In 1975 I earned my Eagle Scout badge. I have always admired the American bald eagle, even more so since I became bald myself! In the 70's the American bald eagle was endangered. You were lucky to see one. I saw my first eagle in the wild in 1990. I was taken by surprise as I came across it unexpectedly. Over the years efforts by The Bald Eagle Restoration Project in NYS has restored over 80 nesting pairs.

The once commonly used pesticide DDT was a major reason the eagles were vanishing. DDT entered the ecosystem via water run off and contaminated the lakes and streams. The eagles preyed on fish and the accumulation of DDT in their systems caused their egg shells to become fragile and break when the parents would sit on them, killing the undeveloped chicks. DDT was banned in 1972 and it took decades for the residual contamination to be effectively reduced to safe levels for the eagles to be able to effectively reproduce.

I saw an eagle from the rooftop the other day hunting along a wooded creek in a highly populated urban area. I saw it again today following the ravine. I have seen quite a few eagles in the past two or three years. They are amazing birds to watch.

I made a quick sketch of the bird. I am working on a new painting, of a dragon, but I want the face to bear the same expression, to convey the same feeling that one gets when it gazes upon an eagle. There is something I can not describe with words, but I think you sense it in the drawing.

Soar like an eagle.

SOAR - Save Our American Resources. We need to respect the earth and use it wisely.

There is only God

We live in a world filled with many questions, many beliefs, many unexplained phenomena and many undiscovered secrets.

There are as many diverse approaches to solving life's riddles as there are riddles to be solved. Ultimately though, there are only two questions that we constantly seek answers to. Why? and How? How, begets scientific inquiry  with our analytical minds conducting experiments, making observations, surveying the compiled data and arriving at conclusions. Why, on the other hand opens a philosophical can of worms.

The mundane experiences of life are often overlooked by those inquisitive individuals. Their higher intellectual functions are focused on matters of greater relevance, to them. I contend that it is the mundane experiences in fact that truly define the nature of all that exists in the universe. What matters to matter, matters to all. Without common elements, engaged in common interactions there could be no uncommon experiences to be in awe at.

And so I ponder this thought, "Does thought itself exist without the biological construct of the brain." If so, how can it exist? Are my thoughts, that I have written here still thoughts after I have deceased and my brain ceases to function? Do the thoughts still exist if no other being is capable of reading them? How is thought itself related to the existence of God?

Do other animals think? What else is capable of thought besides animals? What is self awareness? Is a cat self aware? Are all people self aware? Is a tree self aware? How do we know if something is self aware, if it can not communicate? Can we assume that self awareness does not exist if there is no ability to communicate?

I was taught that we have 4 taste sensations; sweet, salty, bitter and sour. A cat can not taste sweetness. Which leads to the question, What other flavors exist that we can not taste? If there is a flavor we cannot taste what else can we not know? How limited then is our consciousness? How can we say there is no God? How can we say that there is or is not a God merely because we can not sense One? If there is a God, how can there be anything else but God? Perhaps our definition of God is inaccurate.

Yet there are those who cannot sense God. So in their perception there is no God, just as to the cat there is no sweetness. What else exists beyond our perception that which we can not know yet that still exists and is good? How do we come to know these things?

This answer I know.

By never giving up. By never stopping seeking to answer the two great questions, How? and Why?

Busy

Sit with me for a while
I've got so much to tell
about the passing of time
about heaven and hell

Nothing fancy
nothing romantic
just some things
down to earth

About our world, the Light
our souls, the arts
About my work and life
and its falling apart

Sit with me a while
as the magic fills the air

Take a little drink
lift your glasses high
Soon we'll be on the brink
climbing up into the sky

Savor the warm feeling
of the whiskey going down
let it spin your head around

Take a little smoke
breath the fire into your lungs
sit with me a while
as the magic fills the air

And the stars shine
up in the sky for you
And your eyes shine
like crystal oceans blue

And the magic fills the air...

