ken mcclure
02-12-2006, 01:36 PM
I posted this in another thread for ya, Mate, but I'm guessin' that you missed it. This is from right after 9/11, and is both sad and funny.
==================================================
Wild Dingo . Member # 3458 posted 09-16-2001 12:14 PM
Ive been a bit crook of late you see so the doctors have given me a couple of "chores" to do... one of them is to go outside and have a slow wander about the garden every morning bright and early when its quiet and still... I call it sparrow fart cause only then can a sparrow fart and be heard... for half an hour sitting whenever I want and just taking it slow and easy and this was how my first morning out of hospital went...
I walked my way slowly outside and sat under the large tuart gums that are a beautiful part of our garden and sat on the ricketty old garden seat amid the frangipani, hydrangia and those flowers the pacific islanders love so much that name escapes me at this moment... above me there is a family of kookaburras in one of the higher branches making their maniacal laughter as the sun rose in the east, I sat there in the crisp, freezing air and breathed deep the scent of life and the abundant freshness of spring... and I thought to myself its great to be alive this day.
I looked around and there was a pair of tiny blue tits feeding from the gravilla, a pair of bright colored lorikeets playing excitedly amid the smaller bushes just to the left of me... while at the other end of the garden a tawney frogmouth owl spread her wings and took to flight glaring its baleful eye as it flew away and I took a slow steady sip of orange juice while thinking to myself its great to be alive this day...
I walked slowly to the other end of the yard and bent a little to smell the scent of the roses budding, pinks, reds, yellows and the myriad of colors of the rainbow in between drinking in the sweet aroma... the lavender on the breeze wafting across the garden toward me made me remember our wedding day so many years ago...and I thought to myself its great to be alive this day.
And looking down there below in the grass I watched as something moved swiftly by... with typically eratic movements our garden skink stopped and looked at me in the eye it seemed then he took off darting here and there looking for some morning dew... a trail of ants across the flower bed marches onward ever onward... while the bees begin their morning dance... and I thought to myself its great to be alive this day.
Slowly the house began to come to life... first the wonderfull sounds of the woman I love rousing from sleep the eldest who needs go to work, grumbles and groans as that task is tried to be shirked... the other seven slowly come to life and noise fills the house where silence but moments ago ruled... the sounds of our many kids running too and fro as they begin their days adventures... and I thought to myself its great to be alive this day.
I went and picked up the newspaper from its "special place" that paper boys always like to have... under the dripping tap of course what use have I of a dry paper to read you moronic goose cry I, as I shake the droplets from the plastic covered roll... but then I smile and think to myself its great to be alive this day.
Walking into the house to the noisy riot of "feeding time at kaos kingdom" the kids talking at volume 20... all at once of course... "Hi dad!"... "Way to go dad"... "Sit here dad!"... "Hey dad you want some pancakes or toast?"... "Wheres my shirt?"... "Who's got my jeans?"... "I want the shower come on! Im gonna be late"... and amidst the noise and general riot the youngest who is but 6 years old scrambles onto my lap and grins his innocent cheeky grin and says "hey dada I luv you"... and I think to myself its great to be alive this day.
I open the paper to have a read but only get to the lift out before the tears begin to fall... and the noise seemed to stop and silence was around me as a swirling, muffled roar assailed my brain and the little fella wiped the tears from my cheek and looked down the newspaper sheet... And he sees the same picture that I see and ask's in innocent wonder "Why are those people falling from the building dada?" and holding my littlest child close to my heart I tell him "They had no choice little man they had no choice" and I whisper to myself...its great to be alive this day.
Just thought I would share that with you all and say that I wont personally be ventureing into the postings about the events of Tuesday 11 September 2001, for all of us no matter where we are in this beautifull world of ours can sit and ponder at the sencelessness of it all... argue about who is to blame... scream for vengence... but none of us can change a single fact of what happened... none of us can do a damned thing... least of all us who are not there.
