The Malaise of Indecision and Fear

The Malaise of Indecision and Fear   The other day… In deep thought This man’s considerations Of oneself Of nature’s ways Human imperfections Too damn many to say The usual forms, unable to be formed All my fields, A year without planting No harvest will be found Young things wilting Just look around Here I sit in contemplation I am a teacher Adrift without sound Nothing in bloom They ask for me to do the impossible My children must not breathe on each other They who ask must all be Mad Hatters                     At best Insane characters Giving me riddles to solve Professing love An erstwhile endeavor, If only they meant it

…And I take this time from your read Offering some solace to those of us in need Our children will all become rewarded Recompensed with everlasting elation Each heart pounding out an ever-stronger beat. There will always be teachers to serve them. Guaranteeing every child, a chance to succeed.    Too far in my distant past, at the end of an arduous teaching day, I take this moment of recollection…thinking back to a most pleasant moment. My mind working for me, a little overtime, a person might say. After exchanging phone numbers and all agreeing to stay in touch, the class had come to an end of a six-week cycle. The students had all left the building except for one. Three things in a row followed as she walked up to where I sat at the front of the recording area. She offered her hand to shake, she handed me this little white box, tied with a red ribbon, and a tiny card, and kissed me on the cheek as she departed. I opened the box. It contained a bright “delicious” apple. The note read, “Always remain the teacher you are”! Enough said!

Often the times we live in, some would say we exist in, degrees of extremes, heaped upon us by the very people we are relying on to bring us from life’s doldrums to a higher hill in search of a flow of fresh air. We find ourselves depending on the very people we voted for, believing their promises as a guarantee, then discovering there is no working guarantee of a joyous lifetime to behold.   HK

Good times, just around the corner

“Old is when the liver spots show through your gloves.”

Phyllis Diller 

Phyllis Diller began her career in 1937 as a standup comedian at age 17.

Note: da harv still doesn’t require gloves—unless I happen to be pruning my Bougainvillea.       Phyllis had an enrapturing laugh. I was fortunate enough to have been able to hear it resound in person, although unfortunately, I can’t recall when it was.   …And then there was a young lady named Shirley Temple Black.   “When I was fourteen, I was the oldest I ever was….I’ve been getting younger ever since.” Shirley Temple         Shirley began her career at age four, and she remains the biggest child star of all time. Little da harv was about ten years of age (that would be me) when his dad told him: he thought Shirley Temple did more than any politician ever to help our country come through the Great Depression. Da harv saw his first Shirley Temple movie at age six.

Little Colonel, 1935 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Shirley Temple

And though Shirley Temple and Phyllis Diller appeared to have great differences in their talent to entertain, and the enormity of juxtaposition in their lifestyle and attitudes, they accomplished great similarity within their abilities to bring joy to people during some of our country's most trying times. Both of these ladies were far more as references in aiding humanity than what the general population became aware of during their entertaining lifetime. It appears to folks today that those days of the Great Depression were different than they are now, but…were they?       It was the Great Depression from August 1929 to March 1933, a duration of 43 months. The reported unemployment rate was in excess of 10%. The United States/Population in 1933 was 125.6 M (and if you’re interested, we have tripled our population size during the course of the last eighty-eight years). The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic disaster, everyone suffered by its toll. Source: Wikipedia         One of the things my mother and father agreed about in our household: laughing and smiling were all the ingredients necessary for stimulating happiness and some very deep conversations. Both Phyllis Diller and Shirley Temple Black were two of the more vibrant entertainers supplying grit for salvation during the misery engulfing our entire country.        Like most kids existing in a happy household, none of us were aware of the trying times our parents were going through for so many years; forty-three months in our case. As a very little kid, I took great joy helping my dad shovel snow during the early evenings when he returned home from whatever job he was able to find. I was never told he was being paid to shovel that damn snow. I remember seeing my mom and older sister rubbing dad's back. I was far too young to understand as a three-year-old—they told me they were playing a game.       And then one day, the shoveling of our neighbor's snow came to an end. It was time for World War II to enter our lives; little da harv had matriculated to the seventh grade, junior high school. Little da harv was now a ripe thirteen-year-old.    1941: Good-bye Depression, Welcome World War II