Sit with me a while
lift your glasses high
we'll draw another drink
from the wishing well
and then we can
climb up into the sky

Have a little patience my friend
for everyone here is acting drunk
on this night that never ends
So have a little drink
and sit with me for a while...

There will never be anyone who loves you as much as me
They won't care for you the way I do
hold you, caress you, whisper in your ear the way I do

No one will ever provide for you
swear for you
bear for you
the way I do

I am the only one you will ever need

I will cry for you
lie for you
die for you
if that is what you want

I will buy for you
vie for you
fly for you
if that is what you need

There will never be anyone who loves you as much as me
They won't care for you the way I do
hold you, caress you, whisper in your ear the way I do

Love you
rub you
give to you
live for you

Hug you
hold you
run to you
work for you

Kiss you
miss you
crawl to you
steal for you

There will never be anyone who loves you as much as me
They won’t care for you the way I do
hold you, caress you, whisper in your ear the way I do

Not the way I do...

we both
deeply embraced
affectionately impassioned

infinitesimally intertwined
engaging emotions
of love

a spark
igniting passion
unhindered expansion

uconditional inversion
creating vivacity
one soul

all mass
converted energy
reproducing metabolism

existential perseverance
animated activity
our life

we both
deeply embraced
passionately affectionate

How can puppies be so playful?
How can puppies be so cute?
Easy to be held, easy to hold

How can puppies stir such feelings?
How can they  become our best friends?
Easy to pet, easy to play fetch

Specially puppies who bark at strangers
Who run about chasing evil squirrels
Do you ever watch their waggily tails?
How about that man's best friend?
We all need a friend

How can puppies be so playful?
You know what I am talking about
Easy to pet, easy to play fetch
Specially puppies who bark at strangers
Who run about chasing evil squirrels
Do you ever watch their wiggly tails?
How about that man's best friend?
We all need a friend

How can puppies be so playful?
How can puppies be so cutel?
Easy to pet, easy to hold

Easy to pet, easy to hold
Come on
Easy to love, easy to hold
Easy to pet, easy to hold
Much too easy to play fetch

(note: this poem is actually a rewrite of a popular song, can you guess the artist and album?)

Farm hand Hickory
they called him
a heartless humming human
first shown in black and white
cut Buddy right out of the picture

By a simple twist of fate
a heavy house
and rusty shoulders
Nick Chopper met his mates

Haley's comet rose
in a land where the road
is paved in bricks of gold

In a lullaby over and over
of somewhere that I dreamed of.

The oil can changed his life forever

She sacrificed everything
her figure
her fingers
her career
her bones

She shepherded selflessly
with milk
with music
with lessons
with combs

Her love was undying
in tears
in laughter
in worship
in home

She knitted hearts together
for God
for country
for friends
for foes

Mother gave us warmth and light
at birth
at supper
at death
at the throne

In front of the classroom
her hands covered in chalk dust
the freckle faced redhead
scribbles on the blackboard
our secret code for all to see

No one knows what she really means
when she writes 1 + 1 = 3
no one knows at all
except me...

On Sunday we'll get together
go dancing round the church
On Sunday we'll get together
go dancing round the church

Out in the garden
kitty captures
butterflies
Out on the lawn
wasp stings doggy
on the nose

The freckle faced red head cries
"Mama,  they all made fun of me"
waiting by her window
waiting for her hero
still the chalk dust covers her hands

"But one and one does make three"
Does no one understand her but me?

On Sunday we'll
go dancing round the church
and on Sunday we'll
go dancing all around the church

She parts her lips
and breaths a deep long sigh
fogging up the window
looking for her hero high up in the sky

Some Sunday we'll go dancing
Some Sunday we'll go dancing
After we get out of church

The kitty dines on its tender vittles
the doggy on kibble and bits
Sister erases the blackboard
The chalk dust falls from her wrists

Sundays come and go
we never danced that dance
1 + 1 = 3
Nobody understood that
except me