I was told about my brother and his lovely wife who worked in the WTC buldings and are now listed as missing last night when the kids were asleep and it was just me and my beautiful wife and we spent the night sharing our memories of them both...
Today when looking at the pictures and reading what happened... I have come to the realization within myself that my brother will not be coming back from the USA...and nor will his beautiful wife... I cant find it in me to believe they have survived that tangled mess... and there will be no more big brother hugs from me to him or little brother hugs from him to me, or sails together, or laughter, or tears from the brother I loved...
And I wanted tell you now that no matter what else happens in your day go out and smell the roses as the first rays of the day come out to shine and give your kids a huge hug and for gods sake tell the people you love that you love them even if you find it hard to do just do it... for us it is great to be alive this day.
Take it easyShane
From: West Aussie mate!
Art Read . Member # 994 posted 09-16-2001 12:32 PM
Speechless... Thank you! God Bless.
From: Seattle, WA
dasboat . Member # 1202 posted 09-16-2001 02:15 PM
Thank you Shane for a special moment in my mourning.Darryl
From: roseville,ca,USA
Greg H . Member # 108 posted 09-16-2001 04:36 PM
Thankyou Shane.
From: Great Falls, Va
Wayne Jeffers . Member # 4680 posted 09-16-2001 05:22 PM
Sometimes it takes a tramatic event to help us focus on the preciousness, the fragility, of life and remind us of what is really important. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Beautifully articulated! It's really good to have you back with us.
Wayne
From: Athens, OH USA
Bruce Taylor . Member # 2142 posted 09-16-2001 06:01 PM
Shane, I'm simply stunned by the loveliness of what you've written. I've spent the last couple of days ploughing through news and brooding on the genocidal fury that is afoot in our world. I should have been sitting under a pine tree reading to my kids.
Thank you.
From: Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
ken mcclure . Member # 2957 posted 09-16-2001 06:52 PM
Indeed! Sounds like you are a wealthy man, in the only coin that counts.
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Ed Harrow . Member # 1235 posted 09-16-2001 10:10 PM
Some of us are blessed with a second chance; fewer are blessed with the gift to be able to describe it. A nice piece of writing.
[This message has been edited by Ed Harrow (edited 09-16-2001).]
From: Woodville, MA USA
jeff pierce . Member # 3577 posted 09-17-2001 01:15 AM
Thank you for writing that piece. I needed it. Glad to hear you're on the mend.
From: Salem, CT
Dave Williams . Member # 2295 posted 09-17-2001 07:11 AM
Dave just posted a quote of Shane's original post here. Deleted to save space. km
htom . Member # 919 posted 09-17-2001 11:50 AM
Thank you, Shane. Hug your wife and kids for us.
From: Eagan, Minnesota, USA
ken mcclure . Member # 2957 posted 09-17-2001 12:24 PM
Never having heard a sparrow fart, I took it upon myself this morning to go out back at first light and listen. With the reduction in air traffic, it seems that the area here is much quieter (we are under one of the approach patterns for Pittsburgh International) and that the chances would be good.
As you may expect, my flatulent flying friends regaled me with a virtual symphony that was so moving as to inspire me to join them with a contra-bass of my own. To my chagrin, I found that these little feathered menaces are clairvoyant and they halted their music about a half a second before my performance - which turned out to be an unintentional solo.
Now I have to explain that yesterday in an effort to begin curtailment of household expenses in anticipation of the coming economic troubles, I prepared a dinner which consisted largely of a bean which we call here Great Northern. It is done up in a sort of soup along with a lump of smoked pork, onions, garlic and a bit of tomato. This being one of my favorite dishes I partook heavily at evening meal, had another bowl before bed as a snack and upon waking at about 3:00am, decided to eat half a bowl of the beans cold as a nighttime fortifier.
The weight of all of this "beanitude" had so swelled my abdomen by the time of this musical interlude as to make my dressing robe difficult to close. The resulting blast (which was pitched perfectly at "A" in the lower register) came out not as simply a contra-bass but rather as a basso profundo of such proportions as to cause many of the leaves on a neighboring tree to fall.