The enormity of our American spirit proved unequaled in the history of the world; everyone suffered by its toll. Over sixty million people died in World War ll. From then and up until now, historians all agree, without the United States of America, the world we know today would not exist.   In windows throughout our great land Many mothers with stout hearts Replaced blue flags with gold   Settings left beset Lives to be lived Choices to be made   Life’s unwanted vacancies Somehow being dealt with Sorrows remain Sorrows abound   And those at home Men, women, boys, girls All together Helped Those returning Though some remained seated They all stood tall   They managed to overcome Theirs was a different war than ours   Our people remain Our people Some seated, all standing tall Many more hands today Extending hands As we did yesterday   No stirring waters Will create a wave With a height Or strength Beyond ours -HK-

All Photo Sources: Google Images

Masks

Masks Questions for my child   What if masks covered our eyes   What if we all needed to clasp Hands to get around safely   What if words weren’t allowed   If love was conveyed by the touch Of another’s hand As in a mom, a dad, a friend   Must we always talk So we might understand   What if love Was our only way Every day   And when you dreamed Would it be of tomorrow Another most wonderful day When we’re all back at school Clasping friends' and teachers' hands Showing love   Guess what Everyone understands! -hk-

Finnegan McKenna and Maxwell Hanson | CREDIT: BOY MEETS GIRL

Spark Glimmer Flame

Spark, Glimmer, Flame Avoid calling it prayer Apply wishful thinking Yours alone to take A second choice Still fighting well-aged despair   Search the seemingly burned out coals Perhaps a flicker of light Remains beneath Though worn down Remembrances Mine to keep   Beneath it all My mind’s eye revealing Yet difficult to trust   Sleep remains in groggy eyes Yawning, scarcely in belief Once it was then Today I perceive A flame appears Flickering brighter now Coals brightly burning Have they returned A spark, a glimmer, a flame The soul of this actor   More than an ember Then, it is now Not yet quenched A flame still burns An upward curtain New, better, unspurred   He shares his secret Inside his grounded temperament Urgings for him to growl again Okay then, you bastards, one more time Do not play me Is it truly a sparkle I feel Oh if only emotions were trustworthy Oh to be At home, at home again, with lights shimmering, and a flame flickering at rise   Oh! To bow again   Once more hearing the blissful sounds of an unmasked audience with its wave upon wave of approving tides, forever filling all of life with blessings! -hk- 

Chicago Auditorium Theatre Chicago's Landmark Stage Est. 1889

Gentle Fist

 

Gentle Fist Gentle Fist Gentle Fist   A fist, is a fist, is a fist as that of a child

Fists are designed to hold things Some more tightly than others Fist sizes vary, mostly dependent on age Basic shapes are the same worldwide Fists should not be used to hit people   Pundits perch, a thought process from the eminences of those who choose to remain free When you seek love in your life, never clench too tightly, Beware, unwilfully squeezing emotionally from what your heart dictates An unclenched fist will help love grow  An open hand may signal betterment in your life’s direction Love is most aptly shown when one relieves the emotional pressure in a relationship by merely relaxing their hold, especially when the grip has been strained and relentless A clenched fist can never be held for a lifetime.

Fist pumping is usually a good thing to do, but not always; Sporting events, yes; "bad" news about a relationship, no. (For example, if she tells you she doesn't want to see you anymore, and you celebrate.)

-hk-

Emergence

Listening in

While visiting almost

Every age of the past

A child was heard to ask

Why don’t we live forever

Why don’t all the good things last

Why do people have to hurt

Especially towards one another

Why was a friend’s father taken

Another one’s mother, the same way

When will I go back to school

Will my friends be there

So we can play

Hurrah!

Daddy’s home!

He’ll know what to say

First, as a single strand seemingly a gentle struggle without fear, seeking direction, all life has this similarity. All with a blossom uncovered, recovered, born, and reborn.

We listen before we are able to see.

We hear before we are capable of understanding.

We interpret at nature’s will, some with more spirituality than others.

As in clouds before breeze becomes a wind we drift. Gentle zephyrs bring nor bear warning. And, if at first light there is truly light, do we treasure it?

Do we pray for its lasting glow?

Are we aware that shadows are destined to fall, covering us, though more gently for some, never equal; this being nature’s shade.

Then without a herald, darkness comes. And finally, it is within my contemplation, my study, and my search for knowledge that a reasonable answer brings a degree of meaning.

The process of learning is the process of growth. Discovering contemplation as a major component will continue to nourish our life’s journey. Far more joy would be derived if this awakening would come sooner than later for all of us, but awakening is part of nature’s domain.

There is no need for anyone to wait.

We are born with the ability to process. Some discover it sooner than others. Some are not destined to ever discover they are endowed with the ability to spiritually engage the true process of life.

