Morning on the River

Tranquility Base

COMMUNICATION

Sometimes communication is like sending a spray of fresh flowers, but what is received is a bushel of skunk cabbage. Curiously, both actions, sending and receiving, occur the same day and the same people are involved and it's the same package. 

©Herb Ratliff

I was thinking...

This morning when the sun broke over the horizon I wished I were on the North Branch of the Au Sable waiting for slab cut bacon, fried potatoes, eggs and toast from home made bread to prepare me for the chess game with a trout. I had heard the Hendricksons were on the water but with morning temperatures around 48 there wouldn't be a lot of activity until it warmed up a bit. The weather folk had promised 70 degrees by 3 o'clock. Michigan in May can be anything from blizzards to balmy. And, it can happen quite suddenly.

When I finally get to Michigan this year it will be the beginning of my forty fourth year of fly fishing the North Branch.

Herb Ratliff May 11, 2016

Sir Charles in postprandial lethargy

This morning I woke up hungry. That is not an entirely unique experience for me but My appetite had been without vigor since I contracted a nasty, evil, heartless cold. It squashed every bit of hunger from me, a task which must have required Herculean effort. I love to eat. The cook is on Holiday in the south of France, the butler, gardener and handyman have no culinary skills, so it was left to me  to create a festive, albeit pedestrian, morning temptation for my rapacious palate.

I inventoried the refrigerator, ready and frozen sections. Checked the pantry, herb garden and baked good repository. What I found was but a peasants view of hard bread and molded cheese but that would have to make do. To the chicken coop for eggs, the milk cow and dairymen for milk, butter, cheese and yogurt. Apparently, I would have to do the rest.

I prepared potatoes for hash browns and visited the smoke house for sausage while walking to the chicken coops for eggs. With the love and skill of a mother nursing her child I prepared the sausage, eggs and hash browns, placed them gently on the carefully warmed stoneware plate and repaired to the formal dining room to await delivery of the fresh squeezed orange juice, turned out the butler could do something besides iron the New York Times.

Hands full with visions of ingesting food for a king I tripped on the rug and lost control of it all. It tumbled tragically to its end  - upside down into a Jackson Pollock semi sculpture with a delicious aroma but tortuous visage. Heartbroken I screamed a single word. Then I looked at Charley whom I could swear was smiling. He needed no more invitation so walked slowly, almost regally to his prize.

His gratitude was so obvious and so intense that I somehow found my self grateful to be a part of it.

Pithy daily reminders of mortality, humanity, limitations and dreams controlled by the 6 inches between your ears.

Thought for the Day Charley, my dog, has had his own sofa for years. Yes, I know. Yesterday his sofa was relegated to the great furniture resting place. It was very tired. I had no plan for its replacement only a sincere desire to find it another location. Charley is a bit disoriented now. I can see him mouthing, "where is it"?. He has arthritis, so he couldn't get on it anyway, but it was a comfort to have close by in case something changed. Now he just circles looking for his couch. I can relate. When I get rid of things that are not in my best interest to keep I imagine them in their old locations waiting for me to interact with them again. It's almost as if they never left. If I keep it up there's not really much point in pretending to say I let them go. ©Herb Ratliff

Daddy's Shoes

Daddy's Shoes

Painting by Vyacheslav Shevchenko

Today when I picked up my running shoes from the closet I noticed the laces had been finished off with a double knot. I don't do that.Then, I remembered my son had brought his two children over for a visit Thursday afternoon. That evening we had a bonfire to make s'mores. At one point in the activities Bud, my son, had dropped down to his knee to tie one of my shoes. That must have been when it happened.

Parents of youngsters often use the double knot when tying shoes. I had used the technique on his shoes many times, what seemed like only a few years ago. He was doing for me what I had done for him. I'm a very lucky man. I have children who are very thoughtful, kind and loving in the way they treat me. Many times they are 
almost excessive in their thoughtfulness. And, believe me when I say, there is no balance sheet. Each of us gives, what to us, is whole, rich and comforting. More importantly, we give what we have time to give and what we believe in. 

I don't like everything I get from my children but, I know where a lot of it came from. And to their credit, they have filtered out a good bit of the chaff.

©Herb Ratliff 7/20/2014

Thought for the Day: Gratitude

Thought for the Day: And You Thought You were Trying

Andy Miyares, SO Ambassador/Contestant

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Sports Transcending Boundaries

"Let me win, 

but if I cannot win 

let me be brave in the attempt."

Thought for the Day: I Remember

The look you get from a child should remind you when you tell him, 

"Wait until tomorrow."