With the silence in the skies and the nefarious silence of the birds, this "A" note resounded through the neighborhood and actually brought back to me an echo.
To my acute embarrassment I then discovered that the neighbor's wife (a VERY comely woman, by the way) had been out on her back porch taking in a little morning sun. She made her presence known to me with a slight throat clearing and said, "That was impressive, Ken, but I don't think I'll stay around for the encore."
So.
Thanks, Shane. While I am awfully glad to see that you are up and around and on the road to recovery, please tell your doctors to take their early morning walks along with the sparrows and shove them.
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Wild Dingo . Member # 3458 posted 09-17-2001 12:33 PM
Oh flamin heck!!! ROFLMAO And you blokes reckon I can write geeezus!!! Comic relief just what the doctor ordered!
Thanks for that info mate will have to try that bean mix sounds mighty fine... but tell me the noise she may be grand now about the smell........
Take it easy
Shane
Actually its a great time of day mate.
From: West Aussie mate!
Ed Harrow . Member # 1235 posted 09-17-2001 12:38 PM
With that preparation you just might have been a contender in the Montey Python skit entitled The Great International Farting Contest. Somethings will never be forgotten. See if you ever get invited next door again. ROTFLMHO, thanks for the laugh.
From: Woodville, MA USA
ken mcclure . Member # 2957 posted 09-17-2001 12:40 PM
Well, I didn't stay around for the aftermath but I did see two squirrels performing CPR on one of their mates who was in the last stages of asphyxiation. I also overheard the neighbor's husband saying, "At least it's better than the smell of that g$dd@mned epoxy."
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Ironmule . Member # 1065 posted 09-17-2001 08:01 PM
If I hadn't finished my coffee your morning concert would have been a 12 on the coffee snorting scale: I lost it twice. Fortunately, no cleanup needed.
JWSmith
From: Hiawassee, GA
dasboat . Member # 1202 posted 09-17-2001 10:29 PM
KW,tell another bedtime story....puuullleeezzz?
From: roseville,ca,USA
==================================================
Wild Dingo . Member # 3458 posted 09-16-2001 12:14 PM
Ive been a bit crook of late you see so the doctors have given me a couple of "chores" to do... one of them is to go outside and have a slow wander about the garden every morning bright and early when its quiet and still... I call it sparrow fart cause only then can a sparrow fart and be heard... for half an hour sitting whenever I want and just taking it slow and easy and this was how my first morning out of hospital went...
I walked my way slowly outside and sat under the large tuart gums that are a beautiful part of our garden and sat on the ricketty old garden seat amid the frangipani, hydrangia and those flowers the pacific islanders love so much that name escapes me at this moment... above me there is a family of kookaburras in one of the higher branches making their maniacal laughter as the sun rose in the east, I sat there in the crisp, freezing air and breathed deep the scent of life and the abundant freshness of spring... and I thought to myself its great to be alive this day.
I looked around and there was a pair of tiny blue tits feeding from the gravilla, a pair of bright colored lorikeets playing excitedly amid the smaller bushes just to the left of me... while at the other end of the garden a tawney frogmouth owl spread her wings and took to flight glaring its baleful eye as it flew away and I took a slow steady sip of orange juice while thinking to myself its great to be alive this day...
I walked slowly to the other end of the yard and bent a little to smell the scent of the roses budding, pinks, reds, yellows and the myriad of colors of the rainbow in between drinking in the sweet aroma... the lavender on the breeze wafting across the garden toward me made me remember our wedding day so many years ago...and I thought to myself its great to be alive this day.
And looking down there below in the grass I watched as something moved swiftly by... with typically eratic movements our garden skink stopped and looked at me in the eye it seemed then he took off darting here and there looking for some morning dew... a trail of ants across the flower bed marches onward ever onward... while the bees begin their morning dance... and I thought to myself its great to be alive this day.