The light, the shadows, and the darkness will ultimately become part of each of our contemplative journeys. But inherent in all of us is the ability for learning. And without learning, our growth is impossible.

HK

Say hello to anyone who knows me...

Chapter 60: “Say hello to anyone who knows me.” – HK (flavorful farewell words, still today and yesteryear)   October 6, 1993: Cathy and Harvey had been married almost one year to the day when they got their first casting work order under the marque lights as the team known as, Kalmenson & Kalmenson.

Thirty-plus years ago, I uttered that flavorful farewell to the actors who came in to audition for me at 105 South Sparks Avenue in Burbank. On our first day of business, it struck almost all of them as a funny “au revoir” (that’s French, folks) from me to them before departing. And for whatever the reason might be, to this day, none of the actors, men or women, have enquired about my farewell to them. The response has always been with their charming laughter.         Today, while driving home from Costco, I mistakenly reminded Cathy that not even she had ever asked me what my departing phrase to the actors meant. She instantly reminded me of our conversation which took place some thirty years ago. (Can you imagine thirty years goes “bye-bye” in a marriage and my wife remembers every single word of that ancient conversation?)          I knew I was in for it when Cathy began reminding me of my exact words. She began with, “Don’t you remember? You asked me if I knew what the phrase ‘say hello to anyone who knows me’ meant. And then, when I asked you to explain it to me, you told me to figure it out on my own.”         "My cop-out?" I explained to Cathy, I wasn’t attempting to be a wise guy, I was writing a piece for one of my Sunday morning essays and I didn’t want to ruin it for her. She answered me with a mild smirk, which meant for me not to think I was getting away with anything. Our discussion temporarily ended there. We had arrived at Costco (thankfully).

Origin Explanation: “Say hello to anyone who knows me.”

Jimmy Francis Durante Born February 10, 1893. Died Jan 29, 1980 (age 86).

Jimmy was a worldwide known and loved entertainer. Most who appeared on his radio show became stars in their own right. Incidentally, one of my favorites was the show’s regular singer, Peggy Lee. Another prejudiced choice of mine was, of course, my cousin, Dave Barry, who also appeared regularly to do the voice of a character named Mr. Bubbles. Dave sounded like he was underwater with the sound of bubbles coming from his throat. Audiences loved them.         After the death of Jimmy’s wife, Jeanne Olsen, in 1943, he began ending his radio program with the phrase, “Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash; wherever you are”, as a tribute to her.         For the umpteenth time in my life, nostalgia clicks in, and there I am, for one reason or another, back in time, seeing, hearing, and above all, feeling. Both in color and black and white, a variety of emotions. Emotions I have learned to accept at the moment they occur. The ‘why’ of it all, I have successfully deemed to be of no immediate value other than as my stimulus to recapture thoughts of what I perceive them to be.         When I first saw the film “Sleepless in Seattle”, it was long after experiencing Jimmy Durante singing. Most people think of Jimmy only as a comical performer, but when you hear him become a serious deliverer of any number of real-life experiences, you, too, will capture what I did as well. It’s called “a lived-in truth”.         In “Sleepless in Seattle”, he renders his performance of “ As Time Goes By”. For those of us who’ve lived a day or two, turn your life’s memories up—his singular performance, just for you alone, may conjure the unexpected.   You must remember this A kiss is just a kiss A sigh is just a sigh The fundamental things apply As time goes by And when two lovers woo They still say "I love you" On that you can rely No matter what the future brings As time goes by Moonlight and love songs Never out of date Hearts full of passion Jealousy and hate Woman needs man, and man must have his mate That no one can deny It's still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die The world will always welcome lovers As time goes by –"As Time Goes By"–           Durante was playing himself, delivering his personal commentary of what life is all about just as he remained in contact with all near and dear to him while singing “As Time Goes By”. When he ended his radio program each week and uttered the famous words, “Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash”, he was still feeling love for her (it was still the same old story about a man who had lost his wife, but life goes on). And all the people who gathered with him for his radio performance, week in and week out. Life goes on.         And the answer is, what I equate to as past, present, and future. Thousands have come before me seeking direction. I follow what we teach with religious fervor: be responsive to another, be responsive to yourself, be honest and true with those you know, those you intend to meet, with love, or merely in need of a helping hand. You and I, therefore, have something in common.         And so, with this day coming to its finality, I repeat to all who are still with me and all who have labored equally within our creative sphere of life, with a special shout out to a past colleague (and there are thousands I could name), the dearest Cloris Leachman, “say hello to anyone who knows me.”   And now you all know my secret.   HK