of a leaf with this wonderful silken thread until she did indeed look like a leaf.

Things in the garden continued to bloom and grow. Days turned to weeks and  finally one sun-streaked day Victoria woke up. "Oh my, she yawned. "Where am I?" She felt very cramped and crowded in this dark place. So She began to struggle to get out. She wiggled and she wriggled. She bent and stretched. She oohed and she ahhhhed until she saw a tiny splinter of light. That encouraged her to try even harder until she saw the full light of the sun.

 It was so beautiful. The sun, the flowers and the leaves on the trees were full and rich in colors. But Victoria felt wet and weak. She felt like she needed to stretch and stretch and stretch and so she did. It was then that another strange and wonderful thing began to unfold, her wings. She stretched and straightened and stretched and straightened until every part was straight and flat. The cool breeze felt terrific and then she noticed something incredible. Her wings were large and graceful with swirls of orange and black and white. They were beautiful, she was beautiful and she wasn't fat any more she was light and graceful.

Without any warning her foot lost hold on the limb to which she had so carefully attached herself and she began to fall. She began to struggle and in her struggle waved her wings frantically only to find that she could fly. What a happy day. She was beautiful and she could fly. And so, she did, because you see, Victoria had become a Monarch Butterfly.

Her heart was full and she was excited about her new wings and the lightness of being that she felt. She wanted to fly and fly and fly, but that is another story.


Herb Ratliff, December 29, 2011, All Rights Reserved

Up on the Housetop

Up on the Housetop

I went to my grandson’s concert last night; he, Joshua Kingsley’s in the eighth grade. Thirteen, do you remember? Wow. There were several groups of musicians showing off their new skills, sixth, seventh and eighth graders. They did such a good job. I was great fun. The finale was a little horse-play entertainment around the reading of “T’was the Night Before Christmas”.  I’m a big fan of band experiences for kids. It’s one of the finest places for building character, cooperating, showing off, and experiencing the power of being better by joining together with others who share your same point of view.

The music was traditional and predictable except for a very nice version of “Il est ne, Le Divine Enfant”, He is born, the Divine Child. But what I enjoyed most were the traditional songs. One that resonated with me last night was “Up on the Housetop”. I swear I could hear my mother and dad and sisters singing it.  I particularly remember the phrase, “First comes the stocking of Little Nell , Oh, dear Santa, fill it well.” My mother had a sister whose name was Nell and I thought they were talking about her and I wondered how she got to be in a Christmas song. There is a lot of magic in the air this time of year if you are open to it.

There is a lot of difficulty in the world these days, serious difficulty. There is a woeful lack of leadership in this country. There is a staggering focus on filling our own stockings and a lot of anger with the scams and greed that show up day after day. But, there is beauty too. There is charitable giving at record levels and as American as apple pie hope that still gets us from one day to the next.

This is a picture of George and Mary from a stage production of "It's a Wonderful Life". That's my daughter, Dora Watson, who portrayed Mary. Isn't she adorable? No pun intended.

When the days dwindle down to a precious few

and chestnuts roast on and open fire.

When the sleigh of St Nick is covered with dew

and music is sung by a heavenly choir.

When children are nestled all snug in their bed

and fires are doused for Santa's arrival.

When  visions of sugar plums dance in your head

And all disagreement is naught but a trifle.

It must be Christmas, I'll tell you right now,

Let your eyes lift to heaven let joy take a bow.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Be joyful if you can

Happy will be OK

Thankful isn't bad either

If you are still having trouble

Try a little gratitude

To put you in the mood

If you've been misunderstood'

Herb Ratliff, Decmber 13, 2011, All Rights Reserved

O K, You are naked. Now What?

Thought for the Day

Charley, my canine companion, never does anything to adjust for the differences in temperature when he goes outside.

I find that remarkable.

Imagine that, no boots, coats, hats to put on or store in a closet. No laundry to do, fashion to follow or fabrics to treat. When you are ready, you just stretch, let out a satisfying guttural sound and enter the natural world al fresco. That would simplify our world a good bit and certainly take a lot of the braggadocio out of size matters conversations.

I suppose it would require a little evolutionary adjustment to our bodies for comfortable management of temperature ranges. That or there would likely be mass migrations seasonally to compensate for the lack of fur or clothing.  But, hey, lots of people do that anyway, right?

Still, there is something vaguely familiar about this idea.

©Herb Ratliff, December 7, 2011, All Rights Reserved

River Magic

River Magic

You'll find me sitting by the water,

staring in it or around

watching all that starts

or ends there,

with or without any sound.

In the Spring it's mayfly hatches,

rising off the placid surface

while the trout's now lurking shadow

waits to dine, his only purpose.

Then the summer's rich delivery

when fish and insects do abound

I'll seek the shadows haunts to sleep in

hearing only water's sound.

Fall begets the tiny midges,

dragon flies and water sprites

then I fear that winter's coming

shorter days and longer nights.

Bundled up in downy vestments,

mesmerized by bluest skies

I think of all the trout engagements

ending in a sweet good bye.

©Herb Ratliff, December 5, 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Exploring Outside the Box

Exploring Outside the Box

Do you ever wonder about sleep, how it works, why you can, why you can’t, what dreams mean, why it’s so easy to remember some and not others? What the heck is going on in there?

I usually sleep pretty well. Lately, it hasn't been so good. There is no particular reason I can think of that would stand as a reason for a change in my sleep pattern but, there is a change. I don’t like it but I’m like you in that respect. I don’t like change much either. There is a rather satisfying thing that happens as the result of awaking earlier than usual. I get to do some things that I normally wouldn't  I spend time talking to friends on Facebook. I listen to a Ted Talk. I write extra things. I get to see a part of the day that is a mystery to most other people. Today I experienced some music that I probably wouldn't have listened to on most days. I’m not all that fussy about music but I am a little parochial in my listening habits. So today I listened to Lady Gaga and Sugarland sing together. I know almost nothing about either of them but I was an instant convert when I listened to the song they sang together at the Grammy Nominations last night. I do love kick-butt, get up and get after it music. Yep, even at four AM. I know that’s a stretch but hey, we all have some unusual habits.

I must tell you that it is that kind of combination that makes you want to be very careful about prejudging what is enjoyable by categorizing everything into tight little bunches. The performance was so spontaneous, energetic and impassioned that I simply got caught up in the energy field. I must have listened to it four or five times. I was ready to go to a concert. (By now it was five and energy was coursing through me with a vengeance.) I hope you’ll take a look at it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwlIdI_nr2E

Anyhow, that’s where the muse sent me this morning. Try something different today. You never know where some secret pleasure lies that you could find with just a little exploration out of the usual haunts.