Slowly the house began to come to life... first the wonderfull sounds of the woman I love rousing from sleep the eldest who needs go to work, grumbles and groans as that task is tried to be shirked... the other seven slowly come to life and noise fills the house where silence but moments ago ruled... the sounds of our many kids running too and fro as they begin their days adventures... and I thought to myself its great to be alive this day.
I went and picked up the newspaper from its "special place" that paper boys always like to have... under the dripping tap of course what use have I of a dry paper to read you moronic goose cry I, as I shake the droplets from the plastic covered roll... but then I smile and think to myself its great to be alive this day.
Walking into the house to the noisy riot of "feeding time at kaos kingdom" the kids talking at volume 20... all at once of course... "Hi dad!"... "Way to go dad"... "Sit here dad!"... "Hey dad you want some pancakes or toast?"... "Wheres my shirt?"... "Who's got my jeans?"... "I want the shower come on! Im gonna be late"... and amidst the noise and general riot the youngest who is but 6 years old scrambles onto my lap and grins his innocent cheeky grin and says "hey dada I luv you"... and I think to myself its great to be alive this day.
I open the paper to have a read but only get to the lift out before the tears begin to fall... and the noise seemed to stop and silence was around me as a swirling, muffled roar assailed my brain and the little fella wiped the tears from my cheek and looked down the newspaper sheet... And he sees the same picture that I see and ask's in innocent wonder "Why are those people falling from the building dada?" and holding my littlest child close to my heart I tell him "They had no choice little man they had no choice" and I whisper to myself...its great to be alive this day.
Just thought I would share that with you all and say that I wont personally be ventureing into the postings about the events of Tuesday 11 September 2001, for all of us no matter where we are in this beautifull world of ours can sit and ponder at the sencelessness of it all... argue about who is to blame... scream for vengence... but none of us can change a single fact of what happened... none of us can do a damned thing... least of all us who are not there.
I was told about my brother and his lovely wife who worked in the WTC buldings and are now listed as missing last night when the kids were asleep and it was just me and my beautiful wife and we spent the night sharing our memories of them both...
Today when looking at the pictures and reading what happened... I have come to the realization within myself that my brother will not be coming back from the USA...and nor will his beautiful wife... I cant find it in me to believe they have survived that tangled mess... and there will be no more big brother hugs from me to him or little brother hugs from him to me, or sails together, or laughter, or tears from the brother I loved...
And I wanted tell you now that no matter what else happens in your day go out and smell the roses as the first rays of the day come out to shine and give your kids a huge hug and for gods sake tell the people you love that you love them even if you find it hard to do just do it... for us it is great to be alive this day.
Take it easyShane
From: West Aussie mate!
Art Read . Member # 994 posted 09-16-2001 12:32 PM
Speechless... Thank you! God Bless.
From: Seattle, WA
dasboat . Member # 1202 posted 09-16-2001 02:15 PM
Thank you Shane for a special moment in my mourning.Darryl
From: roseville,ca,USA
Greg H . Member # 108 posted 09-16-2001 04:36 PM
Thankyou Shane.
From: Great Falls, Va
Wayne Jeffers . Member # 4680 posted 09-16-2001 05:22 PM
Sometimes it takes a tramatic event to help us focus on the preciousness, the fragility, of life and remind us of what is really important. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Beautifully articulated! It's really good to have you back with us.
Wayne
From: Athens, OH USA
Bruce Taylor . Member # 2142 posted 09-16-2001 06:01 PM
Shane, I'm simply stunned by the loveliness of what you've written. I've spent the last couple of days ploughing through news and brooding on the genocidal fury that is afoot in our world. I should have been sitting under a pine tree reading to my kids.
Thank you.
From: Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
ken mcclure . Member # 2957 posted 09-16-2001 06:52 PM
Indeed! Sounds like you are a wealthy man, in the only coin that counts.
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Ed Harrow . Member # 1235 posted 09-16-2001 10:10 PM
Some of us are blessed with a second chance; fewer are blessed with the gift to be able to describe it. A nice piece of writing.