Thought for the Day: Answering Questions

"When a child asks you something answer him, for goodness, sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children but they can spot an evasion faster than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em."  - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Thought for the Day: Help

Remember what she says:

In the event of a decompression, an oxygen mask will automatically appear in front of you. To start the flow of oxygen, pull the mask towards you. Place it firmly over your nose and mouth, secure the elastic band behind your head, and breathe normally. Although the bag does not inflate, oxygen is flowing to the mask. If you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person.

It's always a good idea to make sure you have prepared yourself before you try to help others.

Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day: What Are You Thinking?

It doesn't matter near as much what others think of you as what you think of yourself. I mean respect not pride. In the long run you teach people how to treat you.

Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day: Expectations

I've never argued against planning ahead, goals, dreams and aspirations. I have come to see the landmines one can step on when setting up expectations of another's behavior. The secret to success in these sensitive arenas is the sure knowledge of which is which. One of them is planning what you control, the other is trying to control what you can't.

Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day: Finishing

Have you ever had the occasion to watch a sheet-rock finisher ply his trade? It's worth the time and filled with good advice. What I found to be most noteworthy was how he left the surface alone after he finished it with his spatula. He never went back over it with tiny fixes and touch ups. He left it alone. Good idea.

Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day: Listen

If all you do is talk, all you hear is what you already know.

©Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day: Quiet Gifts

The other day I was visiting with some old friends. Many of them were people I hadn't seen in over twenty years. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone looking at me. Finally, I turned and walked toward him to see if it was someone I hadn't recognized.

Before I could even introduce myself he looked at me and thanked me in a very kind way for something I had no memory of doing and so I protested the compliment and suggested he mistook me for someone else. He spoke my name and assured me there was no mistake. The he told me what had happened.

I still had no idea who he was and no recollection of the event. But the smile on his face was too genuine for me to argue. He said he had to leave and was abruptly gone from sight.

Sometimes I think I live in a world where people do not touch one another in any significant way. The truth is we do it every day, we just don't know about it. But that makes the gift even better.

Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day:Trust

I was thinking about trust and how few people in my experience have fulfilled a transaction that leaves me with perfect confidence of their trustworthiness.

If that sentence were uttered in a psychologist's office there would be good reason to look at me with a jaundiced eye and offer the suggestion that my inability to find trustworthy people emanates from an inherent untrustworthy set of values in my practices. And, frankly, I would have to agree.

But, I still have to say: It's a characteristics that is worth a great deal to the holder and the recipient. Even if you have to work at it every day.

Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day: Service

Every man and woman I admire lives a simple, perhaps hard life. Their goals are all essentially the same. Each morning upon rising they ask themselves one question: What can I do with my sweat and/or resources to serve my fellow man? Then, they do it.

Thought for the Day: Who Do You Trust?

When you seek advice remember to avoid asking too many questions. Asking questions engages the mind to seek reasons and strategies. Reasons and strategies form stories and rationales which get farther and farther from the truth with each iteration of supposition. The truth can be located with only the help of the gut. Your mind will lie to you, you can trust your gut.

Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day: Father's Day

Dad's Life Work on his 70th Birthday

I was thinking about Father's Day.

For everyone there is a relationship with someone that completes the circle. It's pretty much the same with fathers. Not everyone has a father to grow up with and that's OK because someone comes in to fill that void. As a matter of fact, it may not be someone. It may be some several.

My father was imperfect. Imagine that! But, he was what he could be. When I look back at the life he led, it was, in most part all done for the benefit of the family. That is not true for every day he took breath but from my perspective, it's true most of the time. The parts you can pick out and refer to as exceptions to that are just that, exceptions.

There are men who came in to fill the vacancies left by my dad. Dad worked  two full time jobs. If you have two eight hour jobs and sleep for eight, you have just used up a full day. Add into that travel to and from work, eating, personal hygiene and so on, it cuts into the sleep part. Playing catch in the back yard, while it might be fun, doesn't factor into that very well. So, what's the point?

The point is: each of us does what we consider to be the best use of our skills and time. There are some who may not and usually do not agree with our choices. We could even agree with them but not have the confidence, skill or courage to do it another way. But there are many who do not have the confidence, skill or courage to do it at all.

It's taken all of my life for me to gain a small understanding of what kind of courage it takes to be who you are, to try to be better, to keep trying after failing, to admit my own mistakes and to forego criticism of others who are doing the best they can.

So on Fathers Day what I want to say is: "Thank you, Dad. You are an amazing man."

Herbert B. Ratliff, Jr.