[This message has been edited by Ed Harrow (edited 09-16-2001).]
From: Woodville, MA USA
jeff pierce . Member # 3577 posted 09-17-2001 01:15 AM
Thank you for writing that piece. I needed it. Glad to hear you're on the mend.
From: Salem, CT
Dave Williams . Member # 2295 posted 09-17-2001 07:11 AM
Dave just posted a quote of Shane's original post here. Deleted to save space. km
htom . Member # 919 posted 09-17-2001 11:50 AM
Thank you, Shane. Hug your wife and kids for us.
From: Eagan, Minnesota, USA
ken mcclure . Member # 2957 posted 09-17-2001 12:24 PM
Never having heard a sparrow fart, I took it upon myself this morning to go out back at first light and listen. With the reduction in air traffic, it seems that the area here is much quieter (we are under one of the approach patterns for Pittsburgh International) and that the chances would be good.
As you may expect, my flatulent flying friends regaled me with a virtual symphony that was so moving as to inspire me to join them with a contra-bass of my own. To my chagrin, I found that these little feathered menaces are clairvoyant and they halted their music about a half a second before my performance - which turned out to be an unintentional solo.
Now I have to explain that yesterday in an effort to begin curtailment of household expenses in anticipation of the coming economic troubles, I prepared a dinner which consisted largely of a bean which we call here Great Northern. It is done up in a sort of soup along with a lump of smoked pork, onions, garlic and a bit of tomato. This being one of my favorite dishes I partook heavily at evening meal, had another bowl before bed as a snack and upon waking at about 3:00am, decided to eat half a bowl of the beans cold as a nighttime fortifier.
The weight of all of this "beanitude" had so swelled my abdomen by the time of this musical interlude as to make my dressing robe difficult to close. The resulting blast (which was pitched perfectly at "A" in the lower register) came out not as simply a contra-bass but rather as a basso profundo of such proportions as to cause many of the leaves on a neighboring tree to fall.
With the silence in the skies and the nefarious silence of the birds, this "A" note resounded through the neighborhood and actually brought back to me an echo.
To my acute embarrassment I then discovered that the neighbor's wife (a VERY comely woman, by the way) had been out on her back porch taking in a little morning sun. She made her presence known to me with a slight throat clearing and said, "That was impressive, Ken, but I don't think I'll stay around for the encore."
So.
Thanks, Shane. While I am awfully glad to see that you are up and around and on the road to recovery, please tell your doctors to take their early morning walks along with the sparrows and shove them.
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Wild Dingo . Member # 3458 posted 09-17-2001 12:33 PM
Oh flamin heck!!! ROFLMAO And you blokes reckon I can write geeezus!!! Comic relief just what the doctor ordered!
Thanks for that info mate will have to try that bean mix sounds mighty fine... but tell me the noise she may be grand now about the smell........
Take it easy
Shane
Actually its a great time of day mate.
From: West Aussie mate!
Ed Harrow . Member # 1235 posted 09-17-2001 12:38 PM
With that preparation you just might have been a contender in the Montey Python skit entitled The Great International Farting Contest. Somethings will never be forgotten. See if you ever get invited next door again. ROTFLMHO, thanks for the laugh.
From: Woodville, MA USA
ken mcclure . Member # 2957 posted 09-17-2001 12:40 PM
Well, I didn't stay around for the aftermath but I did see two squirrels performing CPR on one of their mates who was in the last stages of asphyxiation. I also overheard the neighbor's husband saying, "At least it's better than the smell of that g$dd@mned epoxy."
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Ironmule . Member # 1065 posted 09-17-2001 08:01 PM
If I hadn't finished my coffee your morning concert would have been a 12 on the coffee snorting scale: I lost it twice. Fortunately, no cleanup needed.
JWSmith
From: Hiawassee, GA
dasboat . Member # 1202 posted 09-17-2001 10:29 PM
KW,tell another bedtime story....puuullleeezzz?
From: roseville,ca,USA